#elmer the parasite

[danger-jazz]

Brain Damage 1988 🧠💦 A quick one for self perservation

[pokckygamewithbatman]

I watched My Adventures with Superman

The title sounds like a porno.

Oh… It's so bad… It's so unbelievably terrible. I really wanted to have faith that it would at least be decent. Even if it was a copy paste of the 1979 animated series that would've been fine with me but this is actually trash. HIS POWERS MANIFEST WHEN HE'S A TEEN, HE'S NOT SCARED TO MEET HIS HOLOGRAM ALIEN PARENTS, HIS PARENTS ARE SUPPORTIVE OF THE FACT THAT HE'S ADOPTED, LOIS IS COOL AND AN ACTUAL PART OF THE PLANET, JIMMY IS NOT SMOOTH. What are they doing to these characters I don't care that Lois is Korean, and that Jimmy is black, I honestly don't give a shit just make them good characters SHOWING DIVERSITY IN SHITTY SHOWS DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY MAKE THE SHOW GOOD IT JUST GIVES A BAD REP TO DIVERSIFYING CHARACTERS.

I am so sad they sped up his backstory, I'm so sad they're starting with all 3 of them as interns, I'm so sad that Clark's powers are manifesting so slowly, I'm so sad that he doesn't make his suit, why can't he control his strength that's the power he's had the longest, why are they completely ignoring his super hearing, why is Lois a tomboy, why is Jimmy so into aliens, who is the lady who stole the robots? Is she supposed to be Metallo? If not then where is Metallo? Why hasn't the superpowered character actually defeated any villains yet, why is Superman so weak?? Why does he get a black eye, why do his powers fully manifest when Lois is in danger, why so they speed up the chemistry of Lois and Clark it takes YEARS before they get close and start dating and get married. Why is Jimmy pushing Lois and Clark who hard, how old are they supposed to be exactly? Also why are they making all the superpowered villains kids with tech? That angle is so crappy and takes away so much of the awesomeness? Why is Silver Banshee a preteen with a magic helmet she's not Elmer Fudd why am I here.

One thing that super pissed me off is Ivo. THIS SHOW IS TRYING TO TELL ME THAT 1. IVO IS A DOUCHEBAG 2. HE CREATED PARASITE 3. PARASITE ISN'T THE RESULT OF BIOCHEMICALS BUT IS ACTUALLY A TECHY ASS SUIT 4. THAT RUDY JONES ISN'T PARASITE 5. THAT PARASITE DOESN'T ABSORB POWERS BUT SIMPLY REFLECTS THEM BACK AT THE OPPONENT. Also the suit itself doesn't make any sense and is a total rip off of Green Beetle's design in Young Justice, just trust me, also why does it look like an insect? Parasite doesn't have ties with insects, like kinda in the way that he's resilient I guess, but that's about it yk. But wait something that's actually interesting happens: For some reason, completely unexplained (maybe the assistant/Lois and Jimmy messed with buttons), the suit turned on Ivo and when Superman ripped it there was a shriveled man underneath omgggg BUT we don't even get to savour that bit of somewhat interesting plot bc OH MY GOD LOIS FIGURES OUT SUPERMAN IS CLARK KENT ON EPISODE 4.

Side note: the animation and art style is so lazy, and the S that symbolizes peace or sumn I don't remember on his suit is barely legible?? Also where's the S shaped hair piece because that shit is iconic.

Look at these two designs. Just look at it.

Here's why the title "My Adventures with Superman" is the worst possible title for this show: This isn't from the audience's perspective, it's from Superman's perspective, and he's not having adventures with himself, also Adventures implies an episodic series, and this is definitely trying to have a long running plot; key word "trying", also adventures with superman makes him sound like your friendly neighbourhood hero, man could crush a mountain easily he's no neighbourhood nothing and It also implies he's not even the main character; that a self insert audience character would be but like I said that's not the case. Superman: The Animated Series is straight forward, not fucking around we're doing a show about The Man, it's animated, there you go. This show however is so dumb it hurts my brain. They've done nothing right.

I enjoyed Steve. Steve is at least halfway accurate, I'll give them that.

I fucked up and deleted like half of my post and it won't come back, so even thought there's SO much more about how stupid Lois is, why Amanda Waller is keeping close personal tabs on Superman is she's the leader of Cadmus, why are there Teen Titans villains in this show (ie, Slade/Deathstroke and The Brain and M. Mallah), and why is Wheatley and therapist gorilla in this show, who are they? Are they meant to be my beloved assholes Brain and Mallah?

I had to stop watching after I saw the Brain and Monsieur Mallah, it hurt too much. They took away my machine gun beret monkey.

[closedcoffins]

what’s up with baccano!? a helpful guide for mutuals who have no idea what the fuck i’m talking about, ever.

TL;DR? Everything is up with Baccano!. It would probably be easier to ask, “what’s NOT up with Baccano!?” but I’m not in the business of trying to compile that helpful guide. So, here’s my attempt to make my blog more comprehensible for those of you who just followed me out of goodwill. Introducing the bare-bones Baccano! cheat sheet!

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS.

Immmortality: The “perfect” state of being attained by the hard work of alchemists and the involvement of a homunculus. Immortals in Baccano! cannot age or die by any means, and experience something akin to regeneration when they are hurt. Essentially, given that people become immortal through drinking a liquor of immortality, their bodies are frozen at the point they were when they became immortal. Removed body parts will remain alive and attempt to reunite with the rest of the body. SEE: Huey Laforet, Melvi Dormentaire, Luck Gandor, Isaac Dian, Maiza Avaro, Molsa Martillo, Victor Talbot, Keith Gandor, Berga Gandor, Elmer C. Albatross, Sylvie Lumiere, Gretto Avaro, Begg Garrott, Nile, Renee Parmedes Branvillier, Denkuro Togo, Firo Prochainezo.

Incomplete immortality: The result of drinking a “failed” version of the liquor of immortality. While those who drink this cannot die by unnatural means such as murder or disease, their bodies can still age and die that way. SEE: Dallas Genoard.

Devouring: The only thing that can kill an immortal. One immortal places their right hand on top of the head of the other immortal and thinks “I want to eat”. Doing so absorbs the body and memories of the devoured into the devourer, along with any memories they might have obtained from other immortals before then. This action can be done without the consent of the immortal who is going to be devoured. Incomplete immortals can be devoured, but cannot devour others.

Homunculus: A creation of man resembling a human. Ideally, a homunculus should be created using an unknown formula to carry the complete sum of all knowledge.

“Perfect” Homunculus: Also referred to as Paracelsus’ Homunculus. Taking the form of a small human in a flask, this Homunculus is immortal and omnipotent, with control over time and space around it. In order to live among humans, it can break its flask and obtain the ability to take a human sized form, but it must give up either its ability to see into “space” or its ability to see into the future. The homunculus will retain significant control over the world around it, and has the capability to grant others immortality using the liquor. SEE: Ronny Schiatto.

“Imperfect” Homunculus: A being created using the Paracelsus method, but with parts missing from the formula. This being is created in an ordinary sized human body customizable to the creator’s needs. It has no knowledge of space or the future and is only as strong as an ordinary human. While it can still die from outside causes, its body will not age or decay. SEE: Christopher Shaldred, Rail, Hong Chi-Mei, Adele, Sickle.

Water Consciousness: A subtype of homunculus likened to a hivemind. Created first in the form of water, it seeks a “vessel” to drink its water. After a mental battle between the consciousness of host and parasite, the parasite will typically win, taking that body as host. It may control thousands of host bodies at one time in this way. Should the host win the battle, the parasite is ejected. Should both parties cede at the same time, the host and parasite share a body, each having access to the other’s memories. SEE: Sham, Leeza Laforet.

Immortal Homunculus: A homunculus created using a unique method that requires cells from one immortal and one other participant. The resulting Homunculus has no knowledge and stops aging when it reaches the age of the person the younger cells donated belong to. It maintains “perfect” immortality and can both devour and be devoured, but can also be killed by a mere thought of the immortal who created it. Immortal homunculi can transmit knowledge freely between them and their creators by use of the right hand placed on the head. SEE: Melvi Dormentaire, Ennis.

Curious about more Baccano! lore? We’re just getting started! Make sure to look under the cut for more things you might be confused about!

THE PLAYERS. Important groups to keep track of as we carry on! I’ll be listing characters I write and their affiliations within these groups!

The 1700s.

Lotto Valentino Alchemists: Largely, the group of people who sailed out of Lotto Valentino on the ship Advena Avis in 1711. Not all of these people were from Lotto Valentino originally, but nearly all of them were alchemists or related to alchemists. A majority of these people are dead. SEE: Huey Laforet, Maiza Avaro, Victor Talbot, Elmer C. Albatross, Sylvie Lumiere, Gretto Avaro, Begg Garrott, Nile, Denkuro Togo. To be noted that the Perfect Homunculus Ronny Schiatto made an appearance on the ship as well.

House Dormentaire: A large aristocratic family that lay siege to Lotto Valentino due to nasty rumors originating from a play. They sought to stop the Alchemists from leaving Lotto Valentino and employed a large number of spies. SEE: Huey Laforet, Victor Talbot, Elmer C. Albatross. Also noted that Melvi Dormentaire will be created with the aid of Lucrezia de Dormentaire at some point before 1930.

Mask Makers: The first iteration of this group was headed by three individuals living in Lotto Valentino. It dealt in the spread of counterfeit gold and the killing of corrupt aristocracy who stood in the way of that counterfeiting business, as well as those who trafficked people and drugs. SEE: Huey Laforet, Elmer C. Albatross, Monica Campanella.

The 1930s --- ALCHEMISTS.

The Lemures: A terrorist group founded by Huey Laforet at some point before 1930. Huey has ensnared most of the members with the promise of immortality. Following the Flying Pussyfoot Incident in December 1931, this organization is rendered non-functional. Formerly led by Goose Perkins. SEE: Huey Laforet, Chané Laforet, Jules Upham, Sham.

Larva: A group of humans working under Huey Laforet with slightly closer contact than the Lemures, who are privy to the nature of Huey’s immortality but not let in on all of his plans. Led by Tock “Tim” Jefferson. SEE: Huey Laforet, Tock "Tim" Jefferson.

Lamia: A collection of homunculi created by Huey Laforet who split off to form their own group underneath Larva. Officially led by Tim, but unofficially they tend to do as they like. SEE: Huey Laforet, Tock "Tim" Jefferson Christopher Shaldred, Rail, Hong Chi-Mei, Adele, Leeza Laforet, Sickle, Sham.

Rhythm: Huey Laforet’s experimental division, responsible for alchemical and scientific achievement and the creation of homunculi. Currently led by Salomé Carpenter. SEE: Huey Laforet.

Time: A group of people who serve an unknown function under Huey Laforet. It is speculated that they are the largest faction he supervises, but that they know very little about the grand scheme of things. Currently led by Melvi Dormentaire. SEE: Huey Laforet, Melvi Dormentaire, Claire Stanfield.

Nebula: A large corporation led by Cal Muybridge. While it handles everyday matters such as construction and city planning, it also takes care of matters related to the supernatural, up to and including the liquor of immortality. Headquartered in Chicago and with a skyscraper known as Mist Wall in New York City, Nebula’s alchemical research is headed by Renee Parmedes Branvillier. SEE: Renee Parmedes Branvillier, Sham.

The 1930s --- CRIME FAMILIES.

The Martillo Family: The foremost crime family in the story. They’re a Camorra family whose base is just on the outskirts of Little Italy. In their speakeasy Alveare, they sell specialty honey-flavored drinks and other products, and are known for their skill with knives rather than guns. After an incident in 1930, every higher level of the family becomes a perfect Immortal. Over the years, they slowly begin to rely more on their restaurant income, phasing out the crime aspect of it. Founded and led by Molsa Martillo. SEE: Molsa Martillo, Ronny Schiatto, Maiza Avaro, Firo Prochainezo, Sham.

The Gandor Family: A small outfit in New York City led by three brothers---Luck, Keith, and Berga Gandor---as one unit. They’re known for being especially fierce, but people close to the brothers tend to comment on how they’re a bit unsuited to be mafia dons. Following the incident in 1930, the three brothers are perfect Immortals. SEE: Keith Gandor, Berga Gandor, Luck Gandor, Nicola Casetti, Tick Jefferson, Maria Barcelito, Edith, Kate Gandor, Kalia Gandor, Claire Stanfield, Sham.

The Runorata Family: A medium sized mafia family in New Jersey. They’re a bit troublesome to the rest of the characters, serving as antagonists most of the time, but their leader Bartolo Runorata is praised for having survived Lucky Luciano’s cleansing of “old fashioned” mafia families. SEE: Gabriel & Juliano Barsotti, Carzelio Runorata, Begg Garrott, Melvi Dormentaire, Claire Stanfield, Sham.

The Russo Family: An outfit on the brink of collapse in Chicago. Run by don Placido Russo, the Russo family is noted to be somewhat in shambles due to its leader’s impulsive decision making. As such, its members are somewhat scattered, and many of its former members have made their departure following 1931. SEE: Ladd Russo, Graham Specter, Christopher Shaldred, Ricardo Russo, Sham.

The 1930s --- INDEPENDENTS.

Isaac & Miria: A duo of Bonnie & Clyde style thieves, whose capers are almost as ridiculous as their costumes. They should in theory be annoying due to their stark lack of intelligence, but they somehow manage to bring a smile to everyone’s faces anyway. After an incident in 1930, the two of them are immortal. SEE: Isaac Dian.

Jacuzzi’s Gang: A Gang of “young punks” who gather around crybaby bootlegger Jacuzzi Splot because of a strange instinct to protect him. They number over 20 in rank and are all sorts of bad news, cast out of the communities they were part of. Many of them are immigrants who caused just enough trouble to be ousted from the communities they came to America with. SEE: Jacuzzi Splot, Nice Holystone, Chané Laforet, Claire Stanfield, Rail, Sham.

The Vanishing Bunny: A trio of robbers who aspire to the likes of Myra Starr. Though few in number, put together the three are clever and have a lot of firepower in the form of guns. SEE: Pamela McCall, Lana Sutton, Sonja Bake.

Freelance Hitmen: Any number of freelancers roam the streets of Baccano!’s imagining of New York City, though the people confident enough to do so tend to be oddballs in their own respect. SEE: Maria Barcelito, Laz Smith, Mark Wilmens, Ladd Russo, Graham Specter.

Fred’s Poorhouse / Clinic: A place on Gandor territory that anyone can go to for food and treatment, regardless of affiliation. It’s known neutral territory where fighting is strictly prohibited. SEE: Jules Upham, Roy Maddock, Laz Smith, Mark Wilmens, Isaac Dian, Nader Schasschule.

The Daily Days: An unusual information brokerage in New York City’s Chinatown. Rather than doing business in alleyways, they have a front of a newspaper company with their information exchanges taking place in one location. SEE: Rachel Jones, Gustav St. Germain, Carol.

Bureau of Investigation: It’s just the FBI. SEE: Victor Talbot.

The 2000s.

SAMPLE: A cult based on an old European one. They attack the cruise ships Entrance and Exit in 2002, and follow a philosophy that Gods must be created by selecting a young child to use as a “scapegoat”. SEE: Elmer C. Albatross ( in the late 1690′s. )

Mask Makers: The second iteration of Lotto Valentino’s Mask Makers. A powerful underground society descended from Monica Campanella, the very first Mask Maker. Their sole purpose is to see the end of Huey Laforet to fruition, believing him responsible for Monica’s death. SEE: Luchino B. Campanella, Aging, Elmer C. Albatross.

Lotto Valentino Survivors: The remaining immortals from the Advena Avis who avoided being devoured. By the early 2000′s, they have all reestablished contact with eachother. SEE: Maiza Avaro, Huey Laforet, Elmer C. Albatross, Victor Talbot, Nile, Begg Garrott, Sylvie Lumiere, Denkuro Togo.

