Entertainment – Page 7

Review: The Last Jedi

Note: This review contains spoilers as well as commentary that you won’t read anywhere else.

J.J. Abrams has done for Star Wars the same thing he did to Star Trek; namely, burn the franchise to the ground and substitute a different worldview in its place. Unfortunately, while the grittier sandbox looks better in CGI, the morality at its core is gone. Any concept of right and wrong has been done away with and replaced with varying shades of gray.

Before I go on, I can hear you asking the question, “Who cares? Why does this matter anyway?”

Look I know these two franchises are just make believe but within them is a view that is optimistic and hopeful of the future and both hold to an idea of right and wrong, the tension of which the franchises are built around.

Star Trek has one big commandment called the Prime Directive which often gets in the way of Captain Kirk doing the right thing. The world of Trek is hopeful and in the past many Post Mil Christians have seen Gene Roddenberry’s world as one where Christianity is triumphant. One episode in the original series is built around the idea that Christianity triumphs but good luck finding it in syndication. Roddenberry was horrified to learn that Christians liked his show because he intended the future to be a religion free universe. Gene didn’t understand that only with Christianity could humans be optimistic about the future. Belief in Progress is a result of a Christian worldview; other belief systems have no basis for such a concept.

Star Wars borrows philosophically from many views and is infused with strong doses of pantheism and duality. George Lucas borrows Christian concepts and morality without attribution and instead attributes them to impersonal means. The god of Star Wars is impersonal but omnipresent (pantheistic). Like the Chinese idea of Yen and Yang, Star Wars is Light versus Darkness. Mastery of The Force requires training from early youth to keep its followers in the Light or else they will be seduced by evil; the Dark side. (Salvation by works?) George Lucas spent his second trilogy in the franchise showing us that breaking the rules of training will only produce an evil outcome; in the person of Darth Vader. Those outside of the Jedi Order were forbidden to exercise The Force. Lucas based the franchise on “balance” of opposing forces not good triumphing over evil. Nevertheless, good leads to redemption for Mr. Vader; something duality cannot rationally offer.

Star Trek claimed to be a vision of a possible future for our world while Star Wars was always set in “A Galaxy Far, Far Away…”

When Disney bought the franchise, they promised to produce one Star Wars movie per year for the rest of my natural life (or longer).

Link: Disney will release a new ‘Star Wars’ movie every year starting in 2015

In order to do this they brought in J.J. Abrams to “reboot” the franchise so they could have the freedom to use new characters and stories. Abrams had the choice of going to some future period in the Star Wars universe and simply write an off screen epilogue for the original cast or let fans have one last adventure where the old is replaced by the new with Disney reaping the profits all the way. Disney chose the latter. In the course of the last two movies of this third trilogy, they have killed-off Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill. Carrie Fisher was the only remaining cast member left and as Episode VIII was winding down, she died. Fisher’s death will clearly necessitate a major rework of Act 3.

To the careful observer, J.J. Abrams did much more than kill-off the old cast in exchange for a quick dollar, he killed the world of Star Wars as well. Upon purchasing the franchise, Disney declared virtually everything except Lucas’s movies as null and void as far as the cannon (or mythology) of Star Wars was concerned. Every non-Disney property was nullified by proclamation. All novels, comic books, cartoons, etc. were invalidated by fiat.

Link: Why Disney Blew Up More Than 30 Years of Star Wars Canon

By the end of episode VIII, J.J., killed-off everything in the first six movies as well.

George Lucas modeled the original Star Wars in arch types of a western set in outer space with the theme of good versus evil. The story was designed to have a beginning, middle, and end. How well Lucas thought the whole thing out is questionable in light of some obvious holes in the second trilogy but the basic idea of good and evil permeates all six Lucas films.

J.J. Abrams began his course correction with Episode VII The Force Awakens but the seeds that he planted didn’t bear much fruit until the next and most recent installment, The Last Jedi. Abrams begins with the familiar arch type of Sith Lord and apprentice on the side of evil and a young girl that for no apparent reason has really strong ties to the good side of The Force. Abrams takes these themes and proceeds to violently overthrow the whole structure erected by Lucas.

