So I decided to finally go see "Kick-Ass" yesterday and I have to say that overall it was a pretty good movie. In light of it often being associated as being a RLSH movie I figured I'd offer my thoughts about the movie. Just some random observations.
1) The opening scene where it shows the guy in the red bird suit falling down the side of the building was rather ironic. When Kick Ass mentioned that he was mentally ill I smiled. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I think one of the messages here was "A person with a mental illness can be inspired by anything but that source of inspiration should not necessarily be held responsible for these the ill persons action."
2) Hit Girl stole the show... bottom line.
3) Kick Ass got off way to easy in the end. If I am not mistaken the comic book does not go as soft on him and I really think the consequences of what Kick Ass did should have been a bit tougher.
4) This movie is not a RLSH doctrine or a guide to the functions of the RLSH community. It was an entertaining and at times way over the top movie that just HAPPENED to have some elements of the RLSH workings in it. People who think otherwise are IMHO grasping at straws for the wrong reasons.
5) Alot of people have been saying that "Kick Ass" will inspire people to do stupid and dangerous things. Along the lines of point #1, it's not a movies job to instill a set of morals or ethics in your kids or in anyone for that matter. That job belongs in the hands of a parent or responsible guardian. Believe me if the only source of a kid learning what is right and wrong is taught to him/her by a television set and the parents choose to exist in a state of blissful perpetual ignorance then do not be surprised if the kid ends up doing something dumb or reckless.So to all of those people out there that are ready to blame "Kick Ass" when something bad happens blame yourselves for being stupid enough to make Hollywood the crux of your moral and ethical compass.
6) It was good to see Kick Ass overwhelmed, acknowledging that he was way in over his head. It was very refreshing and honest. His vulnerability, both physical and emotional only made the courage of his actions at the end all the more relevant.
7) Big Daddy and Hit Girl were hardcore vigilantes. It's hard to say "Well I would not have done what he did or made the choice to become what he did" without actually being placed in that situation. I would lik to think that I myself would take the high road but losing ones wife, having your reputation destroyed, being kept apart from ones daughter, ect. That is a lot to lose. So not being in his shoes I'd say they duo definitely went too far. There extremely violent nature is a sharp contrast to alot of costumed RLSH today who patrol. Alot of them get mislabeled as vigilantes but alot of these RLSH are unarmed or armed with non-lethal and legal weaponry like tazers, tonfas, or pepper spray.Alot of RLSVs might disagree with me just to further their hate-ridden agenda but at this point in time their rhetoric, aside from a couple of them, means very little to me.
8) I liked what happened to Kick Ass when he started getting really popular. He was overwhelmed with attention seekers and became a gloryhound... and in the process paid a very heavy price in pain for it. When he saw that he had gotten in way over his head he tried to retreat to the shadows of anonymity and go back to being the same humble barely noticed teenager he had been before. That speaks to the accusations of RLSH being gloryhounds. Those that do what they do for attention and prominence first and THEN to help people have it all wrong. Those who help people first and use prominence or attention from outside sources to FURTHER help people have it all right. Kick Ass showed that sometimes we can get so wrapped up in the moment that we stray from who we are or what we need to be. A RLSH should always stay for the most part humble.
9) The Red Mist was an interesting character and in some ways alot like some of the more unsavory RLSVs I've tangled with. He knew what he was doing, knew that their would be dire consequences for other people in the form of physical and mental trauma...and did it anyways. That moment when he pleaded with his father to spare Kick Ass was also very relevant. It showed that he was naive enough to think that he could calculate the full consequences of his betrayal. It showed that he did not properly understand that in his misguided desire to prove himself that he has underestimated the negativity that followed. I think alot of RLSV's out there say and do things and think, in their arrogance or warped way of thinking, that they will always be able to control the outcome. If history has proven anything it is that this is not the case at all. In the end the Red Mist had a choice to walk away from his fathers dark shadow or embrace it completely. He chose the darkness...and that's too bad.
10) I enjoyed seeing Hit Girl and Kick Ass return to a more ordinary life at the end of the movie. I have never liked the idea of very young kids or teenagers becoming RLSH and i know there are some out there. I don't think that being a RLSH a calling that everyone answers. I think that within all of us there is the same spirit burning in us that inspired Kick Ass to become a superhero. However, the movie showed that when you answer the call before your time or are not as prepared as you should be that things can end badly. I think that some people out there have what it takes to be a true RLSH. There are plenty of examples in the community of this today. Yet whether some embrace the chance to be a RLSH and fail or others succeed, one thing is certain; the RLSH will endure in one form or another. I truly believe there is a place for it in our world. Kick Ass did a good job in demonstrating alot of points that both sides of the coin, the RLSH and the RLSV bicker about all the time. I just hope that regardless of which side you are one that you take the time to see beneath the surface of the violence and over the top action.