THE STORY. A breakdown of the novels and what years they take place in.

Volume 1 / The Rolling Bootlegs. 1930.

Volume 2 / The Grand Punk Railroad: Local. 1931.

Volume 3 / The Grand Punk Railroad: Express. 1931.

Volume 4 / Drug and the Dominoes. 1931 - 1932. Happens concurrently with The Grand Punk Railroad.

Volume 5 / Children of Bottle. 2001 - 2002.

Volume 6 / The Slash: Cloudy to Rainy. 1933.

Volume 7 / The Slash: Bloody to Fair. 1933.

Volume 8 / Alice in Jails: Prison. 1934.

Volume 9 / Alice in Jails: Streets. 1934.

Volume 10 / Peter Pan in Chains: Finale. 1934.

Volume 11 / The Ironic Light Orchestra. 1705.

Volume 12 / Bullet Garden. 2002.

Volume 13 / Blood Sabbath. 2002. Happens concurrently with Bullet Garden.

Volume 14 / Another Junk Railroad: Special Express. 1931 - 1932.

Volume 15 / Crack Flag. 1710.

Volume 16 / Man in the Killer. 1932. Happens the summer after Drug and the Dominoes.

Volume 17 / Whitesmile. 1711. Happens just before the 1711 episode of the anime.

Volume 18 / Deep Marble. 1935.

Volume 19 / Dr. Feelgreed. 1935.

Volume 20 / Time of the Oasis. 1931. Happens concurrently with The Grand Punk Railroad.

Volume 21 / The Grateful Bet. 1935.

Volume 22 / Luckstreet Boys. 1935.

Volume 23 / The Buzz Messengers. 1935. Postponed; planned to be the last book of the Baccano! series.

[kristenswig]

#162. Brain Damage - Frank Henenlotter

[andrewbarrillustrator]

[davidkeane17]

100 Cartoon Villains Of All Time

The Evil Queen Skeletor Scar Shredder Joker Jafar Ursula Cruella De Vil Gaston Mr Burns Plankton Elmer Fudd Maleficent Shan Yu Lex Luthor Hades Queen Of Hearts Magneto Claude Frollo Captain Hook Lady Tremaine Riddler Venom Sideshow Bob Mojo JoJo Him Chernabog Marvin the Martian Zira Sid Doctor Facilier Zim Vector Jessie And James Yzma Shredder 2012 Lots-o'-Huggin Bear Hans Angelica Kingpin Prowder Madam Mim Gothel Drizella Doctor Doofenshmirtz Doctor Doom Feathers McGraw Vegeta Doctor Octopus El Macho Tai Lung Smee Lord Shen Kai Anastasia Bill Cypher Ice King Slade Wilson The Lich Bane Cound Dooku Yellow Diamond Vitani Screenslaver Queen Beryl Ratigan Shenzi, Banzai & Ed Ra's Al Ghul Riddler Taskmaster Cell Light Yagami Fire Lord Ozai Darth Vader Maul Cad Bane Yosemite Sam Loki Frieza Eric Cartman The Giant Chicken Lust Rize Kamlshlro Scott Tenorman Trigon Azula Terrence Syndrome Princess Morbucks Green Goblin Will E. Ckyote Lord Farquaad Mongol Penguin Harley Quinn Poison Ivy Catwoman Vandal Savage Skullmaster Joker 2010 Riddler 2004 Sabretooth Lady Deathstroke Omega Red Deadpool Black Manta Ultron Modok Man Ray Cthulhu Stewie Griffin Ren Dr Lorre Grand Inquisitor Deadshot Charles Muntz Fairy Godmother Randall Boggs Mr Freeze Electro Ernesto De La Cruz Emperor Zurg The Father Mandark Kang And Kodos Thanos Skrulls Red Skull Baron Zemo Galactus Kraven Krang Kang The Conqueror Enchantress Mystique Magneto Yost Universe Sinister Six Red X Injustice League Kuvira Woodland Critters Delightful Children Viper Snowball Boggis, Bunce & Bean Rasputin Mom Robot Devil Jenner Doomsday Red Hood Hexxus Soto Vexus Sakharine Apocalypse Blackfire The Brain Brother Blood Robot Santa Larr Fat Tony Springfield Mafia Professor Chaos Sedusa Evil Morty Galactic Empire Galactic Federation Clayton Darth Sidious Queen La Hive Five Brotherhood Of Evil Gideon Blendin Blandin Masters Of Evil Juggernaut Abomination Giffany Frank Grimes Mister Ruckus Sir Crocodile The Major Envy Nagato Uzumakl Yohan Liebert DIO Alzen Vicious Uncle Ruckus Colonel H. Stinkmeaner Tom Cruise Barbra Streisand Krombopulos Michael Tammy Guetermann Lucius Needful Council Of Ricks Diane Simmons James Woods Evil Stewie Snake Jailbird Hank Scorpio Black Cat Count Vertigo Asajj Ventress The Monarch Phantom Limb The Son Barriss Offee Embo Bossk Savage Opress Darth Bane Inquisitorius Thrawn Van Kleiss Tiger Claw Bebop & Rocksteady Cheshire Suicide Squad Killer Croc Victor Quartermaine Winter Soldier The Hunter Black Cat Stinky Pet Darla Sherman Mad Mod Control Freak Terra Mumbo Fabrication Machine Klarion The Witch Boy Granny Goodness Sportsmaster Queen Bee Lobo Ocean Master Icicle Atomic Skull Black Beatle Prison Berry Duchess Nemesis Bendy Amoeba Boys Lenny Baxter Gangreen Gang Rowdyruff Boys Inque Shriek Blight Talia al Ghul Yubaba Lady Eboshi Colonel Muska Kushana Lord Darkar Valtor Trix Sebastian Saga Terrence Lewis Helga Von Guggen Nelson Muntz Terwilliger Family Shredder 2003 Grand Admiral Tarkin Carter Pewterschmidt Bertram Stickybeard Mr Boss Knightbrace Rob Miss Simian Zach Watterson Beatrice Horseman Doodlebob Bubble Bass Dennis Flying Dutchman Flats The Flounder Dirty Bubble Tattletale Strangler Saddam Hussein The Devil Scott The Dick Crab People Manbearpig Bill Donohue Trent Beyett Super Skrull Hydra Amos Slade The Bear Kent Mansley Rothbart Darla Dimple Dave The Octopus Makunga Squilliam Fancyson Hobgoblin Gabby Gabby Sabor Olivia Octopus Black Mask Parasite Clayface Killer Frost Bizarro Shade Giganta Sinestro Anti Monitor Atrocitus Larfleeze Ultra Humanite The Leader Annihilus Mole Man Red Ghost Frightful Four Terrax Klaw Maximus Ronan The Accuser Captain Boomerang Professor Zoom The Rogues Captain Cold Livewire Silver Banchee Aurra Sing Nightsisters Mother Talzin Pre Vizsla Death Watch Gar Saxon Jabba The Hutt Roberto Nudar Zapp Brannigan Walt. Larry And Igner Richard Nixon Donbot Flexo

[dweemeister]

The complete list of films featured in 2021′s “31 Days of Oscar” marathon

What follows is the exhaustive list of all 403 short- and feature-length films featured on this blog over the last thirty-one days for the 31 Days of Oscar marathon. This number is up from last year’s count of 327 and is the second-highest number of films I have ever featured in this marathon (behind the 410 films from 2016). Despite the number, this remains only a fraction of the nearly 5,000 films that have been nominated for Academy Awards. This year’s marathon was harder to plan than usual due to the fact it was presented in alphabetical order - with the exception of any write-ups I did.

BREAKDOWN BY DECADE 1927-1929: 7 1930s: 44 1940s: 63 1950s: 63 1960s: 46 1970s: 25 1980s: 29 1990s: 28 2000s: 25 2010s: 43 2020s: 30

Year with most representation (2020 excluded): 1940 (ten films) Median year: 1964

And now, the list. Best Picture winners and the one (and only) winner for Unique and Artistic Production are in bold. Asterisked (*) films are films I haven’t seen in their entirety as of the publishing of this post.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Ace in the Hole (1951)

Adam’s Rib (1949)*

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

After the Thin Man (1936)*

Airport (1970)*

Aladdin (1992)

Albert Nobbs (2011)

Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938)

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Almost Famous (2000)

An American in Paris (1951)

Anastasia (1956)

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Annie (1982)

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

Arrival (2016)

Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987, France)

The Awful Truth (1937)

Babe (1995)

Baby Doll (1956)*

Ballad of a Soldier (1959, Soviet Union)*

The Band Wagon (1953)

Bao (2018 short)

Ben-Hur (1959)

Berkeley Square (1933)

The Best Man (1964)

Better Days (2019, Hong Kong)*

The Big Chill (1983)*

The Birds (1963)

Birds Anonymous (1957 short)

Black Orpheus (1959, Brazil)

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)*

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020)*

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Brief Encounter (1945)

Brotherhood (2018 short, Tunisia/Canada/Qatar/Sweden)

Cabin in the Sky (1943)

Calamity Jane (1953)

Carol (2015)*

Casablanca (1942)

Casino (1995)*

Charade (1963)

The Circus (1928)

Citizen Kane (1941)

City of God (2002, Brazil)*

Claudine (1974)*

Closely Watched Trains (1966, Czechoslovakia)

Coraline (2009)*

Da 5 Bloods (2020)*

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Death in Venice (1971)*

Destination Moon (1950)*

The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

Down Argentine Way (1940)

Dunkirk (2017)

Easter Parade (1948)

The Edge of Democracy (2019, Brazil)*

Educated Fish (1937 short)*

El Cid (1961)*

Elmer Gantry (1960)

The End of the Affair (1999)*

Ernest & Celestine (2012, France/Belgium)

Face to Face (1976, Sweden)*

The Fallen Idol (1948)

Fantasia (1940)

A Fantastic Woman (2017, Chile)*

Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)*

A Farewell to Arms (1932)*

A Few Good Men (1992)*

Five Easy Pieces (1970)*

The Five Pennies (1959)

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)

Flower Drum Song (1961)

Flowers and Trees (1932 short)

Flying Down to Rio (1933)*

For All Mankind (1989)

For Sama (2019)*

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Forrest Gump (1994)

42nd Street (1933)

Four Days in November (1964)*

The Four Feathers (1939)

The 400 Blows (1959, France)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)*

From Here to Eternity (1953)

Funny Face (1957)

Funny Girl (1968)

Fury (1936)*

Gandhi (1982)

The Garden of Allah (1936)

Garden Party (2017 short, France)

Gaslight (1944)

Giant (1956)

Gigi (1958)

Gladiator (2000)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather, Part II (1974)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Gorillas in the Mist (1988)*

Gosford Park (2001)

Grand Hotel (1932)

Grand Prix (1966)*

The Great Beauty (2013, Italy)

The Great Race (1965)

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Green Book (2018)

Green Dolphin Street (1947)*

The Green Mile (1999)*

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Gunga Din (1939)

Hair Love (2019 short)

Hallelujah (1929)*

Hamlet (1948)

Hamlet (1990)

Hamlet (1996)

Hangmen Also Die! (1943)*

The Happiest Millionaire (1967)

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)

The Harvey Girls (1946)

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)*

The Heiress (1949)

Hell’s Angels (1930)*

Henry V (1989)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Hero (2002, China)*

Hidden Figures (2016)

The High and the Mighty (1954)*

High Noon (1952)

High Society (1956)

Himalaya (1999, France/Switzerland/United Kingdom/Nepal)*

Home Alone (1990)

Honeysuckle Rose (1980)*

Hoosiers (1986)

The House on 92nd Street (1945)*

How the West Was Won (1962)

How to Survive a Plague (2012)*

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

I Married a Witch (1942)*

I Never Sang for My Father (1970)

I Vitelloni (1953, Italy)*

I Wanted Wings (1941)*

I, Tonya (2017)*

Ida (2013, Poland)

Imitation of Life (1959)

In Cold Blood (1967)

In the Absence (2018 short, South Korea)

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Inherit the Wind (1960)

Inside Daisy Clover (1965)*

Inside Moves (1980)*

It Happened One Night (1934)

It Happened Tomorrow (1944)*

It Should Happen to You (1954)*

It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)

Jackie Brown (1997)*

Jammin’ the Blues (1944 short)*

Jaws (1975)

The Jazz Singer (1927)

Jerry’s Cousin (1951 short)

Jesus Camp (2006)*

Jezebel (1938)

Jim: The James Foley Story (2016)*

Joe’s Violin (2016 short)

The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)

Joyeux Noel (2005, France)

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Julia (1977)*

Juliet of the Spirits (1965, Italy)

Kagemusha (1980, Japan)

The Karate Kid (1984)

The Killers (1946)*

The King and I (1956)

The King’s Speech (2010)

The Kite Runner (2007)

Knights of the Round Table (1953)*

Knives Out (2019)

Kundun (1997)*

La Ronde (1950, France)*

La Strada (1954, Italy)

La Traviata (1982, Italy)*

Lady Be Good (1941)*

The Lady Eve (1941)

The Ladykillers (1955)*

The Last Emperor (1987)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

The Life Ahead (2020, Italy)*

Life is Beautiful (1997, Italy)

Life with Feathers (1945 short)

Lili (1953)

Lilies of the Field (1963)

The Lion in Winter (1968)*

Little Caesar (1931)

A Little Romance (1979)

Little Women (2019)

Logan (2017)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Lost Horizon (1937)

Love Affair (1939)*

Love Story (1970)*

Loving Vincent (2017)

The Magic Flute (1975, Sweden)

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Malcolm X (1992)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Maria Full of Grace (2004, Colombia)*

Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)*

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Mighty Joe Young (1949)*

Milk (2008)

Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)*

The Miracle Worker (1962)*

Mon Oncle (1958, France)

Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953, France)*

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

My Fair Lady (1964)

My Favorite Wife (1940)

My Favorite Year (1982)

My Night at Maud’s (1969)*

The Narrow Margin (1952)

The Natural (1984)

Nebraska (2013)

Network (1976)

Night Must Fall (1937)*

Nightcrawler (2014)*

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Ninotchka (1939)

Nowhere in Africa (2001, Germany)*

Odd Man Out (1947)*

The Official Story (1985, Argentina)*

Oklahoma! (1955)*

Oliver! (1968)

On Golden Pond (1981)*

On the Riviera (1951)*

On the Waterfront (1954)

One Day in September (1999)*

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

One Foot in Heaven (1941)

One Hour with You (1932)

One Potato, Two Potato (1964)*

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)*

Our Town (1940)

Paisan (1946, Italy)

Pal Joey (1957)*

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Mexico)

Paper Moon (1973)*

Parasite (2019, South Korea)

The Parent Trap (1961)

A Passage to India (1984)*

Patton (1970)

Pelle the Conqueror (1987, Denmark)*

Period. End of Sentence. (2018 short)

Persepolis (2007, France)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

Pigs in a Polka (1943 short)*

Pillow Talk (1959)*

Pinocchio (1940)

Places in the Heart (1984)*

Poltergeist (1982)

Portrait of Jennie (1948)

Precious (2009)*

The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927)*

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)*

The Producers (1967)

Psycho (1960)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Purple Rain (1984)

Puss Gets the Boot (1940 short)

Pygmalion (1938)

Quiet Please! (1945 short)

Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020, Bosnia-Herzegovina)*

Rachel, Rachel (1968)*

Ran (1985, Japan)

Random Harvest (1942)

Rashômon (1950, Japan)

Rasputin and the Empress (1932)*

Rear Window (1954)

Rebecca (1940)

Red River (1948)

The Red Shoes (1948)