Abrams took the fairytale-like world of Star Wars and in the course of one movie, did a gut-and-amend that would make Willie Brown blush with its boldness.
• In this movie, the apprentice kills his master, which is no big deal since he killed his father (Harrison Ford) in the last movie. The dialogue in this part of the movie is crucial in understanding what J.J. is doing. The interaction between the two main characters is important to the Disney version of the franchise going forward. The heroine says there is still good in the bad guy and surprisingly, the bad guy says that the heroine has evil in her and she should fully embrace it. The “good” girl and the “bad” guy then team up for a major fight scene and then go their separate ways. Folks here is the new paradigm. No characters are totally good or bad, there are just varying shades of gray. People just live for the moment and do what is in their self-interest (or right in their own eyes). However, if there is no right or wrong, then the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker (episodes 1 thru 6) is impossible. Lucas may have lacked a proper philosophical framework for his world, but he did keep the Christian ideals of good being the superior value and winning over evil and redemption of the vilest being possible—even at the moment of their death.
• Luke Skywalker and Yoda destroy the Jedi temple and all their teachings (scriptures). They repudiate thousands of years of the Jedi religion and have no substitute for it. They create their own version of Pascal’s heart shaped vacuum with nothing to fill it. Yoda states the heroine has no need of training but already knows everything that she needs to. Excuse me but we spent six movies debating the premise of training and age; whether Jedi or Sith, they both agreed on this point and now with one simple comment we do away with it?! Luke and Yoda further agree that the Jedi Order is to be abolished (somehow, they seem to imply that this will do away with the Sith too, but this is never explained). Gary North’s words about you can’t beat something with nothing come to mind. Abrams’ switcharoo is totally without foundation. Only Christopher Hitchens would praise such hubris with a straight face.
• Luke sacrifices himself in a selfless way that seems contrived because all he does is use astral projection or a Force-made hologram to toy with the bad guy to allow the last of the Rebels to escape. This sacrifice—which visually harkens back to Alec Guinness in the first movie—seems to serve some greater purpose—likely the next movie. I can hear high school literature teachers screaming about Luke being a Christ figure in this story, but I think Abrams and company sacrificed young Skywalker just for shock value. Mark Hamill expressed his disapproval about how his character was portrayed in the movie but once his comments lit-up the Internet some suit at Disney pulled him aside and put him in his place.
• At the end of the film, the Jedi Order is abolished, and regular people begin to exercise The Force. Somehow no training is required anymore.

I could mention many more plot points but the Galaxy Far, Far Away was replaced with the angst of secular humanists struggling to find meaning in a world without morality or God. The world of Lucas was dismantled and replaced with another right before our eyes…one that looks eerily like a modern day Liberal worldview.

As I watched this movie, a few thoughts were going thru my head.
• The words of Gary North saying that a change in law is a change in religion certainly applied.
• Also, a line from Pixar’s Incredibles, “If everyone is Super, no one will be.”
• After the movie, my military son was furious because it was clear to him that there was no overarching story, everything from here on out will be character arcs and nothing more.

Star Wars was ripped from a fairytale-like story of good versus evil and thrust headlong into our morally relativist world of self-interest where everyone does what is right in their own eyes and the only taboo is absolutes.

Disney did to Star Wars what other malcontents in our society have done to other things in America, destroy what made them good in the name of making them relevant. So, to a long list of things including marriage, clergy ordination, Boy Scouts, patriotism, capitalism, American Exceptionalism, Western Culture, Christmas, et al, you can now add yet another; the cultural icon Star Wars.

NFL Bleeds Greenbacks

Not surprisingly, the NFL is bleeding cash as a result of dissing the national anthem.

Remember the axiom, he who defines the issue, wins the debate. Kneeling was originally ill defined as a full throated support of killing police because a few of them may have done “the wrong thing” while on duty. Much of this was based on lies that were popularized without vetting the evidence. Yet another example of not letting facts get in the way of a good narrative. Yes, there are examples of police wrongdoing but they are few compared to the number of people wearing a badge and protecting our communities. Few of these are motivated by race contrary to what Kap and BLM said.

