The Problems of Elysium [movie review]

The movie Elysium had some things going for it.  A visually interesting experience, good special effects, emotionally involving because of some decent acting by Matt Damon.  However, there is something gauzy about it, paper-thinness to the narrative, as though the filmmakers were distracted from good storytelling by expending their energies on other agenda.  In this film Damon plays Max DeCosta, a factory worker whose workman's comp consists of a bottle of pills to hold him over until he dies later that week, where the people that own the company have the technology to heal anything (yes, anything) quickly and easily in a less than a minute.  That technology can only be found on the space station (Elysium) where those with the right political or economic connections live away from the squalor and pollution of Earth.

Conservative and liberal commentators alike have remarked on the obvious and self-conscious symbolism of Elysium.  The whole thing hinges on what Milton Friedman deplored as "building a highway to Fort Knox": give non-citizens access to public benefits for doing us the favor of showing up and they won't stop coming when there are no more jobs to be had; they simply won't stop coming.

Many political buzzwords are shoehorned into the script, and even on my first viewing they stuck out like a sore thumb.  Drew Zahn at WorldNetDaily briefly sums up the many ways the movie telegraphs what social issues you are to have in mind as you watch the film:

For starters, if the human-smuggling ships that try to reach Elysium were called “unauthorized ships” or “unwelcome ships,” it would fit an apolitical story. But when they’re called “undocumented ships” … the allusion to today’s illegal immigration debate is obvious.

I mean, c’mon. In what believable future of computer technology, where paper and filing cabinets had been eliminated 100 years prior, would anything be called “undocumented?” It’s a glaring, dare I say “heavy-handed” (as Damon denied) “message” (as Blomkamp denied).

Furthermore, if the unauthorized people who landed on Elysium were called “invaders” or “intruders,” it could be an apolitical movie. But when they’re called “illegals”? Who do you think they’re talking about?

And when “deportation” ships send the “illegals” who came on “undocumented” vessels home – and when everyone on earth speaks Spanish, while the language is unheard on Elysium – this isn’t coincidence. This is a political statement.

And finally, when Elysium’s military guardian justified her “homeland security” border-enforcement brutality by saying she was just “protecting our liberty,” it made no sense in the context of the film, but was clearly put there as a snide slap at tea-party types, some of the last people in this country who even remember what “liberty” means. The makers of “Elysium” sure don’t.

Neither are they particularly good at economics (but then again, what leftist is?). In the end, it appears the film had been all along a vehicle for hyping universal health care. And in “Elysium,” like in most leftists’ understanding of health care, this panacea is perfectly free and available to all, if only the greedy and selfish would release it to the masses.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/when-a-movie-is-or-isnt-propaganda/#4FPPluChuBXbWzDf.99

For starters, if the human-smuggling ships that try to reach Elysium were called “unauthorized ships” or “unwelcome ships,” it would fit an apolitical story. But when they’re called “undocumented ships” … the allusion to today’s illegal immigration debate is obvious.  . . . Furthermore, if the unauthorized people who landed on Elysium were called “invaders” or “intruders,” it could be an apolitical movie. But when they’re called “illegals”? Who do you think they’re talking about? 

And when “deportation” ships send the “illegals” who came on “undocumented” vessels home – and when everyone on earth speaks Spanish, while the language is unheard on Elysium – this isn’t coincidence. This is a political statement. 

And finally, when Elysium’s military guardian justified her “homeland security” border-enforcement brutality by saying she was jusjust “protecting our liberty,” it made no sense in the context of the film, but was clearly put there as a snide slap at tea-party types [or possibly to capitalize on lingering anti-Bush sentiment], some of the last people in this country who even remember what “liberty” means.

"A Place For Mom" promotes "Heaven" as placement for Mom

A short observation by Wesley J. Smith from National Review:

The assisted living placement service, A Place for Mom, prominently promoted assisted suicide for mom (and dad) in its blog a few days ago. I took suitable umbrage here and here.

