Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus

The United States is anything but united when it comes to varying cultures in different regions of the country. America has always had these varying cultures, even back to the days of the thirteen colonies. Today one of the biggest cultural differences in America is the difference between Southern and Northern culture. Now I know that this can be problematic to even define what southern culture is, for in fact what is done in one state may be chided in another. I'm sure certain people in Texas would wish to differentiate themselves from people in South Carolina and I'm sure South Carolina would wish to differentiate themselves from North Carolina. Even within the states themselves there are differences. But at least someone tries to understand what it is about the southern culture that creates an authenticity that is somehow wholly American. Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus (Andrew Douglas) is a film that looks into the back roads culture of the south. The small towns, rural back roads, dives, bars and churches all play a part in creating a world that is strangely beautiful.



Jim White, a converted southerner goes on a journey through the backroads of the south in order to find the meaning behind the southern culture. Along his travels the film interjects moments where musicians perform snippets of songs that reflect the southern culture. The music can been described as alt-rock or rather eclectic folk. The film includes music from varying musicians, including Jim White, The Handsome Family, Melissa Swingle and Lee Sexton. Even David Johansen (ex-New York Dolls member) appears in the film. The music of the film compliments the southern world that is presented, with songs inspired by heartache, death, and religion.



Religion is the main talking point with many of the people who are interviewed in the film. The value that church has on people throughout White's journey is at times odd, profound, hypocritical and traditional. The film does not posit what the differences are between religion in the south compared to that of other states across America, but what is seen is a religious fervor that the filmmakers can only show as something that is southern. In one segment prisoners are interviewed about their crimes and their coming to a redemptive moment. This only seems common amongst prisoners but then there are interviews with those who are not prisoners and redemption is something wholly different. Bar patrons speak of their desire to live life to the fullest on Saturday nights but then find salvation come Sunday morning. Though what is seen in the film is a Protestant belief system, the thinking behind some of those interviewed almost seems Catholic. Penance and forgiveness comes with confession on Sundays but then it is back into the world, the cycle ongoing.



Throughout the film White travels in a beat up Chevy that he borrows from someone he sees as a typical southerner. Early in the film he comes upon a junk yard of sorts and finds a Jesus statue. He purchases the statue and its size is more than the trunk of the Chevy can handle. Jesus sticks out of the car as White travels the south. The statue can be seen as the burden of religion upon the people of the south. As the people try to live up to standards or traditions that have been upon them, the pressure to continue is unnecessary. By the end of the film the statue is left on a desolate road, White drives off and the camera tracks in on the statue. It is as if White is saying that the burden needs to be abandoned if anyone is to truly live. This is one possibility but maybe there is another.



The statue of Jesus shows Jesus pointing to a heart near his heart. As White had intentionally chose to go through the backroads of the south to find the authentic, real southern world. It is possible to say that in essence he chose to become lost in the southern world in order to find the reasons behind the southern culture. The leaving of the statue marks the leaving behind of what was being searched for. The leaving of the statue on the side of the road may very well let us know that one can search for the reasons why the south is unique but to truly find those reasons you have to lose yourself. If religion is so close to the hearts of southerners then Jesus may very well hold the south close to his heart.



Searching For The Wrong Eyed-Jesus shows a world that is at times so different from what is regularly seen on television and news stories across the country. But in that world that is so rarely seen there is an authenticity and beauty that is reflected within the people who live within the back road world. The people reflect what they know to be true, which may be more than what most of us can bare.

The Weather Underground

There is this big part of me that wants to believe that terrorism and acts of terrorism are still a distant reality from the American soil. The reality is that regardless of what I want to feel the truth is terrorism is here. The events of September 11th 2001 can be called day one of the age of terrorism in America, but the documentary film The Weather Underground (Sam Green and Bill Siegel, 2002) can be considered the prologue to terrorism in America. In the turbulent 1960's, university students raised their voices in protest over many issues. Those issues ranged from the war in Vietnam, Civil Rights, the military draft and the actions of the United States government.

During those years students from colleges and university's organized different protest groups in order to unify their frustrations. One group was the S.D.S. (Students For A Democratic Society). S.D.S would gain moment on campus's across the United States making them one of the loudest voices of protest in the country. With the escalation of the Vietnam war and the deaths of prominent protest figures (Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X) and the increased violence coming upon protesters, S.D.S went through inner turmoil over differences in the means to protest their ideology. By 1969 the S.D.S fractured and a new group of extreme radicals formed called the Weathermen.



The Weather Underground interviews members of the Weathermen and their explanations about their actions are all in the guise of violent protest which they display as revolution. The violence that the Weathermen propose is in reaction to the believed failure of peaceful protest. The films use of footage of the Vietnam war and the recollections of the former Weathermen coalesce into a believed justified cause for the actions of the Weathermen. These actions include a jailbreak of Timothy Leary and the bombing of the Pentagon, amongst other bombings. But the price of being a group of revolutionaries did not come without its cost. Three members were killed when a homemade explosive detonated in an apartment in Greenwich village New York. After this incident the United States government began monitoring the members of the Weathermen and warrants for their arrests led them to go underground.



Throughout the film reasons are given for the attacks that are made by the Weathermen. The former members of the group espouse the United States government as the real killers with their actions in Vietnam. Every attack that the Weatherman planned or executed was seen as part of a greater war for humanity. The juxtaposition of Vietnam footage along with recollections of former members seems to show a world gone wrong and life being expendable. The manifesto's and declarations of war by the Weathermen seem heartless but for the greater good. But after the death of their own members in the explosion in Greenwich village, the members of the Weathermen realized that any violence that killed innocent people was terrorism and that they would do whatever it took to not kill anyone who was innocent.