A River Runs Through It (1992)

Road to Perdition (2002)

Roma (2018, Mexico)

Saludos Amigos (1942)

Same Time, Next Year (1978)*

The Secret of Kells (2009)

Sense and Sensibility (1995)*

Sergeant York (1941)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Seven Samurai (1954, Japan)

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

The Shape of Water (2017)

Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)*

She Done Him Wrong (1933)*

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

The Shootist (1976)

The Shop on Main Street (1965, Czechoslovakia)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Silverado (1985)

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

The Snake Pit (1948)*

Song of the Sea (2014)

Sounder (1972)

The Sound of Music (1965)

The Spanish Main (1945)*

Speedy (1928)

Speedy Gonzales (1955 short)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Spirited Away (2001, Japan)

Stagecoach (1939)

A Star is Born (1937)

A Star is Born (1954)

A Star is Born (1976)*

A Star is Born (2018)

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Star Wars (1977)

Starship Troopers (1997)

The Sting (1973)

A Stolen Life (1946)*

The Story of Three Loves (1953)*

The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003, Mongolia)*

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)*

The Stranger (1946)*

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Strike Up the Band (1940)

Strings (1991 short)*

The Sundowners (1960)*

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Superman (1978)

Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)

Swing Time (1936)

T-Men (1947)*

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013, Japan)

Tangerines (2013, Estonia)*

Tenet (2020)

Them! (1954)

Theodora Goes Wild (1936)*

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)*

This is Cinerama (1952)*

The Three Musketeers (1948)

Three Orphan Kittens (1935 short)

Time (2020)*

Timecode (2016 short, Spain)

Tom Jones (1963)

Toni Erdmann (2016, Germany)*

Top Hat (1935)

The Triplets of Belleville (2003, France)*

The Truman Show (1998)*

12 Angry Men (1957)

Twilight of Honor (1963)*

Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)*

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Umberto D. (1952, Italy)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, France)

Unforgiven (1992)

Up (2009)

Vertigo (1958)

Victor/Victoria (1982)

WALL-E (2008)

Watch on the Rhine (1943)*

Waterloo Bridge (1940)

Weary River (1929)*

West Side Story (1961)

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968 short)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Wolfwalkers (2020)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

You Can’t Take It with You (1938)

Zorba the Greek (1964)*

The 15 nominated short films for the 93rd Academy Awards

The 8 nominees for Best Picture at the 93rd Academy Awards, including the winner, Nomadland

Until next year’s ceremony, folks - February will be here before we know it!

[aliveandfullofjoy]

So I was reading about the first Oscars ceremony, and it had a division between Outstanding Picture and Best Unique & Artistic Film, where Unique & Artistic was apparently meant to be an equal to Outstanding Picture but dedicated more for prestige artistic works. The next year, the two categories became one from then on, and Outstanding Picture was the only top prize. (If any of that is wrong, blame wikipedia.)

If the split had remained, and there was a more commercial-y movie top prize and a prestige art top prize, what are some notable movies that suddenly pick up wins?

okay wait........ this is a brilliant question and i am ashamed to say i’ve never really given it much thought until now.

idk if you’ve seen wings and sunrise but they’re both pretty great and they do represent wildly different kinds of filmmaking. while it’s safe to say Wings is the more commercial film, it has great craftsmanship behind it and it very clearly created the template for accessible, capital-i Important, and well-made best picture winners to come. 

and, full transparency, sunrise is one of my, like, top 15 favorite movies, so i’m hella biased, but that movie is a gorgeous and strange and thrilling piece of work. the title “unique and artistic film” is impossibly vague, but watching sunrise makes it very, very clear that it fits that bill for that category. and while we’ll, of course, never know what might have happened if that category had continued, it’s tempting to think that all the winners in unique and artistic film would be of sunrise’s calibre, but knowing the oscars... that’s clearly a fantasy, lol. while sunrise is a wildly inventive and artistic film, it’s important to remember that it was fully on the academy’s radar -- janet gaynor won best actress in part for her performance in the film, and it also won best cinematography. so while it’s tempting to think the academy would always recognize a truly unique and artistic achievement every year, in all likelihood, they probably wouldn’t stray too far from the movies that were already on their radar. 

so for this thought experiment!!

it’s probably safe to assume every best picture winner has to go in one of the two categories. there are only a handful of winners that stick out as maybe missing out on the big win in this new system, but only a handful. 

so uh. this is way more than you asked but i got hooked. here’s what i think might have happened if the two best picture categories had stuck around. as i was working through the years, it became clear to me that, unfortunately, in a lot of years, the unique and artistic film would likely end up going to the more overtly “prestigious” films, such as the song of bernadette or the life of emile zola, while their far better and more commercially viable rivals (casablanca for bernadette, the awful truth for zola) would win outstanding picture. the actual best picture winners have an asterisk next to them. what’s also interesting to consider is the importance of the best director category: most of the time, a split in picture and director will tell you what’s clearly the runner-up. those years, usually, give you a good sense of how the two awards would shake out.

Outstanding Picture / Unique and Artistic Film

1929: The Broadway Melody*; The Divine Lady 

1930: The Big House; All Quiet on the Western Front* 

1931: Cimarron*; Morocco 

1932: Grand Hotel*; Bad Girl

1933: Little Women; Cavalcade*

1934: It Happened One Night*; One Night of Love 

1935: The Informer; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (** this is one of the few years i think the actual BP winner, Mutiny on the Bounty, would miss out; The Informer was clearly the runner-up for BP with wins in director, actor, and screenplay, while Midsummer was seen as THE artistic triumph of the year, and with its historic write-in cinematography win, there was clearly a lot of passion for it)

1936: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town; The Great Ziegfeld*

1937: The Awful Truth; The Life of Emile Zola*

1938: You Can’t Take It With You*; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Grand Illusion (** this one’s tough... Grand Illusion made history as the first non-english movie nominated for BP, and it clearly had a lot of support, but Snow White was such a monumental moment in Hollywood, and the academy clearly acknowledged that with its honorary award)

1939: Gone with the Wind*; The Wizard of Oz (** this is one of the first years with a clear runaway favorite for best picture, which makes guessing the way the other award would go very difficult! i’m leaning towards Oz purely because of its technical achievements, but i’m not confident about that choice at all.)

1940: Rebecca*; The Grapes of Wrath 

1941: How Green Was My Valley*; Citizen Kane

1942: Yankee Doodle Dandy; Mrs. Miniver*

1943: Casablanca*; The Song of Bernadette

1944: Going My Way*; Wilson

1945: The Bells of St. Mary’s; The Lost Weekend*

1946: The Best Years of Our Lives*; Henry V

1947: Gentleman’s Agreement*; A Double Life 

1948: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Hamlet*

1949: All the King’s Men*; The Heiress 

1950: All About Eve*; Sunset Boulevard

1951: A Place in the Sun; An American in Paris*

1952: The Greatest Show on Earth*; The Quiet Man 

1953: Roman Holiday; From Here to Eternity*

1954: The Country Girl; On the Waterfront*

1955: Marty*; Picnic

1956: Around the World in 80 Days*; Giant

1957: Peyton Place; The Bridge on the River Kwai

1958: The Defiant Ones; Gigi*

1959: The Diary of Anne Frank; Ben-Hur*

1960: Elmer Gantry; The Apartment*

1961: West Side Story*; Judgment at Nuremberg

1962: To Kill a Mockingbird; Lawrence of Arabia*

1963: Tom Jones*; 8½ 

1964: Mary Poppins; My Fair Lady*

1965: The Sound of Music*; Doctor Zhivago

1966: A Man for All Seasons*; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1967: In the Heat of the Night*; The Graduate

1968: Oliver!*; 2001: A Space Odyssey 

1969: Midnight Cowboy; Z 

1970: Airport; Patton*

1971: The French Connection*; The Last Picture Show

1972: The Godfather; Cabaret

1973: The Sting*; The Exorcist

1974: Chinatown; The Godfather, Part II

1975: Jaws; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest*

1976: Rocky*; Network

1977: Star Wars; Annie Hall*

1978: Coming Home; The Deer Hunter*

1979: Kramer vs. Kramer*; All That Jazz

1980: Ordinary People*; Raging Bull

1981: Chariots of Fire*; Reds

1982: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; Gandhi*

1983: Terms of Endearment*; Fanny and Alexander

1984: Amadeus*; The Killing Fields

1985: Out of Africa*; Ran

1986: Platoon*; Blue Velvet

1987: Moonstruck; The Last Emperor*

1988: Rain Man*; Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1989: Driving Miss Daisy*; Born on the Fourth of July

1990: Ghost; Dances with Wolves*

1991: The Silence of the Lambs*; JFK

1992: Unforgiven*; Howards End 

1993: Schindler’s List*; The Piano 

1994: Forrest Gump*; Three Colors: Red 

1995: Braveheart*; Toy Story 

1996: Jerry Maguire; The English Patient*

1997: Titanic*; L.A. Confidential

1998: Shakespeare in Love*; Saving Private Ryan

1999: The Cider House Rules; American Beauty*

2000: Traffic; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (** this is another year where i think the actual BP winner, Gladiator, might have missed out. it was a tight three-way race going into oscar night, and if there were two BP awards, i think this consensus might have settled, leaving Gladiator to go home with just actor and some tech awards.)

2001: A Beautiful Mind*; Mulholland Drive

2002: Chicago*; The Pianist

2003: Mystic River; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*

2004: Million Dollar Baby*; The Aviator

2005: Crash*; Brokeback Mountain

2006: The Departed*; Babel

2007: No Country for Old Men*; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2008: The Dark Knight; Slumdog Millionaire*

2009: The Hurt Locker*; Avatar

2010: The King’s Speech*; The Social Network

2011: The Artist*; The Tree of Life

2012: Argo*; Life of Pi

2013: 12 Years a Slave*; Gravity 

2014: Birdman*; Boyhood

2015: Spotlight*; The Revenant

2016: La La Land; Moonlight*

2017: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Shape of Water*

2018: Black Panther; Roma (** again, i think Green Book gets bumped out in this scenario, i think Black Panther is precisely the kind of movie that benefits from an award that’s seemingly more ~populist~ while Roma easily snags the unique & artistic prize)

2019: 1917; Parasite*

2020: The Father; Nomadland*

but of course i have no idea at all, and most of these are just my gut reactions lol. what a fun question!

[slimeysnailfriends]

henlo. something very blessed happened today. i was helping to set up the fairy garden, when i saw a shiney little trail leading under a rock. these three friends were under it!!!! i looked under the other rocks and found four more friends!! the big one's name is elmer, because their slime is very thick like glue. i think i'll stick to the scheme and name the other two krazy and scotch. they're in quarantine to make sure they don't have parasites. gray slugs around here tend to have an internal one that makes them starve and waste away. but their poop is healthy grass green, so they are probably fine.

[mst3kproject]

802: The Leech Woman – Part II

So now that we’ve established that The Leech Woman is a shitty movie full of shitty people saying and doing shitty things, we have to ask if there’s a point to all this.  After all, movies about terrible people backstabbing each other can still say something, even if it’s just a nihilistic statement about how horrible human beings are.  What is The Leech Woman trying to tell us?

As far as I can tell, it’s ugly women should just accept that they’ll never be loved, and go wither away somewhere so we don’t have to look at them.

At the beginning of the film, we’re supposed to feel sorry for June – she’s older than her husband, and he does not love or respect her.  We want her to get out of this terrible situation, and the movie offers her two ways of doing so: she can leave him, or she can alter herself to fit his standards.  The latter choice is one movies present to women over and over – if that guy doesn’t like you, just change everything about yourself in order to earn him!  But where the standard ‘makeover movie’ offers this as a happy ending, in The Leech Woman it destroys not only June but everyone around her.

One might argue that to change oneself in this way is necessarily to destroy oneself, but in The Leech Woman it’s quite literal.  Most obviously, one of the ingredients in the Cure for Old is a secretion from the pineal gland, which apparently must come from a live victim.  To use it, June has to kill somebody.  No other option, such as obtaining the hormone from an animal, or extracting it in some non-lethal fashion, is ever entertained.  By having the police investigate the murder of the criminal, the movie points out that even those we might see as unimportant or even deserving are human beings, and their deaths will matter to somebody.

We also see June herself destroyed in two different ways.  First of all physically, as the side-effects of the potion make her older and older every time it wears off.  Second, morally, as she becomes more and more blasé about murder.  Her asshole husband could be seen as deserving it, as could David when he rejects her.  But then later she picks up a complete stranger with every intention of killing him, and while this man is a criminal, there is nothing to indicate that was a necessary qualifier.  June would have committed the murder whether he’d tried to rob her or not.  

I must spare a few words here for The Leech Woman’s terrible makeup.  Actress Colleen Gray was thirty-eight when The Leech Woman was made (the age I am now, in fact), and as far as I can tell making her look older was accomplished simply by not having her wear any makeup. Even so, she doesn’t look like she’s out of her thirties, she just looks like she didn’t sleep very well the previous night.  Then, to make her look younger, they cake the makeup on so thickly, she looks like she’s made of plastic.  Finally, when she’s ‘really old’ I think they just smeared Elmer’s glue all over her and let it dry.  None of the three ages of June are convincing as what they’re supposed to be.

Anyway, one might suggest that the movie is saying June should have left Paul and gone to live her own life, rather than trying to make herself conform to his standards, but I don’t think it is.  The reason why not is that The Leech Woman has no concept of women as people who can exist separately from men.  It outright says as much in Malla’s speech before her own rejuvenation.

This little monologue is jaw-dropping.  She states that old age among men is a time of dignity and respect, but old women are worthless.  For one thing, this completely at odds with the type of culture the Nando are supposed to represent.  In traditional societies all over the world, old people tend to be revered regardless of gender, because having lived a long time has allowed them to learn more, remember more, and contribute more than anyone else.  The idea that an old woman has no value, that she deserves only ‘pity, contempt, and neglect’ because she is no longer attractive, is very much a modern, western one.

Second, this is what the movie tells us will happen to June if she leaves Paul.  She doesn’t seem to have any family or friends (because women don’t exist outside of their relationships with men), so she’ll just go waste away somewhere with nobody caring about her.  But since using the Cure for Old is explicitly an evil thing to do, within the world of The Leech Woman this is what June should have done!  Rather than try to get what she wants, she should have just accepted that she’s ugly and gross and nobody wants her, and gone off to crochet in a rocking chair somewhere so that pretty people can live their lives!  And this applies only to women.  The idea of using the Cure for Old on men never comes up, except when Malla says they don’t need it.  Wow, fuck you, movie.

Another idea in Malla’s speech is the reiteration that women are defined by their value to men.  She never mentions the idea of an older woman doing anything with herself – she just sits around and wishes she were still cute so she could ‘know the worship of men’.  They’re not supposed to want anything else.  June certainly doesn’t.  She doesn’t treat her rejuvenation as a chance to start her life over, she just tempts boring-ass Neil to cheat on his fiancée. She doesn’t even want to marry him herself, just to sleep with him.

Here the movie’s morals get a bit confusing.  You’d think that by the standards of the late 50’s and early 60’s Sally, who wants to marry Neil and settle down with him, would be the good girl of The Leech Woman.  Yet Sally is clearly supposed to be nagging and clingy, as if we ought to want Neil to leave her.  It’s as if the movie is trying to say that women are just terrible in general, and love and relationships are essential for them but traps for men.  The title The Leech Woman, as if she’s some kind of parasite, just seems to reinforce this.

Having given this some thought, I think where it comes from is that a woman’s attractiveness gives her power over a man, and the writers of The Leech Woman see this as a bad thing.  At the beginning of the movie, June is a powerless victim.  The first time she takes the Cure for Old, she gets a shot of power in the process – she’s allowed to choose a sacrifice, and she takes the opportunity to punish her abuser.  A few days later, David attempts to assert power over her by denying her the bag of youth pollen.  Again, she is given power over him when he falls into the quicksand, and she uses it to dispatch another person who has done her wrong.

