Yeah, officially as of last night the depression came back with a fury. I thought I could handle life like a normal person would but apparently it's asking too much. Wow was it ever a struggle last night to even get to sleep. This morning wasn't much better. Not to be too emo but I'm really sad. I hope the good Lord hits me off with some comforting feelings today.

Damn it.

Yes, I really do believe that it is just a movie. It's not meaningless, as we can all take from a movie what we will, but in the end it is not any kind of political statement. Since my position has been called ignorant (e:paul,4918) I feel I have to explain myself.

I did actually take two film courses while attending UB. One dealt with music in the movies, and the various ways in which music can be used to evoke emotions or make what we see on the screen more powerful. The other was actually in the History department, and in the course we had to watch a movie during Tuesday's class. By Thursday's class we had to have a report on the movie and how we thought it followed along with the themes of the day. The Empire Strikes Back was the most memorable of the films, obviously dealing with Cold War themes.

So while I am no expert on film by any means, I do know something about how ideas like this are formulated in the heads of academics and film critics when they review a film. I also know the difference between a film which INTENDS to speak about certain political themes versus a film that people take and apply their own interpretation to, whether it makes any sense or not.

The material for the film is taken from a Frank Miller work which was done before Bush or Iraq even took place. Unless he was a very special person there is no possible way for the work to have intended to address those themes, and even if that was the intention it would have been done poorly, as there are a myriad of ways to interpret Bush in that context.

M. Faust of our own beloved Artvoice doesn't buy it either. In his review of the film he mentions that he talked to the film maker, Zack Snyder, about this very topic. Here's a cut from the review:

"I guess that's unavoidable," he sighed. "I'm not going to pretend to be like, 'What's that, Iraq? There's a war going on? What are you talking about?' That's a reality of the world. I tried to make a movie that looks at the nobility of conflict, that asks if there is such a thing. I didn't do it in relationship to what's happening now because I don't have that much foresight - I wish I had. The point is that there can be nobility in sacrifice. Does that give context to sacrifice that we've maybe lost in the muddle of our current situation, is there a way to get that back? And also the story is 2,500 years old. Does history have some bad habit of being a big circle? Yeah. But is that part of my design? I don't think so."

The film maker himself says he didn't make the movie with the current problems in mind, and that he couldn't have in the first place. That is enough to satisfy my own curiosity about the intention of the film, and to not believe anyone who attributes something to the film that was never intended.

Does that mean that the film has no meaning? No, no way, the story behind it is incredible. No less a man than Jack Valenti said that the most important part of a movie is telling a story. The movie studios are fortunate to have a reviewer like the dude at the NYT because that increases the buzz and adds a financial boost to the revenue the film brings in. Of course a movie studio wouldn't do anything to stop the debate. Like any other industry their goal is to make profit on films.

Think about Norbit for a moment, a film that the critics absolutely thought was terrible. It has actually ended up bringing in at least $80 million so far, not too bad for a shitty movie. The movie studios don't necessarily have the academics/critics in mind all the time because they are notoriously hard to please compared with normal people. All this review did was make a bunch of people rich by injecting his own bullshit into the theme of a movie, and I'm sure the guy will get a nice fruit basket on Monday for his effort. Whatever we take from it is fine, and we can learn many things from the Spartans, but let's not talk about something that has absolutely nothing to do with the movie being a central theme.

Sometimes people wonder about the bad things going on in the world. Why do people have to suffer? Why do people have to go through misery? Many philosophical and religious debates have spawned from this question, and it is a natural question people ask themselves at some point in their lives.

The answer I have come up with is that we suffer so that we are able to give special meaning to the good moments in life. Without that distinction, the special and rare moments become ordinary and we don't have as much of a connection to them.

I got a call tonight and found out that I'm single again. I've been fearing this moment for a week or so, not because I did anything wrong but because I've had this really strong, uncomfortable gut feeling. That was reinforced by the fact that she hasn't exactly been communicating with me for a few days. I hadn't stayed at her place for a few weeks.

When things like this happen people start questioning themselves, beating themselves up or thinking about their inadequacies. Lord knows I've got my share of faults.

Questions also arise in the mind about extracurricular activity. Is another guy involved? How would I handle such a betrayal? Lord knows it's happened to me before.

A clear mind reveals that the details, no matter how ugly they might be, don't matter so much because in the end my lot wouldn't change and I would still have to look to the future. She said it's because of the demands of her new job, plus the desire to spend more time with her friends.

If it's another dude, if it's the job, if she just wants more freedom in her life, I'm still on the street and I have to brush it off and move on. What else can you do?

Basically it wasn't going much further, and anyway I have never had the kind of strong attraction to her that I probably should have after dating her for a few months. I felt that this was going to happen at some point, yet still I feel deeply saddened at having failed at another relationship.

I do have to say that I was really happy to be with someone who had almost complete tolerance for my antics, which was very refreshing. I learned more about what I want in a woman. I learned that I still have more things in my life that are a lot more important than being with a girl who isn't absolutely head over heels about me.

It's not like it was a miserable situation. We got along quite well and enjoyed each other's company. It just wasn't right. She said the timing right now is so bad. I remember when we first met and I said to myself that it couldn't have come at a worse time. I was in the middle of fixing a bunch of things in my life and didn't need another complication. How's that for irony? I need to put the focus back on myself again. There's still a lot of work to do.

We learn the best through personal experience, and experience has taught me that getting through these situations makes the next great experience with a chick that much sweeter. I can be proud of myself and how I've handled the entire relationship. Maybe calling me normal would be a little bit of a stretch but I'm getting there.

I saw this on MySpace and I thought it was rather funny.....enjoy!

Peace, Love and Orgasms!

Your homie,
Jason



How to Make a Woman Happy

It's not difficult to make a woman happy. A man only needs to be:
1. a friend
2. a companion
3. a lover
4. a brother
5. a father
6. a master
7. a chef
8. an electrician
9. a carpenter
10. a plumber
11. a mechanic
12. a decorator
13. a stylist
14. a sexologist
15. a gynecologist
16. a psychologist
17. a pest exterminator
18. a psychiatrist
19. a healer
20. a good listener
21. an organizer
22. a good father
23. very clean
24. sympathetic
25. athletic
26. warm
27. attentive
28. gallant
29. intelligent
30. funny
31. creative
32. tender
33. strong
34. understanding
35. tolerant
36. prudent
37. ambitious
38. capable
39. courageous
40. determined
41. true
42. dependable
43. passionate
44. compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:

45. give her compliments regularly
46. love shopping
47. be honest
48. be very rich
49. not stress her out
50. not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:

51. give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself
52. give her lots of time, especially time for herself
53. give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:

54. Never to forget:

• birthdays
  
• anniversaries
  
• arrangements she makes

..



..



HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY

1. Show up naked
2. Bring food