Harry Potter and the Media

Over the last week I watched every single Harry Potter film from start to finish with Loulou, culminating in the grande finale (!!!) last night at the cinema. 


It sounds lame, I know. 


But with the mind-set that my current Contemporary Media paper has put me into, it's been hard not to notice some of the clever and consistent digs at politics and the media which JK Rowling and the ever-changing directors have put into the stories.  
First of all is the very obvious example of Rita Skita. Aside from the fact that she'd drive anybody potty, she epitomizes the unethical journalist who twists quotes and events to portray a false sense of reality. The media, in essence, has an obligation to the public to provide a balanced and un-weighted portrayal of contemporary facts; leaving it to the public to interpret events in coordination with their ideologies and viewpoints. Yet journalists, like Rita Skita, very rarely do this. Most of them eventually even publish books (poor Dumbledore) to mind-wash, dictate, and corrupt the public into seeing their narrow-minded viewpoint (or, at least, the viewpoint of their mass media corporation *cough cough* Fox News, *cough cough* The Daily Prophet). 
There's also the political agenda. For instance "Undesirable Number One" = Harry Potter one minute, Death Eaters another, briefly followed by a mugger and robber, then back to Harry Potter. I mean seriously, just try to interpret that in a way that doesn't relate to the seriously confused propaganda bullshit that most governments (particularly the American Republicans) try to spoon-feed us. 
A similar point is the consistent portrayal of Sirius Black as a notorious mass-murderer who's on the loose. This is echoed in the phase of ridiculing Dumbledore while promoting Umbridge, followed by ridiculing Umbridge when she completely fucks up. Her hatred of "progress for the sake of progress", combined with corporal punishment, is a clear (and totally fair, of course) attack on conservative government. And their denial of the very existence of Voldemort until way too late reeks of the governmental cause of almost everything that's ever gone wrong on a large scale in our world.


So next time your English teacher tells you that Harry Potter isn't a very deep text, give them a lecture.

Careers?

I am officially a Health Sciences dropout. Yet as everyone else in my position at the beginning of this semester are feeling disastrous, I'm stoked. Their predefined career plans as they came to university was to go through medical school and become a doctor, but now that's gone. Now they have to do an undergraduate degree first and go from there back into the medical school...

Not me. 

I'm now doing what I want. 

But what's got me thinking is that I have absolutely no career plan in front of me. I've been brought up in a world to think that this should be concerning, yet somehow it's the single best aspect of where I'm at now. 

It's not the fact that I'm studying Biochemistry, Communications and Visual Culture, all of which I find fascinating. 

It's not that these have exciting prospects for the future- from biochemistry aiming to increase longevity drastically, to communications promising a vastly different media landscape in the future with the likes of Murdoch gone, replaced by a grounding in online social networking. 

Nor is it any of the other myriad prospects of our future, such as the "singularity", where the exponential growth of computational ability surpasses humanity, promising to aid both the biochemistry and communications I'm studying now. 

It's not even the fact that, yes, I am rebelling to an extent.

Rather, I recall Chris McCandless of Into The Wild. 

"Careers are a twentieth century invention, and I don't want one."

Thinking about it, I'm happy to regard this statement as totally true. And I'm more than happy to entertain the thought that we could, in fact, head back to the time known by our grandparents where you took life and work as it came. Our parents have created a world where we feel it's compulsory to, say, do a BCom and become an accountant, or an LLB and be a corporate lawyer, just because this supposedly enables us to have a 'comfortable' life. We have even been taught to 'know' that if you do a BA you'll probably become a teacher. Yet as I approach this semester, the last thing on my mind (if it's even on my mind at all) is a long-term 'career' plan. Sure, I'm taking papers that are vaguely related to where I think the world is heading, but this is only a general self-made guideline I'm using which combines my abilities, enjoyment, and some crystal ball gazing (or something of the like).