From there on, June’s on an all-out power trip.  She can see that Neil is immediately attracted to her, and she loves it.  When she keeps him at her house by making a series of quick minor requests, like ‘pour me a drink’ or ‘take my bags upstairs’, she is testing this power, seeing how far it’ll go, and she’s very pleased with the results.  Later she plays with the criminal, stringing him along with her ‘nice old lady’ act until finally killing him. It’s an addiction of sorts – now that she’s had a taste of this, all she wants is more, more, more.  I wonder if the pollen itself isn’t supposed to represent a drug.  When Sally’s pineal juice doesn’t work and June laments that she’s killed her for nothing, that just shows that it was power, rather than Neil, that June wanted. Sally can’t stand between Neil and June when she’s dead… but if she cannot also be a source of power, her murder served no purpose.

At the end, June loses everything.  Like many real-world serial killers, she has come to think she’s untouchable, and that has made her sloppy – she fails to take back the card her victim took from her, and that leads the police to her door.  When she realizes she can’t get rid of them herself, she asks Neil to make them leave, and he can’t.  The only weapon she has left is her beauty, so she seeks to regain it, but the youth pollen only works when the pineal hormone is a man’s.  Trying to use Sally’s just makes June even older.  With absolutely nothing left, she commits suicide.

Naturally, all this also tells us that women are each other’s natural enemies.  All they want is men and those are in limited supply.  Sally and ‘Terri’ despise each other at first sight, each instantly recognizing that the other is competition.  When they cannot intimidate each other, both resort to violence.  Even at the ‘twist’ ending when Sally’s pineal gland proves to be no use to June, this might be seen as a metaphor for women tearing each other down, as Sally has her revenge from beyond the grave.  Or at least, beyond the coat closet.

I said at the beginning of last week’s review that this movie hates everybody, and it really does, doesn’t it?  It hates women, but based on the assholetude of the various male characters, it hates men, too.  It hates white people, who are avaricious and power-hungry, but it also hates black people… and I haven’t even had space to discuss that yet!  I could also spend some time on how much it evidently hates its audience. That’s right, you guessed it. Stay tuned, because next week we’re in for The Leech Woman, Part IIII!

[livable4all]

What is rich-washing?

INTRODUCTION

What is rich-washing? It is when cultural products and advertising make it seem like everyone is rich.

It's similar to whitewashing, where a problem is covered up and made to seem fine, when it is not; or Hollywood whitewashing, where white actors take roles over people of colour; or activist whitewashing, where white activists are spotlighted over people of colour; or greenwashing, where things are made to seem environmentally good, when they are not.

Much has been written about the media biases regarding sexism, racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, harmful depictions of mental illness, and other biases that stereotype or denigrate specific groups of people. However, not as much has been written about classism in North American media and entertainment.

Rich-washing is a type of classism, but it is much more than that. 

Rich-washing completely flips the facts: in the real world, there’s a huge majority of financially precarious people at the bottom and a tiny minority at the top. 

And for those at the very top in the U.S., their wealth is growing. 

Rich-washing takes the bulk of people on the planet and makes them disappear –– they are over-looked, glossed over, cropped out of the picture, written out of the story.

Rich-washing is gas-lighting on a grand scale. It is so wide-spread that it is almost invisible. Like the dish soap ad used to say, we’re soaking in it.

Because it is such a blatant misrepresentation of the world, rich-washing has many harmful effects on people and the planet. It is important to expose this type of propaganda to reduce its harm.

However, the answer is not to change entertainment to only reflect social reality. No, this is not a call for censorship, but to point out how pop-culture is currently censored by those who hold the purse strings. Ultimately, the answer is to change our social reality to make it less harsh and more livable for everyone. More on this at the end.

Pop-culture is being censored by those who hold the purse strings

Most people are not rich but you’d never know that in today’s 21st century North American TV shows, movies, print media, social media and especially advertisements. (For whatever reason, entertainment in the UK has more social realism and much less rich-washing.) 

Images of the rich and super-rich have come to dominate everything in a massive cultural mono-crop of shining hair shining teeth shining cars and shining homes filled with shining gadgets.

Yes, there are exceptions (see end). However, these exceptions are mostly “drowned in a sea of irrelevance” (as Aldous Huxley said).

Ursula Franklin called this general effect “censorship by stuffing”. Specifically with rich-washing, the ‘rich’ images are so numerous that they obliterate every other view of society. 

“It is all too easy to confuse the sheer quantity of media with diversity of viewpoint. We do not notice that essentially the same messages are being repeated.” –– Mediaspeak, 1983

Get out the corporate pressure-washer, aim it at the public, turn it on max.

Or as Bertolt Brecht said: “The powerful of the earth create the poor but they cannot bear to look at them.”

Advertisers also don’t like it when the poor look at each other.

“In the 1960s... CBS dropped a number of popular prime-time shows such as ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ and ‘Andy Griffith’ because they attracted the wrong audience –– elderly, low income, and rural viewers. Advertisers had become keen on young, affluent urbanites…” ––Social Communication in Advertising, 1986

One of the worst things rich-washing does is make people think they are in a minority when in fact they are a huge majority.

Most Americans, for example, live paycheck-to-paycheck according to Forbes.

Rich-washing takes an enormous psychological toll because it creates the idea that lack of income is some kind of personal failing, rather than a systemic economic failing that affects many, many people. That’s one reason why unemployment is a huge factor in suicides. 

“When the money isn’t there... feelings of deprivation, personal failure, and deep psychic pain result. In a culture where consuming means so much, not having money is a profound social disability.” ––Juliet Schor, The Overspent American,1999

Rich-washing also creates social solidarity and affinity with the rich, since proximity creates affinity. 

People get used to seeing things from the point of view of the rich and may also take on the idea that their own riches are just around the corner. This has political implications (more on that below). 

In addition, it’s common for negative characteristics to be attached to people who are poor. 

Laziness, criminality, stupidity, and lack of morals, are often characteristics attributed to fictional poor people. This has real world consequences.

Film critic Roger Ebert famously said that movies create empathy.

“...the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us."

While many movies have indeed had a positive effect on society because of this empathy effect, entertainment products can also empower negative stereotypes. And when it comes to the war on the poor, Hollywood most definitely is not on the side of the poor.

“In a lot of films, especially coming out of Hollywood, less fortunate families are portrayed as imbeciles.” ––Chris Stuckmann, movie review of Parasite, Nov. 6, 2019

“It’s a central assumption of our pop-culture that people who have nice shit are good, and people in poverty are bad.” ––Cracked Podcast, “Why pop-culture hates poor people” 2015-03-02

“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” ––Warren Buffet, quoted in Plutocrats by Chrystia Freeland, 2012

With all the vilification and humiliation of poor people in pop-culture, who would want to identify with the poor and not the rich? Who would want to identify with the economic losers and not the economic winners?

“…it is the general policy of advertisers to glamorize their products, the people who buy them, and the whole American and economic scene.” ––Elmer Rice, quoted in Mediaspeak, 1983

Advertisements are highly polished rich-washing because companies need their products associated with winners not losers.

But rich-washing sells more than just consumer products.

Rich-washing sells political ideas. 

Rich-washing reinforces policies and laws that benefit those at the top of the income pyramid. So it is not surprising when we learn that income inequality and wealth concentration have been getting worse.

Income inequality and wealth concentration in the U.S. increasing since 1980s.

“Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund, says income inequality in the U.S. has become so dire that if he were in the White House, he would declare it a national emergency.” Barron’s, 2019 

Instead of looking at the big picture and wondering why is it that so many people are poor, people assume or are told that it is their own fault if they are poor. People point fingers at themselves, at other poor people (lateral violence), but almost never up at the top.

“If there was ever a system which enchanted its subjects with dreams (of freedom, of how your success depends on yourself, of the run of luck which is just around the corner, of unconstrained pleasures…), then it is capitalism.” ––Slavoj Zizek, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, 2009

This type of deflection ––away from the rich and scapegoating the poor–– was also behind the witch-burning craze of centuries ago. 

Anthropologist Marvin Harris in his book on “the Riddles of Culture” noted: 

 “the principal result of the witch-hunt system (aside from charred bodies) was that the poor came to believe that they were being victimized by witches and devils instead of princes and popes.” ––Mavin Harris, Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches, 1975

It turns out that if you get people fearful of imaginary things and suspicious of their neighbours, they are less likely to join together in a peasant revolt and storm the castle, pitchforks in hand.

“It is from us and our labour that everything comes, with which They maintain Their pomp [!]” John Ball of the violent Peasant Revolt of 1381

When it comes to numbers, it should be obvious that the one percenters at the top have a precarious hold on power. 

“Why has the response to rising inequality been a drive to reduce taxes on the rich? ... It’s not a simple matter of rich people voting themselves a better deal: there just aren’t enough of them.” ––Paul Krugman, The Great Unraveling, 2003

Rich-washing protects the status-quo by reinforcing the idea that most people are rich, and if you are not, it is your own fault. Rich-washing thus deepens poverty and enlarges the holdings of the super-wealthy.

Rich-washing can also push people into unhealthy behaviours –– everything from compulsive shopping and debt, to self-medicating, and even crime.

As it turns out, when people started watching TV in America in the 1950s, a particular type of crime suddenly rose: larceny (theft of private property). Researchers attributed the increase in larceny to feelings of “relative deprivation and frustration” and that upper- and middle class lifestyles were “overwhelmingly portrayed” on TV. (Impact of the introduction of television on crime in the United States, 1982, noted in Mediaspeak, 1983)

Another troubling by-product of rich-washing is how people become very vulnerable to scams and schemes. 

“We are no longer ‘family’ we are ‘warm prospects.’ ––anonymous reviewer of False Profits, 2015

People want to believe the promises of all kinds of scammers offering them the American Dream. (Check out Season 1 of The Dream podcast). Because of the shame and pain of being poor, because of being an outcast from the perceived norm of upper-middle class consumption, people are desperate to get some dignity and hope back. Many women get into recruitment marketing for “the sense of community, friendship, and purpose that comes with being a vendor.” 

However, less than one percent of Multi-Level Marketing participants make a profit. 

“Failure and loss rates for MLMs are not comparable with legitimate small businesses, which have been found to be profitable for 39% over the lifetime of the business; whereas less than 1% of MLM participants profit. MLM makes even gambling look like a safe bet in comparison.” (PDF) John M. Taylor, 2011 Consumer Awareness Institute paper at FTC.gov.

Ironically, the stories of big-time con artists and scammers have become popular entertainment themselves and are the subject of many documentaries, movies and podcasts. 

Finally, the biggest harm from rich-washing is to the environment ––our biosphere upon which all life depends.

“Modern economies expand, but the ecosystems that provide for them do not.” ––Steven Stoll, The Great Delusion, 2008

Mass consumption is a requirement of the current economic growth model and rich-washing helps keep it all going. So we end up with things like ‘fast fashion’, disposable everything, and planned obsolescence. 

“Left unconstrained by other forces, the free-market system is one of the most restless, destructive arrangements ever contrived ––tearing down and building up, obsoleting last year’s fashions and praising this year’s, ... and scheming always to reduce the arts and sciences to sycophancy. None of which is a secret...” ––Thomas Frank, The Wrecking Crew, 2008

Rich-washing irony ––who is ruining the environment: rich or poor?

“World's richest 10% produce half of global carbon emissions, says Oxfam” ––Guardian, 2015

Rich-washing has another sadistic effect on low income people’s mental health. The world, it seems, is waking up to the potentially catastrophic harm being inflicted on the environment. And yet poor people are still made to feel like pieces of shit, even though they consume the least and do the least harm to the planet. So really... f*ck off with your spectacle of sparkling gold-plated glorification of the wealthy, please.

Three reasons for rich-washing

As previously mentioned, one reason for rich-washing is that corporations want their advertisements to reach higher income viewers. Another reason for rich-washing is for political propaganda: it protects the status quo by pushing the idea that everyone is mostly rich, and if you are poor, it is your own fault. 

A third reason for rich-washing is that media creators, like everyone else, need to survive financially. Creators need to attract viewers. In most cases, this has led to an overwhelming focus on the rich and famous.

“Sponsors prefer beautiful people in mouth-watering decor, to convey what it means to climb the socio-economic ladder...” ––Mediaspeak, 1983

Today, due to an increasingly crowded arena and variety of cultural products, this is a bigger challenge than ever before. What’s going to get people’s attention? What’s going to be popular escapism? Very often this will be flashy settings, fancy costumes, a focus on the wealthy or the royal. Just how many shows about royalty do we need? Never too many apparently. 

And when a story goes for gritty settings and characters, this usually means crime, jolting action and high conflict.

As Jerry Mander wrote in his now ancient 1977 book about television, things like violence, death, jealously, lust, materialism, conflict, the loud, the bizarre, the shocking and the superficial are easier to depict on television than their quiet, cooperative, and nuanced opposites. He laments that this is the type of world that TV “inevitably transmits”. No wonder he argued for the elimination of television.

(However, it should be noted that people used to worry about bad effects from “penny dreadfuls” and pocket-books, although Mander points out that watching TV puts people in a passive state, but reading does not.)

David Simon, creator of The Wire, one of the most critically acclaimed TV series ever made, had this to say about the impact of advertising on media: 

“And how exactly do we put Visa-wielding consumers in a buying mood when they are being reminded of how many of their countrymen - black, white and brown - have been shrugged aside by the march of unrestrained bottom-line capitalism?” ––David Simon, The Wire, Truth Be Told (book), 2009, HBO

(Read more about The Wire below, under “Exceptions”)

Another irony about media rich-washing…

Low income people often consume a lot of escapist media because it is a cheap and easy way to get a break from the health-ruining, cortisol-producing daily grind of life on poverty incomes. Fictional and fantastical worlds are often the only affordable escape for those of meagre means. Thus, it is not surprising when people get an intense attachment to their favourite entertainment if it provides them with stress release, comfort and meaning.

“… a 21-year-old in Michigan, finds it easier to get excited about playing games than his part-time job making sandwiches…” ––Andrew Yang, The War on Normal People, 2018

The opening scene of the movie Ready Player One envisions an extreme dystopian version of this. Rickety trailers in squalid surroundings are stacked sky high. Those living inside wear virtual reality goggles to escape from their over-crowded lives into limitless virtual worlds. 

It’s important to note that escapism as a form of coping with stress and trauma has its place. The answer is not to take away people’s beloved forms of escapism. (E.g. the excellent book by Raziel Reid “When Everything Feels Like the Movies”.) The answer is for humanity to strive to create a healthier and less stressful world where people don’t feel such a tremendous need to escape from reality.

But you don’t need to watch dystopian movies to see that public spaces are shrinking and becoming more unlivable. Even city benches are designed to be a miserable experience. (You know. To solve homelessness of course.) It is no wonder people stare into their screens like never before. We are ruining the public sphere and forcing people into private spaces where the goodness or badness of those places is determined by how much money you have. 

The bright glare of rich-washing might be dimming

“Am I alone in being disgusted by excessive wealth? It seems like a moral failing rather than something to celebrate or aspire to.” ––Nigel Warburton Philosophybites (twitter), January 19, 2020

In 2019 there were three movies that ripped the shiny bandaid of rich-washing propaganda off the reality of mass income inequality: Jordan Peele’s US, Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite, and the controversial Joker... a character study only remotely related to the comic book story. 

There’s been much written and spoken about these movies already. Suffice to say that poverty and the underclasses jump out of the screen in unexpected ways and the wealthy are not shown with shining virtuous haloes.

