OVO

Trevor Blake on Books: Papillon by Henri Charriere [LINK-ZUM]

Autobiography. Henri Charriere was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. This average man was placed in a situation far more dangerous than he was ready for, but through acts of cunning and physical strength he survived. Every attempt to imprison his body or crush his will failed. He never gave up. This average man wrote a book of his life experiences that became popular and which served as the subject of a popular film. I recommend both the book and the film.

The possibility that life for the average person could suddenly become much more difficult than anything that person has known before is always with us. Only by making ourselves strong in times of peace can we have a chance of turning adversities into opportunities. What Charriere survived gives me a healthy sense of perspective when I start to get wound up about the minor difficulties in my day-to-day life.

Wikipedia on Papillon.
Nine minutes from the film Papillon.

Labels: biographic, books, film, prison

Trevor Blake: Another Form of Expression [LINK-ZUM]

"All my life I have been acutely aware of a contradiction in the very nature of my existence. For forty-five years I struggled to resolve this dilemma by writing plays and novels. The more I wrote, the more I realized mere words were not enough. So I found another form of expression." - Yukio Mishima, in Paul Schrader's film Mishima. Collage by Trevor Blake.

Labels: books, fight, film, trevorblake

Trevor Blake: Pretend Stories About Children [LINK-ZUM]

Muhammad wrote about his wives in the Qu'ran. He wrote that his wives must never go outside his house and only speak to men besides him through a curtain (if at all). If his wives criticise him, they should know that they can be replaced. But perhaps most at odds with modern values is the age of Aisha, one of Muhammad's wives. Sources vary, but Aisha was no more than 16 and perhaps as young as 6 when Muhammad started having sex with her. That Muhammad had sex with children is a known part of the Islamic religion and Muslims expect their claim to be met with respect and tolerance and understanding and a cross-cultural perspective and the like.

But when a non-Muslim makes a film that makes the same claim, that Muhammad had sex with children, he is advised to not release the film because Muslims will kill him and the police will not protect him.

Who here is deserving of respect? What does respect mean?

Labels: film, islam

Trevor Blake: World-Wide Protest to Islamic Videos [LINK-ZUM]

Hamas has broadcast an episode of a puppet-based television show for children in which President Bush is stabbed to death and the White House is converted into a mosque. Understandably, Muslims and non-Muslims alike around the world have protested against this film. The Iranian envoy to the Netherlands has been summoned to the Dutch embassy. Jordinians are protesting the film, the filmmakers have been banned from entering Indonesia, many in Malaysia are calling for a boycott against the nation where the film came from, the film's Web site has been hacked, Iran has called the film horrible, Afghanistan has expressed concern....

Ha ha, April fools! Actually the film encouraging children to kill Americans is okay, no worries. It's the film made up of videos shot by Muslims of Muslims acting on the orders of Muslims to carry out their duties as Muslims that is the problem. The film Fitna could have been made by Osma bin Ladin. It says little that the Muslims don't say about themselves. It's only when someone in the West says that killing people for thinking differently is not acceptable that the protests begin. Killing people is okay, but other people saying 'don't kill people' - why...

Labels: film, islam, video

Trevor Blake: Fitna and the United Nations [LINK-ZUM]

From Wikipedia: "Fitna is a film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Dutch parliament. The movie offers his views on Islam and the Qur'an." The film is available online from Wikileaks, Google Video, and via bittorrent.

Jorge Sampaio is the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations. Mr. Sampiao issues a call for respect and calm:

The recent release of an insulting film on the Holy Qur'an seems to serve no other purpose than to cause offence. The film may provoke and prompt social unrest, and encourage extremist groups within European societies whose agenda is to discriminate against and marginalize Muslim immigrants. Similarly, this offensive film may add to tensions between different cultures and may give rise to the idea that Europe or the West as a whole are hostile to Islam. So let us always remember that misrepresentation fuels extremism and extremism appears to validate misrepresentation. That is the vicious circle we have to firmly oppose and avoid. We will all be the losers if we fail to immediately defuse this potential crisis, which will only serve to entrench already polarized opinions and to feed stereotypes and misconceptions that deepen patterns of hostility and mistrust among peoples and societies.

At the core of this situation is a trend towards extremism in many of our societies. We should indeed beware of overemphasizing it, because extremism anywhere is extremism everywhere, thanks to new media technologies. Few people think of themselves as extremists, but many can be pushed towards an extreme point of view, almost without noticing it, when they feel that the behavior or language of others is extreme. We therefore deeply regret this offensive film.

Mr. Sampaio's statement continues and may be read in full here. Fitna presents the words of the Qur'an as text, then shows Muslims and Muslim leaders reading that text and explaining what it means, then shows Muslims and Muslim leaders acting on that explanation. If the words, explanation and acts are murderous, it is not the fault of a film that reports such murders that is to blame.

