Apocalypse Now

So, I just watched Apocalypse Now. What is there to say about that?
As I was watching it, I started to get curious, extremely curious, not about how it would end (since I figured it out about halfway through), but about how other people responded to it.
The reason I was curious was simple: the movie wasn't obvious. I don't remember the last time I watched a movie like that. It was, not enigmatic, but, you had to look for the answers. I found myself listening so carefully to the dialogue that I paused when the phone rang. It was important not to be distracted for a minute.
Now, I have this little theory about literature, about what it is and why it lasts. I think that a part of what is literary is the fact that the text does not explain itself fully, it requires you to come to your own conclusions about what it means, if you are indeed curious to know what something means.

And who wouldn't be curious? If the text doesn't mean anything, what is the point of reading it? I think it's fair to expect a text to mean something. It's like an unspoken agreement between the author and the audience: I will make sure my text means something, but it's up to you to figure out what. It's actually kind of like a game.

Anyway, my weird theory has given me a rather detached perspective on texts. It's as if I rate the qualities of the text by examining whether they attempt to evoke a meaning, and whether they are too obvious about that meaning. I do this, and I don't attempt to extract the meaning myself. Or rather, I try not to try not to, if that makes sense. Because sometimes a text is so compelling, that it positively begs for me to dissect it. But in general, I hate tearing them apart, I hate looking inside to find the meaning of things, because that kills it. It's like catching a frog, and to find out how it lives, you tear it open, pull it apart. Only, that kills it and you are left without answers. You might ask how I enjoy texts without looking for their meaning. And I'd say it's like going to a magic show. Having my mind fooled into believing the illusions is the pleasure, as is acknowledging the skill of a master magician. It's like that.

So, with this weird theory in my mind, I watched Apocalypse Now. And it did all these things. As it progressed, it challenged your perspective on things, and it hinted at its meaning, without ever saying it. It's like a riddle, where the teller can name anything about the object to be guessed, except the object itself. And, when the solution to the riddle still eludes you, the clues seem impossible, contradictory, wrong, like they don't fit together. What we don't catch we keep, what we catch we throw away. It dries as it gets wetter. It gets bigger the more you take away.

So, after watching the movie, I got online, threw the title into google, and got pages and pages of reviews. I read four. They said things like "the pointlessness of war" and "a parallel to everyday life" and "Coppola couldn't have know what he was creating, couldn't have known what he meant," "hypocrisy and bureaucracy of war." All these readings, all these solutions to the riddle Coppola posed.

I'm not saying they're wrong. But they're vast. There are a million million readings of this film, which is why it was amazing. Well, that and the excellent cinematography, music, editing, production design, editing etc etc etc. It's difficult. It's beautiful. And that's why it's good.

And that... is all I have to say ... about that.

Best,
Kori

Cell Phone Hell

Who hasn't been pissed off by the cell phone companies? Am I alone in feeling trampled on by their giant ignorant boots in their stampede to get my money? What the hell is a system access fee anyway? I'll tell you. It's a, oh, so you've decided to get a cell phone and contract with our company, and we're about to ring all that through for you, but since you're clearly already stuck with paying for our stuff, we're gonna charge you an extra $30. Because we can. DEAL WITH IT.

And then there's the surprise policy change that takes effect halfway through your contract. Surprise! You're already trapped for another to years with us, unless you feel like paying exorbitant prices for dropping us altogether! And I guarantee that these "surprises" aren't fun for anyone. What, you mean we've been letting you receive text messages for free? Good lord, we'll have none of that. Surprise! What, you mean we told you that we'd let you upgrade your phone for a reduced price? Well, you see, we secretly changed our minds about that. You'll have to wait a year with your crap/broken/stolen phone, or you can buy a new one. Yes, I know we said you could have an iPhone for a fraction of the price. But, sweetie, you didn't honestly believe us, did you?

Or you can get a pay-as-you-go phone. Of course, you can't get a nice phone without a contract. No, we'll give you the shit that breaks, nothing special phones. And of course, you have to go out and buy vouchers for those. And, of course, if you don't use all the minutes, they just vanish at the end of the month. And no, you can't just buy a $5 voucher, because then you get the most viciously useless evil rates imaginable. I mean, who does the whole weekend and evening plan thing any more? Plans like that should have gone the way of the dodo a long time ago, but no, such fossils are still lurking in those useless pay-as-you-go phones.

It seems like, no matter where you turn, cell phone companies show you shiny objects, say words like "free" and "no hidden fees", and when you go all dewy-eyed, that's when they slap in the added fees, the surprise policy changes and the ball-and-chain till-death-do-us-part contracts and ridiculous rates that just slide right under your nose. And we put up with all this crap? Why?

Because we are addicted to cell phones. Because the words "I don't have a cell-phone" coming from anyone over the age of ten receive shock, then fear, then deference, as if said non-cell phone user was a sort of leper or freak, or else some sort of higher being that has achieved nirvana in life and has transcended beyond the earthly need of instant communication.

But, as most people can never hope to reach such a cellphoneless utopia, then perhaps we'd better start praying to the cell phone gods (or writing angry letters to the media, communications giants and our government) and hope for some reforms.
Or maybe we could take a ship full of cellphones and dump them in a harbour somewhere. It's worked in the past.

Best,
Kori

Welcome to my Blog

Hello

There are a million little things that annoy me. I think other people should be annoyed with me. Therefore I created this blog. Although I don't, in fact, have even the slightest belief that this will be read by a single other person in the entire world, I still want to write what 's on my mind.

So, here goes.

Best,
Kori