Foreword:
Hey reader! This is a very politically charged post and not really a movie review. If you’re not a fan of social justice, Palestine, or film discussions that have more to do with film theory than craft and filmmaking, please feel free to skim or skip this one. I think Guardians is worth seeing as well, and the soundtrack is just a joy. ALSO HUGE GOTG SPOILERS! AND ALL MARVEL MOVIE SPOILERS! AND HERCULES! AND DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES! All very much spoiled here.

Pictured: One of the best things about Guardians.

Guardians of the Gazaxy, or, How Marvel Movies Can Really Mess Up Social Commentary

As summer approaches, it harkens with it one of my favorite times of the modern cinema going year; Marvel release season. Marvel Studios has been responsible for some of my favorite experiences in movie theatres. Particularly, my first viewing of The Avengers - at a midnight screening at a small town multiplex with some of my best friends in the world - was a defining moment for my love of the movies. Its something I’ll never forget, it was the quintessential summer movie experience and so much more. Rarely does a film so religiously anticipated live up to it all. And oh did Avengers live up.

But enough gushing. Every Marvel film (read: every Marvel studios multiverse film) has offered some great highs and lows, even the worst of them (read: Iron Man 2, Thor). This summers installment in Guardians of the Galaxy was no exception. The film is spectacularly funny for one, director James Gunn plays with the tropes of all big summer films, but particularly Marvel films, to goofy and hilarious ends. Furthermore, this film has a true-blue soul. In its best (read: comedic) moments, it crackles with life.

Every Marvel film also offers something else though, a brand of not-so-subtle social or political commentary which is part and parcel of the summer movie MO. More to the point, every movie is saying something, whether it intends to or not. All art, or great art, should have a real affectation on the way we feel and think about things. So more than saying something, films are having a real effect on how people view themselves and the world in which they live. To get more specific, pick a movie in theatres right now:

Dawn of The Planet of the Apes is discussing the complexities of diplomacy in the face of fear and dwindling resources, concluding that fear will ultimately breed war without strong leadership and patience.

The Purge Anarchy is claiming that violence is inevitable in humans, but that its inevitability does not ethically justify itself (but maybe classism and oppression do?)

Sex Tape says that experimentation in the bedroom can spice up a marriage.

Hercules is arguing that we don’t need apotheosis or theme as long as we have a shot of The Rock throwing a fucking horse.

"GET ME ANOTHER HORSE TO THROW"

They’re all saying something, these films, even the least well thought out of the bunch. And while some of these thematic and subtextual cores function as testaments to the filmmakers design, others to the utter buffoonery of what happens when a movie is marketed before the script is finished, every one of them is trying to bring valid and insightful commentary on life and the world as we know it. Some of the films this summer have succeeded to great ends; Dawn, for all of its problems (and oh does it have problems), leaves the audience with a much more subtle understanding of how diplomacy can fall flat, and how wars can begin against the best intentions of strong leaders. With death tolls rising in Gaza and planes going down over Ukraine, this kind of discussion is all the more relevant.

This brings us to Guardians of the Galaxy.

Ronan, the villain of Guardians, is introduced with a solemn voice over, as he participates in an ancient religious ritual. He states “They call me a terrorist. A radical. A zealot.” He explains that he has earned these names simply by following the ancient laws of his religion, which compel him to eradicate any infidelity from the galaxy.

Sound like any real life villains to you?

Guardians goes on to depict the conflict between our evil extremist muslim stand in Ronan and the honorable, peaceful, white (okay, and pink) Xandar. Ronan often uses rhetoric which parallels that of a western depiction of the modern muslim extremist, claiming that he plans not to rule Xandar but to “cleanse it.” Xandarians describe Ronan as a true mustache-twirling baddie, rarely describing any part of his character other than his plot or his total lack of empathy when “slaughtering children”. When the final battle begins, Nova Prime, the leader of Xandar, declares sternly “our first priority is to get our civilians to safety”. In response, Ronan evokes “immolation protocol”, which means that his fleet is to suicide bomb the city en-masse. And yes, they do begin to fly their planes into buildings.