Loulou and I have been talking about it a lot, and what I'm doing instead of career planning is looking forward to the times when I'm earning money just to live. Enjoying experiences and writing about them. Living in China, America, Europe; settling down after a good twenty years or so overseas. I'll be over-qualified for the jobs I'll inevitably put up with in fast food chains and theme parks, but who cares! And if I somehow find myself in the journalism school in Florida, or a media office in China, then that'll be a lovely turn of luck. 

But until then, I'm searching for jobs to pay for the "college life" I'm now experiencing in Dunedin. I'm investing in shares so that when I do try to settle down in twenty years time I might actually have something to set me up. I'm pursuing Biochemistry and learning computer programming because I could even create diagnostic machines to replace doctors.

But most of all, I'm enjoying not knowing what's ahead. Life's a theme-park ride on which we have a front-row seat.

Suji Park- That Which Opens at Brett McDowell Gallery, Dunedin

A couple of Fridays ago I went with friends to this sculpture exhibition at Brett McDowell Gallery 

They were REALLY cool and you can buy them for $350 - $850. In my opinion, totally worth it if you have the money

Here's the review I wrote for the Art Writers group I belong to...

Suji Park's That Which Opens at the Brett McDowell Gallery is somewhat proof that cute and discomforting are not oxymoronic. Imperfect mounds of clay, the artists hands still clearly visible, are transmogrified into realistic human postures, combined in collections, presented on podiums. At 20cm high they're not intrusive, they sit comfortably in the small gallery space amongst the crowd of observers. It could be mistaken for an unsettling version of a Frankie exhibition, yet it's this sinister innocence in which Park finds a beautiful juxtaposition. And if you fancy it, there's even a religious undertone running through the collection. 

As you enter, you find to your left a collection of Swimmers, barely raised from ground level. They seem content, passively happy in their activities. A child's dream. The clearly drawn-on watercolour and graphite detail feel obtainable and familiar, the two figures almost inspiring you to go away and replicate them. However, this simplicity is purely superficial. Our self-consciousness permeates through the characters. Why is it that they feel the need to go and sun-bathe under bright gallery lighting? Or is it more to show a necessity for us to open ourselves up to receive enlightenment from Park’s work? For the rest of the room contains pedestals bearing sculptures in which Spirituality and Sexuality would seem to reign Sovereign. A relationship is found in nakedness and prayer, evidenced in Park’s interest in showing the genital area.

The sharpest details of most pieces are the eyes, observing the observer. They're captivating, somewhat unsettling as they ceaselessly look longingly from their ceramic bodies. What are they missing in life? What the heck are they making us feel..?

A piece of the Procession collection looks skyward, kaleidoscopic triangles on his stomach posing a sharp contrast against deathly grey body as they point with his stare. Is he dying or praying? His cheeks redden and he screams. Does prayer breach the wall between here and death? Every aspect of this moribund figure is distressingly attractive. His back arches. Then his poised mouth is no longer screaming. He's taking a long, soul-catching breath. But he was doing that the whole time, of course, drawing you in. Still, the eyes!

Conspiracy is haunting, the title is perfect. Postures lean in, whisper. Institutionalized religion? Where has the naked Spirituality gone? 

"And as you go out into the world, may the Lord make you truly thankful," says the priest to the collection of sculptures gathered around him in Sermon. His magic works, it's difficult to leave the exhibition feeling otherwise.

Procession

That Which Opens- Poet

Visitation

Another Opening

The best things in life are those which are exciting and happen several times.... I love mail again!

Naked Lunch

Heya!!!


Just reviewed David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch (1991) for the awesome Dunedin zine "Marrow"... Also been postering for their promotional gig for the last few days with my illegal bucket of paste hehe so much fun! But don't say I told you that because I'll deny it to the authorities. 


And here's the film review! I rented it from the coolest DVD rental place- Mint. It's next to the Dunedin train station and you get stuck in it for hours every time. 

