Genius at Work

True genius knows no bounds.


The title of this post is "Genius at Work", and it in no way reflects the author, but people the author considers genius.

There's something about people that produce great things (whether they be works of art, music, literature, etc.) that I find completely compelling. In fact, I have no problem DVR-ing an hour-long documentary about the making of the Sydney Opera House (Jorn Utzen you clever bastard!) or full length features on the evolution of 8-track recording (about that rapscallion Tom Dowd, see "Tom Dowd and the Language of Music") or the making of Duran Duran's Rio on VH1 Classic.


Duran Duran: Genius comes a-yachtin'.

What intrigues me about these endeavors is the process involved. We look at something like the finished product of the Sydney Opera House, for example, and we see a cool looking building with some spheres and cones and shit. Pretty sweet. But what's more interesting to me, is how in the hell:

1. They came to that design.
2. They actually made it!


The Sydney Opera House, which its architect has never seen in person.

I think we take for granted the process of execution when we see the finished product. I don't have to be a world-famous (or relatively obscure) architect to appreciate how f***in' hard it must have been to create those spheres out of concrete, put them up, and make sure the building didn't crash down around them!

So, yeah, I'd say that's pretty genius. Now, that's genius by committee, but still pretty bad ass.

The same can be said for the way I approach music. Now, this is not to say that all musical endeavors are genius (see Michael Bolton, The Jonas Brothers, and Soulja Boy), but there are some that certainly are.

To wit:
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys.

	BEACH BOYS - 01 - Wouldn t It Be Nice .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Now, it seems rather innocuous on its surface, as a lot of Beach Boys' songs do, but I ran across this, and it helped further embed Brian Wilson as a genius of popular music and music production. Take a look:



Listening to Brian Wilson direct that assemblage of studio musicians (that's the "Wrecking Crew" who played on just about every song that came out of LA in the 60s/70s) I am blown away at how he can put those layers together.
Keep in mind that this is also 1966. At most they had 8 tracks (if Tommy Dowd was there, see supra note), but they probably had 4. So, they had to have all the music played live, no room for overdubs, no individual tracks to punch in and out of, and according to [*ahem*] Wikipedia, it only took 21 takes...pretty amazing. Then you've got the tight harmonies of the vocals, that blend with that overall production. It really is amazing (and this is before The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, too, an album that everyone tried to replicate once it came out in 1967...yet that album and Pet Sounds, from which "Wouldn't It Be Nice" comes, sound like peers).

My appreciation for it skyrocketed once I saw/heard the process of recording. There is so much value to the end product that is not seen because the end product is so good! The process is invisible, and you're left with a work of art. Also, I find this stuff incredibly interesting. To see Brian Wilson's process is to peer inside of his creative mind a bit. Obviously, he's not the best communicator, but the ends justify the means here, for sure.

I also think the construction of the song itself is pretty genius. To me, as is said in that short tube YouTube documentary above, it's "a happy song about not getting what you want". That's pretty apt. And pretty genius. Brian Wilson wrote a song that could come across happy, and yet be pretty depressing when you look at it through that lens.


Robert Smith of The Cure did not invent 'happy to be sad', after all.

That's how I've always viewed the song. Though, in my frame of reference, I don't even think it's all that happy.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so long,
And wouldn't it be nice to live together, in the kind of world where we belong?

That's not really that "happy" of a sentiment, you know? It's framed by the "Wouldn't it", which really makes it a song that laments the current state of the singer, while couching it within an upbeat context. He's saying, it's not great or nice right now, but wouldn't it be if the following things happened? Really, it's no different than the lamentations of say, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", "I'll Follow the Sun" by The Beatles, or "I Wish" by Skee-Lo.


Skee-Lo probably wishes he had 8 'D' batteries.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up, in the morning when the day is new,
And after having spent the day together, hold each other close the whole night through?

Ouch. That right there is heart-wrenching, isn't it? I mean, if you've ever loved and lost (author's note: check that box, 'yes'), then this is a kick-in-the-stomach kind of line. When you find yourself in that category of people then that's how you feel: it would be nice to do those things, but they are past. So this can also be read as a lamentation of the past, when things were better, and you wish you could return to them (see also, "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder, and "Glory Days" by Bruce Springstein). And yet the music remains pretty happy throughout. Damn you Wilson!


5 out of 5 experts agree: getting dumped feels like this.

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true,
Baby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do
We could be married
And then we'd be happy

Wouldn't it be nice?

Again, taken from the perspective of the singer that wants these things but can't have them, or has lost them along the way, this takes us further down the spiral of depression. He says "maybe if we wish and think and hope and pray"...so he's trying to be positive about the possibility of all these future things out of reach that might make him happy, yet he really can't bet on it. How true is that, Brian Wilson?