Even the super-rich (in real life) are starting to notice the current economic system is a disaster:

“At least a dozen billionaires have made public statements that call for the super-rich to pay more in taxes.” Forbes, Oct. 15, 2019

Meanwhile, support for a universal income benefit is spreading rapidly. (Thanks in no small part to Andrew Yang.) People are calling bullshit on the idea that there can ever be a living wage job for everyone who needs one. People are also calling bullshit on the idea that only paid work is real work. There’s a huge constituency of people who provide unpaid care for their loved ones. These unpaid carers have been diminished and ignored for far too long by both the political right (who are full of cheap platitudes about ‘the family’) and the political left (who are full of out-dated platitudes about ‘the workers’). 

People are also calling bullshit on poverty itself since it’s obvious that there is more than enough for everyone on the planet to live with dignity and health. There is no reason for poverty to exist at all ––other than out-of-control greed and massive economic lies. Both of which are propped up by rich-washing.   

Because of the increasingly obvious and growing gap between the haves and have-nots, cultural products might finally be moving away from rich-washing to something similar to what Brecht brought to the theatre 100 years ago:

“...the higher world of upper class sentiments is presented from the ruthless viewpoint of the common people.” ––Martin Esslin on Brecht, 1959

Rich-washing erases the vast swath of humanity from seeing any dignified reflection of themselves. It’s time to identify this assault on regular people.

To quote the Vancouver poet Bud Osborn*:

“north america tellin lies in our head make you feel like shit better off dead so most days now I say shout shout for joy shout for love shout for you shout for us shout down this system puts our souls in prison say shout for life shout with our last breath shout fuck this north american culture of death shout here we are amazingly alive against long odds left for dead shoutin this death culture dancin this death culture out of our heads”

*Bud Osborne 1947-2014, from Amazingly Alive and Other Poems, Vancouver, BC, 1997, Independent release, Lonesome Monsters

TO SUMMARIZE... 

Here’s the thing. Public spaces are becoming increasingly harsh. Jobs and incomes are ever more unsteady, unpredictable and unlivable. People’s anxiety is on the rise. Healthy ways to relieve stress are few if you are broke. So people turn to entertainment as a form of escape. But this subjects them to rich-washing which is harmful to individuals, to society, and the environment.  

Entertainment and advertising media have been teaching people that it is ok to hate, denigrate, or laugh at people in poverty. In addition, it has been teaching people who experience poverty to blame themselves, or even hate themselves.

“Propaganda offers him an object of hatred, for all propaganda is aimed at an enemy. And the hatred it offers him is not shameful, even hatred that he must hide, but a legitimate hatred, which he can justly feel.” ––Jacques Ellul, Propaganda, 1962

It is important to expose this type of propaganda to reduce its harm.

However, the answer is not to change entertainment to only reflect social reality. The answer is to change our reality so it is not so harsh for so many people.  

Art can’t be censored. But it can be bent by those who hold the purse strings for their own purposes.

There is no reason for poverty to exist. Letting poverty exist is the costliest, stupidest and most tragic thing society can do. As described in  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, people first need to eat, we need shelter, we need health care, we need a material foundation before we can hope to have healthy, happy life. When people struggle to meet physical needs, they can’t pursue happiness needs. Or to put it another way:

  “Even honest folk may act like sinners, unless they've had their customary dinners”  (“How to Survive” from Threepenny Opera)

Ending poverty with a universal income benefit (aka Freedom Dividend,  Guaranteed Livable income, Universal Basic Income ) is the most affordable and doable solution for people and the planet. It is our best bet to create a livable economy, a livable natural environment, and a livable social and cultural environment for humans.  

In a world with income security for all, we might find our entertainment would drastically change for the better. Advertisers would no longer dominate entertainment. Creators would have more freedom to create. People  would no longer seek so much escapism.

Of course, we will not have utopia ––nor should we try to create a utopia.  But at least we would not be flinging ourselves into a  certain  dystopian future because we think there’s no other choice.  

A livable income for everyone gives us a choice.  #Livable4all - now- for people and the planet.

***

But wait! There’s more....

***

EXTRA SECTION 1: FAKE POVERTY TROPES

Fake poverty tropes in popular culture are different than exceptions to rich-washing (see examples next section). They are not. They are just story-telling short-cuts. They can be fun escapist entertainment, but they are ultimately rich-washing wolves in sheep’s (cheap) clothing.  

i) Rags-to-riches: When someone starts poor and ends up rich. In the past, these tales were called Horatio Alger stories, where hard work and honesty bring success to the hero. A sub-genre of this trope is the criminal rags-to-riches story. Riches are won through criminality, violence, hustles, or scams. This usually ends badly for the anti-heroe(s). However, usually not before a display of luxurious settings and wardrobes. Or in some shows, just piles and piles of cash, gold, jewels, etc.

ii) How can they afford that?:  This is when people with very marginal jobs and incomes somehow have homes and/or lifestyles that would be impossible with a similar income in real life. These are the kind of TV shows that leaves the audience wondering: “What? how can they afford that?”  

iii) Rich Relations: This is when financially poor characters live on the periphery of rich people. These characters might be broke and in debt, but they have close family or friends who are very well-off. Again, even though the main character might be ‘skins’, the audience is shown some fancy settings and aspirational fashion. 

iv) Magic Money Wand: This is when the poverty problems of the hero are magically solved when the hero gets a sudden windfall of money from a wealthy family member, friend, mysterious benefactor, or by winning something.

EXTRA SECTON 2: RECENT EXCEPTIONS TO RICH-WASHING

There are a few notable exceptions to rich-washing described here. Note: UK productions (except for one) are not included because, for whatever reason, the UK has an abundance of TV shows and films from a working class perspective. (See also the films of Ken Loach and Tony Garnett.)

The Wire began in 2002, was only 5 seasons, and is now considered a masterpiece of television. One reviewer describes it as being about “post-industrial collapse” and “institutional dysfunction” in an American city (Baltimore). Sounds bleak, but it was rare social realism with unconventional heroes and story-telling. It had low ratings at first. Apparently, showing that the “American Dream was dead” did not catch on right away. However, HBO, which relies on subscriptions, not advertising, was willing to “simply let it be” said creator, David Simon. He also describes just how much the mass media has failed America’s disenfranchised

The Wire (TV series)

“The Wire avoided victories, preferring to show corruption, failure and decay. ... The Wire was as much journalism as entertainment – a form of protest television.” ––Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 2018

The Wire began in 2002, was only 5 seasons, and is now considered a masterpiece of television. One reviewer describes it as being about “post-industrial collapse” and “institutional dysfunction” in an American city (Baltimore). Sounds bleak, but it was rare social realism with unconventional heroes and story-telling. It had low ratings at first. Apparently, revealing the “American Dream was dead” did not catch on right away. However, HBO, funded by subscriptions, not advertising, was willing to “simply let it be”. according to its creator, David Simon. 

“…how can a television network serve the needs of advertisers while ruminating on the empty spaces in American society and informing viewers that they are a disenfranchised people, that the processes of redress have been rusted shut, and that no one - certainly not our mass media - is going to sound any alarm?” ––David Simon, The Wire, Truth Be Told (book) 2005

Atlanta (TV series)

“...the show’s brilliance [is] at combining absurdist comedy with heartbreaking reality to create something entirely unique.” ––Yohana Desta, Vanity Fair, 2017

Atlanta is a mix of sharp social realism, sudden comic moments, gut-wrenching scenes and hard-hitting parody that includes a searing fake commercial for children’s cereal. It is like the Eduardo Galeano of TV, but with some Salvador Dali, Brecht, and comedy thrown in. Series creator Donald Glover needed to disguise his vision in order to get it made.

“I was Trojan-horsing FX. If I told them what I really wanted to do, it wouldn't have gotten made." ... My struggle is to use my humanity to create a classic work—but I don’t know if humanity is worth it, or if we’re going to make it. I don’t know if there’s much time left.”––Donald Glover interview, New Yorker, 2018

Black Mirror - Fifteen Million Merits (series)

“What archetype dystopian future does Black Mirror’s “Fifteen Million Merits” choose to model itself after? Orwell’s or Huxley’s? The answer ends up being: a little bit of both.” ––Den of Geek, 2018

Fifteen Million Merits stars Daniel Kaluuya (also the star of Get Out). The episode begins with a dystopian-lite near-future story. However, it quickly compresses the characters ––and viewers–– into a painful claustrophobic nightmare vision of a capitalist hostage-taking entertainment monopoly. 

Breaking Bad (TV series)

This was massively popular show that ran from 2008 to 2013. The main character is a chemistry teacher named Walt who was first motivated to be Bad due to a cancer diagnosis and fear for the financial future of his family. However, once he started down the bad path, he quickly accelerated to the far reaches of very bad badness. Partly this was because of his ‘almost-got-rich’ backstory. In one episode he goes to the house party of his former business partner who is now very wealthy. Walt’s feelings of poverty, failure, and humiliation are stark. In real life this pain is usually turned inward, but in the show it becomes grist for the monster that the character becomes.  Millions of people related to this character who lived under the fear of poverty in the land of plenty.

However, Breaking Bad is mostly a rags-to-riches fake poverty trope even though it was a lower-middle class character’s fear of rags that sparked his need and greed for riches. With its very individualistic focus, the story continues the myth of independence carried over from the fictional old wild west of heroes and outlaws. But in this case the outlaw is the hero.  

But perhaps its lasting legacy will be an oft seen meme showing how Breaking Bad would have had no story at all had it been set in a country with universal healthcare.  It’s accurate to say the real monster in Breaking Bad is a modern wealthy country without healthcare.

Shameless (TV series)

“Few shows have attempted to situate themselves in the living nightmare of poverty—the country’s quiet shame, the marginalized that the middle and upper classes don’t want to see next to the numbing comfort of Modern Family. Television ignores the poor just as Americans do.” ––Flood Magazine, 2016  

In a lot of ways Shameless is a big brash bold exception to rich-washing. The creator of the semi-autobiographical British version said “It’s not blue collar; it’s no collar.”  However, after 9 seasons, the US version succumbs to several fake poverty tropes. Nonetheless, it is unique, and its many fans find the characters in the chaotic, desperate, scrounging, scamming, and poverty-stricken Gallager family relatable. 

“I love how it addresses sex, drugs, poverty, absent parents, and other topics like those.” ––commenter, TV Criticism blog, 2014

Critics have questioned the series for its condescending stereotypes, for turning poverty into entertainment, for relying on too many nude scenes, and for their treatment of black characters.  

But the overarching message and source of comedy for this show is in the title, which tells us that if you are poor, you should feel shame. This family doesn’t feel shame about their poverty. They are ‘shameless’, some more than others, and comedy ensues from their rude, crude, shocking behaviour and occasional truth-telling observations about society.

EXTRA SECTION 3: WAY BACK EXCEPTIONS

In the 1970s there were many more TV shows featuring regular people: Sanford & Sons (set in a salvage yard); Laverne & Shirley (factory workers); and, in Canada, The Beachcombers (salvage).

There were even some down-market detectives including the very popular Columbo who wore rumpled clothes and drove an old jalopy. Fans loved how rich villains would be caught because of their arrogance and snobbery: they assumed Columbo was a bumbling idiot because of his humble presentation.

The Rockford Files detective (1974-1980) also had a shabby vibe. The main character (Rockford) had done time, lived with his father in an old trailer, and had no office or secretary ––just an answering machine on his cluttered desk.  He did, however, have a fast car and was played by James Garner, former star of the popular TV western Maverick. 

Rural set TV series were also fairly common. 

“Over one-third of shows in 1950 were set in small towns or rural areas, mostly Westerns and comedies.” ––Brookings Institute

The Beverly Hillbillies was popular comedy in the 1960s. It was a rags-to-riches and fish-out-of-water story. However, the show regularly made rich people look ridiculous even though the suddenly oil-rich hillbillies were also comic characters. But they were the heroes of their story. This show got cancelled despite its popularity as advertisers wanted younger urban viewers and not the rural and older viewers that show attracted. (Social Communication in Advertising, 1986)

Other rural set shows were Green Acres (inept rich people try to homestead with comic results), Petticoat Junction (another comedy), The Waltons, and Little House on the Prairie (dramas). There was also 17 seasons (1954-1973) of Lassie (a dog) with farming and wilderness settings.Going waaay back...   growing up Canadian in the 1960s and 70s meant watching The Forest Rangers and Adventures in Rainbow Country, both shows featuring child characters who showed off skills such as fishing, wood craft, horseback riding, and wilderness survival.  

EXTRA SECTION 4: THE WORLD’S LONGEST RUNNING SOAP 

“So I'm a British guy who had an overnight stay in Toronto to connect a flight, and I noticed Corrie is shown in primetime on CBC... I’m just astonished anyone outside of Northern England would give a toss about it.” Reddit comment, 2018

You can’t talk about exceptions to rich-washing without talking about Coronation Street, the world’s longest running soap. Set ‘on the cobbles’ of a small fictional corner of working class Greater Manchester in Northwest England, it began in the 1960s and is still going strong. (Update May 2020- the pandemic has in fact interrupted Corrie.) 

Coronation Street has grit, unlike US soaps, which would never have characters working in an underwear factory and organizing actions against management, or working in a fast food shops, barber shops, driving taxi, or grease pits fixing cars. With a few exceptions, most homes on the street look over-stuffed and very lived-in. The real living room of the street is the local pub, a cosy nostalgic setting, and nostalgia is a big part of the show’s popularity. 

The street has changed and expanded over the years, but it has changed slowly. Characters who come and go with frequency except for the core characters. This includes several very popular and very elder actors who get substantial storylines. In addition, “Corrie”, as the fans refer to it, is also known for having snarky battle-axe women characters. One of the oldest was Ena Sharples, and one of the newest, Evelyn Plummer. And unlike U.S. entertainment, younger characters don’t all look and sound like glossy over-polished models-slash-actors. 

In recent years Corrie has tackled numerous serious social issues such as suicide, homelessness, mental health, addiction, male rape, human trafficking, teen pregnancy, life after jail, and spousal abuse (to name just a few). These storylines are done carefully with advice from experts and advocate groups. They also frequently address classism. However, the show is not all doom and gloom. Coronation Street blends silly comedy, murderous villains, crimes big and small, and many ridiculous eye-rolling storylines. Fans heap an equal amount of complaints as praise. But big picture, Corrie is notable for the fact that it almost never got onto the airwaves at all. 

 Contrast between a working class UK soap and a US soap

Other Resources:

Books:

Deer-hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant, who writes about populism in southern rural poor communities in the U.S. (and his hometown) and why they might vote against their own self-interest.

Somebodies and Nobodies by Robert W. Fuller who writes about abuse of power by those who have higher status or rank against those of lower status.

From Movie Lot to Beachhead by Look Magazine (1945) Written at the end of WWII, the publishers wanted to show how Hollywood was not shallow but could rally for a cause and be on the right side of history. A big contrast to today, when it comes to the war on the poor, entertainment is very much on the wrong side of history.

Upside Down by Eduardo Galeano “a crushing satirical expose of the glaring inequalities and injustices of a world turned upside down that many has come to be desensitized as ‘normal.’” (Goodreads review)

The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang (free audiobook on youtube).

The Rebel Sell - Why the culture can’t be jammed by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter. “But these gains [civil rights, social safety net] have not been achieved by ‘unplugging’ people from the web of illusions that governs their lives. They have been achieved through the laborious process of democratic political action.” (All forms of counterculture end up being just another marketing opportunity).

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman “As Huxley marked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny ‘failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions.’ Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.” 

Websites Classism in Children’s Movies (a study) - Classism.org  A Guide to Basic Income FAQs - scottsantens.com/basic-income-faq

Podcasts

 Why Pop-Culture Hates Poor People  - Cracked.com 2015-03-02  “Movies don’t seem to understand what it’s like to make less than 200K a year��. If you look and live like a poor person, you might be a serial killer.”  