Although this film adaptation of William S. Burroughs' 1959 novel is, at most, only abstracted from the literary work, by no means does it detract from the overall experience. Widely criticized for not being close enough to the original text, it's important to remember that Burroughs himself wrote "it is probably an understatement to say that the novel does not obviously lend itself to adaptation for the screen". What Cronenberg does instead, and very effectively, is combine aspects of the hallucinatory and disjointed novel with other works by Burroughs, alongside his biography and the psychological effects of narcotics use, switching them around to be suitable for film. We are thus presented with what is quite a comprehensive commentary on all that is William S. Burroughs and the culture surrounding him.

Burroughs, also the author of Queer and Junkie, was born into a wealthy American family in 1914. Educated at Harvard, he graduated with a degree in English and Anthropology and went to study Medicine in Verona, Italy. But despite the potential to have such a romantic life story, he got hooked on opiates-  monetary support from his family gave him an immense freedom, and he instantly got in with the underground crowd of the time. Now, there is always unrest in the world- that's inevitable- but when Burroughs was writing it was particularly strong. World War 2 had ended in 1945 and what proceeded to occur was a period of absolute conformity. The self-reliant hero had survived in the depression songs of Woodie Guthrie and the novels of John Steinbeck and had been transformed into the GI during World War 2, but young men returning from the South Pacific and Europe were not told to brave new frontiers. Instead they were to get an education, a family and a home; all at government expense. The final years of this was epitomized by President Kennedy, leading the very conservative "new frontier" back to the favorite high-school English theme of the American Dream. Basically, Burroughs was an integral part of forming the public mind-set which got the president assassinated. I wasn't there, and I couldn't possibly imagine how boring life would have felt during those years without the Beat Generation. There's no wonder why they came about. They were a strong liberal movement which involved experimentation with drugs, different forms of sexuality, minimalism and personal expression. You could go so far as to say they were related to Bohemians and evolved into Hippies, and the main creative works of the movement were Allen Ginsberg's extended poem "Howl", Jack Kerouac's novel "On The Road", and Burroughs' "Naked Lunch". These three writers weren't just contemporaries but also great friends, and had a huge influence on the world. 

Anyway, the cinematic technicalities of this film are a solid effort on Cronenberg's part. Peter Weller is amazing in the role of protagonist Bill Lee- a character who represents Burroughs himself. His gaunt face and distant gazes are perfectly matched to the images of a young Burroughs we've all seen, as he convincingly stumbles after injections, stares blankly over coffee, and shoots his wife in drunkenness. The Mugwumps of Burroughs' invention with their jissom-excreting phallic head crests are wonderful considering there are no special effects, as are the type-writer-cum-beatles which talk to a doped Bill. The film even has an original jazz score for the soundtrack- both chronologically and cinematically fitting because of the atmosphere it creates and the influence of opiates on the jazz culture around the same period. Another point Cronenberg seems to understand implicitly is that a lot of the beauty of Burroughs' novel is his prose. The particularly striking chapters are often experienced simply as a dialogue by Bill Lee- they're far too obscure to attempt on film and would lose beauty and meaning without Burroughs' exact wording. Cronenberg achieves quite an interesting feat in doing so, as he maintains prose and film as separate entities, playing to the strengths of film in replacement for the strengths of prose. As far as film-for-film's-sake is concerned, Naked Lunch is stunning. 

With the central themes of sexuality and drug use in both the novel and film, there is still variation between the two. Cronenberg only alludes metaphorically to the homosexuality and violent sexual encounters Burroughs wrote of, and the strong anti-narcotics message of the novel isn't felt at all to the same extent in the film. Rather than showing the heroin and cannabis Burroughs wrote of, Cronenberg substitutes his own fictitious drugs such as Mugwump jissom, bug powder and The Black Meat. I must admit that at first I was deflated by this sense of the film being dumbed-down, but enthusiasm returned with due haste as I realized that this was Cronenberg putting his own personal stamp on the work, finding horror in the alluded-to rather than the explicit. It's hard to believe this film was made 20 years ago (happy 20th birthday!!!), yet this also could possibly explain his restraint from presenting marginalized subjects. Although Burroughs' novel was released 32 years prior, censorship in film has been a lot slower to progress, and had Cronenberg not taken precautions in the subject matter, it is a feasible proposition that it may not have made it off the ground. 

