Dreary Films

I really enjoy going to the movies and wondered why it was that recently many have left me somewhat depressed, even when they had positive endings. I wondered if it was just my attitude that had shifted. Several months ago a friend of mine sent me a link which discussed digital color grading with a limited palette that highlights teal and orange while muting all of the other colors.

This is done with the idea that complementary colors to flesh tones will make the images stand out. Unfortunately, this makes the skin color of most light-skinned persons orange with the complementary backgrounds various colors of teal. This is very evident in most of Hollywood’s recent releases. Two that I saw recently are Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood.

While I enjoyed both movies, I felt they came across as muted and dreary. As this had been brought to my attention prior to my seeing these movies, I specifically watched for the effects and was unsurprised to find that the lack of the full color spectrum in most scenes was depressing to me, regardless of the message of the movie.

This emasculation of color in films is akin to the castration of stories in books which many authors do by limiting character development in favor of action. I hope that both authors and directors/producers/editors soon come to their senses and provide their audiences with the full spectrum of stories and visuals rather than the ‘dumbed down’ versions they believe we will stomach. In both cases, simplified does not better art make.

PS: See http://theabyssgazes.blogspot.com/2010/03/teal-and-orange-hollywood-please-stop.html?spref=fb for more information.

Spirituality vs. Religion

I was raised in a traditional, monotheistic religion and attended parochial schools. Throughout my indoctrination into the precepts of the church, it was strongly claimed that there existed only ‘One True Religion’ and that it was the one I was being taught. When I was younger I accepted all of the claims without much question as my parents espoused the same doctrine. However, as I gained life experience, met many truly good people who followed other spiritual paths, traveled throughout the world, and lived for a while in other countries, my perceptions shifted.

This raised the question of how there could be only one true religion? If this were so, I wondered, would not the false religions slowly die off and the true on be practiced by the majority of the world’s population? Then an explanation dawned on me.

When a political hierarchy is imposed upon spirituality the combination becomes religion with spirit submitting to temporal authority. And religion, by its very nature, must claim truth in its tenets. If not, then none would become its adherents and surrender their personal sovereignty  to the agency of the church.

That explication opened vistas to me and broke through some difficulties I was having in sharing the cultures and spirituality within my books. The spiritual concepts of the stories seemed so foreign to those raised within our culture.

So, what does this mean? It shows that religion is neither true or false, good or evil. That religion is a political tool. That its application provides positive or negative results for both its followers and nonbelievers. It is my observation that for most people, joining a religious organization necessitates the denigration of their personal spirituality and the submission of their will and power for the greater good of the entity.

The persons who are most empowered in this world are those who refuse to submit their spirits to the will of others. They either remain completely independent of the politico-social organizations identified as organized religions, become powerful within a religion by using the energy of its adherents while remaining unfettered by its limitations, or create their own spiritual path by selecting elements that resonate on a personal level from among the various faiths they come into contact with.

Being empowered means not living as a sheep, servant or slave to any doctrine or individual. It also requires taking personal responsibility, which is something religions do not want as it denies them the ability to use that person as a battery.

Glory of Spring – Tórspir

Springtime, what a glorious time of year! It’s not that the other seasons lack in splendor or intensity, it is that spring embodies the excitement of that time of year of maximum proliferation, of the tug-of-war between winter and summer, resulting in extreme and rapidly changing weather. The gestation of winter is completed and life is busting out all over!

I recently visited Northern Ohio and while there the high temperatures went from the upper 20s (F) to the mid 70s (F) and after several days and nights of magnificently raging thunderstorms, tórspirs if you will, the highs dropped down to the lower 30s (F). During this period of warmth and wet, flowers popped up among the brown of the leaves and grass. Purples, whites, pinks, yellows and reds all poked their faces out to the world.

Down here in the everglades, our seasons are not as pronounced as in the northern latitudes and so I am transfixed when I get the opportunity to experience them directly. The spring tórspirs that I reveled in create so much energy. It crackles around one and I understand in Nórland how the Rús not only cause such storms, but revel in them also. Have you ever made love during such a maelstrom? It increases my ecstasy at least tenfold. I would say that I feel sorry for my partners after such a ride but from what they say, it is just as good for them.

It is hot and muggy here in Everglades and we are supposed to have thunderstorms. They won’t be the same as the spring tórspirs I enjoyed while up north but I certainly will try to harvest their energy.

Left Dangling

There is a recent trend by a number of fantasy and horror authors to employ an insidious marketing device often utilized by television shows. It is called a cliffhanger. It is not enough that authors have caved to the siren call of big screen or TV series adaptions of their books by making them more about moving from action scene to action scene than about character development, now books are being purposefully ‘ended’ without any resolution. This is not simply a good, multi-book, stopping point, but a thinly veiled attempt to get you to purchase the next book. When I see this tactic employed, I am disinclined to continue reading anything by that author.

A good book finishes with a logical wrap-up and leaves the reader satisfied they have a complete story. If there is an overriding story arc, then that, along with other unresolved items, will move forward into the next book providing continuity. This piques my desire to continue reading the series. The cliff-hanger leaves me feeling manipulated and not at all charitable towards the author.

How do you feel about book series that do not have logical breaks? Do you feel complete once you’ve finished one of them? What is your preference?