The National Right to Life Committee also criticized the business that wants us to entrust our loved elders to them for finding senior services, but thought it wise to promote suicide for the elderly and assisted suicide’s top promoters, Hemlock Society Compassion and Choices.

It was a stupid business decision for an organization so deeply involved with the elderly to post in favor of assisted suicide. And now, a day late and a dollar short, A Place for Mom’s boost for elder suicide has gone into the cyber ether.

Erased. Disappeared. Gone. But it will not be forgotten. 

Assisted suicide is one of those issues for which I feel a little conflicted. The libertarian side of me thinks it's nobody's business if a person wants to end their life. It is their ultimate liberty.

Of course, people that have had a family member attempt or commit suicide might feel differently. Conservatism is built on parents' empowerment a community's empowerment to Leftists prefer it be the arm of social scientists who, unlike our community, have our best interests at heart. This is why the Left typically fight so hard to make educational boards force choices on parents, and for doctors to do so. Now the rest home is getting in on the action. Just think how good it will be for society when a rest home can get reimbursed by Affordable Care for administering some "compassion and choices."  Even some unruly inmates (I mean, "customers") might become more manageable with the proper paperwork.  Why, now there are more resources for everybody, and everybody wins! Another problem solved by the Independent Payment Advisory Board!   As eminent super-liberal Paul Krugman noted, Affordable Care doesn't force any "death panel" right now, just allows them eventually.  Those rotten conservatives wanted you to think that life-or-death rationing by all-powerful boards would be an immediate consequence of Obamacare!

(I know of one person directly affected by the local version of the IPAB already, and it does little good for a doctor to prescribe necessary for a special needs child when the state elects to not have it covered. The local state has created a situation in which a person's life depends on the daily provision of unaffordable care, and then refuses to pay for more and more of it. These are the sort of provisions that Jerry Brown and his ilk hold hostage when we refuse to let our taxes get raised.)

I feel indebted to Wesley J. Smith for leading the charge against the postmodern absurdists on the Left that want to indoctrinate our children into thinking that humans are nothing special on this earth. Unless you've read A Rat Is A Pig Is A Dog Is A Boy, you might have no idea just how nutty it's really gotten in America.  The collectivism shared by Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, and Mussolini depend on at least some people being no better than livestock, just competition for resources that don't belong to individuals but to the People (mystically embodied by the State).

Ben Shapiro Blasts UCLA For Anti-Semitism

Ben Shapiro delivered this stunning indictment of anti-Israel activism to his alumni at UCLA:

My name is Ben Shapiro. I'm an alumnus of this university. I'm also a local talk show host on 870 [AM] in the morning, and I got out of bed and left my one month old baby there when I saw what was going on here tonight. I've never been more ashamed to be a Bruin. I've never been more ashamed to be an alumnus of this university than to see this divestment petition being considered at this level. 

To pretend this is about occupation, to pretend this is about peace, to pretend that this anything other than vile, spiteful Jew hatred is a lie! 

There is only one reason we are discussing Israel and not discussing Saudi Arabia. There is only one reason we are discussing Israel and not discussing Iran. There is only one reason we are discussing Israel and not discussing Palestine. There is only one reason we are discussing Israel and not discussing the vast bevy of human rights violations that happen every day in the Middle East, exponentially worse that what happens in Israel. 

Any gay or lesbian that is targeting Israel in this room seems to have forgotten how high they hang gays from cranes in Iran. Every person of liberal bent who suggests that Israel is the problem in the Middle East seems to have forgotten that there is only one country in the Middle East that actually has any sort of religious diversity in it. The countries that are apartheid countries are those that are Judenrein -- like, for example, Palestine. 

