Romanticizing versus Demonizing the Other: How the Left Was Lost and Where it Got Us

Coming off two interesting back-to-back days in February, namely Valentine’s Day on February 14^th and National Day of the Canadian Flag on February 15^th, I have felt motivated (or rather driven/compelled) to write about certain issues that have been on my mind for quite some time while these two dates provide a good reason and convenient excuse to share them with you here.

They will be presented in two parts: The first one deals with the dangers and threats of romanticizing the past and others and it is something that is contributing tremendously to division and polarization in our common era, while the second will give an honest and unflinching look at Canadian patriotism (or lack thereof) as well as issues and potential threats around it, especially when viewed under the current political lens and climate.

As a self-professed (incurable?) romantic, love and romance have been close to my heart starting since early adolescence. Even my thesis has dealt with this topic, in fact, the potential threats, heartbreak, and disillusionment that can come with a distorted view on love and longing stemming from reading (and believing) romance and chivalrous novels whereas my most recent novella that I am putting the finishing touches upon is about the quest for true lasting love.

Yet the romantic ideal and the act of romanticization are not limited to love and romance alone; it can be part of a distorted perspective on reality, what is often referred to as seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. This may be in relationships where we only focus on what we want or wish to see within ourselves and others by only focusing on the positive aspects alongside the tendency of putting the other person on a pedestal and turning them into a goddess or a knight in shiny armor. Often, this dream or fantasy will clash with reality and turn to dust when we realize that these wishes have not been grounded in reality but are an offshoot of wishful or even toxic positive thinking.

Yet these rose-colored glasses can be applied to anything including a perspective that romanticizes the past, different lifestyles or even certain people. We talk about the “good old days”, but the view is often selective and distorted. Although certain things may have been better in comparison, there are still challenges that we would conveniently ignore, downplay, or disregard. It is a case of rearview confirmation bias where we only highlight points that correspond to our current view by shunning or ignoring anything that runs counter to that narrative.

It is true that life used to be different without technology and there are certain things we have lost along the way. Yet, at the same time, there is so much we have gained and so the discussion of the impact of technology on our lives must be taken in a balanced way and not be seen as a polarized or polarizing issue. We would like to have clear-cut answers, but things and life are messier and more complicated than that.

I have previously written about this romantic view not so much in the sense of romance but rather the romantic period where nature and the simple and "primitive" life was glorified to an unrealistic and even dangerous degree and level. It is essentially a naive and distorted view because in the case of wildlife, it can be utterly dangerous to assume that the animals are well-meaning, docile, and humane as was the tragic experience of the Grizzly Man and an implicit error in transcendentalism as a rule.

This distorted view is most prevalent and dangerous in the current mentality and approach regarding morality. In the past, religious groups would claim to have privileged access to the truth and assume that their morality was superior to anyone else’s. Essentially, those who were acting not only in “good faith” but also within the parameters of their chosen faith were expecting and counting on being rewarded in this life as well as the afterlife by gaining and fully deserving their entry ticket to paradise. On the other hand, everyone else would burn in hell, spend time in purgatory, desperately roam the heavens and the earth, or its equivalent.

As a result, whether consciously or not, these adherents of their chosen religion and dogma would adopt and embrace a holier-than-thou attitude in relation to others and everyone else not within their group and community. They would perceive themselves as having special status and being lifted in the eyes of their God or their divinity of choice. Although many religions preach tolerance and equality, in terms of morality, the other would still be seen and regarded as a heathen or an ignorant and primitive person.

This superiority complex or bigotry would be pronounced in those who embraced their belief with the most fervor and who would not allow for any compromise or concessions, firmly believing that their way was not only the right way but also the only way to be and live. In other words, in this extreme view, everyone else was considered wrong and there would be no middle ground or half-way compromise to speak of.

Now what used to be the purview and domain of religious fundamentals has been adopted by the secular far-left. It is the same playbook, minus religion or divinity. The perception that the view of this radical faction is the only and "correct" way of seeing things and that everyone else who opposes or even dares to criticize it is ipso facto a “heathen” (i.e. transphobic, racist etc.) and deserves to be excluded and shunned has been exemplified in what is commonly referred to as cancel culture. Again, no compromises, no concessions, no middle ground, not even a debate; it is our way or the highway and with it the death of your career, reputation or even your claim to personhood.