5 ways Hollywood tricked you into hating poor people  - Cracked.com 2015-02-23 

***

The author was raised on books & nature and almost no TV and movies but became a telly addict & movie fan late in life.

[moviesandmania]

Brain Damage (1987)

‘It’s a headache from Hell!’

Brain Damage is a 1987 [released 1988] American comedy horror film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter (Bad Biology; Frankenhooker; Basket Case and sequels). It stars Rick Hearst (The Vampire Diaries; Warlock III), Gordon MacDonald and Jennifer Lowry. TV horror host John Zacherley provided the voice of creature “Elmer”.

Street Trash(1987) director Jim Muro…

[seuzz]

3/7

Reading I’m still reading Parasite. and I’m still taking it slowly. I’m starting to savor it as  my opinion continues to bounce back from a modest low. The author, to my delight, is proving gloriously ruthless at applying Hitchcock’s definition of suspense.

You know what that is, don’t you? Suspense, he said, is what happens when you know or strongly suspect you know what is going to happen, and you are forced to wait for it. (Bugs Bunny to the audience, after jamming a stick of dynamite down Elmer Fudd’s pants: “It’s the suspense that gets me!”) Hitchcock’s example:

You open the scene by showing the audience a bomb under a table. The timer tells us it’s counting down from five minutes. 

Then two men come in and sit at the table. They talk about trivialities—the football matches, say.

Result: The audience goes out of its mind with anxiety. “Get away from there!” they yell at the screen. (Or the book; the same principle applies in prose.) “There’s a bomb under the table! Why are you just sitting there when the room’s about to blow up?”

He went on to say that, of course, you let the counter go down to zero, but the bomb fails to go off—actually detonating the bomb would be in bad taste. 

Anyway, Darcy Coates, the author Parasite, has either read her Hitchcock or she just knows this stuff in her bones. So far her story consists of a series of discrete short stories, each of which opens on a different moon base with a different cast of characters. All is peaceful, boring, or vexed with trivial, interpersonal melodramas.

Then there’s a knock at the airlock door. They open it. Someone comes in. People talk. They go on doing their jobs.

Then they start going off alone, or in pairs, with the guy who came in through the airlock, or with people who went off alone with him earlier.

And the Thing starts eating them.

During the first story you know what’s going to happen because, dur, it’s a rip-off The Thing/”Who Goes There?” And after the first story, you know what’s going to happen because, dur, you’ve read the ones that came before.

And the whole time you’re yelling, “Get away from him! He’s a Thing! Why are you sticking around that moon base when there’s Things in there trying to eat you and take over your body?”

But do they listen? 

No.

Writing More sketch-chapters with the protagonist of my WIP: 4300 words.

Movie The Internet is temporarily down in my place due to construction work, so for the last few nights, and maybe for the next few, I’ve not had internet connections to watch movies. (I’m posting these updates from coffee shops.)

[dweemeister]

2020 Movie Odyssey Awards

Because the 2020 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song final was extended, the 2020 Movie Odyssey Awards themselves are late once more - and all because of me this time out (oops). As you may know, this is the annual awards ceremony to recognize a year of films that I saw for the first time in their entirety in the calendar year. All films featured - with the exception of those in the Worst Picture category - are worth seeing.

The full list of every single film I saw as part of the 2020 Movie Odyssey can be seen in this link.

Best Pictures (I name ten winners, none of which are distinguished above the other nine)

The African Queen (1951)

The Haunting (1963)

The Irishman (2019)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

Mädchen in Uniform (1931, Germany)

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Ordet (1955, Denmark)

Parasite (2019, South Korea)

The Shop on Main Street (1965, Czechoslovakia)

The Trial (1962)

Seven of these films received 10/10 ratings. The others received 9.5/10 ratings. This Best Picture lineup were the ten best films I saw in all of 2020. The African Queen is a rollicking adventure film with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn that took me by surprise (I was long put off from the film because of its reputation). It displays some of the most charming moments that only Golden Age Hollywood can offer. Golden Age Hollywood horror may not be scary to viewers; but what it lacks in elicited screams, it makes up in goosebumps. The Haunting is one of the great haunted house movies of all time with its thick atmosphere, fantastic production design, and spectral ambiguity. Watch it in the dark, if you dare.

Two gangster epics with a mournful disposition are also here in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America. The former sees Robert De Niro seeking absolution despite personally not being fully regretful; the latter sees a regretful Robert De Niro seeking not absolution, but peace.

Made in Weimar Germany in the years just before the Nazi takeover is a classic of queer cinema, Mädchen in Uniform. Beyond its LGBTQ themes, it is a tale of young women finding friendship amongst each other. On the other side of Europe after its Nazi takeover is The Shop on Main Street - which switches gears between drama to lighthearted comedy to tragedy so nimbly. Another film exemplifying mastery in tonal shifts was the headline-grabber Parasite - an explosive, justly historic movie.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s A Letter to Three Wives is a suburban feminist ensemble piece, reflecting on the martial anxieties of women questioning their spousal bliss. The ending there, though not quite storybook, is poignant. Questions of faith, too, are asked in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet - not in others, but in God. The film, one of the greatest films ever made about religious faith, ends impossibly, provocatively.

Best Comedy

The Battle of the Century (1927 short)

Best in Show (2000)

Elmer, the Great (1933)

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

Klaus (2019)

One Hour with You (1932)

The Princess and the Pirate (1944)

Road to Utopia (1945)

Soul (2020)

Three Little Girls in Blue (1946)

Now I typically give this category to the film that elicits the most belly laughs from me. None of these comedies did that for me this year. So I went with Ernst Lubitsch’s One Hour with You - starring Lubitsch regular Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. It is what some folks might call a sophisticated comedy. But if you read between the lines, this pre-Code romantic comedy was probably one of the raunchiest things I saw all year.

For example:

POLICE OFFICER: Come on, come on. Where do you think you are? What are you doing? What’s going on here? ANDRE BERTIER: The French Revolution! [resumes kissing Colette] POLICE OFFICER: Hey, you can’t make love in public. ANDRE BERTIER: I can make love anywhere! POLICE OFFICER: No, you can’t! COLETTE BERTIER: Oh, but officer, he can! ANDRE BERTIER (joyously): Darling!

Otherwise, runners-up included It Happened on Fifth Avenue and Best in Show.

Best Musical

Blue Hawaii (1961)

Flower Drum Song (1961)

Hamilton (2020)

The Magic Flute (1975, Sweden)

My Dream Is Yours (1949)

New Orleans (1947)

New York, New York (1977)

One Hour with You

The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947)

Three Little Girls in Blue (1946)

You know, if Hamilton was an original musical and not a filmed version of the original Broadway run, it would certainly threaten in this category. Instead, it rounds things out. Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York - as a deconstruction of the mid-century MGM musical - wins out not only its strong soundtrack, but glossy aesthetic that one would not associate with Scorsese. Runners-up are Flower Drum Song (the last movie with at least a majority Asian-American cast until The Joy Luck Club thirty years later and Crazy Rich Asians after that) and Bergman’s adaptation of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute.

Best Animated Feature

I Lost My Body (2019, France)

Klaus (2019)

The Last Unicorn (1982)

Mad Monster Party? (1967)

Marona’s Fantastic Tale (2019, France)

Melody Time (1948)

Saludos Amigos (1942)

Soul

Weathering with You (2019, Japan)

Wolfwalkers (2020)

Perhaps the least known animated feature of these nominees takes the prize. Anca Damian’s Marona’s Fantastic Tale is gorgeously animated, attempting to tell its story through the point of view of its small canine protagonist. The film appears as a dog might understand the confusing mess that is humanity. Close behind is Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers and Pixar’s Soul.

Best Documentary

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963)

Diego Maradona (2019, United Kingdom)

Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970)

The Eyes of Orson Welles (2018)

The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018)

I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

I Am Somebody (1970 short)

The River (1938 short)

The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)

Tokyo Olympiad (1965, Japan)

This was the best year for documentaries in a year’s Movie Odyssey for a long, long while. As a part of the tradition of Olympic films, Kon Ichikawa’s Tokyo Olympiad is a chronicle of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The film resembled nothing like the Olympic documentaries before it - choosing not to concentrate on just gold medalists and reportage, but a story of Japan’s reintroduction to the Western world and the pains of the many also-rans in any Olympics. I also considered Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (a JFK/RFK real-time documentary on the racial integration of the University of Alabama system), Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, The River (a New Deal-funded documentary short about the importance of the Mississippi River - narrated in free verse!), and The T.A.M.I. Show as potential winners, but nothing could eclipse Ichikawa’s monumental effort.

Best Non-English Language Film

The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005), Mongolia

Emitaï (1971), Senegal

Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), India

Olivia (1951), France

Ordet, Denmark

Parasite, South Korea

Persona, Sweden

The Shop on Main Street, Czechoslovakia

Sleepwalking Land (2008), Mozambique

Tokyo Olympiad, Japan

My god, this is always a stacked category. So why do I even bother? Because non-English language films - though they shouldn’t be ghettoized and considered a specialty - are nevertheless ghettoized and considered a specialty in America. This sort of category also gives some attention to a few films that don’t make much of an impression in other categories (namely the wondrous Sleepwalking Land and stunning The Cave of the Yellow Dog). But it is Ordet the reigns supreme here, edging out The Shop on Main Street, Parasite, and Kaagaz Ke Phool for this prize.

Best Silent Film

The Battle of the Century

Body and Soul (1925)

Bumping into Broadway (1919 short)

The Dragon Painter (1919)

I Do (1921 short)

Next Aisle Over (1919 short)

Ramona (1928)

The Scar of Shame (1927)

Shoes (1916)

Young Mr. Jazz (1919 short)

Lois Weber was as instrumental to shaping early American cinema as D.W. Griffith or Cecil B. DeMille. And in Shoes, she brings her sense of social righteousness and cinematic innovation to the fore. It is one of her best feature films, and its release came at the height of America’s Progressive Era - a time of greater awareness of industrialization and unregulated capitalism’s ill effects. Distant runners-up are new National Film Registry inductee The Battle of the Century (a Laurel and Hardy film with one of the best pie fights you will see) and Body and Soul (Paul Robeson’s theatrical debut). 

Personal Favorite Film

The African Queen

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

The Haunting

A Letter to Three Wives

Marona’s Fantastic Tale

McFarland, USA (2015)

Murder Most Foul (1964)

Stars in My Crown (1950)

Three Little Girls in Blue

The Trial

An understated but nevertheless eloquent screenplay, light humor, and careful attention to all three of its lead actresses roles define A Letter to Three Wives. It is one of the best exercises of empathy I saw all year, amid its tremulous and anxious narrative backdrop. We like to deride post-WWII American film as depicting an idyllic suburbia that never existed... but not here. Byambasuren Davaa’s The Cave of the Yellow Dog captured my heart, too. The film, from Mongolia, was one of the gentlest movies I’ve had the pleasure to see in the longest time. McFarland, USA revived memories in me of high school cross country days; Murder Most Foul was a Ms. Marple whodunit that cements Margaret Rutherford as one of my favorite actresses; the homespun Stars in My Crown is Americana at its finest.

Best Director

Ingmar Bergman, Persona (1961, Sweden)

Carl Theodor Dreyer, Ordet

Guru Dutt, Kaagaz Ke Phool

John Huston, The African Queen

Kon Ichikawa, Tokyo Oympiad

Sergio Leone, Once Upon a Time in America

Joseph L. Mankiewicz, A Letter to Three Wives

Leontine Sagan, Mädchen in Uniform

Ousmane Sembène, Emitaï

Orson Welles, The Trial

Dreyer is in command of the film’s mise en scene from the beginning - culminating in breathtaking scene set-ups for conversations spoken in hushed tones. The style is never oppressive, never showy, and just right for a deeply introspective movie of tried and troubled faith.

Best Acting Ensemble

Edge of the City (1957)

Gosford Park (2001)

The Irishman

A Letter to Three Wives

Little Women (2019)

Marriage Story (2019)

Once Upon a Time in America

Ordet

Parasite

Stars in My Crown

Subtract any one actor from Parasite and the film cannot work as well as it does. Perhaps Song Kang-ho has the best performance in the movie, but that isn’t possible without his fellow cast members putting out the incredible turns that they offer. Ordet is a close second. Behind by a country mile are Gosford Park, A Letter to Three WIves, and Little Women.

Best Actor

Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen

Maurice Chevalier, One Hour with You

Guru Dutt, Kaagaz Ke Phool

Jozef Kroner, The Shop on Main Street

Alan Ladd, This Gun for Hire (1942)

Joel McCrea, Stars in My Crown

Paul Robeson, Body and Soul

Howard Vernon, Le Silence de la mer (1949, France)

Jon Voight, Deliverance (1972)

Denzel Washington, Malcolm X (1992)

Arguably Denzel’s finest. He inhabits Malcolm X - the bravura, the attitude, the pastor-like (and occasionally incendiary) rhetorical devices, the early rage, the standoffishness. It is a magnificent performance. Just behind is Bogart and the irresistible Chevalier.

Best Actress

Bibi Andersson, Persona

Edwige Feuillère, Olivia

Helen Hayes, The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)

Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen

Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story

Ida Kamińska, The Shop on Main Street

Liza Minnelli, New York, New York

Lucia Lynn Moses, The Scar of Shame

Madhabi Mukherjee, The Big City (1963, India)

Waheeda Rehman, Kaagaz Ke Phool

As Ms. Lautmannová, Kamińska - in the autumn of her career - gives us a portrait of devout religiosity, elderly naivete, and otherworldly trust. She and co-star Jozef Kroner play off the other’s performance, one benefitting from the other. It is a delicate, heartbreaking performance. Some ways away are our two Indian actresses, Madhabi Mukherjee and Waheeda Rehman, as well as Bibi Andersson in the dizzying Persona.

Best Supporting Actor

Stephen Boyd, The Man Who Never Was (1956)

Haren Chatterjee, The Big City

James Edwards, The Steel Helmet (1951)

Moses Gunn, Aaron Loves Angela (1975)

Victor McLaglen, The Princess and the Pirate (1944)

Victor Moore, It Happened on Fifth Avenue

Sidney Poitier, Edge of the City

Song Kang-ho, Parasite

Richard Widmark, Kiss of Death (1947)

James Woods, Once Upon a Time in America

For the sixth straight year, Best Supporting Actor - a category almost always filled to the brim with villains - goes to an actor playing a menacing villain. That smirk, that creepy laugh. Holy crap. Widmark knocks it out of the park as the psychopathic Tommy Udo in his debut role. The role, taken by some the wrong way, inspired Tommy Udo frats in American colleges and universities (their central premise: male chauvinism and anti-feminist beliefs). Who else did I consider for a win here? Victor Moore, Sidney Poitier, Song Kang-ho, and James Woods (before he became a twitter conspiracy theorist).

Best Supporting Actress

Tsuru Aoki, The Dragon Painter

Ethel Barrymore, Pinky (1949)

Ruby Dee, Edge of the City

Laura Dern, Marriage Story

Nancy Kwan, Flower Drum Song

Maggie Smith, Gosford Park

Genevieve Tobin, One Hour with You

Emilia Unda, Mädchen in Uniform

Ethel Waters, Pinky

Dorothea Wieck, Mädchen in Uniform

Emilia Unda beats out fellow co-star Dorothea Wieck as the headmistress of the boarding school featured in Mädchen in Uniform. As the strict, uptight disciplinarian, one can see hints behind the facade she displays in front of the girls at the school. Nevertheless, yet another antagonist takes home this award. Also contending are Nancy Kwan and Ethel Waters.