Tying the NFL to a race issue in this way is stupid because the overwhelming majority of players are minorities in privileged positions. I don’t think most even know why they are kneeling except because they don’t like Trump. Trump called them out and a hell broke loose. As Merle Haggard once said:

“When they’re runnin’ down our country, man
They’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.”

This is what Trump saw and he also saw that the NFL refused to police their own and said what he thought. Their problem is how to get back on track and not look like President Trump is right. Whether you like him or not, Trump is on the right side of this issue and so, thankfully are many Americans.

The field of play in a sport is not the forum for individual expression. In fact on a team, you should expect to have to watch what you say and how you behave. You represent the team 24/7. The NFL has refused to hold players to account for many years, some of us have finally had enough.

Hey NFL, if you respected anything other than money, this never would have happened. First rule of holes is quit digging. Anyway, the fallout has started to hit the broadcast networks.

CBS earnings to disappoint due to weak NFL ratings, Credit Suisse says

The analyst said CBS’ Sunday NFL ratings are down 17 percent year over year during the first several weeks of the football season, according to the report. Sheikh released a similar report last week on Twenty-First Century Fox’s earnings, which he also expects to disappoint thanks to weaker ratings by the NFL.

Battlestar Galactica was Right

While I didn’t like many parts of the Battlestar Galactica remake that was on television a few years ago, the pilot for the program got one detail right; namely the computers. The premise of the show was that Galactica was “old school” and since its computer systems were not integrated but isolated from each other, it was not susceptible to the computer virus that disabled the rest of the fleet.

Now hacking is being proposed as an explanation for the rash of collisions of Navy vessels. Perhaps this is legit or just an excuse for another system problem.

…the Navy will conduct a wide investigation, including a review into the possibility of “cyber intrusion or sabotage.”

Link: Is someone hacking our 7th Fleet? Navy to investigate after USS John S McCain collision

When I was in the Navy in the 1980’s, Reagan was President and our engineering systems were purposely not using solid state electronics. No transistors were allowed to be used by the protective systems of the nuclear reactors; instead we used mag amps.

Mag amps are such obscure components that my friends that earned electrical engineering degrees never heard of them. Basically mag amps are transformers with additional windings that either aid or oppose current flow. They work but require weekly calibration. They are immune to electromagnetic pulses and thus an EMP attack would not disable ship propulsion.

Now ships have Internet, satellite television, phone capability and other systems that were not available in my day. Whether these systems are integrated into ship-wide systems or isolated is something that I have no firsthand experience with but the possibility exists. Also Aegis Combat Systems have been around for decades. They allow one ship to control the weapons systems of all ships in a fleet to allow coordinated attacks. A logical extension of Aegis is allowing the remote control of a vessel by another one to position the ship for optimum attack. It is logical that such capability exists today.

If you recall, the drones that we flew in Iraq and Afghanistan were controlled from an Air Force facility in Nevada. The control signals for these flying weapons platforms were unencrypted for almost the entirety of the Bush administration. They were hackable for anybody with the right radio setup. Not until it was suspected that somebody might be trying to take them over did the government act to encrypt the control signals.

Perhaps the Navy has a similar problem; the remote control ability of their ships is unencrypted or severely out of date—Windows XP anyone? Perhaps they need to go “old school” and separate their systems so they aren’t so integrated.

Lastly, in my day we had people called look-outs and watches that were supposed to be working with the radar guys to keep us out of trouble. (We had three different and independent radar systems on our ship.) Maybe the Navy needs to get “old school’ in this area also. People work better than automation in many circumstances. The idea that two ships in the Pacific collided with merchant ships and nobody reported their proximity to the bridge prior to the collision is most disturbing of all.

My Review of Patterns of Evidence: Exodus

IMDB Patterns of Evidence: Exodus (2014)

I watched this movie on Netflix the other night. Its narrative style reminded me of Jesse Winton’s Targeted although this movie was made prior. It begins with a question, some people are talked to and then more questions are asked followed by more interviews. A small portion of the film is narrated by actor Kevin Sorbo.

The movie was well done and sounded really familiar to me. The basic question was, is there evidence that the Exodus is an historical fact or just a biblical myth? The groundwork was laid steadily until they got to one of their most important points. (Please note that the discussion which follows will include spoilers to plot points in the film.) What was made clear is that many modern archeologists give an unequivocal “NO” answer to the question; however, the film posits an alternative.