The Weather Underground seems to be a film that looks at the spirit of the Weathermen as a necessity and a justified cause, one that only makes sense in light of the desperation of the counter culture. But what is disturbing about the rhetoric spoken by the Weathermen in the film is the similarity of ideas and tactics by modern day terrorists. Though many agree that todays form of terrorism is connected to religious ideology, there is still a sense of a bond between today's terrorism and terrorism of the past. Maybe that is because of the frustration of knowing that at times the voice of the people is lost in times of turmoil. As governments choose violence or ignore the people they serve, radicalism will exist. With the Weathermen, time led to their downfall. Disillusionment set in as the acts of violence that they proposed did not have the effect that they intended. Within the Weathermen fractures began to form and it seems that some of the members began to see life as something greater than violence. Many surrendered to the government and jail sentences were commuted do to illegal investigations by the United States government.



By the end of the film one member of the Weathermen sees the danger in today's terrorism and comes to understand that the Vietnam war led many people to act outside of who they were. War does root out a high string of emotions and an illusion of extremeness. As long as there are those who feel injustice and are ignored violence will emerge. What will also emerge is the inner turmoil of knowing that violence breeds more violence. May we all discern the lessons learned by the Weathermen.

Paris Is Burning

Competition is a part of who we are. It is this ingrained mindset that manifests itself in various forms. Whether it be football, baseball or basketball, or even to things like spelling bee's, cooking or singing; competition can be found in most everything. Paris is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990) is a film about a unique competition in New York city. A competition that is based on fashion and glamour. The name of the competition in the film is called "The Ball." The Ball is not a typical fashion competition of the best dressed or which designs are better than another, though those things are a factor, but rather the Ball is based upon who looks like they could pass as one of the various categories within the competition. Pass? The competitors of this event are homosexuals and drag queens. There goal is to not only look fashionable but to also try to look as if they belong in the heterosexual world they live.

The Ball of Paris is Burning and its' various categories are examined by those who participate in the event. Along with the different categories that are examined there is an examination into the people who participate in the Ball and the hopes and dreams that they have. One particular member of the Ball is Dorian Corey. Dorian is an elder-statesman, so to speak, of the Ball and being a drag queen. Dorian's life experience as a drag queen makes her a type of wise sage. Her perspective seems calmer and introspective rather than the younger drag queens. But there is one thing that is common among all of those interviewed in the film, and that is of fame and fortune.



The Ball is a place where legends can be made. Certainly they may only be legends of the community of New York drag queens that take part in the Ball but none the less they are legends. By becoming a legend at the Ball there is the glory and honor of being the best and a level of respect that one can carry with them. For as much as the Ball is a niche event, the chance to win a trophy and be accepted by one's peers is very much a way of coping with the reality of living in a world where being a drag queen and being an outsider can be very cruel.

What may be one of the most fascinating aspects of Paris is Burning is the measure in which the different categories of the Ball are judged. Some of the categories that are featured are; dressing to go to school, military, opulence, street dress,town and country, work dress, among many other categories. One of the main points of being judged is whether or not the contestant looks as though they could fit into the outside world without getting noticed. The ability to pass as the opposite sex without being noticed is a desire that at times outweighs fame or fortune. But many of the contestants see the outside world and the manner in which "normal people" live as the acme in which to strive for. Jennie Livingston at times juxtaposes shots of workers and businessmen and women as they walk the streets of New York. These shots show the fashion and the standard in which many in the film are desiring to live. In the segment of the film on opulence the contestants who dress to be like those who are rich seems ridiculous. For in fact the ideas of opulence are garnered from fashion magazines and the media. Even though the dress and the mannerisms of the contestants may seem ridiculous it is not far fetched to be someone who has been raised with little to no chance of ever being opulent to want to act opulent.



Though the mask of opulence can be portrayed, the reality of actually being opulent is far off. For one participant in the Ball, Willi Ninja, there does seem to be some hope for success. One segment of the film is about Vogueing, a form of competitive dance that represents mimicking poses from Vogue magazine. The angles in which the competitors move their bodies are described as sharp knives. Competitors will move around each other vogueing but without touching each other. Willi Ninja is seen as the best and his desire to take vogueing to the world is fulfilled. Vogueing becomes a legit performance art and Willi is a spokesman for it. What the director Livingston is able to do is show that Vogueing becomes legit because the mainstream world accepts it. This is seen through the showing of a television news report on vogueing. The same media device in which those who participate in the Ball look to for acceptance becomes the device in which acceptance is affirmed.



As the American dream is talked about in the film the harsh reality of that dream is also seen. As Dorian says in one segment about clothing, even if you wear a designer label that symbolizes wealth it doesn't mean that you have wealth. Dorian's statement is a good allegory for which those in the Ball are living their life. It seems that the Ball means something but at the same time it means nothing. The Ball will continue to change but the desires of those who participate may never change. Dorian says at the end of the film if a few remember who you are then you left a mark rather than change the whole world. Dorian calls for enjoyment and if you find success then so be it. These words are reflective of the wise teacher of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes that says ,"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work." Dorian's last words seem to reflect the resignation of what time can do to someone who has strived for acceptance in the straight world. If wealth is the goal then what is the goal for the wealthy? Maybe it is the lyrics to the song that is repeated throughout Paris is Burning; to be real.