And again, it closes out with "wouldn't it be nice", which is a question, not an answer to all the problems the singer has presented us with throughout the song. Does the person he's singing about know he feels this way? Does that person want these things, too? Does the singer even want them, or is it just a comfortable nostalgia for a relationship that never was? At the end of the song, there isn't an answer to Brian Wilson's question; we don't know if it "would be nice". We think it would, but instead of answering definitively, he just lets it linger.

I'd call that genius.

Further proof of the powerful juxtapositioning this song can provide can be seen in Michael Moore's film, Roger & Me, a fantastic little piece about my depressing hometown of Flint, Michigan. Seen in the clip below is Ben Hamper, an auto worker who had a bit of nervous breakdown the day he lost his job and heard "Wouldn't It Be Nice" on the radio on the way home. He recounts a bit of the story below, and then Moore uses that to jump into a montage about the Flint of 1985. Check it out:



So, yeah, that's kind of what the song embodies for me, too: a lost ideal that we will still hold on to, even when everything around us begs us to question the ideal's very existence. But for me, I believe it does exist - and it would be nice.

Genius.

Celebrity Death Text, #4

"Wha'choo talkin' 'bout, St. Peter?"

or

RIP Gary Coleman, cause of death: different stroke. [*thanks, Nick Phillips!]

Really?...Really?

I was inspired to write this after my latest trip to the mall. And by 'latest' trip to the mall I think I could mean 'last' trip to the mall. Especially on a Saturday. Where do all the worst things in American culture coalesce?

The mall.

Anyway, this is what I saw, and I am compelled to say something about it:


The Vibram Fivefingers. Do you want everyone to know you're a douchebag? We can help.

Dear America,
Please don't wear these out. Please don't wear these while shopping. In fact, just don't wear them at all. I think it's fair to say that there is an assumption that goes along with seeing someone wear these in public: that person can't dress themselves. That, and: that person has $79.99 to waste on something that makes them appear to dress like a 4th grader.

In this instance, it was a 16 year-old girl wearing them, and they were white, but still, have some self-respect. For some reason they remind me of the Terminators from Terminator 2...not sure, maybe it's that they kind of create an exoskeleton for humans, that is a little too 'endo'-skeleton to be a serious fashion trend. I don't know, maybe I'm putting too much on it.

I did check out the "FAQ" on their website though, and it was enlightening:

CAN I WEAR FIVEFINGERS IF I HAVE WEBBED TOES OR SYNDACTYLY?
Unfortunately the design of FiveFingers does not accommodate webbed toes or Syndactyly. We are unable to make custom FiveFingers to fit specific foot needs.

Man, that sucks for those with webbed toes or whatever-the-hell Syndactyly is. You'd really think that if Vibram wanted to be all things to all people (read: feet) they would have figured this out.


Oh, that's syndactyly.

So, in closing, you don't look cool if you wear these to the mall. In fact, there's already a certain amount of personal shame when you go to the mall anyway, so don't multiply it by wearing a sporty exoskeleton on your foot.

-C Murda

Cover Me 2

Just a quick one today.

Here's something I found over at one my favorite audio blogs, The Funky 16 Corners.



Ray Charles, covering Livin' For the City.

Now, like I said in that post about Stevie Wonder covering the Beatles...it's a little pointless to cover someone as great as Steven Wonderland.

Unless you're Ray Charles, and without you, there really wouldn't be any American Soul music. So, with that in mind, go on, Brother Ray. Do your thang.
Ray Charles, "Livin' For The City"

I particularly like the preaching portion, but the background vocals aren't too shabby either, right?

Hopefully you'll enjoy it, too. And in case you hadn't heard the original (and shame on you if that is the case...):


How 'bout that sweet vest on the drummer!

-C Murder.

The RoboCop Post, Pt. 2

As promised, part two of "RoboCop" post, now with less RoboCop 2.

Okay, that's the last "RoboCop 2" you're going to see...

So in our last episode, C-Murderer regaled you with a bevy of reasons he likes RoboCop and thinks you should too. Hopefully in the intervening days and weeks while you were salivating over your keyboard, hoping to find part two of the post, being frustrated that all you got was a half-assed "back after these messages" claymation photo from the late 80s, you took the time to Netflix the original RoboCop, caught it on Spike TV, or went to Rapidshare and downloaded it so you could catch up and be ready for part 2.

If not, you blew it. Or, maybe you're like C-2d Degree Murder and remember it well enough that you needn't.

Either way, let's get to the meat: RoboCop is an analogue for Jesus Christ.

