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Subject: Akeelah

Author:
Jimmy

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Date Posted: 23:15:43 09/12/07 Wed
Author Host/IP: c-71-197-21-170.hsd1.mi.comcast.net/71.197.21.170
In reply to: Jimmy 's message, "Re: Two films" on 21:14:59 09/12/07 Wed

"Kabbalah (there are many accepted spellings; it would therefore not be a good spelling bee word, though "Akeelah" pretends that it would be, in one scene)"

Really!? Okay, now that begs the question: Is there something inherent about Judaism and Spelling Bees? Seriously. Before I go any further, Happy Rosh Hashana ("Tell that Kraut I don't play checkers on Rosh Hashana!" "What's Rosh Hashana, Walter?" SHUT THE FUCK UP DONNY!" Sorry, I couldn't resist that opportunity).

In the Gere one, what I found most intriguing was the fact that the little girl was able to talk directly to God--as in converse. Gere does a nice job of setting up and the little girl is incredible in the scene. During the finals, however, it turns very new-age and I sensed some would be outraged though I neglected to pursue that angle any further. Perhaps wikipedia can enlighten me.

"...is the body of mystical thought in Judaism. A few hundred years ago, the rabbis banned its study except for scholars over the age of forty,"

Interesting. I can see the logic in that. Back to the Gere then: he had no right teaching her how to do that then, right?

"...partly in reaction to a disastrous episode involving a Messiah figure who dabbled in Kabbalah but eventually converted to Islam,"

What the FUCK!? I'm amazed when anybody (outside of black Americans--and I'm not being disparaging) converts to Islam. But a Jew?

"...leading to the creation of a weird new sect that combined the two religions."

Wow. I'm literally flabbergasted right now. I wonder if there is a sect here in the Metro Detroit area. We've got a decent-sized Jewish community (Sam Raimi, yo) and of course, more Arabs than anywhere else in America. No beef, though. The Arabs here hate the blacks.

"Later, when Hasidism emerged in the eighteenth century, it was a return to Kabbalah for the Jewish masses, and it was very controversial among the rabbinic establishment."

I have to admit I'm no longer tracking. I know what Hasidism is but I'm not clear if you're stating that Hasidism is the hybrid Judeo-Islamic Faith.

"Nowadays, non-Hasidic yeshivas avoid the study of Kabbalah. Yet if a yeshiva student dares suggest that Kabbalah has its origin in medieval thought and does not, in fact, go back to Moses, he would risk being labeled a heretic."

I can see that...I think. It's sort of like when Colbert mocks Bush for believing God is telling him what to do while at the same time Colbert himself is a believer, just more skeptical than Bush.

"There's no official rule that Orthodox Jews have to believe in Kabbalah (it is not one of Maimonides' thirteen tenets of Judaism, which are usually taken as a good description of Orthodox belief today), but it still maintains a strong influence over Orthodoxy (in theory, if not in practice)."

I'm tracking you. What I'm amazed at is this divide though I'm not entirely sure I read you right on the Hasidic Jews being the Muslim sect. Correct me if I'm going to far with this assumption but it seems that Orthodox Jews devoutly believe yet they maintain an intellectual approach to their beliefs yet could risk the charge of seeming detached to those who feel a more mystic connection in their day-to-day lives.

In any case, the Islam expatriate seems similar to the Fundamentalist Christian charges brought against Rome for incorporating Pagan beliefs (I love the irony that the very Pagans who now espouse the fundamental value of King James ARE THE VERY ONES who forced Rome to jedi-mind trick them so they didn't ravage the entire civilization (by the way, if you're interested in that time frame I'm reading a great book my girl has called "How The Irish Saved Civilazation." First of all, it's quite hilarious and secondly Cahill flawlessly balances his pride of his barbarian ancestry with his love of Catholicism while finding a perfect (though acerbic) middle-ground between the two.)

"I took it to be a PC feel-good movie,"

Cool. I'll grab it when I'm feeling the love. Been awhile since the last time I saw one of those, though I'm convinced "The Pursuit Of Happyness" would have worked on me irregardless.

"...though I suspect that conservatives like Michael Medved praised it as a film that encouraged a hard-work ethic for minorities."

Ha-ha...but I do see your point, I just don't understand why you had to make it at the expense of Medved. That's Limbaugh/Hannity territory and even you can admit Medved 'gets it' in comparison to them. Medved's a thinker where Hannity and Limbaugh--I NOW TRULY BELIEVE--believe the shit coming out of their mouths. Especially Hannity. I get that now thanks to Orwell though I give Limbaugh credit for his deceptive abilities. I thought they were all serpentine when it came to policy but now I see some of them have limited their thought so completely that they hit the pillow at night with no guilt. What I'm saying is if Medved were to make your satirical claim I would hear him out because I believe that not only does he believe it but he wants to see it come to fruition in the real world and may even be actively involved in making it happen. Same with O'Reilly. Hannity wants it to happen but that's as far as he'll go. Limbaugh would employ that sentiment in the hopes of assuaging his audience which, now that I think about it, brings us back to Hannity.

