Category Archives: Cultural Commentary

Cultural Commentary

Waiting for Iranian Revenge: Top Ten Things To Quell Your Political Anxiety

by HelenHighly

Soleimani Stress Shopping Guide

Assassination of Iranian leader
Assassination of Iranian leader / terrorist

Whatever political party you claim as your own, no one feels good about the recent escalation of tensions with Middle Eastern countries. Iran vows violent retaliation for the American drone strike that killed top Iranian military commander, Qassim Soleimani. The world is up in arms, literally, and as we wait to see what form revenge will take, our anxiety rises. Recent surveys reveal the majority of Americans say the future of our nation and the current political climate is a significant source of stress. Symptoms can include emotional irritability, headaches, insomnia, stomach problems, depression, fatigue and high blood pressure.

Soleimani air strike
Soleimani air strike

Political uncertainty can be challenging, but rapid change in the political situation can lead to an equally rapid increase in our angst. Life on Twitter escalates right along with political situations. Even trying to check the latest movie news can find you confronted with polarizing comments and arguments more divisive than ever. Add in impeachment stress, 2020 election tension, and it’s fair to say that we’re in full-on Dread Mode. What to do? Try these tips and corresponding products:

1. Move your body and breathe deep.

Exercise is an important part of both physical and mental health. It can ease feelings of anxiety and boost your sense of well-being. You don’t have to make room in your life for a hot yoga obsession, but a little morning yoga in the comfort of your own home could do the trick to get the day started right. Join Adriene Mishler, international yoga teacher and host of Yoga With Adriene, in this series of Morning Yoga practices perfect for when you first wake up.

This 11-minute Morning Yoga practice is short but impactful. Start your day with calm intention, efficient movement and mindful breath work. Nourishing and revitalizing, Morning Yoga is the perfect way to wake up the mind and body so you can start the day fresh. The program also includes a Morning Meditation and a Sunrise Yoga practice to stretch and strengthen. Even better yet, Morning Yoga is free with Amazon Prime. And it also seems to be available free on YouTube (above).

2. Good vibes can always help.

Get good vibes,
Get good vibes.

So, while you’re doing your yoga, or after work when you come home and peel of your work clothes, try putting on this soft and comfy Good Vibes long sleeve graphic t-shirt, with its own happy rainbow. Don’t worry, it’s not too cheerful or bright; the shirt comes with a well-worn and slightly distressed look, to take the edge off. It will help you feel relaxed, and when other people look at you, they’ll smile.

$19.99 on Amazon

3. Build an underground bunker.

The Big Activity Book for Anxious People
The Big Activity Book for Anxious People

The Big Activity Book for Anxious People by Reid & Williams is “funny as hell” and might do the trick if you’re too stubborn for yoga. (Certainly, this is no time for a small activity book.) Your most irrational — or rational — fears are hilarious fodder for this sharp and relatable activity book. Part journal, part coloring book, part weird coping mechanisms and part compendium of soothing facts, The Big Activity Book for Anxious People will be an outlet for anyone who wants to take a break from reality, laugh through their fears and realize with every page that they are not alone. It will help you figure out what to do when it’s 3AM and you’re wide awake worrying about whether you cc’ed the right “Bob” on that email. (Probably.) On a bad day, try coloring in the soothing grandma. On a really bad day, find step-by-step instructions on how to build an underground bunker. Plus, there are Zen mantras for the anxiously inclined, soothing facts about hand sanitizer, and more.

$10.31 on Amazon.

4. Get a good night’s sleep.

Olly sleep aides
Olly sleep gummies

Both quantity and quality are important for sleep, and sleep is a key time for your body to restore and heal itself. So, if you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping soundly, the time you spend in deep, restorative sleep (stages 3 and 4) may be reduced. Adding insult to frustration, if you sleep poorly at night, there’s a good chance that you’ll be more reactive to stress the next day.

Sweet dreams are made of these: Olly Sleep Melatonin Gummies help you drift off without chemicals (or gluten), have all-natural flavor and colors, with L Theanine and botanicals like chamomile and lemon balm to help boost your natural sleep hormone, encourage a calm feeling, make it easier to fall asleep and support a healthy sleep cycle. They will lull you to dreamland like your very own sandman. Night.

3 mg per serving, 30 Day Supply (60 gummies) $14.96 on Amazon.

5. Act out your frustration.

Tired of searching for the perfect Dammit Doll? Well, stop stressing! Let yourself be surprised. Each randomly selected Dammit Doll is constructed of handmade, high quality material, and it’s durable enough to take a mean squeeze. When the stresses of work, traffic, or fear of terror attack won’t let you breathe, just take a second and smash the Dammit Doll! Your frustration will flow out and you can reset your day with ease. Bang it on your desk or just scream all your accusations it; Dammit Doll don’t mind.

$15.49 on Amazon.

Abuse your Dammit Doll
Abuse your Dammit Doll

6. Schedule your worry time, with music. 

Try headbanger music.
Try headbanger music.

It may sound backward to plan to worry, but doctors actually recommend you pick a time to think about your fears on purpose. They suggest you take 30 minutes to identify what’s bothering you and what you can do about it. Don’t dwell on “what-ifs;” focus on what specifically makes you anxious, they say. So, since there is nothing you actually can do about the impending risk of Iranian retaliation, we suggest you spend your 30 minutes venting with some headbanger music. Spotify has a top-ten headbanger songs playlist already selected for you, to make your rage music stress-free to choose, or 8tracks Radio has 18 headbanger playlists to stream for free.

7. Laugher is the best medicine.

Monty Python's "Meaning of Life" movie
Monty Python’s “Meaning of Life” movie

If expressing your rage doesn’t calm you enough, try watching one of the funniest movies ever made – Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. Perhaps only the collective brilliant minds of the Monty Python film and television troupe are up to the task of tackling a subject as weighty as The Meaning of Life. Sure, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and their ilk have tried their hands at this puzzler, but only Python has attempted to do so within the commercial motion picture medium.

Happily for us all, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life truly explains everything one conceivably needs to know about the perplexities of human existence, from the mysteries of Catholic doctrine, to the miracle of reproduction, to why one should avoid the salmon mousse, to the critical importance of the machine that goes “Ping!” There is a musical production number about why sperm is sacred, a look at dining in the afterlife, a visit from Mr. Death, and the all-time-greatest puke scene in the history of film. Sadly, this was the last original Python film, but it’s a beaut. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (probably because you’re laughing so hard). You may even learn something about The Meaning of Life.

Available for streaming on Amazon or for purchase on DVD.

8. Scratch your head.

Scalp massage
Scalp massage

Scalp massage is a great way to relax and relieve stress. In addition to feeling good, scalp massage can promote blood circulation, help a person loosen up, and even promote hair growth. This Claw Scalp Massager, with an ergonomic handle and high-quality massage steel balls, is a good friend you can carry around with you. When you need to relax yourself, it will appear in your hands in no time. In addition to massaging your scalp, its pressure-point stimulation can be used on the whole body (especially shoulders).

A 2-pack is $8.99 on Amazon.

9. Don’t feed the monkey mind.

"Don't Feed the Monkey Mind" book
“Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind” book

Ancient sages compared the human mind to a monkey — constantly chattering, hopping from branch to branch, endlessly moving from fear to safety. If you suffer from anxiety, you’re familiar with this process. Unfortunately, you can’t switch off the “monkey mind,” but you can stop feeding the monkey, or stop rewarding it by avoiding the things you fear. Written by psychotherapist Jennifer Shannon, Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear and Worry explains how the very things we do to control anxiety can make anxiety worse. This unique guide offers exercises based on a cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) to find the personal peace you crave.

$13.28 on Amazon

10. Tend a Zen garden.

Raking a sand garden is a great way to calm your mind, relieve anxiety or simply start a conversation (and conversation is better than argument). This Mini Zen Garden fits neatly on a desk or tabletop. It includes five beautiful quartz stones, a miniature rake and enough sand to fill your garden. Rake away your stress by drawing designs in sand. Yeah, it’s kinda leftover from a new-age bygone era, but… it’s not like the threat from Iran is new, so maybe this is the vintage help you need to adjust your perspective.

29.99 on Amazon

Tend a Zen garden.
Tend a Zen garden.

One More For Good Health:

11. Bomb your bath.

Natural bath bombs
Bomb your bath

Everyone knows baths are soothing, and this set of 24 Natural Bath Bombs makes them fun as well. (Sorry if the word “bomb” frightens you. Maybe try a soothing bad to calm you.) This gift box collection includes six different color combinations, each with essential oils such as rose, lavender and lemon. Each bath ball with float and bubble, providing an “amazing visual impression.” These are all natural and organic, made from grape seed oil, shea and cocoa butter, organic coconut oil, etc. They are gentle, nourishing and they just look so darned happy. Soak away the stress.