Sins of Men

“The sins of men are, in part, the fault of women, specifically women in tight-fitting clothing.” Or so claims a religious pamphlet being handed out in Bristol, Virginia. It goes on to say, “Scripture tells us that when a man looks on a woman to lust for her he has already committed adultery in his heart. If you are dressed in a way that tempts a men to do this secret (or not so secret) sin, you are a participant in the sin. By the way, some rape victims would not have been raped if they had dressed properly. So can we really say they were innocent victims?”

What was going through the mind of the woman who handed out these pamphlets? Was she so unappealing physically and spiritually that she had to blame ‘provocative women’ for the social disappointments in her life? Is she aware that most rapists seek out shy, modestly-dressed women and girls because they are perceived as less confident and thus easier targets?

I revel in being female and having the right to garb myself as I please. I do not denigrate men with the assumption that, if I wear something alluring, they will take advantage of me because they cannot control themselves. I do not hold such a low expectation of them, and I demand they not hold similar low expectations of me by limiting what I can do, where I can go, and how I can dress based simply on my gender.

In return, I do not limit men by my own expectations and biases when it comes to their clothing. I believe they have should have the right to wear the range of beautiful clothing and shoes a woman does – but our culture does not allow it. Conversely, a man can walk around shirtless without fear of sexual assault but a woman cannot. These senseless double standards have no place in our twenty-first century world.

I wish for the time when one can wear, or not wear, what one pleases without the judgment of cretins. Until then, I will continue to frequent naturist clubs, festivals and other events where diversity, creativity and textile freedom are honored.

Sins of Men Article

Free the Words

I have a growing unhappiness for all of the ‘adult babies’ in our culture. You know who I mean – those people who believe that the use of certain expletives, curses, and ethnic terms should be censored by such means as bleeping, disguising, or simply blanking out the sound. Is it because they as cannot bear directness, the possibility of denigration, or expression of intense feelings? Take the following statement for example.

“I was treated like s**t by the f***ing a***hole K**** behind the counter at the DMV.”

While this format is considered fine by both broadcast and print censors, in reality the asterisks (or bleeps in the case of broadcast media) accentuates the use of the words making them register to the subconscious mind as the most important part of the sentence.

In the TV series Caprica, the writers have circumvented the problem by creating and using an alternate word ‘frack’ that means the same thing as our word ‘f**k’. The dialog goes much smoother.

“Kill that fracking son of a Caprican!” denotes the intensity of dislike of the Caprican without drawing attention to the adjective. Compare that to hearing “Kill that BLEEP son of a BLEEP.” The bleeping focuses one’s attention on the possible words that had been said rather than the meaning of the sentence.

The strong influence of censorship in the United States has caused me to rethink how certain words are used within (or excluded from) my fantasy-adventure books. Fortunately for fiction writers, and especially those whose stories are crafted on original worlds or universes, new words can be coined to replace the ones the ‘adult babies’ cannot handle.

In my opinion, all censorship of words and ideas (save libel and slander) must cease if we are going to be truly free. If you do not like the words employed, do not read the text. If you do not like the words spoken, change the channel or walk away. The only difference between the BLEEPING BLEEPER and BLEEPED is BLEEP. I’m sure you get my drift.

Delayed Gratification – The Big Lie

It is amazing how frequently we are seeing people question the underpinnings of their beliefs in popular culture today – and never more prevalent than the fantasy genre. Fantasy is a place where cultural values can be removed from the immediacy of ‘real life’ and placed into a context where – hopefully – we can view them with less bias.

In most cultures the biggest determinant of a person’s beliefs comes through the auspices of religion. While much of what is espoused by organized religion provides a positive benefit to society, that is not its main purpose. It’s goal is to take control your rèsonce – your lifeforce or life energy – and utilize it primarily for the organization’s growth. Personal development or self improvement is only encouraged when it improves the lot of the group as a whole – and particularly its leaders.

The most insidious method used by most organized religions is delayed gratification. That is, live your life in a way that most benefits the church and in the afterlife you will have earned infinite happiness. Basically, you end up being enslaved to an organization that bases its power on fear rather than empowerment. It takes away choice, and the responsibility for choice, and replaces critical thinking with ‘faith’. Used this way – faith, a valuable tool to maintain hope in difficult situations, becomes ‘The Big Lie’.

One of the many incidents that disprove that form of hereafter is the recent story of six-year-old James Leininger who has past life memories of being being a Corsair pilot in the second world war. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/s_189477.html This is only one of many reported incidents of memory of previous lives.

It is not often we hear about these sorts of incidents in churches, schools, or political forums – but the ideas that break the back of mind-imprisoning dogma is the staple of fantasy literature and cinema. The very popular feature ‘Avatar’ explores the question of the connection to all life, and the continuity of life after death. It raises a potent question of the wisdom of living in current time, rather than sacrificing what is rare and precious simply to keep alive the ambitions of a dormant few.

I wonder how those who advocate ‘dominion over the earth’ will feel when they return as the children of their grandchildren – only to learn they must live in the world they have raped and destroyed with their greed. Too many are looking forward to some sort of ‘end times’ to solve their problems. At some point we need to stop and think about what we can each do to bring about what needs changing.

In my writing I explore the impact of patterns developed life after life as the same players assemble to attempt to resolve the issues they have inherited by their choices. As the stories unfold, I find myself understanding the concept of lifestrand and the impact that my decisions in this life will have on me in the future. I wish for all the chance to step back and imagine the present and future they long for in their hearts, and step forward to ‘seize the day’.