If you didn’t know why the date August 28 became so significant in the fight for social justice in America…

…click the link below.

Emmett Louis Till

July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955

Godard doesn’t give a fuck about the Academy

Any readers of this blog who already assume that I’m a pretentious asshole won’t be surprised by the fact that I’m a big fan of Swiss-French film auteur Jean-Luc Godard. My friend sent me the link to this story that’s been developing this week, which I feel demonstrates how out of touch the American film industry is with the history of their medium, and that they just don’t seem to have a clue who their dealing with when it comes to Godard. Apparently the Motion Picture Academy has decided that they’ll be giving Godard an honorary Oscar. Since Tuesday, they’ve been trying to get a hold of him and he hasn’t returned any of their calls, faxes, emails, and they’ve heard nothing.

"We've been attempting to reach him since 7 o'clock Tuesday evening and we have as yet had no confirmation," Bruce Davis, the Academy's executive director, said late Wednesday afternoon. "We have tried by telephone, by fax, by emails to various friends and associates. We have sent a formal letter by FedEx. But we have certainly not been told he will show up at this point."
Davis said that possibility played no factor when the Academy's board determined recipients of the honorary Oscars, which will be presented in November at the second annual Governors Awards. Other recipients will be Eli Wallach, Francis Ford Coppola and Kevin Brownlow.

It’s kind of ridiculous that Hollywood didn’t take into account the possibility that Godard wouldn’t show up for the awards, given that he’s got a long-established reputation for being a social Marxist filmmaker with contempt (unintentional film pun…) for the studio film system. In 1995, when the New York Film Critics Circle named him their first-ever career achievement award recipient, he failed to show up and responded with this letter, as published by the Village Voice:

(Photo cred: C'est a chier)

Now all the American entertainment blogs are covering this story as though he’s just missing, off being an eccentric European somewhere, instead of intentionally blowing them off. Maybe I’m wrong and he will show up on the red carpet, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Hollywood Reporter: Jean-Luc Godard doesn’t know he’ll win Oscar

Brandon Bangs and Jackson Lawless

I enjoy military.

Sigh…

I’ve been watching Hillary Clinton’s speech from the Democratic National Convention in 2008 and feeling really sad, remembering how much of an amazing, hopeful time this was. I still have no regrets voting for her in the primaries and I know plenty of people who regret now that they didn’t choose her. As intense as the campaigns were, and as much as she and Obama made each other better candidates, this address from months after her concession has got to be her greatest moment. Remember what it was like when there was no Palin, no tea party, and how many inspirational figures there were under that roof that week – Hillary and Bill, Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, John Kerry, Michelle and Barack Obama. And if you ever forget just how important this party is for the country, and are thinking about staying home in November on Election Day, just watch this video.

Skip to 23 minutes for the part where she brings up suffrage and quotes Harriet Tubman. Fucking amazing.

Sul ponte di Perati

I’m a history buff, with a strong focus on social justice, class struggle, minority rights. But for some reason, I’m fascinated by fascist war songs. I use the term fascist loosely, to refer not just to Italian Fascism, but also parties that came into power during the same period, in Spain, Croatia, etc. In some cases these songs are still illegal to perform to this day in their countries of origin. But when I did a YouTube search for the song “Sul ponte di Perati (Bandiera nera)” [“On the Bridge of Perati (Black Flag)”], I was surprised that this specific clip actually came up and that it hasn’t been taken down:

The clip is from Pier Paolo Pasolini's last film, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, which is probably the most important film ever made that you’ve never seen. It’s infamous for its brutal depiction of life in Italy under Fascism, adapted from the Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom, involving graphic scenes of sexual torture. Apart from the nudity in this scene, note that the soldier on the floor in the background, behind the Duke and others seated at the table, is having both non-consensual sex with a captive woman taken from a local town, and consensual anal sex with a wealthy banker. With that going on, the Duke begins to lead the other aristocrats (libertines) and soldiers in “Sul ponte di Perati,” a song about honoring fallen soldiers.

Sul ponte di Perati
bandiera nera:
è il lutto della Julia
che va alla guerra.

È il lutto degli Alpini
che va alla guerra
la miglior gioventù
che va sotto tera.

And then there may or may not be some Last Supper imagery in there too. This is a film I highly recommend, though you may not sleep for a few days after seeing it.

Dear Blog…

I miss you, and I know I’ve been neglecting you lately. Well…. for a while actually. I should be doing more to keep you updated with how things are, trying to keep your traffic up. It’s not you, I swear. It’s me. I’ve just had too much stuff going on, and then not really anything important at all. I haven’t been able to decide if I’m in a transition phase in life or if things have been stagnating. It’s different every day. Maybe it’s both. Is that possible? But I’ve been writing a lot!!

Anyway, I promise to not forget about you. Heart, MDW.