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Huston, James Agee, Peter Viertel, and John Collier, The African Queen

Ladislav Grosman, Ján Kadár, and Elmar Klos, The Shop on Main Street

Steven Zaillian, The Irishman

Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Vera Caspary, A Letter to Three Wives

Christa Winsloe and Friedrich Dammann, Mädchen in Uniform

Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Franco Arcalli, Franco Ferrini, and Sergio Leone, Once Upon a Time in America

Samson Raphaelson, One Hour with You

Carl Theodor Dreyer, Ordet

Teresa Prata, Sleepwalking Land

Orson Welles, The Trial

And unlike the mistake the Academy made in just giving the Oscar to Mankiewicz back in the day, the award also goes to his co-screenwriter, Vera Caspary.

Best Original Screenplay

Juan Antonio Bardem, Death of a Cyclist (1955, Spain)

Ousmane Sembène, Emitaï

Julian Fellowes, Gosford Park

Jérémy Clapin and Guillaume Laurant, I Lost My Body

Everett Freeman, Vick Knight, and Ben Markson, It Happened on Fifth Avenue

Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won, Parasite

Ingmar Bergman, Persona

Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, Road to Utopia

David Starkman, The Scar of Shame

Delphine Girard, A Sister (2018 short, Belgium)

This is Sembène’s first Movie Odyssey Award, and I think he was probably one of the most overdue. As one of the fathers of African cinema, Sembène’s movies are colored by politics, specifically anti-colonialism, racism, tribal relations, and the destruction of traditional Senegalese life. His biting work to Emitaï is an excoriating piece, and essential to anyone seriously wanting to learn more about movies. No real challengers, in my mind, but the next ones up would have been Bergman and Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won.

Best Cinematography

David Schoenauer, The Cave of the Yellow Dog

Michel Remaudeau, Emitaï

Davis Boulton, The Haunting

Rodrigo Prieto, The Irishman

V.K. Murthy, Kaagaz Ke Phool

Norbert Brodine, Kiss of Death

László Kovács, New York, New York

Tonino Delli Colli, Once Upon a Time in America

Kazuo Miyagawa, Shigeo Murata, Shigeichi Nagano, Kenji Nakamura, and Tadashi Tanaka, Tokyo Olympiad

Edmond Richard, The Trial

The Trial unfolds and is shot as if it was a nightmare, albeit a nightmare without any dreamlike elements. With Dutch angles and unconventional use of focus, it is a remarkable film to look at. Having the soon-to-be Orsay Museum as an interior certainly helps. The Cave of the Yellow Dog, The Haunting, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Once Upon a Time in America, and even Tokyo Olympiad would have been worthy winners too.

Best Film Editing

Don Deacon, Born Free (1966)

De Nosworthy and Nicholas T. Proferes, Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment

Tom Priestly, Deliverance

Ernest Waller, The Haunting

Barry Alexander Brown, Malcolm X

Nino Baragli, Once Upon a Time in America

Yang Jin-mo, Parasite

Ulla Ryghe, Persona

Tatsuji Nakashizu, Tokyo Olympiad

Yvonne Martin and Frederic Muller, The Trial

Best Adaptation or Musical Score

S.D. Burman, Kaagaz Ke Phool

José Feliciano and Janna Merlyn Feliciano, Aaron Loves Angela

Nat W. Finston, Woody Herman, Louis Alter, and Edgar De Lange, New Orleans

W. Franke Harling, Oscar Straus, Rudolph G. Kopp, and John Leipold, One Hour with You

Maury Laws and Jules Bass, Mad Monster Party?

Joseph J. Lilley, Don Robertson, Hal Blair, George David Weiss, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, Sid Tepper, and Roy C. Bennett, Blue Hawaii

Alfred Newman, Flower Drum Song

Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith, and Charles Wolcott, Saludos Amigos

David Raksin, George Gershwin, and Ira Gershwin, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim

Harry Warren, Ralph Blane, and Howard Jackson, My Dream Is Yours

Oh geez what a line-up. But this category favors original musicals above all. And though some might hesitate to call it a musical, Kaagaz Ke Phool’s soundtrack - in its melding of dramatics and music - is as cinematic as they come. As opposed to the let’s-just-put-a-song-here-to-kill-free time attitude of some of these musicals, Kaagaz Ke Phool uses its songs purposefully. In other words, with feeling. Alfred Newman’s adaptation of Flower Drum Song was probably up next.

Best Original Score

John Barry, Born Free

Elmer Bernstein, The Comancheros (1961)

Akira Ifukube, Destroy All Monsters (1968, Japan)

Zdeněk Liška, The Shop on Main Street

Toshiro Mayuzumi, Tokyo Olympiad

Ennio Morricone, Once Upon a Time in America

Alfred Newman, The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

Leonard Rosenman, Edge of the City

Virgil Thomson, The River

John Williams, Empire of the Sun (1987)

This is not a sympathy prize for the recently-departed Italian composer. The key cue is the second one featured, "Deborah's Theme" and, when you listen to it, I think it tells you all you need to know about this movie. It's deeply expressive. And in the movie, it's allowed to be prominent. I've seen people say the late Morricone considered this his best score, but I can't find any official word of that anywhere. It is tremendous work, with Bernstein, Newman, and Thomson just behind.

Best Original Song

“Angela”, music and lyrics by José Feliciano and Janna Merlyn Feliciano, Aaron Loves Angela

“Can’t Help Falling in Love”, music and lyrics by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss, Blue Hawaii (1961)

“Dekhi Zamaane Ki Yaari / Bichhde Sabhi Baari Baari”, music by S.D. Burman, lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, Kaagaz Ke Phool

“(Do You Know What It Means to Miss) New Orleans”, music by Louis Alter, lyrics by Edgar De Lange, New Orleans

“Farewell to Storyville",  music by Louis Alter, lyrics by Edgar De Lange, New Orleans

“Happy Endings", music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, New York, New York

“Here They Come (From All Over the World)", music and lyrics by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, The T.A.M.I. Show

“Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?", music and lyrics by Yôjirô Noda, Weathering with You

“Theme from New York, New York”, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, New York, New York

“Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam”, music and lyrics by S.D. Burman, Kaagaz Ke Phool

Thank you to all of those who participated in the 2020 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song!

Best Costume Design

Uncredited, The Duke Is Tops (1938)

Irene Sharaff, Flower Drum Song

Jenny Beavan, Gosford Park

Jacqueline Durran, Little Women

Henry Noremark and Karin Erskine, The Magic Flute

Ruth E. Carter, Malcolm X

Marcelles Desvignes and Mireille Leydet, Olivia

Gabriella Pescucci, Once Upon a Time in America

Travis Banton, One Hour with You

Bonnie Cashin, Three Little Girls in Blue

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Daniel C. Striepeke, John Chambers, Verne Langdon, Jack Barron, Mary Babcock, and Jan Van Uchelen, Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

Sallie Jaye and Jan Archibald, Gosford Park

Judy Chin and Fríða Aradóttir. Little Women

Uncredited, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)

Uncredited, The Magic Flute

Marietta Carter-Narcisse and John James, Malcolm X

Michael Westmore, Christina Smith, Mary Keats, June Miggins, and Sydney Guilaroff, New York, New York

Carmen Brel, Simone Knapp, Jean Lalaurette, and Maguy Vernadet, Olivia

Ben Nye, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim

Ben Nye, Three Little Girls in Blue

Best Production Design

Norman Reynolds and Harry Cordwell, Empire of the Sun

Alexander Golitzen, Joseph C. Wright, and Howard Bristol, Flower Drum Song

Stephen Altman and Anna Pinnock, Gosford Park

Elliot Scott and John Jarvis, The Haunting

Bob Shaw and Regina Graves, The Irishman

M.R. Achrekar, Kaagaz Ke Phool

Henny Noremark, Anna-Lena Hansen, and Emilio Moliner, The Magic Flute

Harry Kemm, Robert De Vestel, and Ruby R. Levitt, New York, New York

Dennis Gassner and Lee Sandales, 1917 (2019)

Carlo Simi, Once Upon a Time in America

The production design, or the haunted house, was a character. Nothing else in this category could compare.

Achievement in Visual Effects (all are winners because it would be unfair to compare the visuals of 1917 against When Worlds Collide)

Babe: Pig in the City (1998)

Destroy All Monsters

The Irishman

1917

Red Dawn (1984)

Plymouth Adventure (1952)

War of the Worlds (2005)

When Worlds Collide (1951)

Worst Picture

Age 13 (1955 short)

Fireman, Save My Child! (1932)

Frankie and Johnny (1966)

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Red Dawn

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Fuck Fallen Kingdom.

Honorary Awards:

Colored Players Film Corporation, for its thematically courageous race films, tackling issues neglected by Hollywood

Harold Michelson, for his contributions as an illustrator and storyboard artist (posthumous)

Lillian Michelson, for her dedication as a film researcher and archivist

Tadahito Mochinaga, for achievements in stop-motion animation with Rankin/Bass

Floyd Norman, for his pioneering career in cinematic animation

FILMS WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS (excluding Worst Picture... 57)

Ten: Once Upon a Time in America Nine: Kaagaz Ke Phool Seven: New York, New York; One Hour with You Six: The African Queen; Gosford Park; The Irishman; Parasite; The Shop on Main Street; The Trial Five: Flower Drum Song; The Haunting; A Letter to Three Wives; Mädchen in Uniform; Ordet; Persona; Three Little Girls in Blue; Tokyo Olympiad Four: Edge of the City; Emitaï; The Magic Flute; Malcolm X; New Orleans; Olivia Three: Aaron Loves Angela; Blue Hawaii; The Cave of the Yellow Dog; It Happened on Fifth Avenue; Marriage Story; The Scar of Shame; The Shocking Miss Pilgrim; Stars in My Crown Two: The Battle of the Century; The Big City; Body and Soul; Born Free; Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment; Deliverance; Destroy All Monsters; The Dragon Painter; The Greatest Story Ever Told; I Lost My Body; Kiss of Death; Klaus; Mad Monster Party?; Marona’s Fantastic Tale; My Dream is Yours; 1917; Pinky; The Princess and the Pirate; The River; Road to Utopia; Saludos Amigos; Sleepwalking Land; Soul; The T.A.M.I. Show; Weathering with You

WINNERS (excluding honorary awards and Worst Picture; 28) 3 wins: A Letter to Three Wives; Ordet 2 wins: The Haunting; Mädchen in Uniform; Once Upon a Time in America; Parasite; The Shop on Main Street; The Trial 1 win: The African Queen; Babe: Pig in the City; Blue Hawaii; Destroy All Monsters; Emitaï; Gosford Park; The Irishman; Kaagaz Ke Phool; Kiss of Death; Malcolm X; Marona’s Fantastic Tale; New York, New York; 1917; One Hour with You; Red Dawn; Persona; Plymouth Adventure; The Shocking Miss Pilgrim; Shoes; Tokyo Olympiad; War of the Worlds; When Worlds Collide

92 films were nominated in 26 categories.

[brokehorrorfan]

Brain Damage will be released as a limited edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on May 9 via Arrow Video. The 1988 cult classic has been restored from original film elements. You get an exclusive Elmer enamel pin if you order the set through Diabolik DVD ($27.99).

Written and directed by Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Frankenhooker), the horror-comedy cult classic stars Rick Hearst and John Zacherle. Sara Deck designed the new artwork; the original art is on the reverse side. A slipcase with exclusive artwork is also included.

Check out the list of special features below.

Special features:

Audio commentary by writer-director Frank Henenlotter (new)

Interviews with cast and crew (new)

2016 Offscreen Film Festival Q&A with Frank Henenlotter

Theatrical trailer

Collector’s booklet with new writing on the film

More to be announced

Meet Elmer. He’s your local, friendly parasite with the ability to induce euphoric hallucinations in his hosts. But these LSD-like trips come with a hefty price tag. When young Brian comes under Elmer’s addictive spell, it’s not long before he finds himself scouring the city streets in search of his parasite’s preferred food source – brains!

[whagtssi]

