After another day of middling success in staying ahead of all of my homework, I decided to treat myself and watch a movie. Since the last one I watched was the assembly cut of Alien 3, I feel obligated to watch something that was firmly grounded in reality, and hopefully didn't make me feel like taking a shower after watching it. This is by no means a bad thing. In fact I rather enjoyed it. And the fact that it is even coherent considering the almost literal production hell that it went though. While thematically, Virunga and Alien 3 couldn't be more different, the behind the scenes of Alien 3 and the forefront of Virunga are actually pretty close. They both examine the power struggle of corporations and passionate individuals trying to make something they love out of a historically valuable resource. Virunga is a national park located in one of the most disputed and violent territories in recent history. It is a place of epiphanic beauty. It is also a place of staggeringly valuable natural resources. The beauty and capital dichotomy is personified in this place. The wildlife on the surface is slaughtered for the smallest piece, as long as it has a large price tag. Ivory and the hands of gorillas, brutally hacked away. And below the surface, oil and ore, looking to be extracted with similar prescription. And in the middle, a fatherless man trying to give what he lost to abandoned gorillas. A reporter trying to unearth the corruption in SOCO's business activites, firsthand witnesses the lack of respect that this company has for the people living there. And a sworn defender of the park, who must put his life on the line and be first on the scene to the brutal mistreatment of the land and creatures he protects. I don't think that linking the latest news on what is going on there is ruining the story, and it is good to know that the appropriate side is winning at the moment. The Congo, as history has demonstrated, is a turbulent place. I hope that his success, albeit small, will be indicative of what is to come for such a valuable and beautiful place.
To cap off my globe-trotting exploration of music with a message, I would like to show you a recently posted Indian video that uses rapping to spread their message. It's has a strong feminist voice, a voice that is desperately needed to be heard, especially in India. After reading about rape and objectification through the rapists perspective in Disgrace, it's enlightening to gain even more understanding about how this issue effects people though the victims. It's a call to action which they are angry as well as thoughtful about, and they should be. And the use of hashtags and social media is making their efforts a two pronged attack, using not only rapping but the catalyst of things like Twitter to help their message spread. I hope the best for these, "BomBaebs," and may this effort prove fruitful.
Continuing the notion of music as a means of delivering a message that can transcend borders and cultures, a South African band, The Muffinz, is another example of delivering a version of the world as they see it. In their song, "The Ghetto," they describe a corrupt and unjust system that mistreats the poor and exploited in their society. They even go so far to use other words for ghetto in different languages to highlight the commonality of this system of exploitation of the underprivileged and overlooked. Which after watching movies like District 9 and Tsosti, as well as looking through the recent news, we can gather near systemic and deep rooted turbulence that exists in such a geographically gorgeous and rich place. And even with the handing over of power and territory back to its original people that we read about in Disgrace, it is still a messy business. While Pussy Riot expresses their emotions with percussive and tonal rage through punk rock, The Muffinz use a more smooth approach. The message of injustice is still there, just expressed in a different way, demonstrating the flexibility of music and human expression about similar topics.
Music is an especially fertile medium for expressing emotions. And in the last century, a lot of rebellious music has been able to permeate its way into the culture of America. Anti-war Vietnam music comes to mind. In modern Russia, there is a lot of controversy over the validity and sentiment towards Putins influence and policies. One band that has recently been brought to international fame over their music, message, stunts and prosecution is Pussy Riot.
While punk rock is not to everyone's taste, I personally have never been very sentimental towards it, I do see the appropriateness in its use in this case. It is loud, violent, powerful, and doesn't give a damn. Just like the stance that these women have taken against Putin's government. And just the fact that I am talking about them, their message, and they have been all over American television, even shows like the latest season of House of Cards, is a testament to the ability for music to transcend borders.
Since Russia has been on the minds of the world, and less significantly the minds of my group mates and myself, I decided to do a little investigating into the realm of Russian contemporary art. One of the most striking examples that I came across was the work of Annouchka Brochet. Her work is oil on canvas, and is literally dripping with sensuality and passion, without being glorifying. They are usually of women's faces, and more recently of female celebrity's lips. An interesting subject matter do deal with, since the modern celebrity's face is, with only some stretch of the imagination, painted over as lavishly as these canvases. And to focus on the lips, the source of much expression, artifice and especially make-up, is an inspired idea.
It looks like Boko Haram is being pushed out of Nigeria. Northern areas in the Borno state have been deemed clear. Territory has also been reclaimed in Chad and Niger from Boko Haram. This is good news. If Boko Haram was bad enough on their own, they have formed an alliance with ISIL. While this update on the Nigerian front has yet to be confirmed as of today, countries like France have committed troops to help Nigeria in the fight against these insurgents. We can only hope that this momentum will gather strength.
In an interesting correlation between David Lurie and the recent history of South Africa, a former police death squad leader by the name of Eugene de Kock, is going to be released early from his more than 200 year sentence. This is done after his efforts to seek out and apologize to the families that were affected by his atrocities. While this is very similar to the story of David Lurie and his eventual apology from the Isaacs, one must consider the sincerity of this apology. And even if it is wholly sincere, where is the line for forgiveness? Does the murder and torture of many people constitue a uncleanable slate? Either way, it looks that his release is imminent, and one must wonder what is life like for a man so saturated with disgrace. Will he be able to live with himself and grow in the way Lurie does in the story? One can only hope.
