Black Panther, the New Star Wars? (a movie review post)

I'm not going to try to make a "best movie ever" case for Black Panther. It's quite an excellent movie, but there are movies I think are better, even other Marvel movies, for whatever reason, though Black Panther rather solidly lands in my top five from Marvel. It's hard to argue "best," at any rate; it's too subjective. It's too favorite.

That said, I think Panther may be the most significant movie since Star Wars, and I think, from a cultural standpoint, that Star Wars (I am talking A New Hope here) has been the most significant movie ever made. Initially, the perspective on Star Wars was merely that it had changed the way movies were made, and it certainly did that; however, Star Wars has become a part of the cultural zeitgeist in a way that no other movie ever has, including supporting the Boomer viewpoint of technology being dangerous and suspicious and untrustworthy. Trust the Force, not your targeting computer.

But that's a post for another time.

The thing about Star Wars is that it was different. Not just the technology behind it, but the appeal of the story. And let's not forget the irony of a movie using cutting edge technology to tell a story about the evils of technology and how we all need to get back to our mystic roots. Feel the Force. The story also appealed to a more basic... instinct, the heroic lure of the young male. It was all about how you could make it on your own if you just... trusted. Trusted yourself. Trusted fate. The Force. God. Whatever it is that is bigger than yourself that wanted your success despite your own efforts to derail it. It was different, and it helped to bring about a new cultural viewpoint that elevated the self above all else. Or, at least, it reinforced that Boomer self focus and made it seem not just okay but preferable.

In that same way, Black Panther is different, but Panther is different in the opposite direction. Where Star Wars says it's all about the hero's journey, Black Panther says it's about community. You can't do it on your own. Where Star Wars says it's about magic, faith, the Force; Panther says it's about technology: (See the scene where Ross wakes up from the medical bed.) I suppose it's still about defeating the evil Empire, though, whatever form that takes.

Look, I get it. I get that a lot of you out there don't understand what the big deal is. When Star Wars came out, my grandmother (who took me to see it) didn't understand what the big deal was either. As a movie, all on its own, isolated, Black Panther doesn't cover any new ground. The special effects aren't anything special, which is not to say that they're not spectacular; they just don't do anything new, but, then, I have a hard time seeing how we're actually going to see anything new in special effects any time soon.

The real effect of the movie is the nearly all black cast, and that is an amazing thing. Sure, yes, I get that there have been other movies with all black casts and you can't figure out the big deal. What makes this one different? Unfortunately, if that's a thing you can't see, I don't know how to explain it to you. You just have to realize that it is different and accustom yourself to the idea that things may change. Things may change in the way movies are made, and things may change culturally. Not right away, sure -- it did take 20 years for the full effect of Star Wars to start being felt -- but eventually.

It will be a good thing if, in 20 years, we can look back and say that, yes, Black Panther has had a lasting cultural influence. It opened doors for people of color that has long been closed. It opened doors for women that had long been closed. It helped push open the door to equality for all people that had long been held closed by white men.

Which brings us to the story of the movie, the Make Wakanda Great Again conflict. The conflict of the movie is reflective our current societal conflict and whether or not you should support your country even when it's doing the wrong thing, as if it's some all or nothing choice (as the Republicans seem to believe). This is all summed up in one very powerful exchange which goes something like this:
"If you love your country, you will serve it."
"I love my country so I will save it!"

Speaking of power, I believe the most powerful moment of the movie is possibly overlooked due to how understated it is. So as not to present it in a spoilery way -- but, if you've seen the movie, you should understand the part I mean -- I'll say it this way:
An old white man looks at T'Challa and says, basically, "What do you, a black man, have to offer that can possibly be of interest to us white people?" Yes, I know that's not what he said, but that was the context. It's what white men have been saying to black men for hundreds of years. To all people of color. As Black Panther shows, people of color have more to offer than we can imagine. We just have to give them room to do it.

Rebels: "Legacy" (Ep. 2.11)

"Stay in the moment. Be in this place at this time."

Ezra has had a vision of his parents. His missing parents, taken away by the Empire when he was a kid. Did I mention that before? Anyway...

Everyone has mostly been operating under the assumption that they're dead because what else can you do? But Ezra has had a vision...

Hold on a moment...

