Asawin Suebsaeng is the interactive writing fellow at the Washington, DC, bureau of Mother Jones. He has also written for The American Prospect, the Bangkok Post, and Shoecomics.com.
A graduate of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn., Asawin came back to DC with hopes of putting his flimsy Creative Writing major, student newspaper tenure, and interest in human rights and political chicanery to some use. He started cutting his teeth at F&M's student-run weekly, The College Reporter, serving as editor in chief. He has interned at The American Prospect, been a reporter for the Bangkok Post, and scribbled for ShoeComics.com. His favorite movie is either Apocalypse Now or Pirahna 3D, depending on the day or mood.
Daniel Huttlestone, right, who plays the child Gavroche in the new "Les Miz" movie
In the days following the horrific Newtown massacre—in which 20 schoolchildren were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary—the folks in entertainment media were especially careful not to offend. Violent and death-related content was suddenly (and quite transparently) deemed bad for business or in poor taste: The Pittsburgh premiere of the Tom Cruise action movie Jack Reacher was postponed, for example, and the LA premiere of Quentin Tarantino's brutally violent Django Unchained was canceled (with Django star Jamie Foxx himself cautioning against gratuitous violence in film). In TV land, the debut of the reality TV special Best Funeral Ever was delayed, Ted Nugent's celebration of gun culture was nixed from the Discovery Channel's schedule, a Blake Shelton Christmas special that features a reindeer assassination was pulled, and the recent season finales of Dexter and Homeland opened with disclaimers. On commercial radio, pop songs like Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" and Ke$ha's "Die Young" received substantially reduced airplay. And let's not forget that Barry Manilow postponed a concert out of respect and concern for the affected families.
This is how the entertainment industry generally reacts when a national trauma occurs. There's no reason to think that altering, delaying, or refusing to air violent television and film scenes will help heal national wounds. But considering the immediate outpouring of PR gestures from across the American entertainment industry, it's curious that the only new movie that prominently features a child being shot to death seems to have gotten a pass.
The movie is Les Misérables, the big-budget adaptation of the beloved musical set in post-revolutionary France. It's directed by acclaimed filmmaker Tom Hooper, has a star-studded cast, and is slated to be released in the United States on Christmas Day. (Spoiler to follow.)
Anyone familiar with the stage musical or Victor Hugo's book on which it is based knows how this goes: During the June Rebellion in 1832, armed republicans set up barricades in the streets of Paris in an attempt to spark an overthrow of the monarchy. Among the rebels is Gavroche (played by Daniel Huttlestone in the 2012 film version), a prepubescent, singing street child. In a moment of tragic heroism, the boy sneaks out from behind the barricade and is repeatedly shot by royal troops.
Here's the scene, from a stage production of Les Miz that featured Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers as Gavroche:
Out of all the major motion pictures released at the end of this year, Les Miz bears the clearest and most potentially upsetting parallel to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary; Django Unchained and Jack Reacher do not have any direct likeness to the Newtown mass shooting, beyond the mere fact that they contain violent images. And yet the sensitivity and courtesy shown by the PR teams of other violent movies released this month is nowhere to be found with Les Miz.
On Monday, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) passed away due to respiratory complications at the age of 88. His last word before dying was, according to his office's press release, "Aloha."
Inouye, the second longest serving senator in American history, was noted for his involvement in both the Watergate and Iran-contra investigations. He delivered the keynote at the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He was the first Japanese American to serve in the US Congress. He was the father of Kenny Inouye, the guitar player in the DC hardcore punk band Marginal Man.
We've lost a true American hero with the passing of Senator Daniel Inouye. Aloha, Danny. -bo
Inouye also served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team—a unit made up almost entirely of Japanese Americans who wanted to show allegiance in the face of internment—during World War II. (The team went on to become the most decorated infantry regiment in US Army history.) He is probably best known for this one time in which he killed throngs of Nazis in a manner closely resembling the climactic scene in the movie The Wild Bunch. But unlike the protagonists in The Wild Bunch, he somehow made it out alive at the end.
Here's an excerpt from a Hawaii Reporter piece, which details how a young Inouye responded to getting his arm blown off by Germans during a firefight in Italy:
On April 21, 1945, Dan's company was ordered to attack a heavily defended ridge guarding an important road in the vicinity of San Terenzo. His platoon wiped out an enemy patrol and mortar observation post and reached the main line of resistance before the rest of the American force. As the troops continued up the hill, three German machine guns focused their fire on them, pinning them down. Dan worked his way toward the first bunker. Pulling out a grenade, he felt something hit him in his side but paid no attention and threw the grenade into the machine-gun nest. After it exploded, he advanced and killed the crew.
