You Scream, we scream, we all scream in bad dreams!!!!!

There is nothing like a send up of an iconic work of art to send a communal shiver up the spines of Sentient Beings. Here is my Throwback Thursday:

Edvard Munch’s iconic masterpiece, THE SCREAM, attained this status because its unique take on the horror of life (rather than the fear of death) caught our collective imagination so brilliantly. For Throwback Thursday, my toss from the Bush Era, ripple effect from the Reagan Era.

YOU TUBE OF ANOTHER INTERPRETATION OF THE SCREAM!

Trains & Trickle Down Economics & Those Who Challenge Dysfunctional Systems

This is one of the best films in recent years that deals with a dystopian future caused by human beings who destroy the balance of things. There seems to be a lot of films that embrace this theme: DIVERGENT, 28 DAYS LATER, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, EQUILIBRIUM. It’s a lengthy list. It’s almost as if there is a collective fear that this will happen within the near future. The only question seems to be which proposed scenario will be the cause of the collapse of life as we know it?

My cultural/political filters also see bad management & the evil political manipulation that makes ‘Trickle Down Economics’ (the stuff of Ronald & Nancy Reagan and Margaret Thatcher) as critical underpinnings to a full understanding of this endless train ride. The selling of a system that elevates mediocrity at the expense of the basic needs of the vast majority of humanity is the branding that we have settled for. Waves of eye-level, published nostalgia about Ronald Reagan give credence to the brilliant salesmanship of bad government. The same holds true for the selling of Margaret Thatcher as a visionary. These were dreadful people who gave not a tinker’s piss about the Commonweal. As long as they got their votes & had their ducks in order for their supporters, the rest of us could rot.

This film is a metaphor, first class, second class, third class–each person in his/her PRE-ORDAINED place, never to change, never to experience the true abundance of Mother Earth. Mother Earth is destroyed to provide elephant tusks for paperweights. Such cynical politics contains the seed of discontent, always to be placated by lies, deception, and (in this case) literal cannibalism.

Full of irony & brilliant performances (is there ANYTHING that either Tilda Swinton or Ed Harris can’t do & do splendidly?), this film is a wonder of eye opening surprises & an ending that leaves the audience wondering: Will we make it? Will we survive the self-absorbed, destructive habits of our nature? Will we continue to enslave ourselves to the Donald Trump prototypes of the world & the endless bad photocopies of his corporate whoreish ways?

This train ride is a thought-provoking experience…and watch out for squeaky-clean, elementary school teachers. That’s where the indoctrination starts.

YOU TUBE TRAILER FOR SNOWPIERCER-2013-Released 2014

“I DEMAND TOTAL SILENCE FROM THE QUIET ONES”–Princess Melita Bonaparte

“Noise. Noise. Noise. Everyone makes noise, but no one says anything,” grumped Princess Melita Bonaparte. I heard too much noise today & am in a bad mood. If I am in a bad mood, you need to go into hiding!”

With that, we see that Mt. Vesuvius has put us on notice.

But wait, there’s hope. Her Imperial Highness had a photo-shoot today, and nothing pleases her or calms her down like the flash of light that comes from “Just one more, please, Your Highness.” Her mood lifted considerably. And she permitted Easter to be celebrated.

But, be careful! This happy time might not last too long. She thought she was going to get the part, and that the photo-shoot was being done to announce her being cast in the about-to-be shown film. How can we approach her & tell her that this is another done deal?

Who is willing to die for art?

Poster for The Quiet Ones @ Market/Church Street MUNI Stations, San Francisco. How do we tell Her Imperial Highness that she did not get the part?

You Tube From The Quiet Ones

Princess Melita Bonaparte is in a snit. “They clearly indicate that this is based upon real events. The real events were taken directly from my childhood. And I remember when college professors thought it their duty to smoke all during their classes,” coughed the despairing Princess.

“Let me show you who should have been cast in the lead role.”–Princess Melita

“Now, can there be any doubt that I was entitled by my training to play this part?”–Princess Melita Bonaparte

“I die for art every time a part that should go to me is given to someone else.”–Princess Melita Bonaparte. Her surname seems to make more sense as time goes on…

“My torments in this life can only add more to any role I play,” said the Princess

Princess Melita Bonaparte: “I bring real horror to life, and live it on a daily basis.”