Starting to see the metaphor?

The Xandarians then proceed to fly their golden Star-of-David shaped ships into a flying net to catch the giant suicidal plane as it plummets to the ground. The constant back and forth between the purely evil (and poorly characterized) “terrorist” Ronan and the simply, stupidly peaceful (and so obviously western) Xandar amounts to a criminal oversimplification of one of the most relevant models of conflict in our world. In fact, when Ronan acquires an infinity stone (read: nuclear weapons), the film plays like the feverish nightmare of Donald Rumsfeld.

And it all matters so damn much because even though the shelling of Gaza has killed hundreds, most of our media (and people) are still having trouble seeing even the most basic problems with asymmetric warfare. We still have reporters referring to this conflict in terms of Israel’s damages in currency and not Palestine’s losses of life. Hell, we even have an Israeli blogger openly attempting to justify genocide. Also, calling your character a “Ronin”, dressing him like a samurai, and then having him order all of his planes to suicide bomb people is hella problematic in and of itself. Not the issue I wanted to discuss but also a totally irresponsible choice.

"Are you serio-...ahem...I mean, I am GROOT?"

But Ben, Marvel movies can’t handle such complex issues! They’re just supposed to be fun!

Let’s take a look at two other Marvel movies that are really fun then. Captain America: The Winter Soldier explores the implications of mass civilian surveillance, set right in the heart of America. Sound like any current events? Winter Soldier dives into the deep tissue of NSA surveillance and comes to sound conclusions while never forgetting the so-called good reasons every person involved had in creating the mass surveillance program. This implicates some of the good guys, and things start to get complex. Is it a perfect movie? Is the metaphor perfect? Hell no. But it does succeed in engaging us on a real issue without reducing it to a good-evil binary.

Even better is Iron Man 3, which, at heart, is exploring the psychology of a post 9/11 America, using the events of The Avengers as a stepping stone to exploring the rise of a less scrupulous military industrial complex . And Iron Man 3 does not hold back one bit in this matter, from Tony’s “Nothing’s been the same since New York” tagline to the use of a secret fucking fake terrorist to spur the increased funding of skunkworks military research which exploits military veterans. Shane Black isn’t messing around folks, and in his own, slightly melodramatic and often goofy way, he is tackling some of the most relevant socio-political issues in America. He even goes so far as to include the rebranding and infiltration of “The War Machine” (the face of the American military) to the diabolical capitalistic purposes of the evil Aldrich Killian, who literally seeks to hijack the white house as his big final plot. Iron Man 3 is practically oozing with political commentary and intrigue, and its hiding right under our fucking noses, which is the best damn place for it. To put it colloquially, shit is money.

"Did somebody say 'money'?"

Okay, so some of the movies have subtextual merit. Why does Guardians have to?

It doesn’t have to, but I will hold it responsible for doing harm. And in reducing such a relevant and emotional issue as terrorism and conflict in the middle east to a pathetically simple binary, I would argue that Guardians is doing tremendous harm. Its not just about the lives lost in Gaza, but the social liberties lost around the Western world by peoples of Arab descent who are being increasingly associated with evil baby killers both in the news and in our movies. While Ronan isn't the literal image of a stereotypical or atypical terrorist, the film draws a very clear line from him to the western worlds current enemy. And like I said above, this stuff matters, because movies are designed to get in our heads. And Guardians is doing so many things right that it does.

Furthermore, it’s just plain bad storytelling. Its no coincidence that the best Marvel movies have without fail featured the best villains of the series. The worst have also featured the worst.

A well characterized and interesting villain adds a foil, dimension, weight, and tension to even the most simple stories. Furthermore, the above two Marvel films (IM3 and CA:TWS) use the characterization of their villains to build an interesting and engaging layer of subtext.

But Ben, I don't agree with your take on Israel and Palestine/global affairs!

Okay, but can we at least agree that the situation is a million times more complicated than how its depicted in Guardians? Even if you have strong political views, it doesn't mean that the oversimplification is any less toxic.