Dan continued up the hill, throwing two more grenades into the second gun emplacement and destroying it before he collapsed from loss of blood from his wounds. His men, trying to take the third bunker, were forced back. He dragged himself toward it, then stood up and was about to pull the pin on his last grenade when a German appeared in the bunker and fired a rifle grenade. It hit Dan in the right elbow and literally tore off his arm. He pried the grenade out of his dead right fist with his other hand and threw it at the third bunker, then lurched toward it, firing his tommy gun left-handed. A German bullet hit him in the leg. A medic reached him and gave him a shot of morphine. In his typical stoic manner he didn't allow himself to be evacuated until the position was secured. In the hospital, the remnants of his right arm were amputated.
The attack concluded with 25 dead German soldiers, and eight others captured.
When my platoon members told me [about what I had done], I said, 'No, it can't be. It can't be. You'd have to be insane to do all that.' I think it's all part of the training where you do things almost automatically. It's a sense of duty. That's what they told me, and the company commander who was also observing from the backside, he said, 'I couldn't believe what I saw, because you were a crazy man.'
In 1947, Inouye received over a dozen medals and citations for his heroic assault, including the Distinguished Service Cross and two Purple Hearts. (In 2000, his Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, which was presented to him by President Clinton.)
Here's an old military photograph of Daniel Inouye, Nazi Pulverizer:
When I spoke with director Roger Michell (Changing Lanes, Venus) about casting Bill Murray to play Franklin D. Roosevelt in his new film Hyde Park on Hudson, Michell was emphatic in defending his pick to portray the 32nd president of the United States.
"I've read that some consider it 'stunt casting,' but in fact the reverse is the case," Michell said. "I ended up realizing that I wasn't interested in making the film without Bill Murray. There are other actors who you'd think would be great in the role, but nobody seemed to have that Wizard of Oz-ness about them, that kind of glorious mischief that Bill has."
The reason Michell's decision might strike some as "stunt casting" is because Bill Murray has (despite his more seriousroles) an on- and off-screen persona that many would say is too awesome to seem presidential. I mean, have you seen Stripes? His stint on SNL? How about this photo of him co-hosting Eric Clapton's blues-rock festival in 2007?:
Lately, you've probably heard rumors that the world will end on December 21, 2012. You've probably brushed them aside as piffle on par with theories about Barack Obama being a lizard overlord. Yet, polling data shows that 12 percent of Americans believe the end is indeed upon us, while 14 percent of people worldwide think Earth will be a goner in their lifetime.
So, first things first: Will the world in fact end on December 21?
No, almost certainly not. [Update, 5:30am EST, December 21: Still here! So far, so good.] Superstition suggesting otherwise is based on junk science, Nostradamus (sort of), and flawed readings of the Mayan Long Count calendar. A comet is not going to hit us that day. Earth will not collide with the fictional rogue planet of "Nibiru." And if there are belligerent alien forces plotting against mankind, that's probably a ways off.
However, that doesn't mean there aren't any good questions left to ask. Here's everything else you wanted to know about the supposed 2012 Mayan Doomsday but were far too afraid to bring up:
What do stock brokers and Matt Damon have to say about the Mayan apocalypse?
In August, TD Ameritrade referenced End of the World theories in this ad for its investment business. The gist is that if we don't all die horrifically in December 2012, TD Ameritrade will still be able to help you out with retirement planning. The 30-second ad is narrated by the star of Happy Feet Two and We Bought a Zoo, Matt Damon, who replacedLaw & Order alum Sam Waterston in January as the "new voice" of TD Ameritrade. Behold the bizarre kicker in which Damon asks calmly but triumphantly: "So who's in control now, Mayans?"
What do actual real-life Mayas have to say about all of this?
At least some of them are rather pissed, and understandably so. Ethnic Maya of Guatemala (of which there are millions) have long had to endure efforts by government and the local tourism industry to profit off of misunderstandings of what the ancient Mayan calendar indicates. "We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit," Felipe Gomez, head of Mayan alliance Oxlaljuj Ajpop, told AFP in October. "They are not telling the truth about time cycles."
"The Maya never said anything about the end of the world or anything about a great change in the universe on [December 21, 2012]," David Stuart, a professor of Mesoamerican art and writing at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Huffington Post. "The calendar not only continues after that date…it goes 70 octillion years into the future."
"Enough with that bullshit already." Reinhard Jahn/Wikimedia Commons
What is the government doing about this? Are they being proactive?