$24.69 on Amazon

 

Lionel Train Set

Gift Guide to Christmas Shopping in the Movies

by HelenHighly

How to Have Christmas Just Like in the Movies: Where to get the goods to make your classic Christmas-movie memories come alive.

“The stuff that dreams are made of.”

The unforgettable hat, the shining toy train, the pair of ice skates, as depicted by cinematic magic – these items have come to represent Christmas Joy itself. Don’t just watch them on television, bring them home for the holidays (or get them online and have them delivered while you stay home and watch the old movies that made them iconic). This guide points you to the websites that sell the items that our cherished old movies made symbolic of Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men.

Macy's vs Gimbels in "Miracle on 34th St."
Macy’s vs Gimbel’s in “Miracle on 34th St.”

A Miracle on 34th Street

This film has been a perennial holiday favorite since its debut in 1947. No one has ever played Santa Claus more convincingly than Edmund Gwenn. I’s a movie filled with the exciting clamor of Christmas shopping and our yearning for just the right gifts.

Kris Kringle: “What do you want for Christmas, Peter?”
Peter: “A fire engine, just like the big ones only smaller, that has a real hose that squirts real water. I won’t do it in the house, only in the backyard, I promise.”
Harried Mother: “Psst! Psst! Macy’s ain’t got any. Nobody’s got any.”
Kris Kringle: “Well, Peter, I can tell you’re a good boy. You’ll get your fire engine.”
Peter: “Oh, thank you very much! You see? I told you he’d get me one.”
Harried Mother: “That’s fine. That’s just dandy. Listen, what’s the matter with you? Don’t you understand English? I tell you nobody’s got any. I’ve been all over. My feet are killing me. A fine thing, promising the kid.”
Kris: “You don’t think I would’ve said that unless I’m sure? You can get those fire engines at…”

Peter’s dream fire truck.
Peter’s dream fire truck.

To get a fire engine with a working pump, as Peter specified, find the Bruder brand, which is sold at Target, Walmart and on Amazon. The Bruder water-spraying truck comes in a range of sizes, starting at $60. If you want the biggest and best – with an integrated water tank that can be easily filled, fully functioning nozzle, a removable light and sound module, telescoping ladder with rescue basket that swivels 360⁰, realistic driver’s cabin with doors that open, an opening hood to reveal the engine block, plus four extendable support legs to ensure vehicle stability in any situation, you’ll find it online at Amazon when you search for “Bruder Mack Granite Fire Engine Truck w/ Working Water Pump, Lights & Engine Sounds.” Also:

  • The NYFireAndPolice website store sells a big line of fire-and-police-related gifts, including T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and toy police cars and fire trucks. They even have a section dedicated to children’s gifts with clothing in children’s sizes (and an NYPD teddy bear). It’s good to buy local and authentic, so this website is worth a visit, but they don’t sell the exact fire truck that Peter wanted.
  • If you want a true, detailed replica of a fire truck from your city – from New York to Philly to Chicago to L.A., plus many more, go to the Code3FireTrucks These metal, die-cast trucks are more than just toys; they are limited-edition, historic collectibles – for the little boy in our hero-loving grown men.
  • The FDNY Shop sells a an authentic replica of the 70’s FDNY Valiant Mack Pumper from the Bronx that “has been weathered to appear as if returning from a hard fought fire. Each model is unique.”
Ice skating and Christmas go together.
Ice skating and Christmas go together.

The other item that a child requested from Santa in Miracle on 34th St. was a pair of ice skates. These skates are what set the story of the movie into action, as Kris, the store-Santa working for Macy’s, dares to tell the mother of this little girl that she’ll find a better pair of skates at the competition, Gimbel’s. That puts Santa in trouble with his bosses, but it ultimately proves ingenious, because it makes customers like this one love Macy’s all the more.

Shopping Mother: “Imagine a big outfit like Macy’s putting the spirit of Christmas ahead of the commercial. It’s wonderful. I never done much shopping here before, but from now on, I’m going to be a regular Macy customer.”

Get your daughter high-quality skates, because as Kris says, “their little ankles want protecting.”

  • For a traditional figure skate with a classic look (rather than the latest styles that look more like ski boots), look for DBX Traditional Figure Skates, which are sold at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
  • For a full selection of traditional skates made from real leather, such as the top-notch Riedell brand, along with detailed information on choosing just the right skate, go to the website for FigureSkatingStore.

Just for fun, it’s also worth mentioning one of my favorite quotes from Miracle on 34th Street: “There’s a lotta bad ‘isms floatin’ around in this world, but one of the woyst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck…” says one of the greatest shopping movies of all time. (wink)

The Bishop’s Wife

The Bishop's Wife gets a new hat,
The Bishop’s Wife gets a new hat,

Maybe you can’t have Cary Grant and his angelic charm, but you can get a charming hat like the one he bought for Loretta Young in the 1948 film, The Bishop’s Wife. In this timeless Christmas tale, a bishop, played by David Niven, is trying to get a new cathedral built, which depends on the financial support of a domineering and selfish old woman. The bishop prays for divine guidance. An angel (Cary Grant) arrives, but his guidance isn’t about fundraising. It’s more about paying attention to the bishop’s lonely wife and tending to her happiness, which includes the purchase of a hat that she admired in a store window but was too meek to buy for herself. The hat is purchased and the strained marriage re-ignited. We are all mere mortals after all, and mortal flesh likes a pretty hat. To get a life-changing hat for your loved one, visit:

  • America’s oldest hat maker, Bollman Hat Company, offers an exclusive vintage collection of women’s headwear. They have chosen one hat for each decade since their inception in 1868 in Adamstown, PA, USA, beginning with an 1860’s bonnet, and including a 1920’s flapper hat, a 1930s aviator hat, and even a 1960’s Jackie hat. Their 1940’s hat, however, is based on “Rosie the Riveter” and not exactly the type to make a woman’s heart melt.
  • To find a dress hat that might have been worn by a beautiful woman like Loretta Young in 1948, go to Village Hat Shop. The site also includes a History of Hats section that is fascinating and fun.

Holiday Affair

Timmy and his train set in "Holiday Affair"
Timmy and his train set in “Holiday Affair”

This 1949 romantic comedy stars Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum. Leigh plays a war-widow with a wistful devotion to her child, an adorable tousled tot who covets an expensive, electric train. Set during the Christmas shopping season, both main characters are working in department store jobs and struggling financially while they fall into a love triangle that involves the buying and returning of the train set – twice. Finally, it is little Timmy who takes his train back to Crowley’s department store and tearfully asks for a refund so that Steve (Mitchum) will not be left penniless. The story ends with the child not getting the gift he originally wanted, but instead getting a new father who he loves. If your child already has a father he loves, maybe he could use an electric train set:

  • The Lionel brand (the one in the movie) has a Winter Wonderland Train Set (now w/Bluetooth!) that is guaranteed to get you in the Christmas spirit with its smoke-puffing steam locomotive pulling festive, green and red train cars around white tracks. The set includes a Sleigh Bells & Co. boxcar, Whimsical Winter Mix tank car, Winter Wonderland caboose and a sound system with steam chuffing, whistle, bell and user-activated announcements. It’s everything a train-loving child could want on Christmas morning, except for the three AAA alkaline batteries (not included).
  • For a more year-round and high-end electric train set, go with the Bachmann brand. The Rail Chief Ready To Run Electric Train Set has 130 pieces that include a diesel locomotive with operating headlight, open quad hopper car, gondola car, plug-door box car, and off-center caboose. It features an oval of snap-fit E-Z Track, signal bridge, 36 miniature figures, 24 telephone poles, 48 railroad and street signs, power pack and speed controller.
What is better than a train running on its track around a Christmas tree?
What is better than a train running on its track around a Christmas tree?

An Affair to Remember

This 1957 film, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, is universally considered to be one of the most romantic movies of all time. In the final, tear-jerking scene on Christmas Eve, Cary Grant brings his dead grandmother’s shawl as a gift to Deborah Kerr, who has been hiding herself (and her paralysis) from Grant for six months. Grant plays a painter, and he has painted a portrait of Kerr wearing the shawl his grandmother wanted her to have. The entire impossible love story turns on this beloved shawl; due to the gift, the painting is revealed, the wheelchair is revealed, and the couple’s true love is confirmed. To wrap the woman you love in a magical shawl this year:

  • Go to Etsy, search for “lace shawl” and then refine your search by selecting “Handmade” on the left sidebar. (Click the links above to see the results for the search I already did, but the results will change over time.) There are lots of people selling handmade shawls on Etsy that you’d never find in a mainstream retail store. Some will even make custom shawls to order. On Etsy, you also get to see who makes the item, so you can select a sweet old lady like Cary Grant’s grandmother, if you want.
The lace shawl in "An Affair to Remember"
The lace shawl in “An Affair to Remember”

It’s a Wonderful Life

This fantasy Christmas drama, written and directed by Frank Capra in 1946 and starring Jimmy Stewart, is often declared the best Christmas movie of all time. Readers of this article will no doubt know the story and remember the key, most-endearing moment in its resolution when George Bailey finally returns home to his loving family after his frightening odyssey. The silver-bell ornament on the Christmas tree magically rings, and little Zuzu Bailey exclaims, “Look, Daddy. Teacher says, ‘every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.’” Then we know that Clarence has become an angel and all is well.