The party line in the archeological community is that Rameses II was the pharaoh of the Exodus. While this does agree with Cecil B DeMille, it is clearly at odds with the biblical narrative.

Secular historians assume the modern construction of the Egyptian timeline is correct which is not true. I recalled reading many years ago about this in a book by Gary North.

Readers are also not informed of the fact that virtually all chronologies of the ancient Near East and pre-classical Greece are constructed on the assumption that the conventional chronology of Egypt is the legitimate standard. What modern scholars believe is the proper chronology of Egypt is then imposed on the chonologies of all other civilizations of the ancient Near East, including the biblical chronology of the Hebrews. Thus, when the Bible says explicitly that the Exodus took place 480 years before Solomon began to construct the temple (I Kings 6:1), historians interpret this information within the framework of the hypothetical Egyptian chronological scheme.

When they even admit that the pharaohs of the supposed dynastic era of the fifteenth century before Christ were extremely powerful kings-men like Thutmose III-whose mummies still exist, they are tempted to ignore these difficulties, or even to ignore the clear teaching of the Bible. Many of them date the Exodus much later. They allow a hypothetical chronology of Egypt to dictate their interpretation of Scripture. This is not the way that Christian scholarship is supposed to be conducted.

Moses and Pharaoh pages 7 & 8 (1985)

I have three criticisms of the film for points that they didn’t make.

Point One: The easiest way to prove that Ramses II is not the pharaoh of the Exodus is that we know where he was buried. He died of old age not by drowning in the Red Sea. In fact his body is on display in a museum.

Ramesses II originally was buried in the tomb KV7 in the Valley of the Kings, but because of looting, priests later transferred the body to a holding area, re-wrapped it, and placed it inside the tomb of queen Inhapy. Seventy-two hours later it was again moved, to the tomb of the high priest Pinudjem II. All of this is recorded in hieroglyphics on the linen covering the body. His mummy is today in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum.
Link” Wikipedia Ramsses II

Point Two: It is clear from watching the film that the archeological community demands that members of its community follow the party line. The tyrant of academia is never directly mentioned, but it is clearly understood that their orthodoxy must be followed if you want to get funding and work in the field. Anyone who has watched Ben Stein’s Expelled will have “the eyes to see” this construct in action.

Point Three: this one is more subtle but my impression from watching the film is that Egypt loves the archeology and tourism but they have no interest in validating any claims that might bolster the Jewish faith. The Muslim folks don’t seem to allow you access to their historic sights if you rock their boat by dissing their ancestors.

On the whole, it’s well worth your time to watch, especially if you have children in the audience. It starts slow but builds to a satisfying conclusion “for the hope that is within you”.

Comments on Beauty and the Beast

My protestations notwithstanding, the wife demanded to see Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. (Anything that passes as a musical will usually get her to purchase a ticket. Thankfully, she went with someone else to see La La Land.) Anyway, I admit that I made treks to the little boy’s room and snack bar during the film but what I did see of the film seemed really overhyped as far as the “rainbow people” was concerned. I’ve seen worse on broadcast television. It was blink and you miss it sort of stuff. Based on the posts from Focus on the Family and their fellow travelers, I was braced for some in your face propaganda; thankfully this was not the case. Unless you’re waiting to be offended, most of this stuff will go past both you and your children with hardly a notice.

The wife might be entertaining a return visit to go to the Beauty and the Beast Sing Along but I will sit that one out. Visions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show somehow do harm to what I might expect to see upon attending such an event. Girls Gone Wild meets off keyed singing; single guys, this might be your best opportunity since Sacramento hosted the Xena: Warrior Princess Convention several years ago.

Diversity in Media

“Any character that was diverse, any character that was new, our female characters, anything that was not a core Marvel character, people were turning their nose up.”
Link: David Gabriel, VP of sales for Marvel

So what has Marvel been up to lately?

Over recent years, Marvel has made efforts to include more diverse and more female characters, introducing new iterations of fan favourites including a female Thor; Riri Williams, a black teenager who took over the Iron Man storyline as Ironheart; Miles Morales, a biracial Spider-Man and Kamala Khan, a Muslim teenage girl who is the current Ms Marvel.