Maybe I've mentioned this before, but why does every young hero have to be an orphan? Seriously, why?

Ezra

Luke

Harry Potter

Garion

Peter Parker

Clark Kent

Bruce Wayne

The list on wikipedia for orphaned heroes is pretty extensive.

Anyway, just a thought. Visions of parents brings up this question for me.

Other than the vision, this was a pretty typical type of episode. There's a trap. There's an escape. There are tractor beams and there are Inquisitors. It's a fine episode within the sequence of things, just nothing special to make it noteworthy.

"You've grown powerful if you can track down a lothcat with the Force."

"The Force? I planted a tracker on it."

Rebels: "Brothers of the Broken Horn" (Ep. 2.06)

"We were enjoying a friendly game of sabaacc and, well, now, it's my ship."

With one episode, Rebels won my heart. Hondo Ohnaka was one of  my favorite side characters from Clone Wars, and it's a delight to have him show up here. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he was my favorite side character, but he was definitely top three. I hope this is just the first of many episodes for him to show up in. [Evidently, he still has the best writers. So many great lines!]

"Oh, the stories I could tell, so many of them true."

Ezra's having a hard time dealing with all of his responsibilities. On top of learning to use the Force and all of the other things he has to do to be a part of the team, Rex is now working on teaching him how to be a soldier. It's more than a bit overwhelming, which is what leads to running into Hondo. Ezra takes a... day off. So to speak.

Nothing philosophical. Not really. Just a fun episode. A romp, if you will. Definitely worth a watch.


"Well, that's another version of the story; I suppose."

Clone Wars -- "Voices" (Ep. 6.11)

-- Madness can sometimes be the path to truth.

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[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

Sometimes the way we answer questions is to merely remove the question one step back. This is the problem with, say, crediting aliens for creating life on Earth, or, at least, human life. The question then gets pushed back to, "Well, who created the aliens?" It's a poor way to answer a question, basically, a cop out. I feel like that's what they're doing in this arc with the question, "How do Jedi talk from the dead?"

I also feel like this is a question that doesn't need to be answered, not in any concrete way. I mean, how do the Jedi do anything? The Force. It's a mystery to those of us (all of us) who aren't Jedi. Just leave the answer at that. It doesn't need an answer.

Having said that, I think this is a really great episode and an important arc. Top 10 for sure, probably top five.
Yes, I'm biased because it focuses on Yoda, a character who really, despite always being around, hasn't received enough attention throughout the series. Just casually thinking back, I can only think of one other arc that focused on Yoda as a character.

There is a thing I like very much about this episode: It highlights the way in which people, even Jedi, are unable to think outside of the boxes they've put themselves in. When Yoda is troubled and brings his question to the Jedi Council, most of the Jedi but Ki Adi Mundi in particular, dismiss what Yoda is saying as something that is impossible. They've already decided their answers on the subject because they're certain they already have all the answers. Ki Adi Mundi goes so far as to assert that Yoda must be under the influence of the Dark Side and, mostly, the other council members don't reject that notion.

Which, of course, means Yoda has to rely on Anakin for help, seemingly the only Jedi other than Yoda who doesn't get trapped in dogma. Which isn't really a great thing for Anakin in the end, but being trapped in dogma isn't a good thing for the Jedi, either, considering what's in store for them.

Anyway... This is another of those arcs that real Star Wars fans should watch. Which is not to imply that you are not a real fan if you don't watch it, but, if your interest in Star Wars goes beyond the movies, this is an arc you should see.

Oh, one last thing...
There is a question that everyone asks (I use "everyone" loosely.): Why Dagobah?
Why did Yoda choose, of all places, to exile himself on Dagobah? This episode gives some insight into that.

Clone Wars -- "The Disappeared: Part 1" (Ep. 6.8)

-- Without darkness, there cannot be light.

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[Well, actually, considering that we're into season six, now, probably no one new is going to sign up, BUT! Hop over to The Armchair Squid for his take on the current episode.]

Today's episode: Jar Jar Jones and the Temple of Doom!

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this episode. On the one hand, we find out that Jar Jar has a love interest...
Yeah, I'm going to stop right there.
There is humor in it, though, in that Jar Jar goes off with Queen Julia for the night and Mace Windu spends the time freaking out about where Jar Jar has gone and what he could possibly be doing. That the queen is Jar Jar's girlfriend never enters Windu's mind. Inconceivable!