Traditionally, bells are rung during Christmas to announce the arrival of the season and proclaim the birth of Christ. Ringing of bells can be traced back to pagan winter celebrations. During those times, noisemakers were used to scare away evil spirits in the night. Among those early noisemakers were bells. But it wasn’t until It’s a Wonderful Life that a ringing bell signaled an angel getting its wings, and Christmas bells and angels have been connected in the American consciousness ever since Clarence was redeemed.

  • Capture the joy of the movie and own a piece of history with a keepsake ornament fashioned after the exact bell in the movie – an authentic silver-plated Bevin Bell inscribed with “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It comes with red satin cording for hanging on the tree.
  • Hallmark offers a tree-ornament bell without the movie name inscribed, for those who prefer to keep the movie name as an intangible memory.

Shop Around the Corner

This classic holiday tale from 1940 has been so loved  that it was remade into a musical in 1949 (starring Judy Garland) and even Tom Hanks took a chance at a re-make in 1998, updating the role that Jimmy Stewart originated. But the initial version took place in a Budapest gift shop, where Stewart worked as the head salesman, Alfred Kralik. The shop owner and Kralik get into an argument over the owner’s idea to sell a cigarette box that plays music when opened. Kralik thinks it’s a bad idea. Then, Klara Novak (Margaret Sullivan) enters the gift shop looking for a job. Kralik tells her there are no openings, but when she tells the owner that she likes the idea of the box because to her it seems “romantic” and makes her think of “moonlight and… um, music and cigarettes,” he takes a liking to her. When she is able to sell one of the musical cigarette boxes on the spot, the owner hires her. (She is able to sell the box by telling a shopper it’s a box for candy. Kralik responds, dryly, “people who like to smoke candy and eat cigarettes will love it.”) The disagreement over the box sets the two romantic leads at odds and begins the adversarial love affair that ends, of course, with Christmas joy and unity. To get a musical cigarette and/or candy box for your strong-willed love:

  • Go to MusicBoxAttic, where they sell all sorts of music-playing boxes, even those with twirling ballerinas, like so many of us adored as children.
  • Or search on Etsy or eBay to find a vintage music box that was actually designed for cigarettes, some with nifty, carousel dispensers. I bet you can even find one made in Hungary or Austria, similar to the one in the movie. (Links above show the results of my search, but remember that every day will give a different search result.) Here’s one I just found on Etsy that looks quite a bit like the one in the movie.

Remember the Night

It’s Christmas eve in New York City and a fabulously well-dressed woman is trying on a bracelet in a 5th Avenue jewelry store. “Glorious, madam, isn’t it?” says the clerk as he snaps the expensive bracelet on her wrist. It’s beautiful and shiny, mesmerizing to the eye, but she’d like to see another one, she tells the clerk, and as soon as his back is turned, she’s gone, and so is the bracelet.

Barbara Stanwyck steals a bracelet for Christmas
Barbara Stanwyck steals a bracelet for Christmas

Out on the street the focus remains on the bracelet until the shot widens and Barbara Stanwyck is finally revealed. She enters a pawn shop, where the clerk quickly passes around her to bolt the door shut and phone the police. Fred MacMurray plays John Sargent, a hard-charging DA who is assigned to prosecute Lee Leander (Stanwyck). The trial begins just before Christmas, and rather than face a jury filled with the holiday spirit who might be overly lenient, John has the trial postponed on a technicality.

Despite his rock-hard ethics, comical circumstances conspire to put Stanwyck and MacMurray together on a long road trip to Indiana (complete with cows invading the car). Sargent ends up taking this feisty shoplifter home with him to spend the holiday season with his small-town family, still wary of what terrible things she might do. She joins the family as they bake cookies, string popcorn on the Christmas tree, sing songs around the piano and proclaim their delight at whatever presents they receive, even if it’s the same gift they were given the year before.

Barbara Stanwyck wearing a Ruser necklace
Barbara Stanwyck wearing a Ruser necklace

In a classic holiday-spirit turn, John comes to realize the advantages his loving family have bestowed upon him once he sees how appreciative Lee is after they share with her the first, warm Christmas morning of her life. On the way back to New York, John tells Lee he loves her and tries to persuade her to jump bail and marry him on the spot, but she refuses, insisting she wants to prove her worth before she marries him, by doing the right thing and serving her time in jail.

Acclaimed screenwriter Preston Sturges summarized the film by saying, “Love reformed her and corrupted him.” You may not be able to give the gift of corrupting or reforming love this year, but that glittering bracelet is as appealing as ever.

  • William Ruser was a jeweler-to-the-stars whose clients included Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich and Lana Turner; they wore Ruser creations both on and off screen. He famously crafted the jewelry Stanwyck wore in Sorry, Wrong Number. You can still occasionally find vintage Ruser jewelry collected from estate sales, at fine purveyors such as Hancocks of London. Click here for their detailed biography of Ruser and his work.
  • Celebrity Collections is selling an actual sapphire ring that Stanwyck wore when accepting her Oscar.
  • The Hollywood Collection website sells jewelry from legendary films and private collections from Hollywood’s most famed silver screen stars. Click here to check out their dazzling bracelets.

A Christmas Carol

"Christmas Carol" make turkey the meat for Christmas
“Christmas Carol” made turkey the meat for Christmas

Bitter and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas, calling it “humbug.” He refuses his nephew Fred’s dinner invitation and rudely turns away two gentlemen who seek a donation from him to provide a Christmas dinner for the poor. Scrooge is magically reformed in his sleep by three spooky spirits and awakens on Christmas morning with joy and love in his heart. He immediately purchases the largest turkey in town and sends it as a gift to the home of his overworked, underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit, enabling a spectacular and joyous holiday feast. The gift proves Scrooge’s transformation, and turkeys ever after have come to represent generosity and compassion. Give the metaphorically and practically nourishing gift of turkey:

Turkey Christmas feast
Turkey Christmas feast
  • Harry and David offers a complete Christmas dinner you can send to a needy family or even your own. They’ve included everything one needs for a marvelous meal, from a ready-to-heat, all-natural turkey to delectable side dishes such as apple sausage stuffing, parmesan creamed spinach, brown sugar sweet potatoes and a creamy pumpkin cheesecake. You’ll also find classic turkey gravy and spiced cranberry chutney to add the perfect finishing touches. Arrives frozen and will need to thaw 2 to 3 days before re-heating and serving.
  • Send a Meal offers a fresh, ready-to-cook turkey with sides and dessert you can select for a custom meal shipped wherever you choose.
  • Or get the turkey already cooked for you by Whole Foods, as part of their complete, prepared Christmas dinner. But you’ll need to find a store near you and schedule to pick it up in person after you order it online.

Scrooge: (yelling out his window) “Hey, what day is it today?”
Boy: “Today is Christmas!”
Scrooge: “Thank heavens I haven’t missed it. Do you know if they’ve sold the prize turkey hanging in the poulter’s window? Not the little prize turkey, the BIG prize turkey.”
Boy: “The one as big as me? It’s hanging there now.”
Scrooge: “Go and buy it then!”

It’s Christmas, y’all. Go and get that prize turkey!


There is a way that only cinema can engrave on our hearts and make magic of mere objects. It’s more than just another gift; “It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Freedom Films: “A Night at Switch n’ Play” “Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes” and “Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation”

It’s Pride Month, and we’re coming up to July 4th and Independence Day, so HelenHighly discusses three new documentaries whose hearts beat the drums of freedom, passion and change, and how in each film, art is the impetus that brings those concepts to life. Helen Highly Recommends A Night at Switch n’ Play, Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, and Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation.

Dear Beloved Readers: Helen Highly Encourages you to read this article in full, rather than skim to find my critique about any one film. I wrote this to be a commentary essay more than a set of film reviews, and it is not structured as three separate reviews, so it disappoints me when I learn that people are missing my larger point (and the larger message in each of these films) and deciding, in advance of reading, which film interests them and which does not. One of my key messages is that each film is about something more than its central subject. And I happen to think that “something more” is worth at least reading about, even if you don’t watch all three films. Feel free to leave a comment if you have a response. 

"A Night at Switch n' Play" poster
“A Night at Switch n’ Play” poster

The live Switch n’ Play show has got underway – a neo-burlesque alt-drag “happening” at a small saloon in Brooklyn. After the weirdly sexy and comical introductions and instructions, there is the first act by Pearl Harbor (pronouns: they/them), to which…. truly, words cannot do justice, although I will merely mention that the act includes pulling a string of pearls from inside the body of a cooked chicken, and no nudity whatsoever, but soulful lip-syncing to an aching love song by Radiohead, after which I – viewing this via the documentary film, A Night at Switch n’ Play, feel the impulse to cry and laugh and cheer at the same time but am too awestruck to make a sound. And then “Femmecee” Miss Malice returns to the stage and asks the audience:

“Have you said goodbye to your former selves yet? Have you come to accept that you will be changed by this show?”

