The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin is a fantastic book. If sci-fi, fantasy or post-apocalyptic novels are your jam, then I cannot recommend this book enough.
One note, this book at times, is very violent. This may seem to be an obvious statement given that the book starts with the line "This is the way the world ends" and primarily deals with an oppressed group of people and a giant hole being ripped into the earth. But the thing that I felt really sets The Fifth Season apart from a variety of other media where violence simply happens, is that from very early on, Jemisin wants you to understand the violence.
This is best illustrated by an early scene in the novel. If you've read the novel you can probably guess which scene I'm discussing. For those concerned with spoilers, this scene takes place very early in the story, so fear not.
Damaya has been locked in her family's barn for a while. Her parents are afraid of her. When the barn door opens, it is a man who her parents have agreed to let take her away. Damaya has an unease about this stranger, but he promises to take her away from her family and for the moment that is enough. His name is Schaffa.
On the ride to their destination, Schaffa and Damaya converse. Damaya never quite lets go of distrust for him. His openness about who she is, and what she can do is affecting. He explains things that sound clear and obvious to young Damaya, but as readers, we start to feel that something is a little off in how he's describing her new future. She has great power but it needs to be controlled. He is to be her guardian, and as such, he'll teach the lessons she needs to learn in order to not endanger herself or others.
On this ride, Damaya's hand is placed on the pommel of the horse's saddle. Softly at first, he places his hand on hers. He asks if she can maintain control of herself at all times? She says she can. Then, with his hand overtop her's on the pommel, he starts to squeeze. Damaya is in great pain as the tiny bones of her hand start to snap. Her power, the power that makes her who she is, would allow her to strike down Schaffa at any moment...
But this is the lesson. If she does nothing, she passes the test. So she does not. And her teacher, her guardian, who has broken her hand, eventually lets go.
Shortly after, her teacher asks if she understood the lesson. That it goes beyond a cruel trick to try and expose a response. She does. She replies that she now understands that he will hurt her if he has to in order to teach her. Her power is great enough that no measure of insurance against it is too much.
This is not violence for violence sake. Pain for Damaya is a reminder. It is the beginning of internalization that because of who she is, violence is acceptable. And more than that, violence against her, is her own fault. This scene reverberates through the rest of the novel in a number of different ways, and it sets up a key internal struggle for Damaya that is representative of the internal struggle of many people.
At no point are we asked to sympathize with the teacher. We are asked, perhaps at most, to recognize the ingenuity and the malice behind his actions. His violence shows us the nature of the relationship between guardians and orogenes, which is foundational for the rest of the novel as well.
Throughout The Fifth Season, violence is used with a purpose. It is not used simply as motivation or shown to excess. It is purposeful and deliberate, which makes it all the more devastating and difficult to see.
For me, The Fifth Season is very much a book about an oppressed people who see violence against them as acceptable. This forms a weight around them that they all must drag along in their lives. It's a weight that we can recognize and root for them to throw off.
This too becomes a key part of the novel, when this oppressed group begins to find an ability to fight back, are we willing to welcome violence as part of the answer? In a story where violence has been treated flippantly, we have little pause to welcome violence as part of the solution. But in The Fifth Season, where violence is malicious, hurtful and exacting, we are given pause before welcoming it as part of the solution.
My vibe on this is to try to write no matter what because building/keeping the habit is key. A lot of times I’ll go write something totally different then what I’m normally working on or just hit up that journal style stream of consciousness. I think the biggest battle is just getting words down sometimes.
I want to start off by saying that I have enjoyed both Goon films. As a hockey fan, it's always fun to see the sport in action and the comedy a lot of times was spot on. And as you read through this piece you may think, jeez guy, it's just a funny movie, and that's fair. But I think, especially for the sequel, there could have been more.
Goon 2: Last of the Enforcers nearly shares its name with another hockey film, the documentary The Last Gladiators. That documentary takes a hard and often uncompromising look at a role that has long been celebrated in the sport of hockey; a role that is slowly fading from the game, the enforcer. The guy who is there to fight.
It makes sense for Goon's sequel to share a similar name to the documentary. It looks at the possible end of a career for our hero, the dolt and brawler, Doug Glatt. There's no doubt that the sequel shines an uglier light on fighting than it's predecessor. In the end, however, this is a comedy that misses an opportunity to say something about today's game.
The first Goon film deals with Doug Glatt wanting to be part of a hockey team. He realizes that his ability to fight can be the ticket into the game. The first film climaxes with a title tilt against the league's resident bad man Ross "The Boss" Rhea.
Goon 2 is less celebratory about fighting. Doug has to weigh family responsibilities and recurring injuries with his desire to play a game he loves. And while the film is a comedy that's built to be taken lightly, I felt like it almost tried to say something about the nature of fighting in hockey.