Anyway...

The dagoyan people don't like the Jedi despite their affinity for the Light Side of the Force. They hold the belief that the Jedi are kidnappers because of their practice of taking Force sensitive children to train at the Jedi Temple. And, well, we don't know that the Jedi are not really kidnappers of a sort. All we know is that they take young children to the Temple to be trained as Jedi and that that is common practice in the Republic. We don't know anything at all about how this is carried out or whether it's with consent or how often it might not be with consent or anything. And all of this is something that's mentioned, basically, in passing, but it's the most interesting question the episode brings up.

Well, that and why anyone, even Jar Jar's girlfriend, would trust Jar Jar to solve a mystery. You'd think that someone that close to Binks, in fact, would be the last one to trust Jar Jar to handle an important task completely alone.

Clone Wars -- Season Three

When the Clone Wars was conceived as a series, it wasn't meant to be a linear telling of the events of the Clone Wars. It was meant to be a collection of stories of events from the Clone Wars, meaning that the stories told could be from any time during the war since many things were all happening at once. If you've studied closely the Civil War or either of the World Wars, you will know that you can't really study those things linearly. It's more like studying a tapestry. And that's what Clone Wars was meant to be.

Season three is the only season that really makes the attempt to jump around in time; at least, if I'm remembering correctly, that's true. And from what I'm remembering at the time, people didn't respond well to the falling back to the past to tell other stories that weren't told initially. That's too bad, I think, because there is so much there. At any rate, I think season four goes back to a straight linear progression that's never deviated from again.

Unless I'm just not remembering, which is entirely possible. I'm not always all that linear.

This season has a lot of important stuff. When I say important, I mean it's important to the larger Star Wars Universe. Primarily, the Mortis story arc. As I said back in my review of the arc, this trilogy of stories provides more information about the fundamental nature of the Force than we get from any other source. If you're a Star Wars fan, this, being canon material, is a story you should see, whether or not like The Clone Wars itself as a show.

Savage Opress is also introduced in season three. He's the brother of Darth Maul, and his arc is interesting and exciting. And hints at some things that will be revealed later. This story line also deals with the fall from grace of Asajj Ventress and the fallout that happens because of it. Besides Savage, we are also introduced to the Nightsisters, a splinter group of Dark Side Force wielders. They will be back.

Duchess Satine returns for another series of appearances. I didn't like these as much as her appearances in season two, but it's good to see her again.

Tarkin is also introduced as a character in season three, and the groundwork is laid for the later relationship between him and Anakin.

Plus, there's some exploration into the lives of people who have sided with the Separatists. That's an interesting arc and deals with some heavy themes. It's well worth watching.

Overall, season three is a real winner, I think. The only off episode I can think of (without looking back at my reviews) is "Evil Plans." It's entertaining enough, I guess, but it has some real plot issues.

As far as single episodes go, I might have to go with "Clone Cadets" as my favorite, but it's outmatched when you look at some of the story arcs in the season.

Probably, you can still come into season three of Clone Wars without having seen the first two seasons and be just fine bit, seriously, just go watch it. It's a good show, and there are some things you shouldn't miss as a Star Wars fan. Of course, if you're not a Star Wars fan, it really doesn't matter that much.

Clone Wars -- "Ghosts of Mortis" (Ep. 3.17)

-- He who seeks to control fate shall never find peace.

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The Force is no longer in balance.

If you haven't watched the previous two episodes of this arc, you should really go do that. While I will try to keep spoilers from this episode mostly out of this post, I need to be able to refer back to the other episodes. Seriously, if you are any kind of Star Wars fan, these three episodes are a must.

As we were watching this one, my son said to me in reference to the Father, Son, and Daughter, "Are these physical entities or embodiments of the Force?" My best answer: Yes. That the Daughter is dead, murdered by the Son, spells disaster for the galaxy and the universe. Interestingly, in the previous episode, the Father spoke repeatedly of the danger to the galaxy if the Son was able to escape the planet Mortis but, this episode, after the death of the Daughter, the Father has escalated his warning to a danger to the universe.