Pearl Harbor at Switch n' Play
Pearl Harbor at Switch n’ Play

She’s not kidding. This show and this film are all about transformation – for the performers and for the audience. And that’s art, y’all. In case anyone has forgotten, these young switch-n-players are here to remind us: Art Is Transformation. Art began with taking a stick to a prehistoric cave wall and transforming it into an imagined world of people and animals. And today art continues to transform materials into new objects and people into new personas that in turn stimulate transformation in their viewers. That’s what it’s all about.

“I don’t care if it hurts; I want to have control; I want a perfect body; I want a perfect soul… I wish I was special.” – lyrics from “Creep” by Radiohead
Click to listen.

In this show, we see men dressing as women, women dressing as men, people bending gender roles to the point where we are not sure who is dressing as what, someone dressing as a Twinkie, someone doing striptease, someone doing horror, all body types, all ethnicities.* It’s wildly entertaining, and it’s much more than just weird. These performers are keenly aware of who they are and what they are doing. Whether they are on stage twirling tassels or tossing raw meat, this is some heady frivolity going on.

* The correct terminology, btw, is “trans, non-binary, and femme performers doing drag and burlesque.” My apologies for misstating, but I am leaving my error as evidence of Helen’s Highly Clueless “outsider” amazement. My point is that even if you are as clueless and straight as I am, this movie is for you. (And yeah, it’s time for all of us to get it right, me included, which I will, from here on out.)

A Night at Switch n’ Play is seductive and invigorating. The show manages to connect with our vital organs and the film takes the audience beyond the “play,” as we join its revelatory, thrilling, and emotional journey. At this seemingly ordinary neighborhood bar, the natural interaction between performer and audience is taken to the highest level; it’s a psychic collaboration, and even as the distant film audience, you will feel profoundly engaged.

In fact, the film audience has an advantage over the live audience because in addition to watching generous sections of the show, we are also privy to backstage interviews. These recorded chats are candid and personal as well as knowledgeable and thoughtful.

Miss Malice and Zoe Ziegfeld
Miss Malice and Zoe Ziegfeld

Q: Do you feel sexy when you perform?

A: (thinks) I feel powerful. I feel a bit dangerous. I feel that I deserve and am demanding attention. That’s a good feeling. Is that sexy?

Q: How would you define what you are doing?

A: It’s maybe burlesque, maybe drag; it’s something in between. I always try to land in a grey area (laughs) on stage and in life.

One performer marvels that at Switch n’ Play, they were able to express their non-binary feelings and contemplate the possibility that there could be “a drag persona that isn’t gendered.” It’s not impersonation; it isn’t about how you look. It’s about feeling good about who you are and expressing yourself as vividly as possible.

K. James at the milkman at Switch n' Play
K. James at the milkman at Switch n’ Play

In the interviews it is repeatedly reinforced that the unusual freedom and support at the Switch n’ Play Collective is what has enabled all these performers to develop as artists. One performer speaks about her South American Muslim background and how this experience has empowered her to accept her body and take ownership her sexual and individual identity. But this is not self-indulgence or group therapy; what we are watching could not occur without a disciplined process of creative exploration. These are some ambitious artists and some highly skilled performances. This is performance art.

It makes me feel old to say it, but these are kids – still talking about graduating from Sarah Lawrence college and such. And it’s inspiring to see these youngsters doing such great work: it’s innovative; it’s radical; it’s subversive; it’s delightful; it’s horrifying; it’s fantastically fun; it’s courageous; it’s freeing and it’s life-affirming. If you think we have lost our humanity in America, watch this movie.

Pearl Harbor at Switch n' Play
The Switch n’ Play Collective

And though the artists don’t say it directly, I will add that it is apparent they are all speaking as part of an oppressed community – the “queer” community (as they call it in the film), which has suffered and continues to suffer from social and political abuse and injustice. It is worth remembering that 2019 is the 50-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which saw members of the LGBTQ community clash with police in New York’s Greenwich Village in what is widely seen as the start of the modern gay rights movement. What is happening nearby at Switch n’ Play, and at other venues around the country, is art born of adversity; it is the soulful song of struggle – with some strong similarities to jazz and to hip-hop, which brings me to the next part of this combo film review.

Side Note: Do you know origin of the term “drag”? It dates back to Shakespearean times, when the actors were all male because it was considered improper for women to take part in public spectacle or religious ritual. When the men had to wear the long skirts of female characters, which dragged on the floor, they referred to it is as playing drag. Drag was not associated with homosexuality until much later.

Cross-dressing was a pervasive part of American vaudeville acts from the turn of the century until the late 1930s and considered an innocuous comic routine. It is there that it became entwined with burlesque and striptease. The modern iteration of drag queens developed at underground clubs during Prohibition (when all bars had to go underground), and they were “supported” by the Mafia, who agreed to sell bootleg booze to gay clubs and provide protection from police raids. Jump forward to Stonewall, and Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show, then Boy George, consider the stylings of David Bowie, and then leap ahead to RuPaul and that still leaves you in the dust of the ferocious freshness that is happening now in Brooklyn.

Hey, just for fun, I am adding in this recent event. Click for Variety news story: Taylor Swift Gives Surprise Performance at LGBT Landmark Stonewall Inn (GLAAD I Could Make it.) See the end of this article for video of the performance. AND also, for fair perspective, I am linking to the Esquire criticism of Taylor Swift’s new, pro-GLAAD song, “You Need to Calm Down,” which she released just 24 hours before her Stonewall appearance: “No Shade, But There’s a Wrong Way to Make a Gay Anthem.” If nothing else, that article, plus another at Esquire about Swift’s new activism, illustrates how raw and uneasy this social issue remains, and how history very much informs our understanding of current events (which makes the next two movies in this article all the more important). 

A Night at Switch n’ Play, directed by Cody Stickels, premiered recently at Toronto’s Inside Out Film Festival. It’s film festival season, so I happen to have just recently seen two other documentaries that Switch n’ Play brings to mind, and it’s not due to subject as much as spirit – the spirit of change and of freedom.

Speaking of spirit, if you were to research the etymology of the word “jazz,” you would find that it’s based on an obsolete slang term from the 1800s – “jasm,” which meant spirit, energy and vigor. Jasm is derived from an earlier term – “jism,” which was defined as spirit, energy, or spunk, and “spunk” could also be interpreted to mean semen or sperm, making jism a taboo word. So, Helen Highly Suggests that calling the queer things happening at Switch n’ Play jazz drag might be worth considering.

"Blue Notes Records" film poster
“Blue Notes Records” film poster

Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes is a documentary by Sophie Huber about the history of the most important record label in the history of jazz – and by extension, that of American music. (See film trailer below.) Founded in New York in 1939 by German Jewish refugees Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, the story of Blue Note Records (Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, etc.) goes beyond the landmark recordings and encompasses the pursuit of musical freedom and the idea of music as a revolutionary and transformative force for African Americans and their audiences. The themes of this film are almost shockingly consistent with the themes in A Night at Switch n’ Play.

And it’s also worth noting that the term “blue note” is another connection. In jazz or blues music, a blue note is one that, for expressive purposes, is sung or played at a slightly different pitch than standard. This practice is also commonly referred to as “bending” a note. Again, Helen Highly Suggests that the gender-bending expressiveness in A Night at Switch n’ Play might also be aptly called blue drag.” And the Switch n’ Play idea of performing in “the grey area” is also a key element of jazz. This documentary emphasizes that jazz thrives on musical diversity, experimentation, improvisation and emotional passion, and it requires a high level of skill. Plus, the music is always layered with life experience; it’s personal. And so that makes the Blue Note film an ideal companion piece for the Switch n’ Play film.

"Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes"
“Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes”

The focus of the Blue Note documentary is conversations with jazz icons as well as today’s groundbreaking Blue Note musicians. It is through this testimony that the film reveals the vital and enduring mission of the Blue Note company and directly connects jazz to hip-hop. The notion of handing the torch to a younger generation of artists who are addressing a modernized version of the same-old racial struggle, using newly inventive and resourceful methods while building on their heritage, is what makes this documentary more than just a tribute film.

Never has it been made clearer to this viewer that the music and culture of hip-hop is an act of reverence for the pioneers and heroes who came before them and a solemn acceptance of the burden that is being handed down. Of course, jazz expresses a wide range of human emotions, including supreme joy. It is delicate and it is boisterous. It manages to push the conventional boundaries at every angle. And this film captures that broadness of spirit and the powerful pleasure of free expression.

"Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes" documentary
“Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes” documentary

There is not a lot of music in this film, however. It is more of a think-piece. But jazz-lovers will feast on it, I imagine. And even I, who am not a jazz aficionado, found Blue Note to be fascinating and emotionally compelling. It is an insightful and at times startling history lesson and also an intimate window into the creative process. It is full of gorgeous black and white photos and artfully designed album covers, but be prepared for lots of still shots and not much movement. Nonetheless, especially if you think jazz is dead, you should watch this film; it is aggressively political and relevant. And even though I wrote that this is more than a tribute film, it is in large part a tribute, and it’s a loving, satisfying, and thoughtful tribute to the one true form of American music and to the daring people who made it possible. If you think American democracy and freedom are dead (or dying), then you should watch both these films.

"Woodstock Three Days That Defined a Generation" poster
“Woodstock Three Days That Defined a Generation” poster

Speaking of art as it relates to freedom (and 50th anniversaries): There is Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation, directed by Barak Goodman, which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. It celebrates the 50th anniversary of the iconic music festival that has become a symbol for the power of youthful passion and vision when it comes together in the pursuit of freedom. More than 400,000 young people gathered on a farm in upstate New York, where there was not adequate space or supplies to accommodate them all. They came from far and wide with the unyielding determination of a crusade, and instead of creating an enormous disaster/riot that the press was predicting with near hysteria, they showed the world that the power of love and the spirit of peace, with the addition of music (art), can make glorious and unexpected history.

The crowd at Woodstock
The crowd at Woodstock

Repeatedly throughout this film, via archival footage, we hear those young folks remark on how inspiring it is to find so many others who share their values and hopes and their sense of misfit-identity that in many cases had not been defined beyond a feeling, but that would be defined and empowered by the time that weekend was over. It was a transformative experience, by all accounts.

And in Switch n’ Play, we also hear again and again, in the performer interviews, that sense of wonder and relief at discovering a community of others who made them feel understood and accepted. One artist says specifically that in this collective group, whoever you are or want to be, “there is space for it.”

Peace at Woodstock
Peace at Woodstock

In contrast to previous Woodstock films, Director Barak Goodman specifically focuses his documentary on the audience and organizers and their process of discovering and then embracing their part in democracy – how the Woodstock  music festival and the phenomenon it became intersected with national politics at the time and to some extent how it suggests possibilities for present-day politics. In his review, Ron Simon writes, “Goodman sees the sixties era ‘forged in crisis,’ much like today’s generation, with different threats, notably climate change and disillusionment with institutions. He wants his version of the festival to inspire, emphasizing how Woodstock tried to be ‘a new city.’” Goodman sees his film and that event as a testament to the power of young people to use their passion to achieve great things. (But again, the film includes more commentary than music.)

We learn in this documentary that Richie Havens’ famous song “Freedom” was created spontaneously on stage at Woodstock; he improvised based on an old spiritual, “Motherless Child” (not unlike jazz), and that song became an anthem for a generation. Later, Havens explained, “I think the word ‘freedom’ came out of my mouth because I saw it in front of me. I saw the freedom that we were looking for. And every person sharing it, and so that word came out…The establishment was foolish enough to give us all this freedom and we used it in every way we could.”

These three films seem to speak in concert, with the same underlying melody — young people wanting to claim their power, exercise their freedom, advocate for love and harmony. All three films celebrate the ways that youthful passion has reshaped the world. All three films depict despair transformed into optimism, isolation into solidarity, with art as the catalyst. All three stories come from a substantial heritage and yet are relevant right now. Happy Birthday America, and Happy Pride Month. Let’s all try to come together and make the most of it.  #FreedomOf Expression


Watch the trailer for the Blue Note Records documentary below:

Click: For a full review of Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes.

News: Blue Note opens 6/14 at Metrograph NYC and on 6/28 at Laemmle Monica Film Center in LA. The film will then roll out to cinemas across the nation this summer followed by television broadcasts and a DVD release later in the year.

News: Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation is now available online FOR FREE! Click here to watch.

Watch that iconic Richie Havens performance of “Freedom,” below:

Interested in a music documentary that is just plain full of great American music, some rare footage, and not too much talking? Try Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives.

News: Less than 24 hours after she dropped her new single “You Need to Calm Down,” which includes shout-outs to GLAAD and the LGBT community, she made a surprise appearance before about 100 people at the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village, helping to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Watch Taylor Swift sing “Shake it Off” at the Stonewall Inn, below. (Is something wrong with this picture? Esquire can explain what seems off. Although… Stonewall Inn thought it was worth having Swift perform. What’s the point in putting limits on who is allowed to care? But that’s just Helen Highly Clueless speaking.)

Helen Highly Vindicated: Alyssa Milano and Bill Maher Reference Lysistrata, Classical Dramatic Literature

Helen Highly Vindicated. In the last two days I’ve heard at least two pop-culture references to an ancient play by Aristophanes. As someone who can’t seem to stop writing commentary about popular culture by comparing it to classic theater, it is refreshing to hear someone else finally do it – two people no less! Alyssa Milano and Bill Maher, thank you very much for making me feel less out of touch with the world.

First, Alyssa Milano called for a sex strike until Georgia’s new anti-abortion law is repealed. She didn’t mention the play Lysistrata by name, but I assume (and hope) it was buried in her subconscious and gave her the idea. In famous Greek literature, this character convinces women to refuse sex with their husbands until they end a war. Milano did reference contemporary director Spike Lee, who used the same idea as a remedy for gang violence in his film Chi-Raq.

Then, Bill Maher, on Real Time with Bill Maher, listed a New Rule he called “The Great Wife Hope,” suggesting that two famous ex-models, Melania Trump and Jerry Hall, both married to “super-rich Republican monsters” – Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch, respectively, deny sex to their husbands. Maher specifically mentioned Lysistrata when explaining that getting men to quit their destructive ways by threatening to cut them off in bed is a tale as old as time. He added, “I know they’re rich, but is it worth Western Civilization?” See the clip, below:

So there: I guess American culture is not as disinterested in classic drama as it might seem. I don’t expect this small “win” for intellectual literature to change me from being mostly Helen Highly Irrelevant or to bring more people to my online essays, but I will mention them here nonetheless. I keep writing commentary about pop culture by comparing it to decidedly unhip, old stage plays, or just writing about the most esoteric aspects of culture, I guess. Most people have no idea what I am talking about and the rest don’t care. I am ridiculously irrelevant, and I can’t seem to stop myself.

I know that almost no one wants to see a new, controversial “cinematic memoir” about alleged sex-predator and old Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, much less read an article that compares that film to a vintage Samuel Beckett play – especially not on Mother’s Day! But I posted it anyway. Click here to read my review of The Quiet One, where Helen Highly Suggests that viewers might come for the music but stay for the existential irony. If nothing else, it’s an in-depth discussion of the absurdist nature of reminiscence.

Bill Wyman in "The Quiet One" at Tribeca
Bill Wyman in “The Quiet One”
Bill and Suzanne Wyman at Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall's wedding
Bill and Suzanne Wyman at Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall’s wedding

As a not-entirely-irrelevant tie-in, I am going to post a photo I found of the elderly Bill Wyman and his third wife Suzanne at the wedding of the aforementioned Jerry Hall and Rupert Murdoch. I didn’t have space to include the picture in my Quiet One review, but it kinda makes sense here, in a grotesque sort of way. I assume Donald Trump was in attendance as well. I call that triple-down monstrosity.

And before The Quiet One, I wrote about an urgently important advocacy documentary, Slay the Dragon, which discusses the least appealing political topic – gerrymandering, a term most people can’t pronounce, much less understand. Although, people’s disinterest in it only makes it more the symbol of everything that’s wrong with America. I tried to make my film review seem relatable by referencing Game of Thrones, which I did not do nearly as successfully as John Oliver did last night, when making The Green New Deal seem interesting by comparing it to Game of Thrones. But he is more clever than I, alas. Still, the topic of gerrymandering is actually more urgent than climate change, and there are more immediate and concrete actions that we can take. Click here to read my Slay the Dragon review and interview with the filmmakers. Really: this is THE most vital political film of the year, and if I can contribute anything to popular culture, it will be in getting people to see this surprisingly compelling movie, directed by Barak Goodman. (Note: Recent events have brought up correlations between gerrymandering and Alabama’s new, super-restrictive abortion law, which actually out-outrages Alyssa Milano’s Georgia abortion law. I’ve updated my Slay the Dragon article to include these latest events.)

Gerrymandered Dragon
Gerrymandered Dragon
"Us" movie poster
“Us” movie poster

Before that, I reviewed the much-anticipated pop-culture phenom Us – the latest horror flick from super-cool Jordan Peele. But I compared it, point by point, to a theatrical adaptation of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (in a new play titled Life Sucks). I asked if the two were tethered together like combating doubles of each other. I know; it seems random, but at a time when immigration has become a national emergency in our country, both stories deal with issues of outsiders vs insiders, us vs them (within ourselves and society), and blame vs responsibility, and I thought it was worth discussing. And also, both mix humor into their portrayals of pain, which makes them both meaningful genre-benders. Doesn’t even matter if you’ve seen the film or Chekhov, methinks; it’s all good food for thought. Click here to read that incisive review. – A little scissor humor there. ha. (Hey! Play just got an extended run uptown starting June 4! Go buy tickets!)