There are sides of this that aren’t terribly “political” either. I’m lucky enough to go to school with some pretty amazing people from all around the world. I have friends who are Muslim, friends who are Arab, friends who are from Africa. The way that many of them have been treated both in and by America is disturbing to say the least. There is a psychological war on anybody a white westerner can associate with the utterly vague “middle eastern terrorism” phenomena. The microaggressions they face on a daily basis would churn your stomach. From the celebration of hypothetical plans to carpet bomb one’s home town, to the simple silencing of another’s voice in a debate for being Muslim, we are not only failing, but persecuting people in our country simply for worshipping, for having tan skin, for saying or doing anything that can vaguely and indiscriminately be associated with “terrorism”.

And that’s why I think this Guardians business matters so much. Because while a Western blockbuster might not directly have an affectation on a war overseas, it will absolutely have a direct psychological affectation on a cultural war taking place here at home.

There are dozens of angles to talk about Guardians. I will let others tackle its poor use of action, others look into a feminist critique (which I dare say won’t look too good, despite Zoe Saldana’s best efforts), and others still look at its miraculous charm and the element known only as Groot. Not a lot of people are interested in questioning this movie for what I see as its most obvious offence. In the end, when talking about films, there isn’t good or bad. There is what is interesting to us, and what isn’t. What is responsible, and what is irresponsible. What helps us understand, and what sets us back.

And in its own little way, despite what I love about it, Guardians just set us back.

Thank you so much for reading,

-Ben

Afterword(s):

After letting this post sit for a few days, I figured I should address an even simpler issue some people have brought up when I’ve talked to them about this. I’ve had a few complaints that this look on GoTG is simply an oversimplification/overt extrapolation. Additionally, there’s this idea in this post that any film that simplifies a conflict into a good/evil binary is inherently doing an injustice to the world or something like that. And that’s not at all my point. What I’m saying is that using the specific rhetoric associated with “terrorism” as it is discussed in the modern western arena is wholly irresponsible. Ronan could have just as easily been dissociated with topical extremism and it would not have changed the movie at all, except for making it a little more obvious how little he was actually characterized. If filmmakers are going to associate with such a relevant issue, they accept both responsibility and blame if they screw it up or don’t handle it properly. And this whole idea of adopting the more relevant/topical/controversial associations for “commentary” is not new. Its the same misstep that directors take when depicting rape as a plot device when having absolutely no intention of handling such a relevant and difficult issue responsibly. The issue is used for shock, for attention, to make up for a lack of characterization, and as such it is not only poor writing but, I would argue, doing harm to all of those who are actually affected by the issues at hand. And a lot of the examples I list as being on the right track don't even have to nail it. They at least show a real effort of trying to understand and handle these issues. GoTG does not, not in the slightest.

To any friends that feel I’ve spoken beyond my place, I do totally defer to you. I spoke up about this film because I don’t hear any other voices doing so, but I wholly recognize that mine is not at all a voice of authority when it comes to those who identify as Arab or Muslim. To those who do so identify and to everyone else out there I send you nothing but love, humility, and ears ready to listen. <3

A Film A Day; Favorite Moments

Films have served as a constant source of guidance, inspiration, solace, and company for me. I always come back to them, on rainy days and starry nights and summers afternoons and everything in-between. I’ve been trying to watch a film a day recently, and have also tried to reflect on each one I’ve watched in some written form. I’ve failed at both of these tasks, but seek to atone by sharing some thoughts and memories from the journey so far. In chronological order, here are some of my favorite moments from the past 2 months of films. These aren’t meant to be didactic views nor do I wish to throw these thoughts away in a puddle of utter subjectivity. Instead, I’ll simply say this is how I feel right now about many of these films. I want desperately to know what you think, of the films and the filmmakers and techniques and practices and industry and everything in-between.