The question in all of this is what it means that Anakin is the Chosen One. In the last episode, Anakin refused to take up his role as the person who would maintain the balance in the Force, that balance being the equivalence between the Son and the Daughter. Obviously, the choice Anakin had was real, and his decision not to take his place had dire consequences. Will have dire consequences.

And, now, they have to keep the Son from escaping Mortis so that he doesn't wreak havoc across the galaxy.

So, what we know based on the previous episode: The Dark Side is in ascendance. The Light Side, effectively, at least for now, is dead.

To say more would be to give too much away.



"I am an old fool who believed he could control the future."

Clone Wars -- "Altar of Mortis" (Ep. 3.16)

-- He who surrenders hope surrenders life.

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"Is the Dark Side stronger?"
"No! Quicker, easier, more seductive."

In the context of the original trilogy of Star Wars movies, we tend to just accept that Yoda is right. Yoda is always right. And, at one point, he probably was right. Well, definitely, at one point, he was right. The Force was in balance, kept that way through the will of the Father. However, by the time Yoda is stating this to Luke, that the Dark Side is not stronger, the Force is out of balance, and the Dark Side is most definitely in ascendance. The Son has shifted the balance.

There's also what is probably very important stuff with Ahsoka. Definitely foreshadowing. I know that Ahsoka comes back in Rebels, though I'm not that far into it, yet, but I don't know if this has to do with what is going to happen there or if it has to do with anything that's going to happen in the new trilogy [There has been a lot of speculation and rumors about Ahsoka appearing in the episode eight or nine.] or if it's just a plot line that got left blowing in the wind due to Disney dropping Clone Wars. Whether it comes back or not is immaterial, I suppose, considering it's good stuff in this episode.

All of this is also a direct repercussion of Anakin turning down his role as the Chosen One. In the typical story of this nature, the "chosen one" character ends up being compelled in some way to take up the role, but, as we saw last episode, Anakin refused to be the guy to maintain the balance in the Force. Which begs the question, "Is he still the Chosen One?" Does what happens later in both Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi come out of his status as Chosen One or is it because of his refusing to be that person?

I hope in some way Star Wars addresses what happens in this trilogy arc.

Clone Wars -- "Nightsisters" (Ep. 3.12)

-- The swiftest path to destruction is through vengeance.

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The first thing I want to say is that Asajj Ventress has a cool star fighter.
Oh, yeah, Ventress is back!

The second thing is that it's nice to be back on Dathomir, kinda like going home. Wait a minute, you say, we've never been to Dathomir. Well, that's true. But Dathomir was one of the planets available for exploration in the old Star Wars Galaxies MMORPG, and the Nightsisters are an enemy I'm familiar with. It's nice to see the home of the rancors finally make its way into Star Wars canon. Even so, The Clone Wars is not Galaxies.

When Asajj Ventress was first introduced, it was without any kind of back story. She just showed up and kind of demanded that Dooku train her (this was back in the original Clone Wars micro series in 2003), which he relented to do after she managed to impress him. Now, after years as Dooku's top assassin and most effective agent, Darth Sidious has decided that she has become a threat.

You know the whole Sith thing, right? There can be only two. During the Clone Wars, those two are Darth Sidious (Palpatine) and Darth Tyranus (Dooku), but Sidious has come to believe that Ventress is becoming strong enough as Dooku's apprentice that Dooku will be able to displace him as the master. For Sith, such displacement means assassination.

So Sidious calls up Dooku on the holophone and tells him to put Ventress down. Period. Prove his loyalty and kill her. Now.

Which is an interesting thing with the Sith, since it's common practice to kill your most powerful agents because they are your most power agents. You know, that's why Palpatine has Anakin kill Dooku rather than just take them both on as his apprentices, and, yeah, there's some history to why this is, but, right now, as far as I know, none of that is canon.

All of that to say that this episode takes us off on a new path in The Clone Wars, a path full of all kinds of interesting things and interesting characters. Oh, and there are a lot of light sabers in this one. It's definitely a must see episode.


"There's a disturbance in the Force."

Clone Wars -- "Assassin" (Ep. 3.7)

-- The future has many paths: Choose wisely.