The most hardened religious and self-proclaimed social activists (aka warriors or heroes) would claim to know the truth and convert others by any means at their disposal to their uncompromising view; they would even use force, bullying, and physical, mental, and emotional violence to conquer others and to make them see for their own good that the zealous proclaimers of social justice are and always will be in the right.

Debate or open dialogue would not be engaged in and would be even shunned and discouraged as these self-evident facts and truths would not be open for debate. Yet the truth is, deep inside, the ardent zealots fear and suspect that it would expose the fallacy of their logic and expose the shaky foundation their dogma and subsequent actions are built upon, and hence, you would have to accept it or else be ex-communicated and essentially become a pariah.

Although community and inclusivity are underscored, neither of them is practiced in these cases. In fact, the group is an exclusively inclusive community of sorts, only those who agree on all the points are allowed to become a member and everyone else is denied entry or cancelled in the first place.

In fact, no one is immune to this, and every single individual goes through constant surveillance and a vetting process whether they are aware of it or not. It is like using a magnifying glass to find the most minor word or phrase that could be twisted around and taken out of context and be used against the given person. Anything you say could be used against you used to be applicable only to those who got arrested yet in the left-o-sphere it applies even retroactively to anything you have said and done starting from your childhood years. Ironically, those who claim to be tolerant tend to be the most intolerant of the lot, and they jump to conclusions and do not embrace innocent until proven guilty.

This is the perfect environment and breeding ground to eliminate any doubt or critical thinking and to foster and increase groupthink. It is not different from how totalitarian governments operate, be they communist or fascist in their outlook.

In this process, certain people are romanticized and by extension others would be demonized. The poor are entirely blameless and innocent and seen as the oppressed and victims of greed and injustice while the wealthy are the enemies as they are perceived as oppressors. Communism in fact is driven less by love for the poor but hatred against the rich and this is exemplified by the popular phrase of (wanting to) Eat the Rich, which also contains elements of envy towards them since the have-nots deep inside would love to have what they do not have.

On the other hand, fascism sees their own race as superior to all others and with the right to decide over them, scapegoat and blame ethnic groups and to mistreat or even kill them if deemed necessary. It is essentially a black and white issue as this view operates under the implicit assumption and belief that every single person from a given race is good or bad.

The Nazis themselves embraced and committed to their view and framework and believed not only that they were superior but also that everyone else was inferior. It is the holier-than-thou belief in action. As a result, the fascists in their twisted and distorted mind and way of thinking did not see themselves or their actions as evil; in fact, they thought that they were doing good and acting for the common good.

This relative morality supposedly gives them and other extreme groups the right to strip, limit or take away people’s humanity and rights with a potential “license to kill” under the guise of moral justice and superiority. This includes communists attacking the wealthy, colonists attacking indigenous people, terrorists from the right and the left as well as jihadists targeting infidels or traitors to the cause, the nation, and the environment, or vigilantes killing off people that they believe and deem to be undeserving of life.

Violence seems justified for one’s cause and beliefs and this is dangerous territory no matter how morally justified the action may seem in the mind of its proponents. The end just does not justify the means, and people’s rights, and humanity should never be stripped of them regardless of their gender, race, belief, or sexuality. It is unethical to treat women unfavorably, the same way, it is unethical to be biased against men, the poor, the wealthy, Jews, Muslims, Christians, heterosexuals, transsexuals, and anyone else. No one is better nor ought to be above anyone else or above the law. This is something we tend to overlook, downplay, or excuse when it is our side doing it but it is and should be universally applied.

We say love is blind but so is hatred. This hypervigilant, uber-romanticized and ultra-sanitized vision does not only stain the present but goes back in time while also moving into the future. Apart from seeing things merely in black and white through the lens of good and evil, it is myopic and very limited in scope and vision.