I started with V/H/S 2. Watching it with a friend was a good idea. The second installment of the found footage horror anthology...anthology is mighty scary. It jumps off the screen and seems to creep into every room it is watched in. I found it thoroughly enjoyable. One of the most memorable films of the selection of five short films was Gareth Evans’ film, which went from slow-burn docu-drama to apocalyptic hellscape in 7 minutes. The set up for it was genius, the performance exactly what it needed to be. He also somehow managed to craft a clockwork puzzle of five interlocking characters who all manage to meet their respective fates in stunning, brutal, and terrifying fashions. The gopro film by the creators of The Blaire Witch project was SO creative, and just utterly inspiration. It was perfectly camp and sarcastic, and reaffirmed their whole approach to found footage. It is “meta” in the most obvious sense of the word; it models the kind of “found footage” we interact with every day and sculpts into a terrifying narrative. It does not seek to bend the rules of the subgenre to make it work (like Evans’ film does to a certain extent). It bases everything around the central premise of messing with the audience by framing the narrative in footage that is identical to 100,000 youtube videos.

I watched Fruitvale Station on my phone while crashing in a friend’s spare room. It is a humane, stunning, IMPORTANT film. It is also the only film I have ever watched which moved me to gushing, uncontrollable tears. I will watch Short Term 12 or The Wind Rises and cry a tiny bit, it is just incredibly unlike me to cry. And with this film, I couldn’t stop. I was nearly sobbing. Having made a documentary about a narrative not unlike (in theme not circumstance) the events of Fruitvale Station, I beg everyone to watch it, and to really think and speak up about what our country does to young black men. It is something that deserves more than a paragraph in a blog post. The violence is an epidemic; it should be on the front of every newspaper and every magazine and every blog and every piece of media. And for those affected, I ask forgiveness for mentioning it in the context of something more casual; I feel more wrong leaving it out. Oh, and Fruitvale is nearly perfect in terms of craft. Every decision is appropriate for what it is trying to do. Michael B Jordan blows my mind as well.
I saw Godzilla (the new one) in Imax 3D with friends. As a lover of visual effects, the film was absolutely stunning. As a lover of narrative, not as much. One particular moment I loved was ‘Zilla’s stubby foot comin in from the top of the frame. So much love and respect to the visual effects teams who created the film, but that shot was just too silly.

I had the privilege of making one of my films a test screening of an indie a friend is editing! I can’t say anything about the film itself; I can say it is always inspirational and wonderful to watch a friends work.

I watched Favereau’s Chef and Ratatouille back to back, and while they seem similar (two films about filmmaking which use the idea of cooking as a not-so-covert metaphor), they couldn’t be more different. While Chef delves deep into a selfish and masturbatory quest for Favereau (who stars as a metaphor for himself) to proclaim that if you didn’t like his films, it was his executives faults, Ratatouille takes a much more sophisticated and earnest approach. That is not to say that Chef isn’t a blast to watch and that what Favereau is saying isn’t 100% true. Indeed, both can coexist and both can work. Personally though, I prefer Ratatouille. The plotting is more succint, the story more visual and more compelling. Plus I am a sucker for great animation.

Attack the Block was something that had been sitting in my queue for what felt like years. Tom Townend (cinematographer) and Joe Cornish (writer/director) are both heroes and inspirations. Their collaboration results in a pulp, witty, unapologetic, utterly visceral science fiction which is as humane as it is hilarious. Just an incredible joy to watch, and a perfect use of a “hero” archetype to say something genuinely important and interesting.

Returning to Gareth Edwards from the 2014 Godzilla, I watched his first film, Monsters. The narrative is fine, even really good. But what inspired me about this film was Edwards process. With the Lord of the Rings behind the scenes on loop, he did all of the visual effects and post production himself. It doesn’t always look good, but it almost always works. The monsters in the end are wonderful, and his use of VFX to tell the story is rare and wonderful. The visual storytelling in the film makes up for the mumblecore-ish dialogue. And then some.

Y Tu Mama Tambien; another film featuring another of my favorite Director/DP teams: Chivo and Cuaron. Not their first, but considered their first big feature together by many, it is just a film you absolutely have to see. It breaks all the rules, and makes the decisions that are right for it as a film. Cuaron’s work with the young actors is breathtaking too. Thinking about it makes me want to watch it again.