Making films that are analogous to the story of Christ is certainly nothing new (see also, The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), The Matrix, The Green Mile, Superman, Cool Hand Luke, The Passion of the Christ), and literature loved it first (see also, The Old Man and The Sea, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Grapes of Wrath, The Bible). The story of Jesus is well-known, obviously works in a Judeo-Christian culture such as our own, and provides ample storytelling space. In a world where a good majority of people are trying to live their life by Christ's principles, it's not surprising that their artwork reflects that (or a critique of that, on the other end of the spectrum). This is what art should do: work out the things we believe, ask questions about why we believe them, and contextualize them for modernity and posterity.

Wow, that got a little bit heavy, C-Assault with a Deadly Weapon. No more ecclesiastical philosophy please, just tell me, "How does it apply to "Robot Cop: The Movie"?"

A breakdown:

1. Murphy is crucified.

• Early on in the film, Alex Murphy and his partner Lewis are rendered helpless by the gang of villains we follow throughout the film. Led by Clarence Boddicker (RoboCop's Pontius Pilate, so to speak), they knock out Lewis and trap Murphy. In a most gruesome death, the gang empty their shotguns into Murphy's body, killing him. The first wound, however, is to Murphy's hand, which is blown off by Boddicker's shotgun. This clearly stands in for Christ's stigmata. After the shock of this wound, the shooting commences, with Boddicker delivering the fatal shot to the head.
  
• Murphy has now been crucified and sacrificed by the Detroit Police Dept.

Robocop - Murphy's Death

. | MySpace Video

2. Murphy is resurrected.

• After unsuccessful efforts to save Murphy through medical means, he is laid to rest (into the proverbial cave, so to speak). Through technology (and the plan of a slimy Omni Consumer Products exec/yuppie), he is resurrected to become the first "RoboCop", who is then touted as the savior of Old Detroit. One man (who's not so much a man as a machine, mind you) will patrol the streets and save the city.

Albrecht Durer's version of Christ in Limbo (1510) is actually much scarier than Paul Verhoeven's. Has woodcutting ever been creepier?

3. RoboCop is persecuted.

• This one may be a little more tenuous, but when RoboCop becomes an outlaw later in the movie (as he tries to arrest an exec at OCP, his dastardly creator), he is hunted down by the Detroit Police Department. Perhaps this is a reference to the persecution of Jesus himself, the early Christians who were persecuted, or is simply a reference to religious persecution in general, or perhaps it just makes RoboCop our Christ figure also fit into Joseph Campbell's monomyth a little better, as he must fall before he can prevail (see also, The Rape of Persephone, Beowulf, The Odyssey). Tying in mono-mythic structure to a man made Christ figure in an American action/sci-fi movie made by a Dutch director who lived through a Nazi occupation of Holland is thus not that much of a stretch, now is it?

*Author's note: (ca. 1994) with thanks to Mrs. Sheila Reynolds' sophomore English class at Franklin High School.

4. RoboCop literally says, "Dead or alive you're coming with me."

• Sure, in the context of the film, this seems like innocuous action dialog from a robot cop, but now with your new-found "RoboCop as Christ" analysis, don't you see where they're coming from?

Not to be confused with this 'Dead or Alive'.

5. RoboCop walks on water.

• I know, it seems so obvious now...but the first time you saw RoboCop you were all, "Holy crap! What a kick ass movie about a guy that becomes a robot cop and totally kicks the ass of rapists, devilish white collar criminals, and that dude from "That 70s Show", while having the baddest-assest gun in town that fits in a holster inside his leg!" So, you probably missed the religious iconography. No big D, that's what I'm here for:
• During the scene where RoboCop finally kills Boddicker/Pilate (by stabbing him in the neck, which could either be a reference to the piercing of Jesus' side by the Roman soldiers or to the homo-eroticism rampant in all action movies; unlike the real Pilate who may have killed himself after being exiled to Gaul under the reign of Caligula), after that act is completed, he turns to walk away.
  

On. The. Water.

Now, it's not all Being There walk-on-water-ism, and it's not even The Car's Uh-Oh, It's Magic walking on water, but it's there.


The file name for this picture is "Favorite-Stabby-McStab-Victims"...I love the internet.

• Author's note: I cannot find a clip of this online, so you're just going to have to Netflix that muhfuggah to see it yourself...which you should anyway, now that you know how much MORE awesome the movie is.

6. And if all that wasn't enough...here it is from the director, himself:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

So there you have it. Hopefully, you can now appreciate RoboCop on a more intellectual level, and not feel bad or shy away from defending your love of this sci-fi/man-made-Jesus gem. Either way, it makes for good conversation, assuming you're hanging out with people that will listen to you go on and on for 30 minutes about this kind of stuff pretending to be interested...like my friends do.

Be right back...

Just a quick update...after today, my last law school exam of the semester, regular posting will resume. Public opinion (i.e. 3 or 4 people) demands it.

-C Aggravated Assault (no murder, due to mitigating factors)