Archive for May, 2008

Welcome to America

Published at May 28, 2008 in Politics and Humor. 5 Comments

I was watching a George Carlin stand-up routine last night. The guy is totally hilarious! He’s really crass & has no problems with cursing, so he’s not for the easily offended. I like him because he’s very clever & insightful. Anyway, he had this whole routine about what he called the “American double standard.” He was pointing out some paradoxical American ideas which I thought were both funny & thought provoking.

I realize that some of these are not entirely true or are exaggerated, but it still makes for a funny routine.

1) America was founded by slave owners who wanted to be free.

2) 475,000 Americans die from alcohol or tobacco related complications every year, but marijuana is illegal because it is dangerous & bad for you.

3) “Pro-life” voters are usually “pro-war” & “pro-death penalty” as well.

4) We have “freedom of speech” as long as the FCC approves it first.

5) Nuclear weapons are very, very dangerous. No one should have them… except us. We need to have nuclear weapons so that we can keep other nations in check on this issue. We have to do this, after all, the last thing we need is for some other nation to develop nuclear weapons. I mean, they might actually use them to kill millions of innocent people for crying out loud! We are the only nation that can be trusted. We would never do something like that, & even if we did, we’d never do it twice!

Like I said, I don’t necessarily agree with Carlin’s stances on all these issues. I do agree that our nuclear weapons policy is very hypocritical, & I would probably be very upset about it if I were in another country. I also think that its rather silly that marijuana is illegal, but tobacco & alcohol are not. Not because I want to smoke weed, but because I think we should decide as a country whether people have the right to do a drug that’s potentially harmful to themselves or whether they shouldn’t have that right. If we don’t have that right, then we should outlaw tobacco & alcohol. Heck! Obesity kills about 300,000 per year. Watch out McDonald’s!

What do you think about Carlin’s “observations?” 

 

Two weeks from today…

Published at May 24, 2008 in Marriage, Being a Man, Fun and Family. 4 Comments

I will participate in a ceremony that will forever modify my status from “single” to “married.” My status has been altered only once before. When I was born, I went from “nonexistent” to “single.” Two weeks from today marks a very significant event because it is the last time that my status will transform “until death do us part.” I’m in love with Brooklynne and on June 7th we will go public & legal with our commitment to one another, and

I.

Am.

PUMPED.

Sam & Brooklynne1

The Little Rock Film Festival

Published at May 17, 2008 in Movies, Fun and Humor. 1 Comment

My brother & I have just returned from catching a few hours of the action downtown at the LRFF. I was expecting a bunch of films from Arkansans or something, but apparently Little Rock is just where its being hosted. It was a pretty good time, & they are putting on a pretty good event, but unfortunately the films came up a little short both literally & figuratively.

We caught the showing of the “Narrative Short Films” entries. Over the course of about 2 & a half hours we saw 6 movies. I don’t know what it is about the whole independent film culture, but I always find myself intrigued & repulsed at the very same time. I am intrigued because I like rooting for the underdog & rugged individualism. I am repulsed because it all just seems too much. It feels like the underdog, rugged individual is trying way too hard. Its very important to these films that you are well aware that they don’t care what you think, thus proving that they do care what you think. (Its like that part in “The Family Stone” when Sarah Jessica Parker declares to Rachel McAdams, “I don’t care whether you like me or not!” To which McAdams responds by saying, “Awww. Of course you do,” & then nonchalantly sips her coffee & walks away.)

Anyway, I found most of the films today frustrating because they seemed to be determined to say something of great value & depth that at the same time was so simple & pure. That’s all true & good, but the beauty of that whole concept lies in 2 things:

1) It is something that is unexpected even by those from which it comes. Therefore, if you’re trying very hard to say something profound, it probably won’t happen.

2) By it’s very nature, it is something rare. If 4 out of 6 30 min. films can relate profound truths, then something is wrong with the concept of “profound.”

It was frustrating because almost all of the movies had good ideas for a movie. But I guess just making an entertaining short film wasn’t quite enough. They felt that this 30 minute short film entry at the LRFF was just the platform they needed to CHANGE THE WORLD!

I think making a short film for no other reason than to make people laugh would be more likely to change the world at this point.

Under the Same Moon

Published at May 5, 2008 in Movies, Fun, Politics, Spirituality and Humor. 5 Comments

On Friday Brooklynne & I went to see “Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna)” in Little Rock. We’ll start with a brief synopsis. 