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Remember when Aurra Sing died? Yeah, me, neither, because, as it turns out, she didn't die. Which is why I was rather confused at the end of "Lethal Trackdown." I kept thinking, "I don't remember her dying." Because she didn't, and, now, she's back. Thanks to Hondo.

The episode itself is about an assassination attempt on the life of Padme, or, more specifically, Ahsoka's vision of said attempt. Or Ahsoka's vision of Aurra Sing. Well, let's just call it an episode about learning to trust yourself and your own instincts.

Now, I want to take a break from the episode itself for a moment:
I sort of hate the whole "trust yourself" or "trust your instincts" message. That's what it is: a message. And it's a message that has pervaded our society. For instance, a new study has shown that young, first-time mothers, especially teenage ones, are more likely to trust their instincts than the recommended scientific advice when it has to do with their babies; as a result, infant deaths due to things like suffocation are on the rise. The mother just felt like the baby needed that fluffy blanket despite the fact that it's a suffocation risk. It's that whole, "My opinion is as good as your fact," thing, and, well, it's not. Sure, you're entitled to believe in whatever stupid thing you want to believe in, but it doesn't make it valid just because you believe it or because your instincts tell you it's what you ought to do.

Having said that, trusting one's instincts is valid for a Jedi, because a Jedi has the Force; we, however, do not. There is a distinct difference between believing in oneself and doing whatever it is you feel is right in any given moment.

So, yeah, Ahsoka has to learn to trust in herself and her visions... and Padme's life hangs in the balance.

It's a good, solid episode with some teaching from Yoda, since Anakin's off on a mission in this one.

Star Wars: Clone Wars vs. Rebels

I've been a fan of The Clone Wars since it came out. We own the series on DVD. I was less than pleased when Disney announced, shortly after acquiring Lucasfilm, that they were cancelling production on it. Season six was in mid-production and season seven was in  the early stages of production and, while it wasn't a raging, everybody-must-watch-it-show success, it seemed to be doing fine. But, then, it was just over.

And, you know, I get it. From a business perspective, what they did made good sense. That doesn't mean I have to like it, though.

See, the thing is, The Clone Wars had a problem. It couldn't figure out its demographic. It wasn't a cartoon -- excuse me, animated television show -- made for kids. That is, they, the kids, were not the specific target audience. Clone Wars was launched for the Cartoon Network's prime time, adult viewing time slot. Clearly, it was an animated show that wanted an adult audience. It featured adult characters and dealt with a lot of mature themes. Sure, all of that was then presented in half hour blocks in such a way that kids could also digest the material and Ahsoka was included to allow the younger viewing audience a character they could identify with. But it wasn't a show for kids and, so, it also wasn't a show for adults. It just grabbed people like me who wanted to know more about the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and all the kids who just like the excellent Star Wars action.

Rebels, however, is a show solidly targeting kids.You can tell because the protagonist is a kid. And, well, from what I can tell so far (only having watched the first couple of episodes), the overall action is going to revolve around the Empire's search for the "children of the Force" in its quest to exterminate the Jedi. So, still, maybe, dealing with some mature themes but, I'm going to assume, handled in a child-appropriate way. After all, we are quite used to things like dinosaurs and killer robots and gangsters chasing kids with the intent to kill.

And, well, Disney wanted to bring Star Wars to the Disney Channel, not Cartoon Network, so allowing Clone Wars to slip away allowed Disney to launch Rebels on its own network.

I'm glad to see that some of the characters from Clone Wars will carry over.

So, yeah, I'll be reviewing Rebels as I watch it, but it won't be on a weekly basis like we're doing with The Clone Wars. It will be interesting to see how it compares.

Clone Wars -- "Legacy of Terror" (Ep. 2.7)

-- Sometimes, accepting help is harder than offering it.

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I'm not a big fan of zombies, especially more modern zombie stories with all of their supercharged zombies of utter destruction. I just don't find it interesting. That said, this is one of the more freaky and memorable of all of the Clone Wars series. When we got to the episodes with the return to Geonosis, my younger son immediately got excited about getting to this episode (several episodes into the Geonosis story arc); I can't blame him.

The zombies in this story are... well, they're gross and, yes, freaky. And they want to make the Jedi just like them. Now, doesn't that just sound like so much fun?