Maybe Wikipedia is happy to have me around. I seem to do nothing as much as insert Wikipedia links in an attempt to help people understand what the hell I’m talking about. So it goes. I’m thinking that next I will discuss The Avengers in terms of Henrik Ibsen’s Brand. Just kidding! I promise I won’t. Happy weekend, y ’all!

Review: “Us” Movie by Peele vs “Life Sucks” Play by Posner + Director Jeff Wise Interview

Are Us and Life Sucks tethered together like combating doubles of each other?

by HelenHighly

“Us” Movie Poster with Lupita Nyong’o

It happened again: Entirely randomly and coincidentally, I saw two different narrative presentations (this time a film and a live play) just days apart, and despite their having no real connection, they merged in my brain to produce one review. The various parallels in the two stories, including matching themes and potential relevance to right-now America, were difficult to ignore and not compare, so I did – compare and contrast. First, I saw Us, the much-anticipated sophomore-effort horror film by Jordan Peele, which follows his much-celebrated first writer/director endeavor, Get Out. Next, I saw Life Sucks (now extended for a summer run at Theater Row, beginning June 4 ) a play that claims to be “sort of adapted from Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov,” also a much-anticipated sophomore-effort variation on Chekhov for contemporary American audiences, by Aaron Posner (with Wheelhouse director Jeff Wise), following Posner’s much-acclaimed Stupid Fucking Bird, an adaptation of Chekhov’s Seagull. As Us was percolating in my brain, and as I was noticing more and more articles discussing the supposedly mysterious themes and hidden meanings within this genre-bending movie, my experience at the genre-bending Life Sucks hit me hard, as an answer to all my doubts and emerging cynicism about Us.

Note: There are some “spoilers” in this article. But Helen Highly suggests that if Peele wants to play in the philosophical Big Leagues, discussing archetypal relationships, then he needs to grow up and leave the notion of spoilers for lesser minds. Generations of people have known how all the Chekhov stories end, but that hasn’t yet stopped them from watching.

In the movie Us, Adelaide Wilson returns from the city to the beachfront home where she grew up, accompanied by her husband, son and daughter and planning to spend time with old friends. Haunted by a traumatic experience from the past, Adelaide grows increasingly concerned that something bad is going to happen that will threaten the safe, docile, middle-class lives of her family. Her worst fears soon become a reality, when four masked strangers descend upon the house. When the masks come off, the family is horrified to learn that each attacker takes the appearance of one of them and is harboring some long-buried resentments about power inequities and secret yearnings. Each family member must face off against their murderous other-selves, who are figuratively and sometimes literally “tethered” to them. It’s the quintessential us vs them scenario, where the threat from others truly comes from ourselves. Thus, in keeping with the classic horror genre, the danger is coming from inside. In the end, there is a parting between us and them, but the future is uncertain.

“Life Sucks” Poster, by Aaron Posner

In Life Sucks, an urban professor (Austin Pendleton in the original production and Kevin Isola in the remount) returns to the country home where he grew up, accompanied by his beautiful young wife. They descend upon the house that contains the long-ignored family and friends he left behind. Haunted by a family history of power inequities, repressed resentments, and secret yearnings, the characters experience increasing concern that something bad is going to threaten their complacent, docile, middle-class lives. Their worst fears soon become a reality as they each are confronted by the images of themselves that they project onto others, and they are forced to face their own regrets as mirrored in the seeming success of those most closely connected to them. Denial has been living in the basement and accountability has come to call. Posner has taken Chekhov’s traditional “suffering is beautiful” stance and given it some edge, and a pointed opinion: We are our own worst enemies. In the end, there is a parting between us and them, but the future is uncertain.

"Us" movie poster
“Us” movie poster

Do the two sound similar? Yeah. Dualities. Opposites that create and destroy each other. The way that people are tethered to their darker selves, both personally and as a society. Who is the real “us” – the people we feel we are inside (our hurts, our hopes, our dreams) or the people others perceive us to be (selfish, ugly, threatening)? What happens when our worst selves are unleashed? In us vs them, who is truly to blame and who is the victim? Who gets to walk away a hero, and at what cost to others?

The real question is this: Would you rather explore these philosophical quandaries within a bloody battle with speechless creatures from a subterranean world or over tea and vodka with articulate intellectuals as they stroll through gardens and play piano in their living room? Box office sales would surely indicate that most would prefer the former. But Helen Highly prefers the latter. (And for the sake of total accuracy, I note that Posner changes the traditional Chekhovian beverage from vodka to rum and coke, as part of his modernization of the play – a small detail that I would have preferred to remain traditional.)

My immediate reaction to Us was extreme disappointment, as I had adored Get Out and would have been happy to see it win an Oscar for Best Picture. But this new movie is a relentlessly violent and bloody slasher flick, where the crude brutality overwhelms whatever finesse, imagination, or meaningful messaging it may contain. Peele gave quite a few interviews explaining his film, after-the-fact, and many an article was written deciphering the riddle-like significance of the film. But whatever nuanced complexities might have been in Peele’s head didn’t make it to the screen, and certainly didn’t make it into my head. And just like any joke, if you have to explain it afterward, that means it didn’t really work.

Even when Peele’s often heavy-handed metaphors did scream about their social or psychological significance, I just didn’t care, because I didn’t want to have to sit through another kill-fest scene in order to grasp his laborious, clumsy philosophizing. Is there more ironic significance to be found if one swims through all the blood to reach it? Maybe. But when I saw Life Sucks, it was profoundly and unequivocally clear that Chekhov is and always will be a master writer and philosopher, no matter how much contemporary silliness is thrown at his work, while Peele is still very much a newbie, and this film did not earn the “homework” afterward to try to make sense of his mess. Kudos to Peele for his commanding first film, and he certainly should keep working, but Helen Highly suggests that those watching keep proper perspective and reserve their highest praise for those who truly deserve it. Aaron Posner deserves it.

"Life Sucks" Play by Aaron Posner, w/Jeff Biehl as Vanya
“Life Sucks” Play by Aaron Posner, w/Jeff Biehl as Vanya

Posner brings Chekhov out from the dusty past and makes him as fresh and relevant to contemporary life as Jordan Peele wishes he were. And director Jeff Wise seems to work in perfect partnership with Posner, delivering an audacious, immensely entertaining production that mingles mirth and angst with shock-and-awe in ways that portray life’s greatest dilemmas and despairs while ultimately sending the audience from the theater feeling strangely uplifted despite their newly activated personal pain.

It’s amazing how a few surprise gunshots that miss their targets and draw no blood can be as alarming and powerful as countless bloody murders. But what’s it all about? Both the movie and the play have a lot on their minds – virtual prisms of contemplation.

Speaking of prisms, I’ll start with mirrors, which figure prominently in Us. There is a decrepit carnival house of mirrors (and later, fractured shards of mirrors) that reflect a frightened little girl, who sees – or imagines? – her darker double, an image that returns repeatedly throughout the film. That scared little girl grows up to be a troubled, bourgeois wife and mother of two, who finally comes face-to-face with her “tethered” underworld double – her metaphysical opposite, both played with extraordinary dexterity by Lupita Nyong’o.

Plus, there is a vanity/makeup mirror in which a bleeding, murderous doppelganger of another bourgeois housewife applies lipstick with ghoulish panache, which is perhaps the most entertaining part of the movie, thanks to a thrilling performance by Elisabeth Moss. This deranged opposite-monster gives the most heinous portrayal possible of the superficial, self-absorbed character she seeks to kill and replace. At this point, it’s certainly no spoiler to reveal that all the ordinary, petty, self-entitled, real-world characters each have a zombie-like double who seeks to destroy and replace them. Does this already sound like Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Ding ding ding: You win the prize.

Meanwhile, Life Sucks sticks to the old theatrical trick of characters acting as human mirrors of each other. There is a clever scene, amazing in its simple effectiveness, in which all the characters line up to face off against the bourgeois, self-absorbed, complaining, Vanya (played by Jeff Biehl), each asking in turn, “What, am I supposed to feel sorry for you?” and then detail their own under-the-surface pains and grievances, which sometimes serve as confessions as well. Posner has taken the underlying psychologies of his layered characters and turned them inside out, so that they directly speak their interior thoughts, and even explain their personal issues and social philosophies, and still the play does not get near the level of over-bearing, self-important obnoxiousness that runs through the movie Us.

