Quantum of Solace Falls Back into Genre Film, in a Bad Way

Director Marc Forster’s latest addition to the James Bond legacy, Quantum of Solace, has some nice tricks but never really solidifies itself to keep my interest. When I saw the trailer about a month ago, I knew I was going to love every minute of it. Daniel Craig instantly became my favorite Bond with his debut, Casino Royale. I thought that had the depth and intrigue of a classic Bond film but with the added storyline and contemporary flare needed to compete with today’s tough crowds.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes QofS weaker than its recent predecessor. Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball) takes great liberties with the camera work: his sweeping motion instantly adds energy to the shots and creates a ever-changing landscape for Bond to traverse; the inclusion of clever, super-imposed titles signifying a new location gave the film a edgy style that bordered on distraction but was ultimately just cute; the characters are beautiful and wear amazing clothes and drive amazing cars (a must for a Bond flick).

I hate to say it, but the story finally drug this installment down. Casino Royale is a tough act to follow. That film won back all the average Bond fans that had finally checked out with the last few Brosnan attempts and quieted the die-hard fans that thought Craig was too blond to be Bond. The writers tried to take the easy way out by continuing Casino’s story line and using the same characters (not usually seen with Bond films). Never revisiting that story, they forced us to remember what happened and hoped we would connect everything ourselves. Usually, I hate when they spoon-feed the back story to the audience but give us something to work with! I never really knew what the bad guys wanted, how they were going to get it, or what was stopping them. Most of the time, I didn’t know who was chasing Bond and therefore didn’t care if he got away or not. Because I never fully knew the story I never fully cared about the success or failure of his “mission” (which was never official). The film approached the end and I just thought, “is the world safer now? Did we win?” The writers never fully delivered because I would bet they didn’t think they would have to. James Bond sells itself.

There is no theme or image that makes this film distinct from the rest of the canon. Moonraker is in space! Goldfinger kills a girl by painting her with gold paint (an image revisited with oil in QofS… get some new material…) Absent is the enormous Cuban satellite to slide down, or the invisible/remote controlled car, or the jet pack; anything that the audience could talk about on the way to the parking lot. Which makes this just a collection of themes and stereotypes that have to be checked off the list or something. The recent films have also tried (with varying success) to include powerful women characters but now the sexism is back. The female leads are portrayed as dumb, persuasive, and needy and get in the way at best. A huge step back from where the franchise was headed, in my opinion.

I can’t say I was completely dissapointed, it still has pretty people doing amazing things (some even off-the-wall for a Bond movie though) and that must carry some weight. Maybe my expectations were too high but this never filled the shoes that current action movies are making bigger and bigger every day. Go to see pretty people but don’t expect to have much to talk about on the way home.

Gay Rights are Human Rights

I have never been more proud of political commentator Keith Olbermann then I was last night when he devoted his “special comment” to the embarrassing and disturbing passage of Proposition 8 (legislation overturning Civil Unions to gay and lesbian couples in California in the latest election.)

Olbermann actually personified my position and feelings on the issue quite accurately. He began by situating himself as a straight man with no close gay relatives but with friends and colleagues prohibited from enjoying the same freedoms he does because of their sexual orientation. This is exactly how I feel; I am not a gay man, nor do I have any gay relatives, that I am aware of, but I do have many gay friends that I would like to believe are just as American, and indeed, just as deserving of all the rights and responsibilities provided by those unalienable rights in our Declaration of Independence.

I also like how Olbermann used the analogy of other minorities getting married as a point of contention because that is one of the first defenses I use when I discuss gay rights as well. Basically, if we as a country think that African Americans should marry “white” people or marry each other (something once illegal in this country) then so should we defend the right for gay unions; if those with a mental or physical handicap can enjoy governmental sanctioned marriage then so should a lesbian couple [I am in no way suggesting that homosexuality is a handicap.] Or, since it is Veteran’s Day, what if there was a law saying all those that served in our nation’s armed forces could not marry? In my opinion, this is the exact same issue. It is the controlling body of the country personifying their fear of a group of people they are afraid of or don’t understand.

Actually, I do not even think we have the right to put it on the ballot. This is not an issue that you can poll the general public about. It does not matter what the majority opinion is, the Bill of Rights was actually created to protect the minority. We would need no First Amendment if everyone spoke the majority opinion all the time, for example. Again, I would argue the majory of the South in the late 19th early 20th century would be opposed to African American unions but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be protected by our country. All that voted for Proposition 8, Amendment 2 in Florida, and the countless other public measures designed to inhibit freedoms to Americans should literally feel ashamed of yourselves. What gives you the right to think you have the power to legislate humanity? That does not sound like the “small government” conservatives hold so near and dear…

The following is a clip of Olbermann’s “Special Comment.” He more clearly and effectively conveys my ideas, giving more attention to the idea of love (or lack there of in the world) and the need to allow the ember of love to burn. Please take a look at this video. We must remember they have done nothing to us and their lives do not affect us in negative ways. We cannot legislate sexuality, we cannot legislate freedom, we cannot legislate love.

