Internment of Japanese Americans, 1942

In an era where we have a president and a controlling party that are eager to take away our civil liberties, I want to reflect on the fact that we have not always done the right thing.  Do not reassure yourself with those thoughts.  This is such a horrible chapter in our history, and one to remember because amongst other things, the rights and privileges of people who have immigrated to this country are being called into question.  So best that we remember past mistakes in order to prevent them in the future.




The internment of Japanese Americans was one of the most blatant restrictions on civil liberties in our history.  Two months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 ordering all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast. This resulted in the relocation of approximately 120,000 people, many of whom were American citizens, to one of 10 internment camps located across the country. Traditional family structure was upended within the camp, as American-born children were solely allowed to hold positions of authority. Some Japanese-American citizens of were allowed to return to the West Coast beginning in 1945, and the last camp closed in March 1946.  Ansel Adams, a Western photographer best known for his photos of national parks, provided some of the best lasting images of this time.

Washington's First Inaugural Address (1789)

This President's Day holiday falls exactly on George Washington's actual birthday, and I am going to take a page out of history in order to better reflect on the decay of a mission set by the Founding Fathers in our most modern age.  When a President has voiced the words of an oligarch to state that to disagree with him is treason.  They are largely all a disgrace to the men who set forth our fragile democracy.
From his first inaugural address:
By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the President "to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

The Garden Party (2017)

I really loved this nominee for Best Short Animated film.  One of my sons thought it was just too crass, but I disagree completely.  Here is the scoop.
Frogs and toads abound in this remarkable short by six talented French artists,  all of whom are in touch with their playful side if the trailer is any indication. The film uses the amphibians as narrative devices for exploring a scene and creating a puzzle that hooks the viewer with a slowly unfolding story.  Impressive work has been dedicated to creating the external pool and shrubbery and the internal dining room and study. The quality of CG work is outstanding, including attention to materials, photorealism, lighting and physics simulations. Aesthetics and composition are a pleasure to watch.  The story is told wordlessly, as the toads and frogs hop through the indoors and outdoors.
What makes the film work so well? The unfolding surprises of the background story help create suspense, hooking the viewer and slowly changing the tone and theme of the film to a genre movie. They also create a contrast with the animal kingdom, which is completely oblivious to it, and continues on its own parallel narrative lines. An emphasis on irreverent humor and creativity adds a lot of spice to the short.

The Post (2017)

This is specifically about the publication of information that was at the heart of the Pentagon Papers, the classified documents that were stolen and then published first by the New York Times, and then by a number of publications nationwide, including the Washington Post.
 The movie tells the story of the Pentagon Papers, choosing to focus on two key players in the unfolding battle between the free press and a White House that struggled to keep the secrets of how our government handled the Vietnam War under wraps.  The two central figures of this story are Kay Graham (Meryl Streep in a beautifully nuanced and decidedly unsexy performance.  She is breathtaking), the beleaguered publisher of the Post, doing a good job that too many men around her consider her incapable of doing, and Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), the editor of the Post, and the man who never questions whether of not they should publish. The courts are used by the Nixon White House in an effort to shut down a press that is free and open.
Sound familiar?  The story is at once of a challenge to the free press in 1971 but also reflects on what is going on in 2017. As the President of the United States challenges different journalistic institutions, mostly through his Twitter feed, but also in speeches, and “truth” seems to have become a looser term than ever before, “The Post” is designed to be viewed as a commentary on today as much as yesterday, maybe even more. It’s fascinating to consider a film this well-constructed and packed with talented performers that would have played completely differently just two years ago.

DeKalb Elementary (2017)

If there is anything that can influence on public opinion about the need for a more rational approach to gun laws, I do not know what it is.  The number of children shot this year, 2018, across the country is staggering.  As of February 5th, when we were only 36 days into the new year, there have been 94 children shot in 57 separate incidents, and 30 children are dead.  Almost one a day.  Then there are those who do not get shot or killed, but watch someone shoot and kill people around them.  They fear for their lives, they question what they could have done, some will have survivor guilt, some will have lost friends or classmates.  The violence just ripples out across a school and a community.  But as far as I can tell, nothing changes that.  The singularly incorrect interpretation of what the 2nd amendment means just keeps on wrecking loss across our country and absolutely nothing changes that.  We as citizens do not demand a change, and our bought and paid for by special interest elected officials will certainly do nothing until their very jobs are at stake.  So we live with this as our unique reality in an otherwise first world country.
This film, nominated in the Short Action film category, is a reenactment of an averted school shooting.  It will not likely change any minds, but it is a powerful statement none-the-less.