It is with sadness that I must note that the left has lost not only its path but also its collective mind. As someone who used to be supportive of their ideals and principles, and you can find it expressed here in this blog over the span of many years, I can only shake my head vis-à-vis the developments over the past years and like André Gide realize that it is not what it claims to be, and that its remedy may be even worse than the disease.

It is a misnomer that the left is progressive. It is not so no longer as it has renounced progress, advancement and technology and has stumbled over its own feet and become stagnant, rigid, set, and fixed in their views. Trying to erase the past, to change it, to mold it according to their likes and dislikes or even worse, to ignore it all together will only add to the problem and not solve a single thing. Often, this is done not to shed light, knowledge, and understanding but out of resentment with the aim to stoke and to fan hatred against certain targets, which tend to be the usual suspects, white, male, racist, Christian colonizers or women by the name Karen.

True diversity means including others you may not see eye to eye or agree with. And if everyone in your book is a racist, then the parameters of your definition must be flawed, or there may be blind spots you are not consciously aware of. This is not about the romantic view of good versus evil but rather of different groups that are at odds and even culturally at war with each other and the need to accept a compromise that is acceptable to both sides and which does not merely represent the desire of one group over the other.

It is in fact one thing that the left has lost, to work towards a world where everyone is truly seen as equal, and everyone is judged, according to Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream and vision, by the contents of their character while no one is judged (favorably or unfavorably) by the color of their skin.

Year-End Reflections: Continuing the Path of Transformation and Healing

Another year is ending; not much has changed from the outside, and yet this year has been an anomaly in a few ways and manners. 2024 began on one side of the fence, the familiar, the commonplace, the routine, the usual habits, and fears alongside a (long) list of grievances, complaints, wishes, and desires. In short, the usual and the typical push and pull that epitomizes New Year’s Resolutions, the wish and desire factors pinned against the real and practical with the usual suspects and culprits of more joy and less weight topping the good old (wish) list.

In that sense and from that viewpoint, nothing has apparently or effectively changed as life is flowing on the same path: I have not traveled nor switched jobs, I have not received a promotion (if my employer is reading this, please take note and hopefully also some action in this regard), I have yet to go viral or achieve overnight success, and my belly fat is still where it is at. All this time, true love, the one that knocks off your socks and takes you on a thrill ride remains as elusive as it has been since time immemorial.

Although the context and situations may look like they are business as usual, the inner world and the personally experienced emotions and reactions are not. Something has clicked, switched, and moved on a deep level. This has been part of a process that has been continuing and building over a period of years now (you can read about it here), but this year has most definitely accelerated it. When I compare myself to the person I was at the onset of the year, it feels like two different results or versions show up with the latter and updated one being the preferred, better, fitter, happier, and improved version so-to-speak.

It is perhaps the step right before synthesis, which is building upon and going beyond a mere plan, the illustrated map, the vision board, or setting willful intentions. It is like being ready for a trip: passport in hand (something that is only meant metaphorically here because despite good intentions, I have yet to submit the paperwork for my passport application!), with visa requirements and immunization all taken care of and the ticket fully paid for but still not sure where the destination is (or who the traveling companion will be), except that it is going to be an amazing and mind-blowing experience.

Put differently, you have made the gains but have not cashed them in yet; you have an awesome podcast that you have not monetized yet, or, and perhaps my favorite analogy here, you have picked the winning numbers but are yet to claim the grand lottery prize.

Add to this the necessary emotional and mental precursors and prep work that has already been covered and gone into it (i.e., getting rid of previous excess baggage though I am still missing or needing a few more items here and there in my metaphorical luggage) so that I am all in, psyched up and prepared for the giant leap into the unknown. The remaining gap can be somewhat reduced via intuition, a feeling that this or that would be the right thing to do despite not knowing exactly what it is that is heading towards me and/or that I am heading towards, barring that it could all be a matter of wishful thinking (though I fully wish it were not so).

I can only state that something outstanding is about or bound to happen and that I am looking forward to it. This is not only desire, the wish for something to happen and closing your eyes and crossing your fingers for it to appear but it also includes dotting the i’s with the internal and external hard work connected to this type of manifestation.