Writer of the Kamala Khan Ms Marvel series, G Willow Wilson responded to Gabriel’s comments … and criticising Marvel’s tendency to introduce the new iterations of fan favourites by “killing off or humiliating the original character … Who wants a legacy if the legacy is shitty?”

If this sounds familiar, it should. George Takei, said something similar about the last Star Trek movie, when producers decided to make his character—Hikaru Sulu—into a homosexual, complete with “husband” and baby. Takei said they should have made a new character, not changed the cannon of Star Trek.
“Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate” – George Takei

Hollywood is hell bent on making this issue one that you can’t avoid. Look at it from their point of view, they get to simultaneously teardown some part of an American symbol or institution and replace it with something else.

Partly, this is laziness on their part described as creativity. Stan Lee or whoever pours decades of work into something and then some young punk comes along and highjacks it in the name of diversity. Why? It’s hard to make an original thing successful.

Revisionism, especially as it relates to homosexuality, is just the latest fad in Hollywood. Xena: Warrior Princess and Wonder Woman are slated to become “gender-benders”. Xena is being revived by NBC as a television series and Wonder Woman—in her second movie—is expected to “come out”.

This is just the latest iteration of Democrat group politics. No character stands on its own merits. Everybody is just assumed to identify with a group, and the group must advance or no one does. This plantation mentality is just dumb and shortsighted; not to mention insulting.

Dear Hollywood Liberals, the more you push these issues, the less of your products that I will buy. I want characters that are entertaining and have a moral code not ones that get their identity with who they sleep with.
• I dumped my DirecTV a year ago because of this.
• I’ve seen every Star Trek movie except the last one because of this issue. Oh, and I will take a pass on the new Star Trek TV show on CBS because you are pushing homosexual characters.
• I’m done with most everything Disney because of this and yes, Disney there are many children in this country that have never owned a Mickey Mouse piece of clothing or even know who you guys are because of your abandonment to “family values”. If Star Wars or Marvel movies go the direction of Star Trek then I’m done with them too.

I want something my children can see that has good role models not morally broken ones. If I want my kids to see morally broken people and what they are really like then I’ll let them watch the evening news not your programming.

Television Is Bleeding Viewers—Part II: Beware Family Programs

There once was a time when television that was on before 9 PM was “family programming”. Those days are long past. If you have DirecTV or Dish you can catch the later programming three hours earlier in many instances—at least if you reside on the Left Coast. But if that was the extent of my gripes then this blog post would be nonsense.

Sadly, many programs that parents once assumed were ok for children to watch unsupervised are now stealth propaganda shows trying to subvert the beliefs and values you are trying to teach your children. While this complaint has probably been around since I was a wee lad, lately Hollywood has gone from subtlety to in your face and shove it down your throat.

The target of my ire over the last few years has been shows based on comic books. Why, because I like science fiction as a genre and comic books in particular. These have long been the things that young boys tend to gravitate towards. Lately, shows based on comics are very popular. In this discussion, I am excluding those shows targeted at adults like The Walking Dead, Luke Cage, Dare Devil, and Deadpool. Instead I’m talking about Warehouse 13, Marvel’s Agents of Shield, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Star Trek and similar shows.

If any of these titles surprise you then you are not up on current events.

All these programs and many more are pushing homosexual characters; often as normal folks that are good role models. What disturbs me is that these shows are trying to desensitize people—especially youth—to this sinful behavior and attack on the Judeo-Christian roots of Western Culture. If you are a Christian, then you need to recognize that this is a direct attack on you, your family, faith, and your God.

I will now state what many have been trying to avoid. Homosexuality is a sin. It’s acceptance by any culture has been a clear indication of that culture’s impending demise. This is a sin that is repeatedly singled-out in the Bible as one whose practitioners will not be allowed into Heaven—unless they repent. Please note that by definition, repentance requires turning away from sin and turning to what God defines as right. In this particular case that would at the very least mean being delivered from this kind of “lust of the flesh”. Ceasing and desisting of the behavior is not enough, going a different direction is. Scripture is clear that repentance and forgiveness are gifts from God, not something that we have the power to do on our own.

