Doomsday

Here are the facts:

Post nuclear holocaust in the Big Apple, a nosey P.I. – ahem – journalist, snoops around for a scoop on Albertine, the mysterious drug that brings your memories to life.

You’ve heard it all before. “Right-Livelihoods” has voice-over narrative, investigation, a dark and dreary world, even a Femme Fatale, in the withered form of Cassandra. Kevin asks her for a kiss then justifies it by calling it a “reality-testing question” – right. She already “guessed” his name, hometown, scoop etc. it’s Kevin that should be testing his own reality.

Which brings us to the Cassandra complex, a psychosis put forth by Jung and explored in the film, 12 Monkeys, and plays a key role in the “Right-Livelihoods.” The Cassandra Complex directly challenges our notion of linear time, as any prophesy does, by positing a reality where the future or the past can be experienced in the present.

Sometimes I feel when I’ve planned a busy week in advance that I’m not actually living in the present, rather fulfilling a predetermined role or just putting my body in the right place at the right time. Our notions of free will seem to be based heavily on future consequences. Our notion of meaning often works the same way – for some, a meaningful dream turns sour when discovered it is a dream. What is meaningful for Kevin in his sad situation? The case? The explosion?

But all this veers away from the noir analogy.

The classic Bogart detective treads through the rain and night in his trench coat, finding temporary relief in the company of slinky red dresses and cigarettes and cares for no one but himself. Amidst murder and vice, he acts as if it’s the end of the world and he just doesn’t care. Noir rings true with a sort of neo-apocalypse the same way Westerns like “Pat Garret and Billy the Kid” do, by portraying single characters in the face of darkness and destruction all around them.

There is a sort of pathetic machismo that arises in these lonely survivors.

After reading the ending of Rick Moody’s “The Albertine Notes,” I wish I had something more to say than “wow!” At the end of this novella, I feel a bit disoriented and wonderfully shocked– just something I would imagine coming off of an Albertine high would feel like. This is mostly because of the non-linear form of storytelling Moody takes up in order to match the memories of the protagonist, Kevin Lee. The progression of the story reminds me of the movie “Memento” where the main character has lost the ability to create any new memories and, thus, resorts to tattooing notes on himself and avenging the misremembered murder of his wife several times. Memory is such an important aspect of our lives because, without it, we would have no way of even beginning to create a sense of self.

The issue of a loss of the sense of time is also very interesting in “The Albertine Notes” and makes this story just a little harder to grasp. At one point, Kevin Lee looks at his watch and says that he is amazed that Rolex-knockoff survived the electromagnetic impulse from the Blast. I wonder if  with the catastrophe, the sense of time among the survivors has changed to begin with because many timepieces and electronics that keep us in this fast paced world have been destroyed. Then, when Kevin Lee begins his addiction, this disparity between a “personal” time and the “real” time (which in and of itself is just a construct) evolves.

Finally, I really like the idea of Albertine as drug that can help us live and relive our memories while making us forget partly because it is such a beautiful paradox and partly because it is such a normal human desire. Living in the past is something we already do in order to keep ourselves from having to experience the Present. This drug seems possible in the not-so-distant future and this is just one aspect of this story that makes it a very good science fiction piece.

Albertine was an exciting read with Byzantines twists and a strange familiarity to the Book of Revelation. I loved  the parallels between Kevin’s “calling”/assignment and John’s calling to record a prophetic revelation. Of course there are some stark differences: Kevin was called by a drug lord with an abusive past, he consumes  harmful addictive substances and  focuses largely upon memories and the distant past. John on the other hand was summoned by God(a moral authority not the only authority as presented  by the character of  Cortez) and looks towards a “bright” future. Whether or not he was experiencing a drug induced vision, its not for me to judge but both men have other worldly experiences. Their assignments were very different but very similar on a fundamental level- a quest for truth.