“Us” Movie Poster

What’s the most scary thing in Us? Your miserable, moaning, opposite-self, who is emotionally tethered to you, is coming to stab you to death with a giant pair of scissors. (Scissors are made of two identical halves that are attached to each other, and also represent a severing of unity: Get it?)  What’s the most scary thing is Life Sucks? I asked the director, Jeff Wise.

He answered, “The scariest thing in life is our ability to delude ourselves. The characters in this play, like so many people, detach themselves from reality to avoid taking responsibility for themselves and the pain that brutal honesty would bring with it. And the more detached you are, the more vulnerable you are to reality making itself known to you. This is very scary – being so sure of something that is not real. And when the truth is made real to you, that’s terrifying. That’s when people have psychotic breaks.”

He continued, “Vanya is not happy about the decisions he has or has not made in his life. He thinks in an entitled way. He blames others. He blames society. He refuses to be accountable. And finally he starts lashing out in real and violent ways – the dissatisfied, angry part of himself who believes that life has been unfair to him. He brings a gun into the house. Now his fear has manifested in real danger. He has become toxic to his community. His unwillingness to confront his own struggle is dangerous to others. So, they must confront him.”

It’s the emotional confrontation that is terrifying. The other characters force Vanya to look at himself, as if in a mirror. But who needs a real mirror when you have the genius of Chekhov to depict the conflicts in our consciousness – the smashed glass between our egos and our ids? In fact, Posner interweaves sardonic humor with cutting truth so easily, you are able to watch that conflict – the confrontation between who we pretend to be and who we are afraid to be, and laugh at Vanya’s and our own tortured psyches. Posner doesn’t need absurd giant scissors; he has language.

Helen suggests that when Vanya’s seething resentment peaks, and he attempts to shoot and kill his better-than-him brother, he is attempting to tear the same type of tether to their better-halves that the ghouls in Us so viciously resent. In some ways, it’s a struggle to own ourselves and a question about free will. Can Vanya be the person he wants to be or is he doomed by his denial of who he truly is – his jealousy, his guilt, his weaknesses? Can Adelaide ever truly free herself from her ugly underground double? And which one of her double-selves most deserves the daylight; which one is the real one? It seems odd that these two very-different stories both grapple with the same questions. Are Us and Life Sucks tethered together like combating doubles of each other? If so, Chekhov walks away the winner.

Austin Pendleton in "Life Sucks"
Austin Pendleton in “Life Sucks”

There is another pair of tethered characters in Life Sucks that merits mention. Vanya’s niece, Sonia (Kimberly Chatterjee), is homely, hard-working, unsophisticated, and sexually “invisble,” especially to the man she loves — Dr. Aster (Michael Schantz). In contrast, there is her father’s beautiful, alluring, worldly wife, Ella (Nadia Bowers), who receives unwanted romantic overtures from every man within wishing distance, especially from her brother-in-law Vanya, and also, painfully, from Dr. Aster — the man Sonia believes should rightfully love her. There is a wonderful heart-to-heart scene between the two women, in which they confront each other’s (and their own) jealousies and failures and reflect on how each possesses much of what the other wants. Their late-night drunken dialogue has a charm that is both solemn and giddy. It’s a true, heart-wrenching joy to watch, and far out-classes any Jordan Peele scene of two, female opposites literally ripping each other’s hearts out.

In Get Out, Peele was more effective at integrating comedy into the tragedy than he is in Us. But Life Sucks reaches moments of outright hilarity, although it is not quite as tight and astute as Stupid Fucking Bird. Neither writer has achieved the greatness of their first efforts, but both remain promising young artists who are contributing to our national discourse on personal and societal responsibility as we move from the “old order” to the “new order,” or at least they’re making the attempt. At a time when immigration has become a national emergency in our country, they are dealing with issues of outsiders vs insiders, us vs them (within ourselves and society), and blame vs responsibility. That’s the wonder of art – to make us think while we are entertained.

Lupita Nyong'o in Us Movie
Lupita Nyong’o in Us Movie

Both stories have a moral seriousness and earnest intensity dotted with amusing pop-culture references. In Us, we get to see an Amazon-Alexa-like voice-operated music player get splattered with blood as it plays “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (a song from 1966). In Life Sucks, we get to hear the Pickles character sing “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road,” by the Beatles (a song from 1968). We also hear Paul Simon’s “American Tune” (1975). The lyrics are right at home in Life Sucks but would have fit just as well into Us:

I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
or driven to its knees
But it’s all right, it’s all right
We’ve lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
we’re traveling on
I wonder what went wrong
I can’t help it, I wonder what went wrong

Okay, maybe that’s me showing my age. I do agree with other critics who have applauded Jordan Peele’s savvy exploitation of how tethered we are to pop music. See this article by Micah Peters at The Ringer, for more on that.

Peele aims to be more overtly political in his story, but… his 1980’s-era Hands Across America tie-in reads more nostalgic than meaningful. I think he gets himself too twisted up between Alice-in-Wonderland rabbit references and homeless guys with Bible verses written on their foreheads to really put together anything resembling an intellectually viable political thesis; he’s made a mediocre, psychological-thriller / slasher-film combo with some archetypal undertones and enough symbolic details to let anybody read anything they want into the meaning of it all. It is generous to include his movie in any real philosophical discussion, but he does seem to be thinking about things; maybe next time he’ll express some real ideas.

Posner and Wise’s effort is much stronger and more emotionally gripping. Let’s face it; no one can touch Chekhov when it comes to existential angst and human complexity. It’s worth noting that Posner does squarely place the setting in the United States but is vague about the date, although there is an Exxon reference at one point. So it seems both stories see something significant about America in the 1980s, while they also speak to a contemporary audience.

I am left with questions: Are we our own worst enemies? Does life really suck? And if it doesn’t suck, what does it do?

Life staggers. It confounds. It rages. And it yearns.  Life is beautiful and Life Sucks.

Go see the play. Skip the movie.

Life Sucks was a downtown smash hit at Wheelhouse Theater but now is having a summer run uptown at Acorn Theatre, beginning June 4. Helen HIGHLY suggests you go see it. I personally guarantee you will be glad you did. Click here for tickets.

Roger Stone Documentary Filmmaker, Morgan Pehme, Linked to Trump Russian Collusion Story

Get Me Roger Stone Documentary is Now Real News

by HelenHighly
Morgan Pehme, filmmaker
Morgan Pehme, filmmaker

The lines have long been blurred between art and life, news and entertainment, even good and evil. Enter Donald Trump. Well, that’s obvious. But how about… Enter Donald Trump trailing behind Roger Stone? Okay, that’s been reported. And a documentary was even released in 2017, which touched on the Stone-Trump relationship, and I reviewed that documentary, which blurred my lines between fascination and fear. I told the potential viewing audience to “Get your hate on!” with this film. Get Me Roger Stone, directed by Morgan PehmeDylan Bank, and Daniel DiMauro, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival  in 2017 – a breaking news story waiting to happen, but camouflaged innocuously between the other “politically timely” documentaries.

And now that story has truly broken wide open, as filmmaker Morgan Pehme is testifying to serious news outlets about the all-too-relevant relationship that he was privy to while making his film. Suddenly our filmmaker has become a witness to a potential crime – not the inside scoop on a bank robbery or a murder, or anything as “small” as that; the Get Me Roger Stone filmmaker may have key evidence in the national-nightmare investigation into Russia Collusion – the treasonous offense that many speculate could be the downfall of President Trump.

Roger Stone and Donald Trump pre-scandal
Roger Stone and Donald Trump pre-scandal

What Pehme heard and saw while filming his Roger Stone documentary may be shedding light on the shadowy relationship between Trump’s campaign advisor Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, helping to connect the dots between Trump, Stone, Assange, Wikileaks, Cambridge Analytica, Paul Manafort and the Kremlin. Is it all a conspiracy theory? Well, it may be, and if it is, it will delight the spotlight-loving Roger Stone all the more.

It’s a good time to re-read this film review and maybe re-watch that movie on Netflix.

But first, scan through this series of news stories that provide new context and bring the documentary into sharper focus:

  • Back in 2017, the Hollywood Reporter revealed  that Get Me Roger Stone Directors Not Surprised by Manafort Indictment.” Click here to read about it. 
  • On 3/13/2018 Politico wrote, “Roger Stone tried to meet with Assange, documentary producer says”:

“Roger Stone was attempting to meet with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in the summer of 2016, a producer for Get Me Roger Stone said on Tuesday. Morgan Pehme, a producer for the documentary, said on MSNBC that during an interview with Stone for the documentary, the then-informal Trump adviser “was trying to meet with Julian Assange.” Pehme went on to say, “We don’t know if it was successful.’

"Get Me Roger Stone" is in the news.
“Get Me Roger Stone” is in the news.

“The Washington Post first reported that Stone interacted with Assange. Stone, in the spring of 2016. said he heard from Assange that Wikileaks had obtained emails that would distress top Democrats, including Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, according to the Post.” Click to read the full story.

