I just finished watching Andrew Schulz’s new special “LIFE” on netflix. I know that dude has been in the headline about his comments about Black women during his interview with Shzt and gigs. But personally I don’t think dude is a bad guy, certainly not a racist. I think Andrew is a guy like me and you. A guy in the know. A guy with his finger on the pulse. As a comedian should. Schulz’s is an equal opportunist offender lol everyone can get these jokes.
Do The Right Thing is a movie I’ve heard about for years now and I finally made my way to see it. Spike Lee’s movies are always powerful with what feels like a hidden message if you’re sharp enough to catch it. Mookie, the main character played by Spike Lee, works at Sal’s Pizzeria delivering pizzas around the neighborhood on foot. As he makes his deliveries we meet the neighbors(or supporting cast) which all play their part in communicating Spike Lee’s many messages throughout the movie.
Mookie, the main character, is a hard working young man that tends to play peacemaker throughout the film. He focused on making money and though he’s not like the majority of the people in the neighborhood without a job, he still has his own sets of issues when it comes to responsibilities and maturing as an adult.
The three elders, as I call them, watch from across the street observing and criticizing the neighborhood, amazed at how the Korean shop owners have done so much in such little time since their arrival to the neighborhood. One of the wise men says that in time he’s going to save up his money and do the same thing as the Korean shop owner. But quickly the one of the other elders confronts him telling him that he isn’t going to do anything. That he’s just all talk.
Tina, played by Rosie Perez (Mookie’s baby’s mother), complains about Mookie not doing enough for her and the baby but also is continuing to see Mookie for good times. When Mookie tries to leave she quickly switches back from loving partner to angry baby mother.
Each character has a message or a theme that they are trying to communicate either directly or indirectly through their actions. If you haven’t seen Do the right Thing, I suggest you give it a watch and see if you can catch all the different themes and messages that the cast is trying to communicate to the viewers. I feel a lot of these characters are still around in modern day.
KAZMALOOP has interesting perspective on Vince Staples
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”
This nihilist perspective has caught my interest, as I find myself somewhere between nihilism and pessimism. Everything around feels superficial or performative. No one wants to be honest while simultaneously no one can be. To truly be vulnerable is to show weakness, and if both our backs are against the wall the majority of people will exploit your weakness if it means they can be a step above you. No matter the relationship with the person. All relationships are power dynamics with an ever-shifting scale.
So what do you do when you think you have to be the toughest in the room if it means you’ll be at peace? You come into every room prepared for war, with a layer of armor so thick that not even you yourself can remove it. Ready to destroy anyone if they challenge or cross the line with you. Look at our music, look at our movies. Every character is a balancing act trying to appear sane amongst the insanity of the reality we participate in daily. No different from the people watching to escape their own reality.
There’s a cost to be free, it was I think Nietzsche is getting at. You can’t stare into the abyss and believe what you see as normal. The only way out is to know the abyss, without losing your sanity. To live in this duality, where what you know you are doing is wrong but it’s your means of survival. To be wrong and be alive at the cost of your sanity long enough to find peace.
Burning in paradise 