The creative process, and in particular the writing process, is also a central idea because the plot is built around it. At the end of the day, this is quite fitting considering it's about a writer. His type writers give him missions and attack each other, he has to 'prove' he's a writer to cross the border into a fictional country called Anexia, and he can't remember writing most of the manuscript. Burroughs himself said that he wouldn't have become a writer had he not shot his wife, and this key event sits nicely at the start of the film before all the crazy heroin trips start. A really kick-ass moment for this aspect of the film is as Bill Lee writes Naked Lunch in Interzone (an opiate-clouded Tangier). The characters who represent his friends Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac tell him to "stay until you finish the book, but then come back to us." Having seen the chaotic and dangerous haze Burroughs writes in, it's surprising any writer or artist ever finishes a creation alive. 

Love this film!!!

Interview with Anna Coddington

Following up from Computers Want Me Dead... I also interviewed Anna Coddington last week! It was cool that both my interviews were with people who've played down here in Dunedin recently...

Where and when do you write music?
I go through phases with it. When I'm in a writing phase I just write all the time. First thing when I get up mostly, then muck around in the studio in the afternoon and evening doing demos and arranging. But I do find first thing in the morning to be the most productive time for song writing, I think because my brain is always foggy and thinking in tangents...

Who would you work with if you were to do an album full of guest stars?
I kind of feel like I've already done that! I consider my band to be stars and they gave me exactly what I wanted for my new album Cat & Bird. They are Ned Ngatae (guitars/co-production), Riki Gooch (drums), Mike Hall (bass), and L A Mitchell (keyboards). Ooh but if Prince offered to produce an album for me I would say yes.

I read that you're also a black belt in karate. Do you find that balance in life is as important for you as everyone makes it out to be?
Yep. I'm pretty sure the same goes for everyone though. I divide most of my time between music and karate (Kyokushin karate), but all musicians and karate people I know have other commitments/interests/hobbies etc. Sometimes I feel like I don't have enough time left between the two, but after 12 years of training I've just come to accept that I'm better off to keep it up. I get funny in the head when I stop training for too long...

Is it important to be a singer-songwriter rather than just a musician?
Ummm... for me it's important to be a songwriter. That's where I get the most personal satisfaction. I love watching a song grow from an idea to a fully formed thing that other people enjoy. And it's fun to be a singer. I've done a few gigs where I just sing (no guitar). I used to think "shit, what do I do with my hands?!" but I enjoy it more now. I reckon that if you haven't written the song, singing and being a musician are the same thing, except your instrument is your voice. If it's not your song you are ultimately just helping the songwriter/producer see out their vision, same as the other musos. I think?! Maybe not for Britney Spears and people like that. Oh I don't know!...

What are your top 5 favorite foods?
Avocado, tofu, pineapple, smoothies, and coffee (technically not a food, but it's essential).

And top 5 favorite musicians/bands?
Ask me tomorrow and you'll get a different answer but for today I'll say: Michael Jackson, Billy Bragg, Band of Horses, Radiohead, and Julia Deans (who I am touring with through April/May!)
What are your pet peeves?
Burning my toast. My crappy phone. People who do not indicate!
Do you have specific hopes for your future?
Releasing the new record overseas and touring more and a few other music projects that are underway... just playing more music really.

As one of the top popular musicians in New Zealand, are you proud of what you've achieved?
Yes I am. People always ask me if I have another job- I don't. And that in itself is a good gauge for me. I feel lucky about that. And I'm very proud of Cat & Bird. It sounds how I wanted it to sound.

What's the coolest small New Zealand town and why?
Raglan! Because it's my home town. We recently did an awesome gig in Port Chalmers, just out of Dunedin, and that was pretty cool. I also love Wanaka. It's beeyoootiful.

How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?
It is not the number of roads, but the journey that maketh the man... Something like that.

Wow I love my job!