This is something that I have experienced to some extent in previously expressed wishes (right here on this blog as a matter of fact) that did indeed come true, yet we are talking about a whole different ballgame and arena here. I am going to get into some of the specifics in a bit, but for now, the best way I can explain it is this: you need to first create the necessary inner qualities to be able to materialize what you desire most until it can actually appear in front of you, a kind of master appearing when the student is ready type of scenario.

In terms of relationships, it is about clearing pervious trauma and negative experiences to not only see and feel things more clearly but to be able to take appropriate action and make better decisions from now on and going forward. In terms of jobs, it is not only having the necessary requirements in terms of education, skills, and experience but to round it out with a newly found confidence in yourself with the necessary dose of stamina and resilience.

You must first believe it deep within. It is all about dreaming big and finally being ready to respond to and act upon the given opportunities, to accept the marvelous gifts of the universe without second-guessing yourself or dousing it with feelings of guilt and unworthiness that often lurk in the shadows.

It is being yourself, true to your principles, authentic to your core values while also saying, nay shouting a big and uncompromising YES to life and to the universe. It is a sense of earned entitlement and deserved privilege that you embrace wholeheartedly not only for the good of yourself but by extension for the good of the community and the world around you.

One of the mistakes that many make here is comparing yourself to others. Although it can motivate and drive you and serve as a push to get you off the couch and do something, it is still misguided because they are them and you are you. It is not even a case of apples and oranges: the personalities and situations and circumstances are so different that you cannot possibly compare one with the other.

That said, there are still basic truths and rights that underlie us as humans and spiritual beings that apply to each and everyone. But again, it is more about core similarities than perceived differences. The truth is one and the same, but it is expressed and embodied in different ways and manners.

So much for the aspects of the soul and now a few things I would like to point out in terms of the specifications of how this transformation may be brought about. The main stumbling block is fear in all shapes, sizes, and formats: the fear of being yourself often counter-balanced against the fear of not being yourself, the fear of what others think of you, the fear of missing out and wasting your life, the fear of making a wrong decision, the fear of hurting others versus the fear of being hurt.

This list goes on and is unending, but it can be reduced to a common denominator: insecurity around being and loving yourself combined with concerns around being loved and accepted by others. It is also about lacking faith and confidence in yourself and constantly worrying about what may or may not occur in your life.

This has been my work in progress, but it has felt quite comforting to be able to work certain things out, at least in terms of processing them and clearing obstacles on the path ahead. One of the ways of doing it was also changing certain habits and patterns, that is simply doing things differently or doing different things.

I used to equate the gym with literal hell. I was adamant and stubborn about entering there over my dead body. And I meant it. Yet now, over the past months, I have been going about two or three times a week, and the oddest thing of it all is that I often look forward to it! That one I did not see coming but it helped to release the subconscious holds, brakes, and obstacles, and then be able to move forward more freely.

Another one was to socialize with others. That can be overwhelming but not so much, if you find yourself in groups that you enjoy and that appreciate you. For instance, I have signed up and shown up for regular French group meetings, then added on, a German language club, and it is amazing and magical to immerse yourself in these worlds and spaces and to connect with others without having to travel far and wide.

Not to mention the absolutely wonderful philosophy groups I regularly attend and where a community of like-minded and curious people discuss different topics and issues. It is enriching and stimulating not only because there is something to be learned from each session but to know that deep inside, we are all not that different from each other despite our differences in views, opinions, and philosophies. And yes, that we can get along if we wish to do so.

Finally, I would be amiss not to mention the awesome local writers’ group I began attending at the beginning of the year. I had previously attended a few other groups and had also created and run my own way back, but this one has been a goldmine. What I love about it is that it is a true community that cares about all types of writing and where they offer unflinching support while also delivering at times deliciously blunt and in-your-face (for the most part) constructive criticism. They are partly responsible for me picking up the proverbial pen and writing a few poems as well as a novella over this year.

So these are my reflections for a year that was promising with the promise of an even bigger year to come. It has been great to stimulate and build upon both the body and the mind to improve overall health and wellbeing. Most of all, I am most grateful for this year, which has brought its share of challenges, but also wonderful insights and great moments shared with others alongside a better appreciation of myself.

