Random Musings

First up, I wanted to talk about something strange that I wasn't used to seeing in my generally-considered-to-be-quite-conservative city of London, Ontario. Within the span of two days I saw not one, but two protests/demonstrations. Regardless of what they were about, I cannot ever, in this city, remember seeing so much interest in promoting cause. Most of the time in London, the only time you'll see picket signs is when someone gets locked out of a cereal factory or when you go to the circus. It was inspiring to see so many people so willing to shake off their apathy in the name of furthering a cause. In the second demonstration, there were even children taking part. It's easy to dismiss this kind of behaviour as indoctrination, particularly when the cause is one so often tied to religious beliefs (people were walking the streets touting pro-life sentiments), but the young, pre-teens were shaking their signs the most fervently, with big smiles on their faces, proud to be passing along information.

The other protest seemed a bit more intense, as perhaps a hundred people crowded onto a corner by Victoria Park to protest Israel. Signs making claims like "Israel kills activists" set the tone while another person was making rallying speeches. Not knowing anything about Israel's history and conflicts, as well as being intimidated by the fervour of the proceedings, I kept my distance. But, after getting home, with my curiosity sparked by the passion of their protest, I started doing some basic (Wikipedia) research on the subject. Now, because of those demonstrators, I have an incredibly limited understanding of Israel, and, even more importantly, I have the roots of an educated opinion. I am, by no means, ready to join up with anyone's picket lines, but I'm starting to understand. And, if enough people understand, there will be peace, which is what it's all about.

*

Moving onto less serious matters, the MTV Movie awards were held this last weekend. I didn't realize they were on, nor would have I watched them, if I had. Looking at the nominees made me quite sad for the youth of this generation, but now, looking at the winners, it's nice to see that they were able to vote, in most cases, for the least-of-the-evils. The only reason I'm talking about this at all is because I ended up seeing this video of... oh wait. I was going to embed the link but now it's been removed due to copyright violations. If you feel like looking it up, it's Tom Cruise, dressed as Les Grossman (from Tropic Thunder), dancing with Jennifer Lopez. That character, as slightly overblown as he has become, is mostly notable because it reminds us not to simply dismiss Cruise for his excentricities, and to remember how to enjoy him as an entertainer. Then again, there's apparently now talk of a full Les Grossman movie, so I need to jump right back off of that bandwagon.

*

Speaking of Tom Cruise, who was in Mission: Impossible 3, which had some explosions and stuff, here's a "short film" that "considers" a bevy of visual tropes from action movies. Or, if you're me, it's a sweet montage of manliness and explosions.

*

I haven't watched music videos regularly since... well, ever. Usually it's only when I feel like listening to a song, so I bring it up on Youtube. Now, though, there's been some talk about Lady Gaga's new video for her song, Alejandro. I came to the video by way of hearing about Katy Perry tweeting about Gaga's "cheap" use of blasphemy. Seems like valid criticism for me, but what's even more amazing is how many people are posting the video, and talking about it, without actually watching it. Quite often, links to the video include a line like "it's long, so I don't have the time to watch it, but tell me what you think." So, here's what I think: I very much like what Lady Gaga had to say when she referred to the video as "a celebration and an admiration of gay love — it confesses my envy of the courage and bravery they require to be together.” Granted, this love isn't shown through traditional romance, it involved a bunch of greased up dudes with bowl cuts humping Lady Gaga, with her dressed up similarly to them, implying her character to be male.

A lot of that is undermined, though, at around 8:20, when Gaga peels off her top to have these supposedly gay men gawk and swarm to her breasts. Considering how well-sculpted these men are, I would imagine they would be more turned on by each others' chests than Gaga's, but there you have it. Because of that (and the sexualization of Gaga throughout the video), there's this undercurrent that, while providing sympathy to the gay community, seems to suggest that these men are only gay because they haven't screwed the right woman.

So, now I'll ask what you think.



*

Speaking of the gay, did anybody hear about Quinton "Rampage" Jackson said about his experience in acting in The A-Team? In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jackson was quoted as saying,

“Acting is kind of gay,” Jackson said. “It makes you soft. You got all these people combing your hair and putting a coat over your shoulders when you’re cold. I don’t want a coat over my shoulders! I’m a tough-ass [individual]! “Vancouver strikes me as a San Francisco-kind of place,” he continued. “And I don’t want [individuals] getting ideas about me. I feel in my heart I’m the toughest [individual] on the planet. And I don’t want nothing changing my train of thought. If you don’t believe that when we step inside the octagon, it shows.”

In reading that for the first time, I chuckled to myself because you just knew that the reponse wasn't going to be good. You can just imagine Rampage sitting there, being interviewed, simply shooting the breeze, while his publicist is sitting nearby in tears and the reporter wiping the drool off of their notepad. Naturally, when this quote hit, people lost their shit. I didn't see any of it, but there must have been some serious backlash because recently, on his blog, Jackson posted the following:

“I am a black man from Memphis Tennessee who grew up in the south where I faced discrimination my whole life. I know very well how it feels for someone to judge you for something you have no control over so having gone through that I know how it feels. I took a vow that I didn’t even have to say that I would never discriminate against anybody for anything other that how they treat me or others around them. So not only DO I NOT HATE gay people, I actually accept them for who and what they are. They always seem happy and most of them I met are very kind and nice individuals. Yes, and like most straight guys I joke around with the whole gay thing and I see it as comedy, not saying that’s right or wrong but I don’t do it out of hate. I don’t hate fat girls but I make fun of them too.”

“Honestly I mean this in the best way, me being a sports figure I attract a lot of male attention wherever I go and MOST straight fans act GAYER than any guys that was at this gay bar that I visited my homegirl at. When I’m in the club guys always offer to buy me drinks, do the prom date picture, stare at me, try to get my attention, tries to dance with me… even if I’m dancing with a hot chick already. Even though I love ALL MY FANS, this can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when I’m trying to unwind and have fun which in my line of work you don’t get much time to do.”

I kind of love this response, not only because of that amazing line about fat women, but because of how naively genuine it is. He says that he didn't know any better than to use that kind of language, and I very sincerely believe him. I think in this case, there is some slack that can be cut. No, I don't think that using the word "gay" in a derogatory way is something that should be encouraged, and no, I don't think that ignoring a problem is a good way for it to go away but I am much more satisfied with this response than some canned apology. Hopefully, from the experience, Rampage will learn a lesson, maybe change the way he speaks, and maybe everyone can stop being so damned hetero about all this.

*

And, speaking of things that are tasteless...



*

And last, but certainly not least, this video has been making the rounds, except no one really knows what it is. According to star Michael Jai White, he thinks it has something to do with the upcoming Mortal Kombat video game. Others are speculating that it's an effort to revatalize (or reboot) the film series and turn it into something presentable. Whatever it is, I want it, and I want it now.



My favourite part is when Jax is talking to Scorpion and he tells him that he needs to win the competition, he says that he needs to "Finish Him." E-pic.