On a side note the portrayal of women is also quite similar to that of Revelation. The image of the whore/prostitute,  Jezebel/deceiver appears in this seemingly secular rendition of the Apocalypse in New York City. I wonder if this was a result of the author’s prior social conditioning to the apocalyptic culture of the United States  and their protrayal of women? Or was this intentional on his part? I know we are not supposed to analyze literature based upon what the author might have intended but it would make a difference if he did this for example deliberately as opposed to occurring simply by accident.

The Albertine Notes invokes many of the common themes of apocalyptic thought. In many ways, I am reminded of “Twelve Monkeys.” Both the novella and the movie have a cyclical nature. In “Twelve Monkeys,” Bruce Willis relives his memory of seeing a man being shot in an airport only to find that he has witnessed his own death. In Albertine Notes, Kevin Lee is obsessed with Serena, a girl he loved who was dating another man. Eventually, he finds out that his mother, the microbiologist, gave him a drug, which he gave to Serena who gave it to her boyfriend, Irving, who became Addict Number One of the Albertine drug. It involves a twisted cycle of growing awareness, realization and remembering the truth. The epidemic ravaged Earth’s population in “Twelve Monkeys” while Albertine is referred to as an epidemic. Both Bruce Willis and Kevin Lee go back in time to try to prevent the catastrophe. Finally, both Bruce Willis and Kevin Lee will die in the attempt.

There is a haunting quality in Rick Moody’s post-apocalyptic world, in which we see just enough of ourselves to be convinced of its possible existence. The uranium bomb used by Cortez or some other man reflects the increasing public awareness of the nuclear arms race and the potential for destruction that so many countries now possess. The proliferation of drugs everywhere mimics the reliance on Albertine in Kevin’s world. (In my middle school, we all knew who the resident drug dealer was, and mind you, I went to one of the higher rated public schools in the city.) Finally, Moody touched on an interesting point when he chose memory to focus on. Everyone wants to relive moments in her own life, snippets of time and experience which would bore anyone else to tears. In that sense, Albertine increases urban isolation, further cementing the idea that we are alone, especially in an urban dystopia.

I realized that my original version of my project proposal was located on my old laptop which is being serviced so this version is somewhat different from the original.

I aim to film a 8-10 minute documentary on current  Apocalyptic theory and understanding in the Afro- Caribbean church. After reading Strozier’s interviews on evangelicals in the twentieth century, I will be adapting the questions he posed to the people I will include in the documentary. Ultimately, I would like to know has the apocalyptic sentiment changed for the twenty-first  century for parishioners and  how this is molded in the wider context of life in America as an immigrant or person of color etc. I will be interviewing Dr. Richard F. Christie, President of the Manhattan Bible Institute and Dr. Steve Jagdeo, Pastor of Global Christian Network along with others.  At the end I might be able to draw some parallels between what Strozier may have discovered and hopefully add some more insight in terms of race, class and international thought. I have had some experience with making a documentary because I worked on one this past summer with the National Park Service. However, I will certainly need help with editing and creating release forms because I am somewhat unfamiliar with those things. Below are a few sample questions. During interviews I work best extemporaneously so the final content will be much more in depth than what these question portray.

Sample Interview Questions:

What is the Apocalypse? Please define this term.

Do you believe that “the end” is near? If so please explain why?

How might one prepare for the end?

How will these apocalyptic events play out? Please describe the arbiters and others who might be involved.

Where do you see yourself and others like you during the events?

Have you any questions or doubts on the book of Revelations? Should it be taken literally or symbolically?

Do you remember first hearing about the end? How did you receive this information? Please describe your feelings.

Wanted: More White Babies

Demographic Winter Trailer

Ok so I am not as technically savvy as the rest of the class so if anyone wants to actually post the video to the blog (ahem daniel or john), please feel free. I do not understand , does falling birth rates Europe signifies the end of the world as we know it?! Should the non-colored people be afraid?

I’ve been long interested in how we construct reality, but I’ve mostly thought of it in psychological or technical (not technological terms) –  like how we project a persona or how images or words in film or literature create meaning.  Obviously technology has or will soon have the ability to create possibilities of experiences that were not previously available.  Here, I use  the word “experience” as opposed to “reality.” But the question of what is reality is at the base of much of what we have read for this week.  Further, I find it most interesting to cast this question of reality into apocalyptic terms.