Many other once familiar and family friendly programs are reportedly considering moving to gender-bending characters include Fantastic Beasts (set in the Harry Potter universe), Star Wars and Wonder Woman. However, the show I wish to spend the next few paragraphs on is Supergirl.

Last year, Super Girl debuted on CBS. It was a good show and one that my son really liked. Due to the cost per episode, CBS decided not to renew it. However, CW came along and worked out a deal to pick up the program. It was well known that the budget would be reigned-in. One lead character was written-off in order to achieve fiscal viability. I was fine with this and understand that changes would be made but oh my, the changes.

Part of the premise of the show is that Supergirl was “adopted” and raised by the Danvers family and thus Supergirl has a stepsister. This year, the stepsister was given a love interest; specifically a female CSI character.

Below are a few quotes from a website ecstatic about this character development. Just so I can assure you that the context is not distorted, I’ve included long excerpts of the quotes below.

Season 2 will also be introducing the DC Comics-based Science Police, who deal with metahuman threats. The new character Maggie, an “out and proud detective,” will apparently be representing the agency in National City.
Link: Super Girl adds Characters

Dany: There’s often this misunderstanding (trust me, I wrote about The 100 multiple times, so I know all about it) that LGBTQIA TV watchers just want happy stories for LGBTQIA characters. But what we’re really after is authenticity. We want stories that feel familiar. And since it’s not Reagan 2.0 times just yet, that means something other than “two ladies fall in love and then one of them dies lol.” And the stories of Alex Danvers and Maggie Sawyer provide exactly the kind of refreshingly honest storytelling so many of us have been craving.

Late-in-life coming out stories? Yup. They happen. And that need to embrace all the things at once tends to be chaotic and even a little destructive for anyone who happens to get pulled into the intense gravity of someone figuring out they’re gay for the first time. So I absolutely believe that Alex would be magnetized to the first gay woman to truly open her eyes. And I 100% know that Maggie is right to throw up the defenses and not let Alex in so easily. That uneasy, awkward but beautiful kiss felt so real. I have been there. Gosh, have I been there.

Maybe Alex and Maggie will make it work in the long term. It seems so clear to me that Maggie does have feelings for Alex—that’s why she didn’t rush in like a fool. Maggie is mature enough to know that she wants something real with Alex, and that’s just not in the cards right now.

All of which is pretty emblematic of Supergirl so far this season. Winn and James slowly making moves to be heroes, Mon-El not immediately rushing headlong into danger, M’Gann recognizing J’onn’s need for life-giving blood and weighing her options—there’s so much maturity and depth in these characters. No one is perfect, but they’re all able to recognize the world around them and pivot when they need to.

As much as I love Alex and Maggie’s story, I might love Alex and Kara’s even more. At first I didn’t get why Kara was struggling with Alex coming out, but of course it was because she felt guilty for drawing focus with her own, alien secret. Of course Alex would temporarily get bogged down in the regret of not having seen Alex as she was for so long. And of course Kara figured out what she was feeling, sharing that honesty with Alex as they work together to help Alex work through this huge revelation in her life.

Honestly, after one of the worst weeks in recent history, I think Supergirl was genuinely saving lives tonight. Well done.
Link: Alex comes out

Anyway, gay ladies and queer-bait-but-i’ll-take-it ladies are where it’s at this episode! First you’ve got Maggie and Alex, which, to be fair, as a plot are a little shoe-horned in. Maggie’s almost-death doesn’t take up a lot of emotional space in the midst of all the action, but that’s okay. What really matters is that Alex was there for rescues. Also, Alex has a much better coming out to her mother, thank goodness. After Kara kind of pulled an “it’s all about me, this coming out,” Dr. Danvers not only knew exactly what was happening, she also was quick to let Alex know how special she is and the pride she should feel in who she is. All of which led to Alex telling Maggie that, hey, Alex isn’t just gay for Maggie—she’s gay for every lady. Despite the “well, I almost died, sooo…” reason Maggie gives before finally kissing Alex for real, the more obvious reason this coupledom could actually begin in earnest is because Alex is truly finding herself.
Link: Cyborg Superman

When I found out that CW was going forward with this character development, I told my son that it was likely that we would no longer be watching the show. Last year Supergirl was his favorite. The first two episodes this year were really fun to watch but then the homosexual card was played in episode 3 and mom and I agreed that the show was coming off the DVR. The poor little guy was devastated. He began crying. He wasn’t crying because I’m a mean dad but because something he really liked was purposely destroyed and he would have to give it up. (He already had to give up Boy Scouts due to their abandoning their vow to be morally straight.)