One of the things I find interesting in this episode is how unstructured the Jedi actually are, despite appearances to the contrary. There is almost no command structure at all. The Masters and Jedi Council are in control but, really, any Jedi may decide to do whatever he or she pleases without regard to what anyone else says. This is why in The Phantom Menace Qui-Gon and, later, Obi-Wan can decide to train Anakin despite the Council's disapproval. Direct orders other than from Knight to Padawan are rare. Each one feels and uses the Force differently, I suppose.

The other thing about this episode is that it might be the clearest picture yet that we've had about the dynamic between Obi-Wan and Anakin. Anakin is always ready to rush in and solve all of the problems with his lightsaber, rarely stopping to think first. Obi-Wan is more cautious. He's the negotiator and wants to see if there's a non-violent answer first. He also likes to have a plan. His role in the relationship is to hold Anakin back, to make him pause and look before leaping. Anakin is always there to jump in when things get hot if circumstances don't go Obi-Wan's way.


"When this doesn't go as planned, which it won't, I'll be ready."

Clone Wars -- "Senate Spy" (Ep. 2.4)

-- A true heart should never be doubted.

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This is an episode with, kind of, a deliberately misleading title. I'm not going to explain that more than to say it; if you want to know what I mean, you should watch the episode. It's a stand alone, so you can get away with that even if you haven't been watching the series.

However, it isn't the story that interests me about this episode, though the story is fine. Good even. No, what interests me is the continued exploration of Anakin and his attachment issues.

I suppose it might not be entirely clear why the Jedi are not allowed to have attachments, at least from the prospective of the movies. I mean, it's never stated why Jedi are not supposed to own things or form romantic entanglements or, well, have children. Because it seems like having Jedi have children would be the thing to do if you wanted more Jedi children, right? So the underlying reason for the "no attachments" rule is never given. Anywhere. But The Clone Wars gives us plenty of examples, through Anakin, of the issues that arise from having attachments, everything from disobeying orders to retrieve some personal object, to making some one person a priority over completing a mission, to, well, jealousy.

And that's the real issue: Attachments open the Jedi to the negative emotions that lead to the Dark Side of the Force. And that's what's explored in this episode: Anakin's jealousy over a previous lover of Padme's.

So, yeah, the story of the "Senate Spy" is fine. It's good. But it's Anakin's jealousy and his anger and attempt to control Padme's actions because of those things that make the story of real interest.

And, actually, importance.

It's these episodes where we can see Anakin's slide to the Dark Side and that it wasn't some sudden change during Revenge of the Sith.

Also, we get to see, again, a glimmer of Obi-Wan's suspicions about Anakin and Padme, which is good. I mean, it's good that we get to see that he had suspicions, because it's a bit much to believe that Obi-Wan, of all people, had no idea what was going on.

The Tree Hunter

I have previously told a story about how Christmas trees worked at my house when I was a kid. You can read that here. That, though, is not the way Christmas trees work in my house as an adult.

For a couple of years, I suppose, after my wife and I got married, we bought our Christmas tree at a tree lot, but that didn't last. At some point, we fell back into the tradition she had had as a child, which was to go to a tree farm and hunt and kill a tree every year. I have been that hunter.

Not that we all didn't go, but I have traditionally been the one to have final say on the tree. For many reasons:

1. I have the highest standards of tree quality (and if you did go back and read that story, you will understand why).
2. I'm the one that has to deal with the tree and all of its various needs.
3. Because of #2, the tree has to meet certain... safety criteria. For instance, one year, we got a tree that was entirely to stabby, and it scratched me up and caused me to have some kind of allergic reaction. It wasn't fun.
4. I have the highest standards of tree quality. (Did I say that already? I don't think I did.)

So we'd wander around the tree farm, and various children would suggest trees that were too tall or too wide and my wife would suggest trees that had holes in them or had some other defect. Eventually, I'd wander away from them and find a tree; wait around for a while for one of them to come looking for me; when that didn't happen, try yelling for one of them; when that didn't work, venture only so far away as I could still see the tree and look for them and yell some more; when no one responded, mark the tree in some way and move to a better vantage point and yell some more. The yelling almost never worked, but I would finally catch sight of someone and send whoever it was to gather everyone to where I was. They'd all look at the tree I'd found and, yes, agree that that was indeed the tree, and I'd kill it and have it bagged, and we'd take it home.