The tension between different cultures presented in the film are as follows. In the West there is a pluralism in which filmmakers can make films and cartoonists can make cartoons without the threat of State-sanctioned death; a pluralism in which homosexuals can be homosexuals without the threat of State-sanctioned death; a pluralism in which women can be women without the threat of genitals mutilation. In the Muslim world, there is a monoculture in which filmmakers and cartoonists and authors and people in buildings and people on buses and people on trains and people just about anywhere can be put to death; a monoculture in which homosexuals can be put to death; a monoculture in which women can have their genitals mutilated. The pluralism of the West tries to include the monoculture of the Muslim world, tries to greet as friends those who are murdering them. The Muslim world contains no such contradiction. Mr. Sampaio uses ideas of culture, race and religion interchangeably. To condemn Islam is to be racist, he seems to say. It is not the case that culture, race and religion are so interchangeable, and to make that claim is deceptive.

This film may cause offense. The ten thousand men, women and children killed by Muslims since 11 September 2001 causes me more offense. How can it be that murder is a matter of culture while art is a criminal offense? The pluralism of the West has been perverted into cultural relativism.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made the following statement about Fitna:

I condemn, in the strongest terms, the airing of Geert Wilders' offensively anti-Islamic film. There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free expression is not at stake here. I acknowledge the efforts of the Government of the Netherlands to stop the broadcast of this film, and appeal for calm to those understandably offended by it. Freedom must always be accompanied by social responsibility.

The United Nations is the centre of the world's efforts to advance mutual respect, understanding and dialogue. We must also recognize that the real fault line is not between Muslim and Western societies, as some would have us believe, but between small minorities of extremists on different sides with a vested interest in stirring hostility and conflict.

This reads to me like nothing so much as a man encouraging his neighbors to continue paying 'protection money' to the gang that controls his neighborhood. The plain words of the Qur'an, the recorded speeches of Muslims and Muslim leaders, the video of Muslims using a hand knife to saw off the head of kidnap victims... somehow these are worthy of mutual respect, understanding and dialogue. It is a film that accurately portrays these that is hateful, not the acts themselves. It is a film that is to blame for inciting violence, not what the film portrays. This film should be banned by law, but somehow that is not a violation of the right of free expression. And once again we are offered the claim that the pluralism of the West is to be found in the Muslim world if the West will only keep quiet about the Muslim world's vested interest in stirring hostility and conflict. Once again we are told that the extremists are to found on both sides. But from where I'm sitting one side made films and cartoons and books, the other side kills people.

I am disappointed by these two statements by United Nations representatives regarding the film Fitna and regarding Islam.

Labels: art, books, comics, film, islam, theocracy, video

Trevor Blake: Women Dressed as Alex from Stanley Kubrick's Film A Clockwork Orange [LINK-ZUM]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and there are others, but you get the idea.

Labels: art, film, sewing

Alfred Hitchcock Wiki: 1000 Frames of Hitchcock [LINK-ZUM]

"1000 Frames of Hitchcock" is an attempt to reduce each of the 52 available major Hitchcock films down to just 1000 frames. You can click on any of the frames to get a larger image.

Labels: film

Trevor Blake: Peaceful Protest after Amsterdam attacks [LINK-ZUM]

Police in the Dutch city of Amsterdam say several peaceful protests were held in the sixth night of memorials after officers shot a Moroccan man dead. The 22-year old was killed after entering a police station where he stabbed two police officers. Eleven 'not in our name' protests have been held this week in the Slotervaart district of Amsterdam, which is mainly populated by immigrants. Police said that a group of about 35 young people were behind the honoring of the attacked police officers.

"There is a lot of police in the streets. This is the work of a majority who take don't want the violence of extremists associated with their religion of peace," said a spokesman. The dead Moroccan man, identified as Bilal B, had been receiving treatment for psychiatric problems. He had been questioned over contact with Islamic extremists who were linked to the murder of film maker Theo van Gogh in 2004. About 1m of the Netherlands' 16m population are Muslims.

[None of the above actually happened. The actual article is to be found at link. Muslims are willing to kill each other and anyone else all day every day over perceived insults from non-Muslims, but they are largely silent when it comes time to be accountable for their own actions. What would the world be like if just as many Muslims peacefully marched in the street saying that 9/11 was not done in their name as there are Muslims killing people over comics and movies? Do Muslims march for peace, ever, anywhere? - Trevor Blake]

Labels: 9/11, comic, fight, film, islam

media tags [LINK-ZUM]

architecture art blog books comic comics film flash mac music palm periodical podcasts sewing spoken television ubuntu video zine

Labels: architecture, art, blog, books, comic, comics, film, flash, mac, music, palm, periodical, podcasts, sewing, spoken, television, ubuntu, video, zine

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