I have killed many shows on the DVR so far this year and a few more will be off of it by the end of the month. One show that I once enjoyed was Gotham. It is an adult show and one my son never got to watch. And yes over the years the character Barbara has been revealed to be bisexual but she was also evil and insane so deviant behavior was part of her character. I tried to fast forward (or mute the volume) thru these parts but then this year they broke new ground that was the proverbial bridge too far. The creators of the show defiled the cannon of Batman lore by making Penguin and Riddler lovers. Yuck. Having grown up with Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin, this was anathema to me.

If NBC wants to put this kind of stuff on their gay channel Bravo and I don’t want to watch it then that’s ok but when the big studios try mainstreaming homosexuality then I’m just not gonna watch. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu are getting my business much more than these guys. Like their nightly news programs did a generation ago, I just can’t trust the big networks to do the right thing.

Oh, while I’m talking about subscription services, CBS just lost a potential subscriber when the new Star Trek announced earlier this week that they were including a homosexual character in the new series. Just for theirs and Paramount’s information, I have faithfully watched every Star Trek TV series and own multiple copies of the movies—except the last one where Sulu now has a baby and male love interest.

The point here is that I’m voting with my wallet and my time.

Oh and just to spite all you people that are angry with me, I just bought the new season of Fixer Upper on Amazon.

Movie Review: Targeted

My wife thought my previous version of this review was too harsh so I’ve rewritten this blog to reflect her critique.

Last night there was a nationwide screening of the documentary Targeted: Exposing the Gun Control Agenda.
Link: Targeted The Movie
The film was made by Jesse Winton and his father Randy . This is the Winton’s second film. Their first was on the subject of adoption.

I saw the movie at a theater in Folsom, CA. Jesse and Randy were both in attendance. I have known them for several years. Also in attendance was the sheriff of El Dorado County—John D’Agostini—who is featured in the film and Paul Shaver—who portrayed the gun maker in the film.

Targeted is the story of 20 year old Jesse Winton as he explores gun control and the Second Amendment. The story was believable and compelling. It reflected the Winton’s family values without being “in your face” about it. It was logically presented. The movie makes an historical case for the linkage of bearing arms and freedom. It begins in the present and explores the background of where the Second Amendment originated. It presents a logical case for how the Founding Fathers built upon the work of others and asserted that the Declaration of Independence was an expression of existing beliefs about the relationship of a sovereign to his people. The film was about an hour long plus the panel discussion that follows.

The film is a challenge to the American people to embrace their heritage. Winton reminds us that Rights come from God not government; therefore, government has no right to deprive people of Liberty; especially with false promises of security.

There will be another showing October 5th. I recommend that you get a few friends to go see the movie. However, please be careful how you invite people. If you mention the title of the movie on Facebook, know that your post and account will be subject to censorship or worse.

Other Thoughts

Please sir, can I have some more?

The thing I really wanted to see more of was politicians calling for gun control that had no idea what they were talking about. These video clips were presented in a staccato fashion and the moment passed too quickly.

I know this project took about three years to get from concept to cinema. I also know that there is lots of great footage that literally didn’t make the final cut. I hope they add a feature on the DVD to give us a look at some of this material. My recollection is that they have some great footage of Diane Feinstein saying some outrageous things about guns (probably on more than one occasion).

Comments on Production Quality
Production and editing were good; especially considering the shoestring budget that was used to make the film. Photography was good but a few spots were too dark or a little off on the exposure settings. Some shots using magnification were slightly pixelated—most of these were outdoor shots of scenery. (That’s the risk you take when you need to get something on the first take.) The film’s audio was well done; however, the panel discussion following the film had some audio issues but I’m not sure if it was from emulating stereo sound or just the challenges of miking five people simultaneously during a live production.