Coco (2017)

Oh my goodness, this is maybe the best movie I have seen during this wild and wonderful season of watching all the Oscar nominated films.  I just loved it, and even though I have only seen one of the other nominees in the category of Best Animated film, it will be hard for something else to knock it off my choice it the category.  The story is that Miguel is growing up with his extended family in Santa Cecilia, Mexico.  His family us pathologically anti-music because Miguel's great great grandfather was a musician who went of to pursue his dreams with a band and never returned.  Miguel has inherited his passion for guitar, and he has been secretly practicing and plans to compete in a local contest on the eve of the Day of the Dead.  One thing leads to another, a little magic sweeps him up, and he finds himself on the other side, in the land of the dead, and has to work to get himself back to the land of the living.  There is a plot twist or two, nothing too outrageous, and the whole package is charming, uplifting, and will make you want to plan your next trip to Mexico as soon as possible in order to immerse yourself in it's rich culture.

Edith + Eddie (2017)

This is a story that starts with a relationship but ends with guardianship.  So it is Valentine's day when you are in your nineties.  The question at the heart of this Oscar nominated short documentary is what should be a guardian, what to do when siblings disagree, and what about the money.  Who should do it?  How should they be paid?  And how do they reach the decisions that they do?  Having recently read a New Yorker length article on a very corrupt guardian who skimmed thousands of dollars out of her wards, all the while making decisions for them that were not in their best interest, coupled with seeing some bad outcomes in my professional life, my advise is to name your own guardian before it is too late.  That is your best bet (although not a slam dunk.  And failing that, try to work it out amongst the family because it will be unlikely to work out well otherwise.  This is a sad and charming story well told, although not my pick to win, it may take home the prize.

Negative Space (2017)

I really loved this movie, and it is my choice to win the Academy Award in the Best Short Animated category.  And I would say that there are some aspects of a love letter to a departed parent in this, so as we circle between my anniversary and Valentine's Day, this seems to fit within that them, of loving, and losing, and remembering.
The animation is spectacular stop motion.  I would recommend watching the trailer about the making of the movie, which while twise as long as the movie itself, gives a real sense of the creative process that goes into making something like this. 
And then there is the inspiration for it all.
The poem it is based on is by Ron Koertge:

My dad taught me to pack: lay out everything. Put back half. Roll things
that roll. Wrinkle-prone things on top of cotton things. Then pants, waist-
to-hem. Nooks and crannies for socks. Belts around the sides like snakes.
Plastic over that. Add shoes. Wear heavy stuff on the plane.
      We started when I was little. I’d roll up socks. Then he’d pretend to put me
in the suitcase, and we’d laugh. Some guys bond with their dads shooting
hoops or talking about Chevrolets. We did it over luggage.
      By the time I was twelve, if he was busy, I’d pack for him. Mom tried
but didn’t have the knack. He’d get somewhere, open his suitcase and text
me—”Perfect.” That one word from him meant a lot.
      The funeral was terrible—him laid out in that big carton and me crying
and thinking, Look at all that wasted space.

Get Out (2017)

Oh my lordy, this is just the sort of movie that I could never watch in a movie theater because I absolutely have to get up in the middle of it and walk around.  Some people love to be scared.  Not me.  I feel the same way about surprises.  This is just simply brilliant as a film and I can't say enough about it.  Most astounding is how the structure of a horror movie that is superimposed on a story about racism somehow becomes memorable and more powerful for all the scaring that takes place.
The director, Jason Peele, has really made a mark with this movie, which is somewhere between Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Rosemary's Baby.  His film is essentially about that unsettled feeling you get when you know you don’t belong somewhere; when you know you’re unwanted or perhaps even wanted too much but you don't know why. Peele infuses the age-old genre foundation of knowing something is wrong behind the closed doors around you with a racial, satirical edge. What if going home to meet your girlfriend’s white parents wasn’t just uncomfortable but downright life-threatening?  There are so many times that I just kept shouting "Get Out!".  Engaging, surprising, spectacularly pulled off, unsettling, and like nothing you have ever seen before.

Wonder (2017)

This movie was nominated in the category of Make Up and Hairstyling, which is such an obscure corner of a movie that it only has three nominees rather than the usual five, and it is relatively new on the scene.  Rumor has it that The Darkest Hour is the likely winner, because it was the make up that made Gary Oldman into the much older Winston Churchill.  This movie is about Auggie Pullman, who has mandibulofacial dysostosis, which is more commonly known as Treacher Collins Syndrome.
It affects the development of bones and other facial tissues.  Hallmarks of this syndrome are underdeveloped cheek bones, a small jaw and chin, a cleft palate, and eyes that slant downward.
 Underdeveloped facial bones may restrict an infant's airway, resulting in respiratory problems. Some of the eye abnormalities can lead to vision loss, and unusual ear formation may result in hearing loss. Auggie experiences tall of these problems and has undergone surgeries to correct what can be corrected, but they leave him quite noticeably disfigured.  This is the story of the effect of such a thing on the child, the sibling, the family, and those around them.  It is quite optimistic in the outcomes, but level in the distribution of the trauma, especially where it affects his sister, who is robbed of her role as an older sibling, as well as the parenting she would have otherwise gotten.  Well worth watching if a bit Pollyanna in the end.