Outkasts, Lost, and an 11 year old girl.

Once again it’s Friday and another week of classes is in the rear view mirror. Yes, there has been a lag in the blog (a blag, as my brother would say) as last Friday was a holiday and faced with the decision of sitting in the office recounting a typical week’s activities or playing outside I chose the latter. To appease those who spent the last week going through a blog jones (Yes, I’m humoring myself) I’ve actually included this week… A PICTURE!!

That’s me in front of a group of students in front of a fort on a mountain in a city on a cloudy hazy day. Looking out the window as I type it’s hazy once again. While the last couple of days were beautiful by Korea standards Monday was so hazy and foggy that I couldn’t actually see the mountain across the street. The forecast for the weekend calls for… drumroll ……………………RAIN!! Anyway, that’s my weekly weather digression. The rare picture was taken during a field trip a couple of weeks back that wasn’t particularly notable so I didn’t mention it. One of the other teachers took this and it took two weeks of prodding to finally get a copy and it finally arrived this week for your viewing pleasure. With that out of the way it is now time to get down to business.

First order is to congratulate The Outkasts on their successful season. It’s going to take a while to type this paragraph as one hand is typing while the other one is patting its own back but I will manage to get through it eventually. Last Saturday was our last game where we played the Kurka-Durkastani team with an outside shot of stealing first place. Having lost our first two games of the season we had re-grouped, recruited, and roared back with five straight unbeaten with our only blemish being a previously mentioned draw against the first place Malaysian team. Having won the rest of their games, the first place squad gave us new life when they lost in unlikely fashion to INTS the second to last game of the season. Going into the final stage a loss by Malaysia and a strong victory by Outkasts would have propelled us to a shocking championship. We took care of business 4-1 but had to finish for second place after learning that the Malaysians squeaked by the team we destroyed 9-0 the previous week by a count of 2-1. Give them credit for a good season, but we wish we could play them again. I’m proud to say that this team has grown considerably since our first game together and we are confidently marching into what will be a successful future together. And, by the way, I failed to score in the last game, breaking a six game scoring streak and a perfect season where I would have scored in every game played… I’ll just forget about that and enjoy the victory.

The second order of business this week has to deal with some pop culture and a couple of things I watched this week. First I have to address the long-awaited ending of Lost. If you haven’t seen it by now, don’t worry about reading on—I am not going to give anything away. That being said, there’s really nothing to give away. The ending was just like the rest of the series: schmaltzy and emotional while leaving a ton of unanswered questions, macguffins, and red herrings. Yet despite not having every little thing about the island explained I’m not bothered with the ending. Can’t say I loved it, didn’t hate it… actually I don’t really feel anything at all. I can’t say I expected the producers of Lost to explain the origins of the universe and nature of our existence—that might be setting the bar a little high. The show throughout its history has constantly set things up that went by the wayside, abandoned storylines, and wasted time with characters that had ultimately nothing to do with the grand scheme of the expected to be ultimate, end-all, be-all ending. To expect the last episode to explain every last detail and answer every fanboy question is way beyond unrealistic. For that, the ending was sufficient in bringing closure without being overly trite or arbitrary. Yes, it was sappy and emo, but the show has always been sappy and emo so this was no shock whatsoever. As far as the unanswered questions go, I’m glad they didn’t try to explain every little thing because really, who knows all of the answers to the mysteries of life, the universe, free will, time, and love. I sure as shit am glad it’s not the producers of Lost that hold the keys. My final take: Not every little single thing happens for a reason. Sometime things just happen and can’t be explained. And if you think I’m done sermonizing just wait until I address the notable movie I watched this week…

Normally when the religious protestors are up in arms over a movie I tend to roll my eyes and think: “Lighten up, people.” However, after viewing “Kick-Ass” this week I have to admit the morality police might have a point with this one. Without going into detail on the general premise (it’s a comic book movie cross between Spiderman, Mystery Men, and Watchmen—who gives a sh*t?) I’ll focus this particular discourse on the subject of controversy: Hit Girl. Now I understand the appeal of this character to pervie comic book geeks who love the Matrix but have to wonder where the line is drawn as to what is entertainment and what is, in a sense, child pornography. I admit I didn’t dislike the movie—it was at times an entertaining, “hip” spin on your typical superhero move. However, it also must be said that there is something fundamentally disturbing about watching an 11 year old, f-bomb, c-bomb dropping girl lopping off heads and limbs with swords and knives, ruthlessly capping bad guys in the head from point blank range, and getting her face pummeled by the main villain in the final showdown. Let me repeat this part: 11 year old girl. Not being all opposed to stylized violence, I do take pause when it children are brutally stabbing men and women alike to death with complete moral impunity.

Perhaps my favorite film of last year was “Inglorious Basterds”, which while brutally violent in its own right didn’t involve children and brilliantly set up its violent scenes through escalating tension and what is in my mind the best dialogue in any movie since Pulp Fiction. I was absolutely hooked in the very first scene which consisted of two people talking at a table for ten minutes before the machine guns went off. There was a long (and most brilliant) set-up, tension, and violent climax. The violence in Kick-Ass was more the variety of the infamous Matrix scene where Neo and Trinity walk into a guarded building and mow down everyone in sight—no set up, no tension, just a couple of people walking into a building and killing everything. The problem I have is that Neo and Trinity were in a computer shooting pixels, while Hit Girl and her dad, a.k.a. Big Daddy are in New York City mowing down humans. Now I realize this is a comic book movie and didn’t take so much issue with Watchmen, another graphic blood-fest. However, the issue with me is involving a child actor in this carnage which makes me wonder where the line is when it comes to children on the big screen. As I watched this admittedly entertaining gore-orgy I had to wonder to myself throughout: When did we get to a point where this passes for entertainment? And why am I aroused?

Okay, that last line was totally a joke… couldn’t resist. And with that, I’m done sermonizing and back to being the usual smartass. It’s Friday evening now and time for me to commence another weekend that will pass in a blink and crash into Monday. Next Friday is not a holiday so I expect to see you all again real soon. Until then…