So, for us to sit here and pretend that Israel is somehow on a lower moral plane is a direct manifestation of anti-Semitism. And to hold Jews to a different moral standard than any other country or group on the face of the earth represents nothing but an age-old and historic hatred for the Jewish people. All the folks here who are pretending that the B.D.S is about anything other than that, I would like to see a poll of those folks, and see how many of them actually believe in the existence of a Jewish state, qua Jewish state, not as a state like any other, but as a Jewish state. They don't. They don't acknowledge that existence. They don't believe in that existence. They don't believe in peace. All this is about, pure and simple, is a desire to target the Jewish people.

Why are they so anti-Israel?

Here's a great quote about the tendency to paint the majority Muslim/Arab presence in the Middle East as a victimized population and the relatively small group of Jews that built a powerful nation as oppressors:

“Think about the twisted logic and outright malice behind that: a state, based on freedom, democracy and the rule of law, that was founded so Jews can flourish as Jews, and seek shelter from the shadow of the worst racist experiment in history, that is condemned, and that condemnation is masked in the language of anti-racism. It is nothing short of sickening.”
-Stephen Harper, Canadian prime minister

There is something very strange about it.

Arabs of the former Palestinian wastelands call for 2nd Holocaust.

The "Dianny" View on Obama's Reign of Victimhood

T-shirt maker and political commentator Diann Russell has a sharp sense of humor:

Follow this link to order the T-shirt.

I love this little bio blurb about Diann (especially about her pets):

Diann Russell holds an MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Her daily web column DIANNY RANTS appears at All the Right Snark. She lives in Syracuse, New York with her pitbull Mary of Bethany, her two cats (don't mock) Buffy and Willow, and her Mossberg 12g.

Diann has this great article on how victim politics for Obama is not simply a bit of leftist manipulation that he's particularly good at; it's fundamental to his (post-election) message, his Presidency, his politics, his framing of the issues, his use of people (especially kids) as props, and his long, long association with Reverend Wright, his apologetics for his choices and his handling of criticism, etc.

This man who promised a united America, who made us think that this unity is what he meant by a "radically transformed" America (not that he actually used those words -- he just led you to think that was his plan -- he didn't "promise promise" so you can't hold him to it) knows NOTHING BUT the politics of division, the politics of demonizing and villainizing, and whenever something doesn't pan out, it's because nobody will play fair with him by letting him make up the rules as he goes.  When the Benghazi deal blew up in his face, he acted he could simultaneously take the heat for Susan Rice and be a martyr in her place, like he could make the buck top at his desk and throw Hillary under the bus. He was going to be the young idealist (but a practical idealist!) that was free of the cynical politics we hate, and the drama on Capitol Hill is like watching people turn on each other in "The Island."  Everything good under his watch he personally takes credit for, and everything bad is something that just happened to him, poor thing.

Victimhood seems to be the central bit of Obama's life and personal religion.  He truly is the Victim-in-Chief.

Does Obama Support Religious Expression in the Military?

It may seem strange that the Obama administration, after “concerted efforts to scrub the military of religious expression,” is now pushing for Muslims in the military to express their faith in military dress.

In fact, it may seem outright bizarre, especially considering this administration's hostility toward Christianity:

http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=106938
http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/open-hostility-to-christians-in-u-s-military/
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/13/Congress-Investigating-Obama-Admin-Hostility-to-Religious-Liberty-in-the-Military
http://www.religiontoday.com/news/chaplains-pursue-their-mission-military-hostile-christianity.html
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2011/11/tony_perkins_ob.html

But this kind of selective multiculturalism isn't new, folks.

Global Warming, er, Cooling, er, Change

Yes, those on the West Coast will be talking about everyday proof of Global Warming as the rest of America finds undeniable proof of Global Cooling in the deep freeze.  Every remarkable storm, every new devastation, every new record heat or cold is proof of ... well, something.

We saw that in the very damaging 2012 hurricane that gave Chris Matthews another warm tingle in his leg and a reason to praise heaven.  What more proof do you deniers require of the desperate need for massive government oversight and carte blanche regulatory power?

If you liked this check out this humorous Skeptic's Guide to Environmentalism.