Quinby calls the social domination allowed by technology “technopression” and argues that it presents and seeks to control power, truth and morality in an apocalyptic mode.  Technology allows for the dream of transcendence of human limitations,  a millennialist dream she says.  Indeed, the idea of transcendence of human form and constraints squares well with ideas in BOR about the impurities of flesh and the promise of freedom from sin once the end arrives.  It’s also the 144,000 undefiled by sex who will be saved.  But stepping aside from this obvious reference, technopression’s problems are more insidious.  Programmed perfection as Quinby calls it, or Vinge’s “utraintelligent machine,” both seek to change a current reality into a new, sanitized one.

With the advent of the Singularity, which Vinge casts as an Apocalyptic event , will come a change in time or nature of intelligence.  He argues that more detailed knowledge of science takes away from the fantasy of what is possible.  Vinge also points out that truly productive work will become the “domain of steadily smaller and more elite fraction of humanity.”  IA creates cynical elite, which corresponds to an apocalyptic mode of electism, where only a select few are worthy of redemption.  But Vinge also points out that we are the initiators of the inevitable.  Thus, the Singularity raises issue about free will and determinism.

In Vinge’s post-Singularity world, pieces of ego can be merged/copied and “size of self awareness can grow or shrink to fit nature of problems under consideration.”  The SQUID device promises exactly this new reality, one which Quinby sees as having an alienating effect.

I’ve seen the Matrix a few times but I understood it was a very intellectual movie but Rosen’s analysis of the many apocalyptic readings made me want to see it again.

The Wachowski Brothers said that they tried to incorporate as many ideas as possible into the films. The dualities etched by Rosen: Neo as both messiah and antichrist, the tethered humans as both sinner and saved, the machines as both “nurturing protectors and tyrannical parasites” highlight the importance of prospective in the apocalyptic narrative.

The case can be made for both a human apocalypse and a machinist apocalypse since both species are working towards creating a New Jerusalem free from the other but as Rosen argues in the world they live in they can’t survive without one another. This calls into question the need for evil to define good and the need for good to define evil. Can there be a Christ without an Anti-Christ? Is this why Satan gets released after a 1000 years to tempt humanity again?

Today, technology and humanity are co-existing. Humans use technology to make life easier but they also have come to depend on it for survival. If any of us were asked to live off the grid and wash our own clothes and do cook our food without assistance for more than a weekend camping trip we would have great difficulties. We also depend on technology to keep us alive in medical emergencies. We create these machines for both convenience and survival, but for many IT workers, it gives their life purpose.  While many people complain about living in a cubicle with only a desktop as company, they, no doubt, choose to live such an existence. We voluntarily live under technnoppression. We create the need to constantly check our e-mails or Facebook accounts. We create the conditions by which we can allow ourselves to be dominated by technology by placing a value on the benefits of the sprawling world of ones and zeros.

Quinby states, “Access to information banks is redefining truth and complicating whether truth can be established amidst an overwhelming flow of data. (135)” The spread of information can allow everyone to look at the numbers and define their own individual truth. This reveals the other sides of the coin that technology can be both liberate as well as imprison humanity. Rosen’s acknowledgement of the multiplicity of truths in the Matrix comments that with many truths comes the obliteration of Truth with a capital T.