“I invent google glasses & they take that away from me. I pick up trash from the streets, and they accuse me of being the one littering. They take & take & take–I can only suffer..Someday, the Greek government will thank me for my efforts in Restoration of their Monarchy! Till then, I die for my art.”

Alice Walker & The Color Purple-14 February 2014

The Saint (light) was truly put in St Valentine’s Day 2014 @ the Castro Theatre with the screening of the film, THE COLOR PURPLE. This event was produced by Marc Huestis & featured Academy Award nominee, Margaret Avery, in person, to meet friends of this film, and to later discuss her experiences in being part of this film project on stage prior to the screening.

You Tube Trailer for Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth-directed by Pratibha Parmar

If asked what it is that sets this film based upon Alice Walker’s novel apart from others, my answer would be simply this: Alice Walker told the truth. To elaborate, she went against the grain of what seemed to be generally expected of a writer from the African-American community: she made critical observations about domestic violence & extreme brutality within that community. Up until she wrote her book, there was almost no one outside of the black community who had any understanding or concept of what was going on. The subjugation of women, was sub rosa, understood only from the perspective of being a well-kept secret. Prior to her work, the standard of much African-American based writing was within a framework of being victim, victim of a hostile dominant culture, which had been the culture of slavery. There is plenty of reason for this. However, by stepping out of this confinement, and by writing about other profound problems that could not be wiped away by casting blame upon the slave system, she opened doors that had never been considered, let alone opened. By exposing the concept that African-American people were harming each other, she took huge risks & paid dearly, in terms of her peace of mind & personal safety. She became the target of personal attacks. From the standpoint of many African-American leaders, she let ‘her people’ down & made them look bad. From her perspective, she was simply giving a voice to cries that had gone unheard for generations. It was time for these wounds to heal, and the only way that this could happen was to tell about the hurts that were being inflicted upon black women, particularly those whose life experiences locked them into silence & reluctant submission: a daily denial of their personal identity. Incest & rape were a given, a given in the rural Deep South that was locked away from the eyes of a more socially & financially affluent world. Alice Walker had vision enough to imprint a series of images of women who had remained invisible. Within that context, there was also the subject of lesbian relationships. For women to love each other & express that love on a sexual level was the deepest kind of secret that so many endured in total silence & could never talk about or share with others. Alice Walker gave light to this darkness, a voice to this conspiracy of silence, allowing, eventually, for these quiet sufferers to be heard & understood, and accepted. Her writing about this helped pave the road to personal freedoms unheard of 30 years ago, even outside of the Deep South. Today, light shines for all of us, in part, because Alice Walker told the truth. Once told, the truth would expand, and set us all free, day by day, year by year, state by state.

The women who loved each other in The Color Purple posed no threat to anyone, except that threat that is based upon fear-based thinking. Fear-based thinking by definition denies the truth, and when exposed to light, shrieks & screams, as the ugly lies fall away. The simple facts of Universal Law show us that hate has to be taught, drummed into the head, word by word, day by day. Once exposed, it must die.

YOU TUBE: The Color Purple, The film based upon Alice Walker’s telling the truth & showing us all that darkness cannot stand before light, lies cannot stand before truth.

Margaret Avery You Tube About Facebook

Oprah Winfrey Talks About The Color Purple & Surrender-

The impact of this book & the film is still being felt, discussed, and lived since its publication in 1982. Whoever would have imagined how this book would open doors & provide careers for the talents of so many of its film cast? That the special screening on St Valentine’s Day was sparsely attended in no way diminishes the importance of how this book opened up life for millions of those who were touched by the book & film, both by providing information to the dominant white culture about a life they could not have possibly known about, and by providing hope & inspiration for those who had lived the kind of life that The Color Purple tells about. We all learned something from this & the freedoms that have been recently gained are a testament to its profound message.

Levity: Her Imperial Highness, The Princess Melita Bonaparte Poses as “Shug” Avery outside the Castro Theatre prior to the screening.

Princess Melita Bonaparte is waiting to be called to audition for the remake of this film. She may have a very long wait, But don’t tell her. The less she knows the better off we all are!

The Bonaparte Double Whammy!

The Princess has a sort of “double whammy” in terms of her career. She wants to be taken seriously as a member of the Imperial Family (who refuse to see her) & to be taken seriously as an actor (who is never called to audition). She cries about all this, but somehow keeps on trying, refusing to be defeated.