I've gotten pretty good at locating trees that meet our (my) specifications. So much so that the last couple or few years I've been told, "We can't just take the first tree you find. We have to look more." So we'd look and, then, come back to that first tree, and I'd kill it.

My oldest is about to turn 18 which somehow translated into him getting to be the tree killer this year.

It started innocently enough. I sent him to select the tree killing weapon.

That's it there in his hand as he's arguing about what tree to kill. Okay, that's probably not what's going on there, but I don't actually remember what's going on there even though I took the picture, so they're arguing over what tree to kill. Yes, I'm writing the history as I go along (but at least I'm telling you what I'm changing). When he brought the weapon back, I went to take it from him, and I received the "no, I've got it" response. Usually, that response to anything directly precedes some disaster or another as whoever is saying it shows that, in fact, no, he does not got it. Yes, you could say I was nervous at that point.

So we started up the hill, and, almost immediately, I found the perfect tree. In fact, it was so perfect that there was a lag before my wife said, "No, we can't just take the first tree you find. We have to look more." So we noted the spot and continued hunting. Next, my wife found a tree. A tree that I vetoed because it had a bad branch. But she liked the bad branch, only agreeing with me on the veto because we, also, couldn't just take the first tree she found.

We wandered around and, somehow, I became nothing more than the cameraman. I did wander off and found a couple of other good trees, not as good as the first one, but no one else really liked them. Mostly, I just took pictures.

The other son. I think he's using the Force on this tree.

The lone red tree on a hill of green.

Because persimmons are weird.

Eventually, we ended up back down at that first tree, which everyone agreed was perfect. Until my wife said it was "too perfect." By that point, though, I was just the cameraman, so I just followed along taking pictures as we went looking for the tree with the bad branch. And that is the tree everyone agreed we should get... because it wasn't perfect.

Oldest Son went to work with his weapon.

He's helped before, but he's never done a whole tree by himself. Let's just say his technique is lacking. It took him a looong time to bring that tree down. And he wouldn't let me help or show him anything, either; he just kept saying, "I've got this."

But nothing bad happened. I mean, it took a while, but there were no severed limbs or anything. Only a severed trunk. And, soon, we had my Oldest's first kill.

And, yes, I should have taken some pictures of him carrying the tree down the hill, but, for some reason, I just didn't. And, yes, we carry our trees down the hill. He did ask after he cut it down, "Where's the cart for the tree?" I just shrugged and said, "I always carry the tree, so we didn't bring one. Do you want me to carry it?" Can you guess his response? "No, I've got this."

And he did.

NOTES:
In case you missed it, over the weekend:
I did a guest post over at THe GaL iN THe BLue MaSK all about how writing is easy or it's not. Click the link to go and read it.

Also, Konstanz Silverbow, over at No Thought 2 Small, is giving away some books for Christmas. Day four is "Christmas on the Corner"! Drop by her site to sign up to win and check out the other books being offered while you're there.

The Religion of Writing: Part Three -- Speaking in Tongues

The debate over speaking in tongues, or glossolalia, is not a new thing. Sure, we look at some of the "Charismatic" and Pentecostal churches and the spouting of gibberish from their mouths while they writhe around on the floor and think, "Man, if that's what I need to do to get into Heaven, then leave me out." [And don't ask me why they're called "charismatic" or why it's the "Charismatic Movement," because I don't see any good reason for the usage of the term (and didn't feel like spending more than the 10 minutes I wasted not finding an adequate answer).] Trust me, I'm with you. Well, I'm with those of you that feel the way I do about it. [Because what I can say is that we don't have examples of that kind of behavior in the Bible. Paul never "sizzled like bacon" while letting nonsense drip out of his mouth.] I am not flopping around like a fish out of water or roaring like a lion or any of that other nonsense that goes on when those people are all being "slain in the Spirit."

Which is the heart of the controversy, actually, because "those people" say  they're not doing it by choice. They're being possessed by the Holy Spirit, and they just can't help it. However, it is what gets you into Heaven (according to them), so, well, it's in your best interest to get in there with them and lose control of your bodily functions.