Final Election Thoughts Before We Move On (or so we can move on…)

Politics, and this historic presidential election in particular, seemed to be the only thing that dominated public discourse, popular culture, and this blog for the past two months. It’s finally over, but I have a few closing thoughts about the election and the state of the country before we move on.

Let me begin by congratulating President-elect Barack Obama, and his campaign. I must confess that while not everyone, including Democrats, believe he is that great I happen to believe he will be noted as one of the top 3 or 4 greatest Presidents of all time. I think his personality, speaking skills, background, political theories, and, yes, skin color will lift him to at least “Top 20″ status before even taking the oath. Bill Maher has called him the Jackie Robinson of politics and that holds true for a number of reasons. Jackie was the rookie of the year in his barrier-breaking season and became the MVP shortly thereafter. So not only did he “happen to be black,” he was a darn good baseball player to boot. Talent certainly makes shattering stereotypes easier. And most importantly, if it wasn’t going to be Obama than who was going to be our first minority? He’s talented, for the reasons I’ve mentioned above, and he did not want to be pitied or use white guilt to get elected; he used his policies to speak for themselves.

Obama’s campaign, without a doubt, has set the new standard for Presidential races. The painstaking deliberation, forethought, and holistic understanding that went into every decision they made is almost impossible to imagine. The money they raised (from 3.2 million contributors) is mind boggling. They never stopped and it paid off.

The first post-election question I have, however, is “what if?” What I mean by that is the Democrats ran a flawless campaign. They nominated a charismatic, uniting candidate. The economy is in shambles. The rest of the world does not have a good idea of us anymore. The campaign McCain became the figure head for might be documented in political science books for decades to come as the “what not to do” example. They never stuck to their message. They chose an unknown, nationally uninformed governor (who just happened to be very attractive?) from a state no one hears about except in relation to a wildlife reserve. Their economic adviser calls Americans whiners. [I recently received an email explaining all the differences between the Columbia/ Harvard grad and the man who finished 4th from the bottom out of over 850 at the naval academy; the community organizer vs. a man who crashed a million dollar plane 6 times; one married one vs. one divorced his wife after a disfiguring car accident, etc.] What I am trying to say here is what if even one of these things went the other way? Is this how crazy the country has to get and how lopsided the campaigns have to become for the Democrats to win an election? And while it might have been by a safe margin, it was by no means a land slide……..

One of the most respected men in American politics, Colin Powell, publicly endorsed Obama and while on meet the press he brought up an interesting point: in regards to the McCain supporters attacking Obama for being a Muslim Powell retorted with, “So what if he was?” Yes! What if he was? There is nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t be. Is it easier to hide your racism if he is Muslim instead of Black? There was another so what in North Carolina. Elizabeth Dole (who lost) attacked her opponent for consorting with Atheist organizations. So what! There is nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t be a Muslim and nothing that says you have to be a Christian… Luckily, so many personal attacks from the Right only distracted a little bit. It was actually amazing at times to see how effective McCain’s personal attacks were. He convinced his followers Obama was a terrorist, un-American, a Muslim, etc; so much so that he actually had to calm his rallies down because they were getting violent. After controlling those, he switched to Socialist and that stuck like sweat beads on Joe the Plumber’s forehead. I watched an episode of the West Wing last weekend and the Democratic President was in a town hall meeting and jokingly said to the man in the back, “you’re getting ready to call me a Socialist aren’t you?” That was 10 years ago! Find some new material guys! Taxes distribute wealth, democrats didn’t invent the idea of taxing. Find some new material.

On a different topic, Florida, and I would assume other states as well, did pass a Marriage Protection amendment…. by something like a 66% to 33% margin. I won’t get into all my philosophies because this is my most passionate social cause but it is just sad to see that the progress that we are making is still in small steps.

I am estatic about the political future of the country. I literally weep everytime I see footage of the hundreds of thousands of people cheering all over the country and world for the victory of Barack Obama. As his acceptance speech suggested, he will listen to all sides, especially when they disagree. I will try to do the same in my political converations to come. We now have a President we can unite behind and I am excited about the possibilities for the new future of this country.