A Happy New Year to each and every one of you and a big thank you for visiting my blog and checking out my podcast!

The Lasting Impact with Some of the Best End Credit Songs

Music and songs have always played an important role in filmmaking since its inception of the silent era. Whether it is a moving soundtrack or a well-placed song, music adds not only to individual scenes but to the entire movie and even beyond. We often recognize, identify, and associate movies with their unforgettable soundtrack; be it the themes of the Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia, or Love Story, the soundtrack takes us right back to the movie itself and is often intimately connected with our feelings and sensations experienced while watching the said film.

As someone who has grown up with music videos having been part of the glorious MTV generation, I especially appreciate it when filmmakers make effective and full use of this. The film may at times come off as a music video or worse a perfume commercial but in the right and capable hands, all this will make us feel elated. Not that music is always necessary as the Dogme 95 movement has demonstrated, yet it paints a vivid picture and adds push, drive, and adrenaline as seen and experienced rather memorably in films like The Social Network or even Challengers (a shoutout to the talented duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross).

Yet, I believe that end credit songs are equally important and relevant to the movie experience, and they may be somewhat underrated or downplayed in their overall effect and influence of the movie itself. This is rather a type of after effect or of coming together of sorts. It can also accentuate or emphasize certain emotions either experienced throughout the film or be intimately connected to a given protagonist. I will briefly discuss a handful of end credit songs that I found lasting and impactful and that have significantly enriched my movie experience. Here we go in no particular order:

 

Suicide in Civil War

No, not the Marvel movie. Sure, that one was quite good and impactful but not as heart-wrenching as Garland’s depiction of what a (second!) American civil war would look and feel like. To be honest, I hated the film at my initial viewing; when it was over I thought it was mediocre at best. The plot was nonexistent, it was random scenes connected to a misguided road trip, snapshots of a conflict that was never fleshed out alongside characters that were one-dimensional; the dialogue was not well-crafted and not really memorable, and the ending was just dark and pointless.

That may have been the point you might rightly point out as the characters, both new and seasoned reporters and journalists are just taking note and documenting events outside of their control via the medium of pictures. This is undertaken perhaps for posteriority, out of curiosity, or simply for themselves, a type of self-gratification. Yet, before we get to the final shot, not unpredictably another still, there is the intro of a song that feels out of place and yet at the same time precisely augments and elevates the feelings of despair expressed in the movie.

The song in question was by a band I had not heard of before but it has been rather influential. Their name is characteristically Suicide, and the lyrics are simple but effective in their simplicity: dream, baby, dream. There was devastation, death, and destruction throughout the film’s running time, and then the film ends on rhythms that may have come from a second-rate synthesizer with lyrics that could have been penned by a high school student. In other words, it was baffling and utterly brilliant.

In fact, I had to look up the song and got a Google alert due to the band’s name and then I put it on repeat, listening to it countless times. As I was doing so, the final scene from the movie started replaying in my mind and I began to appreciate its deliberate tone and overall message. It literally helped me change my mind and feelings towards the movie and I saw what Garland was trying to show us here. In fact, it turned out to be a movie that must be watched especially in the background and context of today’s world, politics, and polarization.

Although some have criticized the film for not taking sides, I believe those critics missed out on the whole point (yes, it did have a point after all!), namely, to show us and document the brutality, callousness, and evil of a civil war and that it would not be in any way or manner a glorified war or a glorious revolution. No, all we would get is mayhem, chaos, death, and destruction, and the end of a once beautiful and promising nation. But as the song points out, we should not lose our ability to dream, baby, dream of a better future and a better more peaceful world despite it all.

 

Sinnerman in Inland Empire

Now Lynch’s Inland Empire was a baffling movie and that is a serious understatement. It also means a lot especially considering that we often equate the word “mind-bending” with this filmmaker whose films have pushed envelopes, boundaries, and our imagination, and which often represent Kafka’s worst nightmares reimagined on the screen. Throughout, his movies have been scored by the outstanding composer Angelo Badalamenti, whether it is the sad melancholic opening piece for Blue Velvet or the jazzy but equally sad and yearning intro of Fire Walk With Me.