Yes, indeed: For its part, NASA has flooded its social-media operation with anti-doomsday content, in hopes of chipping away at public misconceptions over what will or will not end this month. They've hosted a Google+ Hangout debunking the theories, created a special FAQ page, and posted information on YouTube and Facebook. Here's one recent tweet aimed at quelling potential panic:
Internet telling you the world will end in 2012? Don't believe it! Get the real science facts here. go.nasa.gov/cQnq0L
For some NASA scientists, this is serious public-awareness stuff: "I get 1-2 [questions] a month from a person who self-identifies as 11-12 years old, who is contemplating suicide," David Morrison, a senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute, told ABC News. (Speaking to a USA.gov blogger, Morrison later said that he gets a message at least "once a week" from "a young person…who says they are ill and/or contemplating suicide because of the coming doomsday.") Morrison also highlighted a letter he received from someone claiming to be a middle-school teacher in California, who wrote that parents of a student said they were going to kill their kids and themselves before the 2012 apocalypse.
Are there any goofy videos out there about this?
Yes. Next Media Animation, a Taiwan-based "animated news" studio known for its tongue-in-cheek and over-the-top depictions of current events, produced a segment in 2011 on various apocalypse theories. Here's the video, which features Jesus wearing and operating a jetpack:
What are other countries doing about this?
Mayan-apocalypse-freakout is hardly just an American phenomenon. The Russian government—along with the Russian Orthodox Church—has been busy telling citizens not to pay attention to the armageddon talk. Government officials in Mexico, France, and elsewhere have been doing the same.
One member of the Russian parliament's environment committee had a particularly drastic measure in mind: Prosecute Russian citizens who spread the rumors, but only starting December 22.
Are any world leaders making satirical videos about this?
At least one of them has:
That's Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, having fun with the doomsday theories during a morning broadcast. Gillard says the following to her "dear remaining fellow Australians":
Whether the final blow comes from flesh-eating zombies, demonic hell-beasts or the total triumph of K-Pop, if you know one thing about me, it is this: I will always fight for you to the very end.
She ends her address with a simple, "Good luck to you all."
But is anyone making tsunami-resistant survival pods? Just in case?
Why, yes. This guy: A Chinese furniture maker named Liu Qiyuan who constructed a Great Ball of China in the village of Qiantun in Hebei Province. "The pod won't have any problems even if there are 1,000m high waves…It's like a ping-pong ball," he told reporters, right around the time he jumped in his pod for a photo op.
How might a Mayan apocalypse affect fiscal-cliff negotiations?
Good question. First off, we probably wouldn't have to worry about the so-called fiscal cliff anymore, mainly because we'd all be preoccupied with human civilization ending. This may actually be John Boehner's best hope. Also, it's hard to make entitlement cuts and raise taxes on the wealthiest of Americans when the planet no longer exists.
How is Fox News handling this?
They're being pretty damn fair and balanced. Here's a preview of the special titled "Countdown to Doomsday" (hosted by Bill Hemmer) that the network aired in November:
Can I practice consumerism right up to the bitter end? And if so, where can I buy Doomsday merchandise?
Sure. You can buy stuff from the folks who run the December212012 website (which provides a sorta CliffsNotes version of a "survival guide"). They have apparel available on CafePress, including this T-shirt:
You can find more End of the World merchandise—hoodies, greeting cards, tote bags—from various designers here.
Is there apocalypse pizza? How about apocalypse vino?
Yes, and yes! That would be courtesy of the small farming community of Bugarach, population fewer than 200, at the foothills of the French Pyrenees. Rumors have been swirling for years that alien life forms will emerge from their "spaceship garage" hidden in the town's mountain and beam up the locals to safety during The End.
Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson. (My review and interview with the director here.)
Listen:
Each week, I'll be sitting down to chat with ThinkProgress critic Alyssa Rosenberg (who also does killer work at The Atlanticand Slate's "Double X"). We'll talk, argue, and laugh about the latest movies, television shows, and pop-cultural nonsense—with some politics thrown in just for the hell of it.
Alyssa describes herself as being "equally devoted to the Star Wars expanded universe and Barbara Stanwyck, to Better Off Ted and Deadwood." I (everyone calls me Swin) am a devoted lover of low-brow dark humor, Yuengling, and movies with high body counts. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and tune in during the weeks to come.
We'll be featuring guests on the program, and also taking listeners' questions, so feel free to Tweet them at me here, and we'll see if we can get to them during a show.
Thank you for listening!
Click here for more movie and TV features from Mother Jones. To read more of Asawin's reviews, click here.
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