┬바람에게 - 유치환 ⅱ 바이러스학┬

바람에게 - 유치환 바람아 나는 알겠다. 네 말을 나는 알겠다. 한사코 풀잎을 흔들고 또 나의 얼굴을 스쳐가 하늘 끝에 우는 네 말을 나는 알겠다. 눈 감고 이렇게 등성이에 누우면 나의 영혼의 깊은 데까지 닿는 너. 이 호호(浩浩)한 천지를 배경하고 나의 모나리자! 어디에 어찌 안아볼 길 없는 너. 바람아 나는 알겠다. 한오리 풀잎나마 부여잡고 흐느끼는 네 말을 나는 정녕 알겠다. 바이러스학 1. 개념 및 정의 미생물(微生物, microorganism)이란 맨눈으로는 볼 수 없는 아주 작은 생물을 뜻한다. 의학에서 언급하고 연구하는 미생물이란 사람과 동물에 질환을 일으키거나 영향을 미칠 수 있는 생물을 일컫는 경우가 많으며, 세균(細菌, bacteria), 바이러스(virus), 진균(眞菌, fungus, 곰팡이), 원생동물(原生動物, protozoa) 등을 뜻한다. 특히 이들 중에서 사람이나 동물 등에 질병을 일으킬 수 있어 의학적으로 중요한 미생물을 병원성미생물(病原性微生物, pathogen)이라고 부른다.바이러스라는 용어는 라틴어로 독(poison)이라는 뜻으로, 세균보다 진화가 덜 되었으며 생물과 무생물의 중간단계에 있는 무언가로 정의한다. 이러한 특성 때문에 미생물로 분류하기 애매한 측면이 있으나, 사람과 동물에 실제로 많은 질병을 일으키고 그 질환의 정도가 심하여 의학적으로 영향을 많이 미친다는 측면에서 미생물학의 연구대상이 되고 있다.바이러스학(-學, virology)은 바이러스에 대해 모든 면을 연구하는 학문이다. 바이러스는 인체 및 동물에 다양한 형태의 감염을 일으킨다. 감기나 단순 포진(單純疱疹, herpes simplex)과 같이 특별히 면역력에 문제가 없을 경우에는 저절로 낫는 질환을 일으키는 경우도 많지만, 후천성 면역결핍증(AIDS)이나 B형 간염 바이러스, C형 간염 바이러스 등 인체에 치명적인 감염을 일으키는 바이러스도 적지 않아 이에 대한 연구는 인류의 건강을 위해 필수불가결하다. 1) 바이러스의 개관 바이러스는 앞서 언급한 미생물 중에서 크기가 가장 작아, 직경이 18~300nm 정도여서 광학현미경으로는 관찰이 힘들고, 세균 정도의 크기를 걸러내도록 고안된 세균여과기를 대부분 통과할 수 있다. 바이러스의 존재는 1892년 러시아의 생물학자인 디미트리 이바노브스키(Dimitri Ivanovski)가 담배모자이크병(tobacco mosaic disease)에 걸린 담배 잎사귀의 즙을 세균여과기에 통과시켜 얻은 무균여과액이 담배모자이크병을 전파시킬 수 있다는 사실을 처음으로 발표하면서 바이러스의 존재를 알게 되었다.바이러스는 그 바이러스가 기생하는 숙주세포에 따라 동물 바이러스, 식물 바이러스, 그리고 세균에 기생하는 세균 바이러스(bacterophage)의 세 종류가 있다. 현재까지 인체감염을 일으키는 바이러스는 40속 이상이 알려져 있으며, 최근 후천성 면역결핍증(AIDS)이나 중증급성 호흡기증후군(SARS), 조류인플루엔자(avian influenza) 바이러스 등 새로운 신종 및 변종 바이러스가 계속 발견되고 있어, 의학적으로 그리고 사회적으로 큰 관심을 끌고 있다.바이러스는 증식에 필요한 한 종류의 핵산과 단백으로 구성되어 있다. 핵산(核酸, nucleic acid)이란 증식에 필요한 정보를 기록하는 물질적 수단으로, 흔히 일반적으로 많이 사용하는 DNA(deoxyribonucleic acid)와 RNA(ribonucleic acid)가 있다. 바이러스의 핵산은 단백층(capsid)으로 둘러싸여 보호받고 있으며, 단백층의 외부에 지질막 외피가 있느냐 없느냐에 따라 외피가 있는 외피보유 바이러스(enveloped virus)와 외피가 없는 외피비보유(non-enveloped virus) 바이러스로 나누어 볼 수 있다.바이러스는 숙주가 없으면 증식할 수 없기 때문에 숙주에 절대적으로 기대어 증식을 한다는 의미의 절대기생체(絶對寄生體, true parasites)이다. 따라서 이런 바이러스를 인공적으로 증식하기 위해서는 특정한 세포 내에서 증식하도록 유도하여야 하며, 1940년대 후반 바이러스를 동물세포에서 증식시킬 수 있는 세포배양법이 발전하게 되어 바이러스 연구에 많은 도움이 된 바 있다. 특히 미국의 미생물학자인 존 프랭클린 엔더스(John Franklin Enders)는 최초로 바이러스의 세포배양에 성공하여 바이러스 백신의 대량생산을 가능하게 했다.디미트리 이바노브스키(Dimitri Ivanovski, 1864~1920) 존 프랭클린 엔더스(John Franklin Enders, 1897~1985) 바이러스는 우리 몸의 방어 체계를 뚫고 들어와 중요한 조직의 세포를 파괴하거나 면역반응 또는 염증반응을 일으킴으로써 질병을 유발한다. 따라서 바이러스 감염의 결과는 바이러스와 숙주의 상호작용과 감염에 대한 숙주의 반응에 따라 다양하게 나타나게 된다. 대부분의 바이러스 감염은 증상이 없지만(subclinical infection), 바이러스의 발병력(virulence)과 그에 대한 숙주의 면역반응이 질병의 증상을 결정한다.바이러스에 대한 우리 몸의 면역반응은 바이러스를 인체에서 제거하는 데 가장 좋은 치료제이나 때로는 바이러스 감염에 의한 발병 기전에 관여하여 질병을 악화시키기도 한다. 바이러스 질환의 증상은 주로 바이러스의 표적이 되는 조직에 의해 다양하게 나타나며, 감염된 바이러스의 종류, 바이러스 양, 감염된 사람의 건강 상태 등이 질환에 영향을 미친다.여러 종류의 바이러스들이 어떤 특정한 조직에 친화성(親和性, tropism)을 갖고 있어 동일한 질병을 유발하기도 하며, 반면에 한 종류의 바이러스가 여러 형태의 질병을 일으키기도 한다. 예를 들면 A형 간염 바이러스(HAV: Hepatitis A Virus), B형 간염 바이러스(HBV: Hepatitis B Virus), C형 간염 바이러스(HCV: Hepatitis C Virus,)들은 모두 다른 종류의 바이러스이지만 모두 간에 친화성이 있어 간염이라는 동일한 질병을 유발한다. 반면에 단순 헤르페스 바이러스 1형(HSV-1: Herpes Simplex Virus type 1)은 구강염, 인두염, 입술 헤르페스, 음부 포진, 뇌염 등 다양한 질병을 일으킨다.A형 간염 바이러스 B형 간염 바이러스 2. 역사 고대부터 질병의 원인을 과학적으로 찾아내려는 노력이 계속되었던 데 반해, 질병을 종교적이나 철학적 측면에 따라 보는 시각도 있었기에 과학적 노력이 왜곡되는 경우가 발생하기도 했다. 특히 과학적 인식이 매우 낮았던 고대에는 질병의 원인을 인체나 다른 원인에서 찾는 것이 아니라, 사람이 어쩔 수 없는 초자연적 현상으로 여기거나 인간의 죄를 벌하기 위해 신이 준 것으로 믿었기 때문에 이를 풀기 위한 방법 또한 종교에 기대는 경우가 많았다.이런 인식이 팽배해 있는 시대에도 과학적 사고를 하던 자가 바로 코스의 히포크라테스(Hippocrates of Cos)이다. 그는 지진, 홍수, 화산폭발, 혜성의 출현 등과 같이 천재지변이 일어날 때 발생하는 오염된 공기, 즉 독기(miasma)에 의해 전염병이 발생한다는 독기설을 주장하여 질병의 원인이 신과 같은 초자연적인 존재가 아닌 인체나 그 주위 환경에서 찾아야 한다는 생각에 기초를 두��다.코스의 히포크라테스(Hippocrates of Cos, BC 470?~BC 377?) 로저 베이컨(Roger Bacon, 1214∼1292) 히포크라테스 이외에도 질병이 보이지 않는 미생물에 의해 전파되는 감염병일 것이라는 주장도 없지는 않았다. 구약성경의 어느 구절을 보면, 한센병(癩病, leprosy)은 전염성이 있으며 접촉에 의해 전파될 수 있다는 기록이 있기도 하였고, 기원전 2세기에는 ‘질병은 보이지 않는 작은 생물에 의해 전염된다’는 마르쿠스 테렌티우스 바로(Marcus Terentius Varro)의 기록도 찾아볼 수 있다. 13세기 로저 베이컨(Roger Bacon)은 ‘보이지 않는 살아 있는 생물이 질병을 일으킨다’라는 가설을 주장했다.1546년 베네치아의 지로라모 프라카스트로(Girolamo Fracastorius)는 ‘감염병은 살아 있는 미생물이 직접 접촉하거나, 중간매개물 또는 공기를 통해 전파된다’는 생각을 매독의 전파경로를 바탕으로 주장하기도 하였다. 또 그는 ‘질병의 씨앗은 한 사람의 감염자로부터 다른 사람으로 전파되고 전염된 사람은 전파시킨 사람과 똑같은 질병을 앓게 된다’라는 주장을 했다. 그러나 그가 그의 주장을 펼치기엔 아직 병원체인 미생물의 존재를 발견하지 못했기 때문에 신벌설이나 독기설 같은 주장을 완전하게 부정하는 데는 실패하였다.결국 ‘미생물이 질병을 일으킨다’는 미생물설은 19세기 후반에 루이 파스퇴르(Louis Pasteur)와 로베르트 하인리히 헤르만 코흐(Robert Heinrich Herman Koch) 등의 실험에 의해 비로소 증명되게 되었다.지로라모 프라카스트로(Girolamo Fracastorius, 1484∼1553) 루이 파스퇴르(Louis Pasteur, 1822∼1895) 로베르트 하인리히 헤르만 코흐(Robert Heinrich Herman Koch, 1843~1910) 1796년 에드워드 제너(Edward Jenner)는 우두 백신을 사람에게 접종함으로써 공포의 전염병이던 천연두를 예방할 수 있게 되었다. 그 이후 전 세계적인 천연두 백신의 접종으로 1977년부터는 지구상에서 단 한 명의 환자도 발생하지 않고 있다.1877년 파스퇴르는 닭 콜레라 백신을 개발하였다. 파스퇴르는 장기간 배양시킨 약독화 닭 콜레라균을 접종하여 가볍게 앓도록 해서 나중에 유행할 수 있는 독성 균주에 대한 면역을 미리 얻게 할 수 있었다. 또한 1881년 파스퇴르는 약독화 탄저균 백신을 개발했다. 1884~1886년에 대니얼 엘머 살몬(Daniel Elmer Salmon)과 시어볼드 스미스(Theobald Smith)는 돼지콜레라에 대한 사균 백신을 개발하였다.1886년 파스퇴르는 광견병(狂犬病, rabies)의 병원체가 규명되지 않은 상태에서 건조된 동물의 척수를 사용하여 약독화 생바이러스 백신인 광견병 백신을 개발하는 데 성공했다. 그 이후 결핵(結核, tuberculosis), 소아마비(小兒痲痺, polio), 홍역(紅疫, measles), 볼거리(mumps), 풍진(風疹, rubella), B형 간염 등의 백신이 개발되어 많은 종류의 감염병을 예방할 수 있게 되었다.에드워드 제너(Edward Jenner, 1749∼1823) 시어볼드 스미스(Theobald Smith, 1859∼1934) 대니얼 엘머 살몬(Daniel Elmer Salmon, 1850∼1914) 월터 리드(Walter Reed, 1851∼1902) 인류가 출현한 이후 두창(smallpox), 홍역(measles), 광견병(rabies), 인플루엔자(influenza) 및 출혈열(hemorrhagic fever) 등의 바이러스 감염 질환으로 많은 고통을 받았지만, 그 원인 병원체가 바이러스인 것이 밝혀지기 시작한 것은 20세기 초 월터 리드(Walter Reed)에 의해 황열이 모기에 의해 전염된다는 것을 입증하면서부터였다. 이는 세균이 발견된 후 220여 년 만에 이루어진 것으로, 이렇게 발견이 늦어진 이유는 광학현미경으로 관찰이 가능한 세균에 비해 바이러스는 그 크기가 너무 작아 관찰하기 어려웠기 때문이다.우리나라에서의 바이러스 연구는 1895년 서재필 박사가 월터 리드 등과 황열 바이러스(yellow fever)를 연구한 것이 최초이다. 1956년부터 4년 동안 이호왕 교수가 미네소타 의과대학 미생물학 교실에서 일본뇌염 바이러스와 증식 및 병인성을 연구함으로써 국내 바이러스학이 발전할 수 있는 초석을 마련했고, 1976년 이호왕 교수의 출혈열 연구팀이 신증후군 출혈열(腎症候群出血熱, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome)의 원인 병원체인 한탄 바이러스(hantaan virus)를 등줄쥐(apodemus agrarius coreae)의 폐조직에서 분리하여 바이러스학 분야에 세계적으로 큰 업적을 남겼다. 3. 주요 분야 바이러스학은 바이러스에 대한 모든 내용을 다루며, 특히 인체에 감염 등 영향을 미치는 바이러스에 대해 중점적으로 다룬다. 바이러스학이 다루는 내용 중 주요 부분을 여기에서 언급하기로 한다. 1) 구조 바이러스 입자는 감염성과는 관계없이 그 형태를 표현할 때 사용되는 용어이고, 비리온(virion)은 감염성이 있는 완전한 바이러스 입자를 뜻한다. 바이러스 입자의 기본 구조는 바이러스 핵산이 있는 핵심(核心, core)과 핵산을 싸고 있는 단백 외각(protein coat), 즉 캡시드(capsid)로 되어 있다. 핵산과 캡시드가 결합한 형태를 뉴클레오 캡시드(nucleocapsid)라고 한다. 핵산은 바이러스 증식에 필요한 유전정보가 담겨 있으며, 그것은 DNA나 RNA이다.바이러스에 있는 단백질은 구조단백(構造蛋白, structural protein)과 비구조단백(非構造蛋白, non-structural protein)으로 나뉘며, 비구조단백은 핵산 등을 합성하는 데 관련된 효소 등을 뜻한다. 바이러스 외피에 있는 지질은 바이러스가 세포에서 증식한 다음 세포 밖으로 출아(出芽, budding)할 때 숙주세포막에 있는 지질을 획득하게 되며, 출아 과정에 따라 지질의 유래가 달라진다. 2) 분류 바이러스는 여러 가지 방법으로 분류할 수 있으며, 국제바이러스분류위원회(ICTV: International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses)에 의해 만들어진 표준분류법이 대표적인 분류법이다. 이 방법은 비리온의 형태, 물리화학적 성상, 유전체의 성상, 단백의 성상, 항원성 등을 바탕으로 바이러스를 분류하고 있는데, 바이러스의 특성을 분석하는 방법이 매우 빠르게 발전하고 있고, 모든 바이러스에 동일한 기준을 적용하기가 매우 어려워 자주 수정·보완되고 있다. 3) 배양 바이러스를 인공적으로 증식시켜서 연구 등의 목적으로 필요할 때 쓸 수 있도록 하는 기술이 바이러스의 배양(培養, culture)이다. 담배모자이크 바이러스가 알려진 후 다양한 바이러스들이 분리되었으나 1950년대 세포배양법이 개발되기까지 바이러스학이 발전하지 못했다. 그 이유는 바이러스 연구에 필수적인 바이러스의 대량 증식, 농축 및 정제, 검출법 및 적절한 실험동물을 확립하지 못했기 때문이다. 또한 제한된 숙주역과 살아있는 세포 내에서만 증식하는 바이러스의 특성은 바이러스학 발전의 장애요인이었다.세포배양의 발달로 바이러스의 대량증식, 분리, 정량 및 증식기전 연구 등이 가능하게 됨으로써 바이러스학은 급속도로 발전했다. 초원심분리기, 전자현미경 및 막 여과법의 발전으로 바이러스 농축 및 정제, 형태 관찰과 크기 측정이 가능하게 되었고 바이러스의 미세구조도 밝혀졌다. 또한 면역학의 발전에 힘입어 혈청학적 방법을 통해 바이러스 항원이나 항체 검출이 용이해져 바이러스 질병의 진단과 연구가 더욱 간편해졌다. 4) 증식 증식(增殖, replication)이란 같은 개체를 지속적으로 만들어내는 것을 의미한다. 바이러스의 증식에는 숙주세포가 매우 중요한 역할을 하는데, 숙주세포는 바이러스 유전체의 복제와 바이러스 단백의 합성을 위한 물질, 에너지 및 기구를 제공하는 바이러스 생산공장의 역할을 한다. 바이러스가 필요한 것은 숙주세포가 그 생산공장의 역할을 할 수 있도록 하는 유전체와, 세포에서 기생하는 데 필요한 물질 등이다. 바이러스의 증식은 매우 여러 단계를 거쳐서 이루어지는데, 간단히 하자면 숙주세포를 감염시킨 후 세포라는 공장에 자신의 설계도면을 끼워 넣고, 그 설계도면을 바탕으로 자신과 같은 바이러스를 대량생산한 후 결국 세포를 죽음에 이르게 하는 것이다. 5) 바이러스 각론 현재까지 많은 종류의 바이러스가 밝혀져 있으며, 특별히 인체에 심각한 감염을 일으키는 바이러스도 많이 알려졌다. 이는 바이러스가 발견된 이후 바이러스를 지속적으로 연구해온 바이러스 학자들에 의해 이루어진 것이며, 이를 통해 바이러스 감염 시 치료를 할 수 있는 방법이 개발되었다. 현재도 많은 바이러스가 변종을 일으키고 새로운 종류의 바이러스가 등장하고 있어, 각각의 바이러스에 대한 학문인 바이러스 각론의 발전은 지속적으로 필요한 실정이다. 4. 주요 용어 및 관련 직업군 1) 주요 용어 • 바이러스: 세균보다 진화되지 않은, 생물과 무생물 사이의 무언가이다. 증식을 위해 기생해야 하며, 기생할 때 인체나 동물에 감염 및 질환을 일으킬 수 있어 미생물학의 연구대상이 된다. 2) 관련 직업군 • 미생물학자: 미생물학자는 미생물학을 전문적으로 연구하는 학자이다. 의학 분야에서 미생물학자가 되기 위해서는 의학, 수의학, 생물학 등을 전공한 후 각 의과대학에 설치되어 있는 미생물학 교실에서 석사 및 박사과정을 밟으면서 자신의 학문을 넓히고 연구를 진행하게 된다. 바이러스를 전문으로 하는 미생물학자가 되기 위해서는 석사 및 박사과정을 거쳐 그 분야에 연구를 지속하면 된다. 이러한 과정을 끝마친 이후에는 대학교에서 교수로 재직하면서 학생을 가르치거나 자신의 연구를 진행하는 길이 있고, 이외에는 국공립 및 사립 연구소에서 연구원으로 재직하는 길이 있다.