Now, here's the interesting part (isn't there always an interesting part?):
There has been a lot of research done into glossolalia. Which makes sense, because, if it's real, if people are spontaneously speaking some kind of language they didn't previously know, it would be a mighty strong proof of God or, at the very least, some kind of supernatural phenomenon. Before I go on, there are two types of glossolalia:
1. The kind everyone thinks of when they think of speaking in tongues: speaking an unknown language which no one understands. This is usually thought of as speaking in the tongues (languages) of Angels.
2. Xenoglossy: speaking an actual language that the speaker didn't previously know. Like breaking out into fluent Mandarin without ever even having had chow mein or orange chicken.
Here's the first interesting part: Nearly all of the actual instances of glossolalia in the Bible are xenoglossy. During Pentecost, it was xenoglossy that was happening. Or, perhaps, reverse xenoglossy since it was the listeners that actually heard the speakers in their own language.
If you look in the Bible for an example of what we think of when we talk about "speaking in tongues," we get exactly what goes on these days: a bunch of people (in Corinth) speaking in tongues and boasting about it, "Ha ha, we're better than all of you." Paul had to send a letter telling them to cut it out.

Modern xenoglossy is completely unverified. There are sporadic claims that it has happened, but there are never ever any witnesses or proof or anything of the nature. Usually, it's something along the lines of someone coming back from China and proclaiming to have broken out in Chinese while he was there, but there's no way to know if it happened, since there's never anyone available to say, "Oh, yeah, that guy totally spoke Chinese to me." The few case studies have pretty much shown that xenoglossy was not taking place.

Which leaves us with the gibberish form of speaking in tongues. Study after study after study (after study after study) by both linguists and psychologists have shown that no actual languages are being spoken during these episodes. [I'm not going to get into the technical aspect of how they know that.] There is also considerable psychological evidence that these bursts of "tongue speaking" are psychologically triggered in order to conform to expectations. Like peer pressure. What this means is that neither God nor "the Universe" is talking to any of these people. It's all coming out of their own minds.

Not that you can convince them of that.

And, also, that is not to say that there are not or have not been actual cases of speaking in tongues. I believe that some form of xenoglossy happened at Pentecost. There were potentially thousands of witnesses, and the event is recorded in some extra-Biblical texts. And, sure, there is the potential of the other form of speaking in tongues being real, too, just not in big groups of people the way it is commonly claimed today. So I'll admit the possibility of these things but not the current actuality of them.

Which brings me to the writing part of all of this.

So many, many writers claim to get their stories from "the Universe," or some muse, or some source of inspiration that is outside of themselves. "It was as if the story was just given to me, channeled through me, whispered into my ear," or whatever other nonsense. I'm sure there's no more validity to this than there is in the whole speaking in tongues thing. The human mind is a wondrous thing. Infinitely creative. The idea that we are incapable of coming up with remarkable stories is... well, it's just ludicrous.

It's why it bothers me so much that there are people out there trying to disprove that Shakespeare wrote the plays he's credited with. The idea being that no one can be that creative. What? Did the plays just materialize? Spring forth from the aether fully written? Beamed down by aliens? As with a rose, why does it matter what we call the guy who wrote those plays? Someone wrote them, but, instead of just saying, "Wow, what a creative mind," we have people out there trying to prove that, what amounts to, no one having written them. It's kind of insane.

What I say is this:
If you wrote something, own it. I mean, really own it. Don't try to blame it on some outside force or influence. Take responsibility for it, good or bad. And, if it's bad, keep working on it and make it better. If it's good, say, "I did this! Me!" I don't see why it is that we have to always discredit ourselves and our achievements, like we're not good enough. And that's what you're doing when you try to blame your art on the "the Universe": discrediting yourself.

So, yeah, I will admit to the possibility that "the Universe" or the Force or God or, even, aliens may have influenced someone at some time to write something. Or paint something. Or make music. But, just like with speaking in tongues, I'm pretty sure it's not happening on any kind of regular basis. People are just scared to own their creations, because, like in mass "tongue events," society says pretty consistently, "You can't say that you yourself did a good job." But, not only that, society says that when someone comes along and tells us we did, we have to brush it off and say "it was nothing" or "I was inspired." It wasn't me.
What hogwash.

Don't be scared. Take credit for your work. If aliens want to send us books, let them send us the books. They don't need to whisper them in anyone's ear.