The first hint of an opinion on this comes when we return to Ross Rhea. Rhea is retired from hockey and now fighting on ice for a handful of spectators in a darkened arena and a $100 dollar payout to the winner. It is a sad affair for someone who knows nothing else. And if it was left there, it might have been a statement made about the injuries and lives hockey fighters are left to when they leave the sport. But before the end of the film, Rhea has returned to the grandeur of the game to have one last bout for his team. The celebration is back and the movie tells us it's all worth it.
In Doug as well we have someone who might make the best choice for himself and his family to no longer fight. It would be hard to play this choice as an overly emotional grind given the lack of complexity of Doug's character, but we all know how this will end. Doug steps up, eventually with his wife's blessing, to have a final tilt. He risks a lot, that much is made clear within the film, but it is tied up with a nice bow in a way that comedies usually do.
His opponent, once bested, with blood flowing from his mouth, tells his team-owner/ father, "I hate this sport." And maybe that's as strong a statement as can be made in a comedy focused on a fighter who can't cut it any other way.
It seems like writer-director Jay Baruchel has thoughts on these things that he'd like to share, but this is a comedy after all. It doesn't quite serve as the place for a big statement, which is too bad. Because while the movie is busy showing us brutal punches, it fails to land any hits of its own.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Moments that Make You Pause.
[General, though minor, Story Spoilers]
There is a brilliant moment in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy that struck me while I played through.
I thoroughly enjoyed the game. I’ve long been a fan of the Uncharted series and this game didn’t disappoint. From small gun battles to lots of leaping and puzzle solving, The Lost Legacy lived up to the Uncharted name without question.
Having two women as the key figures made for some unique dialogue and relationship building we don't’ get to see too often. Having one of the main characters of the game be the villain from Uncharted 4 was another great move that served as a constant question Uncharted was posing to us: can we trust her?
The moment that gave me pause comes later in the game as Nadine and Chloe enter the old capital of Behul. Chloe, since the very beginning of the game, has kept a small token, a figurine from her father’s own treasure hunts. Her relationship with her father is an important and emotional part of Chloe’s character.
You have to understand, Chloe is in many ways like her father who was obsessed with finding hidden treasure as well. However as Chloe tells us, he was unable to let go, and eventually, that obsession took him away from Chloe. You can hear it from Chloe here:
As they enter a long-hidden treasure room from a former Indian empire our eyes are drawn to the central piece in the middle. It is an ornate horn stature made of gold and wood. Along the top, there are some 20 figurines all in a line. One is missing.
We as the player register this a split second before either character does. But as they do we can see their faces, Nadine looks to Chloe to get a read and in Chloe’s face, we see understanding. Understanding that her father was onto something big, something important when his life ended. Understanding even though he’s not here with them, she is in a spot exactly where she stood so many years before and that means they are sharing something.
To me, this was an awesome and emotional moment as a player and it really stopped me in my tracks. It served as a reminder of what video games can accomplish. Uncharted has long been atop the pile of cinematic games out there and to me, the level of emotional development in The Lost Legacy make it one of my favourite games in the series to date.
With news that the British record-setting sensation TV series Bodyguard was coming to Netflix, I was interested to see what all the fuss was about. I had heard a little about the show by reading a couple articles stating that apparently everyone in Britain was watching and losing their collective minds over the show. But beyond that, I went in with not much more information than the synopsis and that the first scene involved a train.
In the one article I read, British audiences reportedly "couldn't breathe" due the to the tension and suspense throughout the series’ 6 episodes.
After watching all 6 episodes over the course of about a week and a half, I'm not seeing it.
The story follows David Budd, who is an Afghan war veteran now serving as a police officer in the Met. The show kicks off as David is returning home with his kids on a train. Some suspicious activity draws David's intuition and shortly thereafter we're in the middle of David negotiating with a suicide bomber and a police force with itchy trigger fingers.
Much of the show follows this incident as David is assigned to be the personal bodyguard to the Home Secretary, who is in the midst of pushing forward legislation allowing the government to tap phones and other digital devices.
David's relationship with the home secretary, Julia Montague, makes up the bulk of the emotional weight of the show. There are also elements of David's family and his own mind that play roles as well.
Maybe I'm just not used to the 6 episode series, I but I really felt that all of these relationships simply did not get well explored. Budd's relationship with Montague goes to some obvious places and very little happens between them that isn't expected. The same can be said for the light drama that happens between David and his family, for the most part, it's nothing we haven't seen before.
The plot of the show does feature some tense moments that are filmed well and feature great pacing, but it's nothing that left me gobsmacked. The show offers the usual red herrings, twists and opportunities for collective theories that people love to chat about over the water-cooler or group chats.