I guess this is my lucky year. This is the first time (as far as I can recollect at least) that all of my courses overlap in subject matter and discourse. Oppression whether it be patriarchal, environmental or economic, I have been forced to reckon with its varying forms. This week I got to grapple with “technoppression” or technology used as a tool for apocalyptic domination. I have become more than familiar with Hollywood’s admonition that machines or technology will first enhance and eventually replace mankind at a final showdown (see every Will Smith movie for examples).  Despite my exposure to such influences, I rarely considered the implications of rapidly developing technology and its impact on the concept of the human body. Earlier this summer I read Bodies by Susan Orbach a psychologist who explored the idea of the manufactured western body. According to Orbach the body has become a form of work on which we are constantly improving, fixing and changing in order to become “better” versions of ourselves. Granted enhancement for beautification purposes is hardly a new topic but she drew upon the indispensability and the decreasing diversity of the “perfect” body that Quinby mentions. Even right now as I think about this I realize that this is evident is quite a few places. I had the opportunity to read another book titled Killing the Black Body, which mentioned the history of eugenics in this country and its racialized targeting of African Americans for sterilization. I was horrified to find out that many of the hysterectomies preformed even into the 1970’s upon black women were without their consent in attempt to eliminate the “black” gene and all of the social baggage that comes with it in this country. I do not know if it would be a stretch to say that this was an earlier form of genetic engineering but I believe that this continued technological development will only negatively affect those who do not fit in the idealized mold. “Programmed perfection” is so pervasive its somewhat upsetting. Personally I can easily draw and example from the issue of black females and their hair. It is shocking and disappointing that black females spend billions of dollars annually on making their hair look “right” through the use of weaves, corrosive chemicals and other magical tricks. Usually the finished product no longer mirrors the tenacious and unique curls that springs from their heads but instead is a sleek and shiny imitation of the idealized European standard.

I watched “Strange Days” before reading Quinby’s reading, and though I agree with most, and love the Foucauldian analogy between alliance, sexuality and programmed perfection, I have a three points to quibble on:

1. “From the Book of Revelation of the Heaven’s Gate website, denial of embodiment has been a heterosexist obsession that defines itself oppositionally to women’s bodily excess and lesbian and gay sexuality.” (135)

Perhaps true for Revelation and Heaven’s gate, there are others reasons for “denial of embodiment.” In Buddhism, it is because the body and all conceptualization of self cause suffering. In Kabbalah, the body is in direct contrast to the soul, or more broadly, to spirituality. In Tristan and Isolde, the body is what separates the two lovers from union, and in some stagings of Wagner’s opera, Isolde sings her final aria while slowly humping Tristan’s dead body, as if they were both floating up together, spirits entwined, into the afterlife – at least according to Prof Long at Hunter College.

I agree the castoff of the body can be read as discriminatory towards women and gay sexuality, however this is not the sole propagation. To my dismay, this point was made then abandoned without greater discussion.

2. “Max’s desire to have Lenny jack in to his acts of rape and murder of Iris and his sadomasochistic sex with Faith fuel homophobic fears and hence fortify the “safe” and “healthy” heterosexuality represented by Lenny.” (142)

Lenny is the one, however, who is quick to offer the Lawyer at the beginning fantasies involving men and chooses for him to be an 18 yr old female washing her body in the shower. If Lenny personifies white-male heterosexuality, he is certainly comfortable with a variety of sexual practices and inter-racial love.

The greater point is that Max’s desire to have Lenny watch his rape is not homosexual. Like the argument goes, rape is more about expressing power than sexuality. Here Max uses his rape as power over Lenny, not to entwine them homosexually. Also, porn is often watched in groups of heterosexual men as a means of establishing a collective base for what’s cool and what’s not etc and certainly the heightened sense of group/communal involvement – perhaps a psychological facet of gang-rape.

3. “When Mace turns to Stickland as her champion, activism is replaced by a reassertion of authority of the white-controlled state.” (145)

This feels overly pessimistic. Why “replaced?” And not, “activism working together with authority?” Also, why is it important that the chief is white? If he were black, would it be a reassertion of the black chief who sold out? Authority will perpetuate and so will activism, the two should work together.

However, it does point to the weakness in the storytelling of having a good man at the top but corruption omnipresent beneath him – but then again, Kathryn Bigelow is not a filmmaker known for her consistency but rather adrenaline-pumping male-centered action films.

Lastly, techno oppression has already manifested in our society and will continue to do so. However, technology seems more to me like the great and final democratizer. Cyborgian culture will rip down the walls between gender and all other classical notions about what it means to be human. From our insides to the outside, our economic and social infrastructure will change. A collective consciousness will arise. Governments won’t be necessary… But these are just my crazed, pseudo-prophetic ramblings, not be taken seriously, for sure.