Yet nothing compared to the ending of Inland Empire. This may be a spoiler except first, there is nothing to spoil here, and second, nothing really happens and yet everything does. The driving song is “Sinnerman” by Nina Simone, and we see characters coming together not as characters but as actors portraying them.

It is dark but weirdly uplifting and, in a way, there is a sense of catharsis not in a clear and direct way but rather in a surreal unconscious way and form. Suddenly, everything comes together, the monkeys, though random, somehow make perfect sense, and we understand on a nonverbal level why there were talking bunnies, and the film feels complete as a result.

The counterpoint and statement of this well-chosen song brings it all home and ties up the different knots or rather unties them for us and give us a full picture. Perhaps any other ending would have made me feel that I had just wasted a good three hours of my life on a movie that was disjointed and all over the place. But that was not the feeling I left with, courtesy of the vibrant and memorable song of “Sinnerman.”

 

This House is…. The House

The House is yet another surreal experience woven around the concept of a… house. It is stop-motion animated and consists of three short films that are in no discernible way connected to each other and that each feel different as they take place in different time periods and more importantly in different houses made by different filmmakers.

The first one is more like a traditional goth horror story set in the 1800s; the second one, a bizarre real estate interaction set in the 2000s involving various rats, which goes horribly and devastatingly wrong as the place becomes infested with bugs and insects (don’t ask), and the third one set in a (more or less) distant future, which ranges from anthropomorphic cat renters from hell to renters from another spiritual realm during an upcoming end-of-world disaster.

Although each vignette was well-made, I was wondering what the point of this anthology was. Then I heard the final song. It was not only thematically linked to the house and delineated the difference between a house and a home, but it was in the voice (literally) of one of the characters.

It was the second film’s real estate developer played by Jarvis Cocker singing as an anthropomorphic rat musing about how a house was nothing but a building, just a number of bricks put together, whereas a home was where the heart was. And suddenly, the house transformed into an important symbol of both estrangement and feeling at home, and I could not help but to love and appreciate how the film somehow with the aid of this final song managed to connect three random stories into one.

 

Hoist that Rag in A Most Wanted Man

A Most Wanted Man was very good throughout, but the final scene played brilliantly by Philip Seymour Hoffman, such a huge and irreplaceable loss to the world of cinema, summed up despair, frustration, and desperation in palpable ways. The song by Tom Waits only underscores the feeling of helplessness of someone being played by higher forces or simply forces that are outside of one’s control.

In the film, we see how the protagonist tries hard to make things work and to gain credit and recognition only to have everything unexpectedly snatched away from him in the last minute. He steps out the car, drives along but you can sense his nervousness and anger, and then it all ends and culminates in the mesmerizing Tom Waits song. I think of this character whenever I hear this song; they are intricately linked together in my mind, and at the same time, I realize how much I miss this towering acting legend who left us much too soon!

 

Honorable Mentions

I would like to finish with three honorable mentions. First off, Tarantino’s rather mediocre Death Proof, arguably one of this worst and least interesting films (I did like Jackie Brown but had strong reservations when it came to The Hateful Eight), but this grindhouse film ends with a brilliant piece of filmmaking and a catchy punchy end song.

It feels quite liberating and feminist as the women joyfully and gleefully take revenge on the perpetrator played coolly by Kurt Russell with the Serge Gainsbourg song "Chick Habit" in the background (originally “Laisse tomber les filles”) that is a warning to better not mess with girls (in its original not to play with an innocent heart) as they could just like that come back and bite you and even kick you in the head before you know it. This ending elevated what was a rather bland and uninteresting film when viewed and considered by Tarantino’s standards.

Then there is a Dogville that not unlike Inland Empire made us think what the hell we had just watched until the pulsating tune of “Young Americans” by David Bowie appears with images from the civil rights movement, and we suddenly understand that the film was criticizing and commenting on various elements of American history, culture, and mentality. And just like that we find ourselves back at square one.