One thing I'll discuss in very vague terms: the show makes a very interesting decision midway through the series which vaults the action and emotional drive of the show in a new direction. I've seen some discussion about it online and for me, in the end, I don't think it worked.
Overall I think I came to the show with expectations set too high. If cop shows and whodunits are your thing, there’s lots to appreciate and enjoy in Bodyguard. If you're looking for something to knock you off your feet though, this isn't it.
You are unlikely to find this post throughout the whirlwinds of your days and most of these things I can say to you, so it might seem funny that i write them here.
And yet, some days I feel like i just can’t tell you enough how much you mean to me and how much I care for you. Sometimes, even as we snuggle whispering I love yous, I feel like there is a depth that I am trying to express that simple words can not grasp.
And so I will write you these notes in hopes that one day, you might find them and know that on nights when you are ready asleep or on my tough days, I am thinking of you.
I consider your embrace one of my deepest joys. I never feel like I belong somewhere more than when you wrap me up and rest your head on my chest. You make me feel strong and delicate at the same time.
You may think this is weird, but when I’m in the dentist chair and the uncomfortableness of a small drill attacking my teeth is causing all kinds of unease, I think of you. I think of you and I’m able to leave where I am for awhile and suddenly the strange or anxious situation I’m in, is left behind.
In short, I love you, and I’m still looking for new ways to show you.
It’s a rare occurrence for me to regale an individual or an audience in short form. Whether a question about my day or someone chiming in to ask ‘how did that happen?” I’m adept at giving full context and ill-suited to be brief.
When friends turn their attention my way it is often with endearing terms like “let’s settle in” or “here comes a story” And though made in jest, I take great pride in it.
Not long ago at a cottage party with friends and strangers alike, a drinking game was made that for every 30 seconds I continued a tale, everyone had to drink.
There were many hangovers the next morning.
Though, I can read a room. yawns, rolling eyes, or checked watches will hurry the tale to its conclusion... most of the time. But in this setting, there was fun to be had both in the stories and in their telling. So I pressed forward with each tale as the came to share their humour, embarrassment and fun with all who would partake.
It is my sincere pleasure to bring understanding and humour in the tales I tell, be it recapping what someone missed as they arrived late, or a strong pulled from childhood as part of the conversation.
There are those who can be brief and concise and I’ll not hold that against them. Brevity is called for on occasion and is served best at those times.
But it is when there are time and space for the telling that is my favourite.
[Movie Thoughts] Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Video Game Movies.
I mean, what else were they going to call it? Zathura 2?
I had heard the reviews of the new Jumanji film and those reviews were generally along the lines of “you know, it was actually pretty funny.” Clearly, it seemed, many critics and others I knew did not have a high bar for this film. But after the first couple trailers dropped, and the early reviews started breaking out, the public opinion on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle started to turn pretty positive. I became intrigued.
And then it started making all the money.
So when friends suggested they wanted to see the film this weekend I couldn’t help but join in. And you know what, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle might just be the best video game movie ever made.
A central theme in Jumanji: WttJ is the players and their avatars. Our four high schoolers end up picking their in-game characters based on name alone which, as the trailer shows us, leads to all sorts of hijinks. But the movie follows through with the themes of not feeling like you’re being true to yourself and understanding the world through someone else’s perspective. These are all systems video games have long played with.
Another key import from video games is the “lives” the players have. Each has three lives within the game of Jumanji and this mechanic is used exceptionally well as our heroes go from unsure of themselves tooverly enthusiastic and right back to worried as some of their life-counts get lower.
Add to this that our main character, a nerd who loves video games named Spencer consistently points out video game elements of Jumanji to help the team pass obstacles and you have a film that is unafraid to be a video game.
Jumping back to the player avatars. Jumanji does a great job of getting humour from the characters picking video game avatars that play against type. Spencer the nerd becomes the heroic and brave Dwane Johnson etc. But the film also walks that line with some of our favourite actors playing against type, especially Jack Black and The Rock. There is a dichotomy here that really works.
Beyond these video game elements, Jumanji is a solid film.
Jumanji does great work throughout focusing on team work and the value each person brings to the table. Each video game character our protagonists inhabit has strengths, but also weaknesses. It is only by learning to accept themselves, and each other, as they are that they can work together and come out victorious.
Another thing: this movie is a riot. I had heard that it was pretty funny, perhaps funnier than you might expect but that does not do the film justice. Sure some of the humour is childish, and there is a fair share of humour for the kid’s parents, but past that the movie has some great gags, jokes and running bits that had me laughing heartily.
With Jumanji, there is a lot more going on than just some loose sequel greenlit by entertainment executives to try and cash in on an old favourite. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle stands as a very funny film, and just maybe, one of the better video game movies we’ve seen in a long time.