Interview With Sam and Damien from Computers Want Me Dead

Heya! Here's my Tearaway interview from last week with Computers Want Me Dead. Fun guys, awesome music.

Sam picked up his cell phone almost immediately. He fetched Damien, closed the door to their Auckland office, and put me on speakerphone. This retro/indie/synth/pop duo who originally performed together at a friend's apartment- formerly a gay brothel- on K' Road in Auckland, are very modest about their music and success. Currently in the process of planning a world tour to Australia, New York and Japan in October, they've found that the key requirements for forming a band are like-minded individuals, patience, and similar ambition, although "you don't need quite as much skill, as everything is all computerized now."

With their first album coming out this year, the guys like to pretend they're not famous. Or, at least if their music is, not them personally. "We're relatively anonymous," Damien points out, "we're not featured heavily in our videos. We have friends in bigger New Zealand bands with much bigger attention. It's actually quite cool being able to walk down the street and not have that attention."

That's all well and good, but what's striking is that these guys are incredibly talented. Sam has designed the album cover and he also directed their first video. And with their EP cover comprising geometric shapes and a simple Computers Want Me Dead title, they joke that the ideal album cover is "simple but complex" (get your mind around that one!). Their films are about the "idea, not the budget. So they're quirky and out-there." The first video- a Youtube hit- is about a guy traveling back in time to visit his girlfriend, where the time machine is made out of crystals. The next one, however, was produced by Liam Barclay based on his interpretation of their lyrics. "Entertainment is important. It was cool how Liam interpreted the lyrics without being cheesy." On the idea of creating an image, they find that "a big part of it is attitude. We're not really into creating an image as such but we're addressing it more and more. By making a multi-media live show we're re-thinking things visually. But also, everything's about marketing these days and where people are looking."

It was April Fool's day when we had the conversation, so as for their best pranks? Earlier in the day, Damien had sent his girlfriend a link to a website for 2 hour dolphin rides. "She was really nervous about being in the open ocean with this dolphin. But she had told everyone in the office before calling (me about it) so she was really gutted (it was a prank)." As for Sam, when he was six his family had a boarder staying who was always fighting with them. So after one particularly bad evening, "I left something for him on his toothbrush. He left the next day."

Their main pet peeve is the same as any musician- instrumental gear breaking- but also people who can't take a joke. "We like people with a sense of humour and who don't have to be so serious all the time."
And on the subject of pet peeves- someone who's annoying everyone without fail at the moment gets an interesting rap. "I'm not into (Rebecca Black) myself. The case of point being that anyone can make a song and music and voila. There's always gonna be a market for what you're into. But she didn't have to do anything with her music and video. She just mouthed words. Good on her because she's doing what she loves just as any 13 year old girl would, but to be honest the music video is famous because it's so bad. I don't hate her but I hate the song. It puts a smile on my face just talking about it- it's entertaining for all the wrong reasons."

Thank goodness Computers Want Me Dead are entertaining for all the right reasons. 

And a few more random questions...

How many times have you been asked what your name means?
-Every singe interviewer has asked what our name means. We made an effort to have a unique name, it was catchy because of that and it's why we get asked our name so much.

Who's the coolest New Zealander you've ever met and/or want to meet?
S- Jordan Lake. Is there anything he can’t do?
D- John Campbell. I've met him serval times and he's the loveliest, coolest guy.

What's the coolest small town in New Zealand and why?
-We were really stoked playing in dunedin. Everyone down there is so ennthusiastic about gigs. Unless you go to McDonald's and get punched to death (this happened to them).
[this interviewer comments that he lives there]
Didn’t know you were down there...$5000 in your bank account.
Hamilton is also pretty rad, but I guess neither of those are small towns as such...

What do you guys make of the whole "Indie" ideal that's happening at the moment?
-"Indie is so broad and misconstruited and misinterpreted. We have a Pop element and Indie element. Basically, an underground thing becomes mainstream. It's not a fad- it's always been there. An independent thing becomes well known, something good becomes fashionable.

Buy the album people!!!


Love


xxx