“Under the Same Moon” follows the parallel journeys of Rosario & her son, Carlitos. 

 Rosario’s Journey

Rosario is an illegal immigrant to the US. Rosario left her son, Carlitos, with her mother in Mexico when he was 5 years old & has come to America in hopes of becoming a legal citizen in order to provide a better life for her son. They write letters to one another & she calls him from a pay phone every Sunday at 10 a.m. sharp. Rosario is working hard to earn enough money for a lawyer that will help her attain US citizenship. She is working 2 housekeeping jobs while making & selling dresses in her free time in order to earn enough money. However, providing for her mother & son back in Mexico & the cost of living, even poorly, for herself in LA, make saving money for lawyer fees almost impossible. Rosario realizes that the very thing she came to America for (her son) is the one who is now suffering because she left Mexico. As Rosario comes to this realization another legal solution presents itself, & she begins to struggle with whether to go back to Mexico or to take this new & easy, although legal, way out. 

 Carlitos’ Journey

 Carlitos is a 9 year old boy living with his grandmother in Mexico. The highlight of his life is every Sunday at 10 a.m. sharp when he goes to the pay phone in town for his weekly call from his mom whom he has not seen in 4 years. Every morning Carlitos wakes early to make breakfast for his grandmother & to remind her to take her medicine before heading off to school. When he wakes one morning to find that his grandmother has passed away during the night, he decides that he must find his way across the border to get to his mother. He has no way of getting in touch with his mother in LA, & he doesn’t want her to worry about him. So, he decides that he’d better hurry up because he has only 6 days to make it to his mother in LA before she calls for him at 10 a.m. sharp on Sunday morning & he is not there to answer the phone for the first time in 4 years.

 

I really enjoyed this movie for 3 reasons. First of all, its just a good story, & the director, Patricia Riggen, did an excellent job of giving the story center stage. Obviously, this movie involves a very politically charged topic in illegal immigration. Riggen could have easily sacrificed some of the story depth for the sake of “making a point” for a political cause. Don’t get the wrong idea here, there are plenty of tongue-in-cheek references to the immigration issue (my personal favorite was the use of the song “Superman Es Illegal (Superman Is An Illegal)” during a short scene featuring migrant workers), & it is not unclear where the makers of the movie stand on the issue. What I am saying is that the movie doesn’t come off as forcing a political agenda.

Second of all, it was very well acted by the 2 main characters. Carlitos is played so adorably by Adrian Alonso that it is almost impossible not to love this child. He is a kind & generous boy who loves & enjoys life even in a situation that is less than desirable. It may not necessarily be good “acting” because he’s just a cute looking kid anyway, but who am I to say he’s not a brat & a holy terror in real life. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt & say he’s a good actor. Rosario is played superbly by Kate del Castillo. She does an excellent job of personifying the tension of her situation & she makes it easy for the audience to sympathize with her. 

Finally, I liked the movie because I left feeling gently rebuked. While I didn’t feel guilty for supporting immigration reform after this movie, I did feel guilty for devaluing & dehumanizing people by being insensitive towards others. Its not like I’ve been a hateful bigot or anything, but I have been guilty of talking privately about & thinking about Latino immigrants as if they were merely robots that spoke spanish. I liked that the movie gave an example of a possible sympathetic immigrant situation without an “in your face” attitude trying to make you believe that every immigrant is just thinking of their poor children & pursuing the American dream through legal & pure hearted ways. I was reminded, in a positive way, of what I’ve always known, but have often denied with my words & thoughts. Who anyone is is the result of a mixture of events both fortunate & unfortunate, choices both good & bad, consequences both positive & negative, & circumstances sometimes self-inflicted & sometimes unfair that have brought them to this moment in time. So, in order to make an accurate judgment about the value of another person I must possess 2 pieces of information.

1) An exhaustive & accurate knowledge of the events, choices, consequences, & circumstances of that person’s entire life.

2) An accurate, absolute perception & understanding of right & wrong in any & every scenario that person was faced with.

If I don’t have both pieces, it is my belief that I should offer love, compassion, & grace to that person. So, I have made 4 lists to keep handy at all times.

People Who Meet Criteria #1

1) Me 

People Who Meet Criteria #2

No one

People About Whom I Can Make Accurate Value Judgments

No one

People I Should Offer Love, Compassion, & Grace To

1) Everyone

2) Their Mom 

 

I will leave you with the words of the always amazing Derek Webb

“There’s no categories, just long stories waiting to be heard.”