12.13.00, 10:15
a.m.
Oh yeah, I love it when being critically minded or
politically responsible is considered "pretentious." Is this why
Bush won in America?
9:43 a.m. || what
democracy definitely doesn't look like
There are
several moments in the Dungeons & Dragons film that feel more unreal than the bad CGI cityscapes and
horned dragons. No scene is more
jarring than when the teenage Empress appeals to the ruling Council on behalf
of equality and democracy. In a cavernous, opera box-lined chamber, she argues, "The
people have put their faith in you, it is your
responsibility to the people!" But the Council, populated by aging white men in
volumnious robes, visibly panic in response to Lord Profidion's dire pronouncements: "We
will lose everything if we give in to her ridiculous
demands for equality!" As Profidion scoffs at what he calls the "idealism of the young," the
Empress sweeps out of the room to prepare for civil war in
the capital.
Dragons are called, flames are thrown with the merest gesture,
building spires topple, weirdly clawed rods are seized and subseqeuntly
broken. And yet at the end of the conflict the Empress is able to
declare, "I proclaim that you are all equal!" Cheers all around.
I snorted (and cringed) during these scenes. Is
this supposed to be a sincere tribute to liberal democracy? It feels impossibly unreal, or willfully naive. As
if the mere declaration of legal equality ("I proclaim that...") could
signal democracy when the distribution of wealth and resources remains skewed.
As if the promise of abstract citizenship ("...you are
all equal!") did not collude with a hegemonic body politic that
continues to maintain uneven social relations. Sound familiar?
Mark woke me up this morning with, "I have bad news."
I rolled over and said grimly, "I hate America."
So, should it be Canada or a mohawk?