"Homeschoolers tend toward lower middle class, usually two-parent homes where one of the parents isn't working."

That makes sense as they employ the indignation of the progressive yet radical take-charge mindset. THEY'RE STILL IN THE FIGHT!!!

"The Angela Bassett character would not have been a good candidate for a homeschooling mom, though Akeelah would probably have thrived as a homeschooled child herself."

In all honesty, who wouldn't? (assuming the teacher was qualified)

"Same here, although you've got to admit the broken English was kitschy. Is it possible that a man who lived in the country for several decades would not master English? Sure it is. But if that were the case, he would have trouble communicating with natives. Mr. Miyagi never has any difficulty understanding others, and nobody ever has any difficulty understanding him, despite his pidgin-level grammar. Moreover, he demonstrates throughout the film a mastery of English idiom, yet he seems unable to conjugate a simple verb. This leads him to say things like "You beginner luck" and "Not everything is as simple as seem." This is plainly absurd. Either you know the language or you don't."

Good God, this IS your life. You should challenge Nunberg to a fist-fight. Shake him up, get inside his head. He's in your way, bro! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

"If you're familiar with the expressions, you'd know how people normally phrase them.

For Japanese immigrants I've met, the thing about English they struggle with the most is the pronunciation. Mr. Miyagi doesn't seem to have any trouble on that front: he never confuses l's with r's, nor does he ever sound incomprehensible in any other way. This makes sense, considering that the actor (Pat Morita) is in fact a native English speaker, born and raised in the United States. His Japanese accent is a put-on, and it would have been a distraction for the film to deal with issues of communication difficulties. So why shouldn't the character speak good English, as most immigrants in real life do? The answer, of course, is that the film is following a long cinematic tradition of having Eastern masters hand out their kernels of wisdom in halted, broken English. The cliche is so pervasive that it even found its way into the "Star Wars" universe, with Yoda's backwards syntax."

But that begs the question of why Pat Morita chose to play the part that way? I'll buy the Yoda animus though I've come to see Yoda as more of a Gandhi-type who is capable of snapping when the shit goes down. Did Morita get top billing over Machio? (who was also portrayed as the stereotypical hyper-active, emotional Guinea.

"Fishburne plays an eloquent English speaker, with perfect diction and not a hint of a "black" accent. I've never seen him in interviews, but from watching his movies I suspect that's what he sounds like in real life. His performance as Ike Turner was as much an impersonation as Morita's pidgin-speaking Japanese master."

I never saw his Ike but I saw his Othello and like his British counterparts, I couldn't understand what he was saying either. But his Morpheus did have an undeniable presence and I attribute it to the eloquence you cited.

"I've thought of emailing Nunberg for one reason or another, but getting him to change his mind on this issue is the last of my interests. Especially since I agree with him on so many other things."

THEN DO IT!!! What the fuck, who cares. If you got something you wanna say to him throw it out there. What's the worst that could happen? Two Words: Attention Grabber

"When Russell Shaw tried to use spelling bees to prove that homeschoolers learn through "rote recitiation," I had the temptation to contact him. Homeschooling is one subject near and dear to me. But I didn't really care to spend my energy trying to convince one commentator I've never heard of before."

I think I remember you mentioning that only in another context. That is so ludicrous. You've got all day and all the attention to yourself. Who the fuck would waste that contingency for critical thought and resort to the sort of drilling one finds in Basic Training?

Now tell me this: was the catalyst of his claim due to Homeschoolers success at Spelling Bees? Are they the usual winners? I have no idea where these kids come from (or why ESPN feels the need to televise it)

"I did try to write something on the message board following his column, but it was rejected, probably because it consisted simply of a link to my blog post. I might have tried to post a condensed version of my arguments, but by the time I realized my first post hadn't been accepted, the discussion had devolved into a boring creationism debate."

What the fuck? Who is this guy? I assumed he was a linguist like Nunberg. (At first I thought he was the little dude from "My Dinner With Andre.") Is this dude supposed to be somebody? I've never seen him on Chris Matthews. (He was drunk again today and was just ALL OVER Laura Ingraham.)

">Wait, why don't I do it for you...with your
>permission, of course.

Suits me."

So that means you want to read it first? Otherwise, the next time I'm drunk and my courage is up I'll drop Jeff a line. Shit, why not? Who the FUCK IS HE!!!? I'll just refer to you as Marbeh Raglaim and if I make an ass out of myself he'll never know it was you. I'll get him to bite. He isn't gay is he? I've got some research to do. Time for another pill.

YES!!!

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
Re: Akeelah	Kylopod	23:00:28 09/15/07 Sat