  • On 3/20/2018, Politico wrote: “’Glad to see Cambridge Analytica whistleblower is willing to testify,’ Schiff tweeted, referencing news that former Cambridge employee Christopher Wylie was willing to speak with the panel’s Democrats. ‘Recent revelations about Erik Prince, Roger Stone and Cambridge Analytica illustrate how GOP decision to shut down their investigation abdicated their oversight responsibilities to country. But our work goes on’.” Click here to read the full article
  • On 4/42018 CNN writes, “Stone, on day he sent Assange dinner email, also said ‘devastating’ WikiLeaks were forthcoming.” Click to read the article.
  • On 4/7/2018 Roger Stone warned that “it would be very dangerous for Trump to meet with Mueller,” suggesting that he had inside information that gave him special insight. Click to read.
  • On April 23rd, there was this: Roger Stone, a former top Trump advisor, is named in the DNC’s lawsuit alleging collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, along with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., WikiLeaks, Guccifer 2.0, and more. Click for the video.

And NOW you should really take a fresh look at my article and watch that all-the-more-outrageous Get Me Roger Stone movie.

 

 

 

The Baby and the Bathwater: Thailand’s Cautionary Tale for Hillary Haters

by HelenHighly

There is a serious political problem with Election 2016 and Helen Highly Objects. I’m talking to you, fellow Democrats, Liberals, and Progressives who won’t vote for “Crooked Hillary.”

I will start this political essay by offering theoretical agreements with the claims of so many relentless Hillary Haters. and also you — mere Hillary Resisters.

Punishing Hillary
Punishing Hillary
  • Hillary accepts money from big-business and Wall St. Yup, she does.
  • Hillary is greedy. Okay – very likely true.
  • Hillary has used her political career for personal gain. Sure, I’ll even put that in all caps: HILLARY HAS PROFITED FROM HER POLITICAL CAREER.
  • Hillary has been caught in a misstatement (okay – call it a deception), covering up an embarrassing error about what she knew and when she knew it with regard to her email-server “scandal.” I’ll go ahead and give you that one – Hillary lied. Again, all caps: HILLARY LIED.
  • Hillary apologized for her mistake but that is not enough; any ethical misstep or financial misdeed makes her absolutely unfit to be President (and she probably belongs in prison as well). No – that is where I stop agreeing. In fact, that is where I get scary chills down my spine. And here is why:

Thailand, September 19, 2006. Thailand has no oil and no nukes and is poor and relatively peaceful and so the politics of Thailand almost never makes the news in the United States. Even when there is a military coup you won’t hear about it on our major TV network’s national news. But that’s not my point. My point is that NOW is a very good time to take a look back at what has been going on in Thailand for the past ten years, and also what just happened there last week, which again, went virtually unnoticed by America. (Kudos to The Economist for covering the story.) Thailand is a cautionary tale with astounding similarities to America’s current situation. And I personally saw this shit go down, or I wouldn’t have believed it myself. I was there, and now I am going to tell you.

I went to bed one night in a lovely, friendly, democratic country and long-standing ally to the United States, and I woke up the next morning to tanks in the streets and men with machine guns positioned outside my hotel. Thaksin Shinawatra, businessman and politician, had been removed from his position as Prime Minister of the country. And with good reason.

Thaksin was undeniably corrupt, like you believe Hillary is. And he was personally benefiting from his political career, again, like Hillary. He was palling around with privileged rich guys, like Hillary. He was making tons of money with shady business deals. So… they threw that greedy, corrupt guy out. They named him a criminal — seemed he didn’t pay his fair share of taxes, which was probably true, but… does it really matter? Most people believed it was true, and masses shouted “Lock him up!” He’s now living in exile in order to avoid a prison sentence that still awaits him. Which court actually delivered this sentence and was it legitimate? Let’s not get bogged down in the details. HE CHEATED. Good riddance.

But here’s the problem: Thaksin was a cheat AND YET it is also undeniably true that this flawed man was a legitimate hero of the working class and poor. This man brought the country into the civilized world. He earned his way into heaven thousands of times over – saved lives and made them better. Thaksin’s government launched programs to reduce poverty, expand infrastructure, promote small and medium-sized enterprises, and provide universal healthcare coverage. He made wide-spread education and financial loans to individuals possible for the first time in the long history of that country. With Thaksin as Prime Minister, ordinary people, for the first time, could get a financial loan to pay for college or buy a home or purchase a car to get to work.

Thaksin stamped out the drug dealers who were feeding off of the rural poor and killing thousands of people. (We’re talking about the middle of the “Golden Triangle” – heroin producer for the world.) Thaksin offered poppy farmers real-world alternatives and created markets for their new, legitimate crops. He brought opportunity and hope to his country. He was the first democratically-elected Prime Minister of Thailand to serve a full term and was reelected in 2005 by an overwhelming majority. His personal big-business, btw, was an I.T. and telecommunications corporation, which made him one of the richest people in Thailand and also, incidentally, enabled widespread internet access, which of course enables democracy, which we Americans know is so crucial to freedom.

BUT he was a big-business profiteer — rich and entitled like Hillary. And he cheated on his taxes (probably). And on that isolated reason — his personal greed and presumed corruption, they threw him out. Single-minded, self-righteous protectors-of-the-fantasy-of-flawless-purity gave him no mercy, and gave his mistakes no context and no reasonable perspective – just like so many people in this country are doing to Hillary.

And when the public voted for another person from Thaksin’s political party to replace him, the new “law-abiding” government made that political party illegal altogether (because they deemed it bad for the public). And they shut down democracy; they restricted the internet and the press, and even group gatherings of five or more people (for real!). It was a military coup. But don’t worry; it was a “bloodless coup,” because Thai people are Buddhist and don’t believe in violence. So, as far as we knew or cared in America, it didn’t really count. The transition was so smooth. In the marketplace it was business as usual — no problem, no problem.

Thailand's Non-Violent Coup
Thailand’s Non-Violent Coup

It seemed just like the “Law and Order” that Donald Trump promised during his convention speech when he accepted the GOP nomination for President. And most Americans chuckled when Donald said that on the morning after he takes office there will be an immediate end to crime and violence. We laughed it off because it seems so ludicrous – not even possible, just another Trump exaggeration.

Except I know it’s not ludicrous and it is possible. I saw it. Not in another century – just ten years ago. I went to sleep, confident and cozy in my comfortable bed in a democratic country, and I woke up to that sudden and scary law-and-order silence, that strange superficial calm, which was supervised by the military, for the supposed safety of the citizens. Yup, the Thai people are now safe from their leader failing to pay his taxes. They are protected from the ethical mistakes and greed of that hard-working politician.

But: Goodbye to all those social programs Thaksin had created. Goodbye to all the progress he made for the country, and all the hope, and the health, and the growth and the stability. And the freedom.

They threw the baby out with the bathwater. It’s all gone now.

And now some other rich guys are getting richer, instead of Thaksin (same-same, as they say in Thailand). And all those ordinary, non-violent, too-naïve, Thai citizens – especially the rural poor and those with lives at the highest risk… those people are totally screwed now. They’ve been screwed for the past ten years, ever since the coup ignored by the rest of the world – victims of a sudden turnaround of the country, which was initiated by a quiet, little “act of justice” against one public servant, for one wrong thing he did. And, due to the recent government-orchestrated “vote” for a formal constitutional change that will keep the military in power for the foreseeable future, the Thai people are now screwed for the rest of their lives, and their children’s lives.

And no, that situation is not directly parallel to America’s situation. But the hillary-5key similarity is this misguided campaign to put all our energy into punishment rather than progress, into hating Hillary rather than helping the country. It is this stubborn refusal to look past this functionally irrelevant email thing – this one thing. It is this blindness to everything but this one error,and this one personal flaw. Hillary Haters, take heed: It is you who are doing wrong here and making a dangerous mistake –

— this refusal to see Hillary’s shortcomings and even her misdeeds with appropriate context and perspective.

And you wrongfully believe you have the leeway to “vote your conscience” — essentially throw away your vote, just to let Hillary know how much you don’t like her. You think it’s impossible that a monster like Trump could really end up running the country. Or you absurdly equate Hillary’s misconduct and greed with Trump’s…  (I can’t even begin to write the long list of all that is wrong with him, but it ends with Hate.) You claim to believe that fibbing about email or making a self-serving business deal is seriously evil — comparable to Trump’s dangerous combination of Ignorance and Bigotry (and true disdain for ordinary people). Well, you are wrong. And if you will only stop and think honestly, you know it.

So I am begging you: Please consider Thailand’s cautionary tale and don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. 

What do I recommend instead? Sorry to sound so simplistic and cliched, but how about we try to get a Democrat in the White House and a majority in the Senate, and then we can use the democratic process (yup, our messy and flawed system) to wrestle with Hillary and hash out the details later, once we are truly clear of and safe from the threat of Trump.

Stronger Together: It's True
Stronger Together: It’s True