I love documentaries and don’t watch enough of them. The Unknown Known is Erol Morris’s latest in his trilogy of films about...war? Leadership? Mistakes? Tragedies? Morris’s outlook reminds me of that of Thomas Nagel; his wit is sharp and targeted, his irony earnest and heartbreaking. The Unknown Known is Morris at his best; confrontational, direct, merciless, and utterly respectful.

Boogie Nights. Boogie Nights is incredible.

In one rainy day I watched You’re Next, My Neighbor Totoro, Nebraska, and 22 Jump Street. All of them different. All of them wonderful. You’re Next is simple and executes perfectly; Totoro is a love filled letter to children, with sensibilities which are entirely humane, warm, and lovely. Nebraska is the essence of dignity. 22 Jump Street, a sharp comedy sequel which works as both an exploration of Lord and Miller’s relationship and a perfect take down of comedy sequels in general. Could say so much more about all of them. It was a really good day.

Watching Gravity loud, on a big screen, with another person/people, is the only way to watch that film. It is experiential. And Chivo and Cuaron’s mastery of the long take is terrifying and wonderful. They're so good it actually scares me. What can’t these two do? I would say the sky’s the limit but they’ve already broken through that and gone to fucking space.

One day I decided to revisit an old favorite. Singin’ In The Rain is just as much a joy now as it was when it came out, as it must have been as a screenplay and a shoot and an edit. It is sneaky how good it is; the visceral fun of the dance and song is so great that you don’t even notice the subtleties at play in the subtext. It’s perfect, simply but. I also love tap dance, and Gene Kelly is more than a star in that field, he’s a legend, and this film shows you why. He makes the hard stuff look easy, and the easy stuff look hard.

I caught Snowpiercer this passed week and found it to be a near perfect piece of science fiction, with more than traces of H.G. Wells and the greatest science fiction of the west. It’s a Korean film, which I think is really interesting and wonderful too; we seldom see the films that come out of Eastern studios. Ghibli and a few others slip through. But in terms of their visual sensibilities, they are doing some really interesting and cinematic things that bigger western films aren’t interested in; they’re telling their stories visually.

Edge of Tomorrow is a wonderful blockbuster and an exception to what I just mentioned. As somebody who studies editing and loves the craft of editing, it is an incredibly interesting film as well. Tom Cruise’s character’s decisions and thought processes are expressed so clearly in the editing as a mechanic of the film; it is exciting to get to see editors get to help in a more clear way. Editing is usually (and rightfully) the invisible art; the best editing is that which you don’t notice. But Edge of Tomorrow is an exception to a lot of rules. The VFX are also brilliant and a perfect example of the Favereau-pioneered strategy of a liberal combination of practical and CG to create photoreal and unintrusive results.

Once doesn’t look very good. It’s cinematography struggles both in its design, execution, and in the media. It was shot and finished in HDV, which is a codec which was great for its time, and has so little highlight preservation and so much grain, that it is hard to look at now. However, the film still has a lasting emotional affectation, and is still a joy to watch. While the all of the above matter, and do detract from the film, the music and story can still win the day. The scene in which Glen Hansard plays his father his EP encapsulates an experience every person who makes art (or for that matter, anything) has gone through. The line end of that scene floored me, inspired me, and made me feel whole and human.

Hayao Miyazaki might be my favorite director ever. I constantly come back to his films. I recently watched Ponyo, his little mermaid-esque kid’s movie, and Mononoke, which I would argue is the first film he made entirely for adults. The difference between the films is a testament to his versatility and mastery of his craft; the similarities show that he cares deeply for our world, our children, and understands how complex the moral framework of this whole biosphere really is. He combines an understanding of subtleties and intricacies with straightforward visual sensibilities and creates masterpieces. In many ways, he’s a great teacher who happens to be a filmmaker. We’re better because of him. Thank you so much for reading my unstructured, gushy, mostly innocuous and entirely silly thoughts on movies. Please let me know what you think, about the films, about the thoughts, about everything. My goal is for nothing but the best discussions on the art and creation and the biggest quesions of life. But until I figure out how to discuss all of those things, we should talk about movies. Cheers,
-Ben