The most difficult thing to watch in the film was the television clips at the beginning. Several were hard on my eyes because the video quality was poor. It seemed like they were made with a camera in front of a television set or lifted from low quality YouTube uploads. Perhaps it’s one of those things where it looks great on a monitor but when magnified to the proportions of a movie theater screen, it just shows all the blemishes that seemed minor on a television.

A Story Concerning 13 Hours

A friend of mine is retired from the Air Force. Recently, he invited some Facebook friends to join him for a viewing of Michael Bay’s 13 Hours at a local theater. This was the second week after the movie’s release. He stated that we should all arrive early to be sure we got tickets.

I followed his instructions and arrived at the specified time. Not seeing him outside the theater, I bought my ticket so I could get out of the rain and inside the theater to see if he was already there. Again, I did not see him in the lobby, so I got a medium popcorn and drink and went to the appropriate theater. Again, I did not see him. I found a seat and waited.

After about 15 minutes of previews for TV shows I probably will never watch, I sent him a text. His reply was that they were about 8 minutes away.

Ten minutes later, they finally arrived. He said, “I’m sorry we’re late”.

My response was, “Isn’t that the whole point of the movie? You Air Force guys being late?”

Cartoon Network: Leaven in Your Living Room

It is the belief of some fringe protestant group—possible the Amish—that claim that “Satan travels true wires” so if you don’t have electricity, he can’t target you. I’m starting to think they might have a point.

Earlier this week I was reading articles on Blastr.com. I often visit this website to see what movies are in the works; one article caught my eye.
Cartoon Network UK censoring Steven Universe’s sexuality misses the entire point of the show

Until recently, I would not be interested in what is happening in the U.K. but since Obama took office, I have found England’s U.S. news coverage more comprehensive than I usually get from American journalists. The media here is so in love with our dictator-in-chief that they are rarely objective. Often they either praise his rule by Executive Order or just ignore what he is doing—whichever they think will further his administration more.

When a website dedicated to the genre of science fiction entertainment is talking about Cartoon Network, censorship in England, and sexuality; clearly something is amiss.

Before I get into this article I want you to understand who owns and operates this website. This website is run by the SyFy Channel. SyFy is owned by NBC-Universal which is owned by Comcast. This is not some fringe place on the internet. No, this website is part of one of the largest entertainment companies in the world.

The article is an opinion piece that defends a particular cartoon and castigates the censorship by English broadcasters. The edit being complained about is rather mild in my opinion. What shocked me most was the high praise of Steven Universe for being the most openly gay cartoon ever made. Steven is gay; not just the side-kick or some peripheral character.

Steven Universe is gaaaaaaaay. It is easily the gayest kids’ cartoon in the history of western animation. And we’re not just talking about subtext, either. While Steven Universe may be innocent and cutesy, there’s no denying certain facts:

– Garnet is a gem fusion that resulted from Sapphire and Ruby being in romantic love

– Pearl is in love with Rose Quartz (as confirmed by the show’s creators), often to the detriment of her own self worth

– Amethyst shape-shifts into all sorts of forms, many of them male-presenting

– Steven and Connie have fuzed to form a genderqueer person, Stevonnie, who is, let’s be real, attracted and attractive to both men and women

– Background characters often feature same-sex couples

In short, Steven Universe is a rainbow show, kids. And everyone loves it for that.

Well, almost everyone …

I’m like dang! I had no idea that there was such a thing. To me this cartoon is totally out of bounds. I know that most programming on Cartoon Network is not Thomas and Friends but really! This is propaganda and recruiting in its most blatant form.

The fact that this is shown on Cartoon Network means to me that it will fly under the radar of most parents. When I think Boomerang or Cartoon Network I think of children’s programming and I likely wouldn’t give much thought to the title Steven Universe. I thought it was Jimmie Neutron for the next generation.

It’s hard to have worse programming than the pre-teen crap on the Disney Channel but apparently NBC found a way. Too bad they can’t keep homosexuals confined to their Bravo channel.

This also means Steven Universe will eventually find its way to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. Parents, it might be a simplification that Satan travels true wires but he certainly is trying really hard to get through your television to desensitized your children to evil.

This is another reason to “cut the cord”.