And did I mention that Hit Girl stole the friggin show?
"When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail." - Pearl S. Buck
"The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out." - James Baldwin
About me.....
- Dragonheart
- I'm a dreamer and perhaps too much of an eternal optimist. I always try to look at the glass as half full. Defiant and ferocious towards those who would seek to unjustly harm others, I speak my mind...for better or worse. Where as some view compassion as a weakness I view it as a strength. I try not to live in the shadows of my regrets because doing so dims the light and the promise of a new day. I do not strive for perfection for this is the quest of fools and denies a man the blessings of humility. The bonds of true friendship and family are to be protected...sometimes by the cunning, stealth, and tenaciousness of a mouse but other times by the wrath and fury of the dragon. I am one and yet I am both. This is my truth.
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Honestly, for the first time I have to say well put, and very direct and to the point. Unlike a lot of your other pieces, it is fairly unbiased, and I respect that. If you wrote like this all of the time, I think this little mouse and this disease could find common ground. But back on point, well done. I am not one to grasp at straws and you do make a valid point in that to blame kick-ass for the actions of ignorant children is not right, it is the parents responsibility to handle the codes of morals and ethics in their children, and not the motion picture companies, but what do you do when those same parents blame the RLSH? That is a messy situation, and not one I am sure they are ready to handle. There are a few other points but I just do not have the time right now to go into them. Again well done though.
ReplyDeleteThank you Virus...even though I still think most RLSVs suck. ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, the movie was pretty much what I expected it to be. People who have been harping about how Kick Ass would be the match that fires up the demise of the RLSH movement (like Malvado) are IMHO sorely mistaken. The movie was pure entertainment with alot of messages buried beneath the hail of bullets, stabbings, and clenched fists slamming into someones jaw. As for us being on common point I can only promise that I will write what I feel and I will not hold back when one of my friends is needlessly attacked. If what I write happens to fall in line with how you think then all the better; it would prove that we can exchange ideas without stomping a verbal mud hole in one another. AS for the situations when the parents blame the RLSH well I simply say to them; stop externalizing your own parental inadequacies when something goes bad with their children. It's the same scenario as the TV, movies, and video games I mentioned above. Parents forge the moral and ethical compass of children and they must always remain vigilant when they see the potential for their kids to fall into the wrong crowd or harmful ideologies. So if I were a RLSH (which I am not - I consider myself a costumed activist) I would point this out to the parent as calmly and respectfully as possible. I've never said I have all the answers to the problems we face today; no RLSH should and anyone who does is being a jackass. At a presentation I gave at an Art Museum last year I told kids that if they are looking for people to believe in that they should look to their parents. Then I turned around and told the parents present that it is up to them to become their childrens inspiration to succeed in life and stay out of trouble.
The day a parent decides not to do this is the day they are not acting like responsible parents.
that is the day they decide to no longer be the child's hero. Which is sad because nowadays most children do not look up to their parents to instill a moral compass and instead are deflected into the world and learn by other means, which is ultimately the responsibility of the parents.
ReplyDeleteParents need to own up to the consequences of their actions or in some cases their inaction. Alot of them do deflect things and force their children to learn the wrong thing the wrong way. I've seen it many times with tragic consequences and it sucks.
ReplyDeleteI only speak when I know the complete story and I know all of the facts. I am progressing in my own developments as we speak. Thank you for your patience, but all good things come to those who wait.
ReplyDeleteNo offense Virus but your progression seems horribly slanted. What facts are there to know other than admission by the very person that they have done and still do those things. As far as my patience I am in no hurry with regards to the RLSV or "unhappy bloggers". No offense but your progress, while important to you and your "villainous" brethen is of no real consequence to me. Speaking honestly and bluntly here, do you REALLY think the RLSV are going to impose change upon the RLSH? And what right do the RLSV have to do so when they themselves are plagued with duplicity, inconsistency, unethical behavior, and egomaniacs amongst it's ranks. You do a great job of trashing the RLSH but when those within your own ranks step out of line and it's obvious I don't see you dropping the hammer on them. I've been accused many times of being very biased in a pro-RLSH way but you RLSV carry the same bias when it comes to policing your own.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, while we've had that small modicum of decent exchange the truth is I don't care how you are progressing. I'm not "waiting" for anything from you so no need to thank me for my patience. Save your thanks for some of your fellow RLSV goons the next time they go off on a RLSH just for the hell of it. It's not like most people won't be expecting it.
The thing all of you seem to miss is that no matter what, we are still part of the public, we are the people that they claim to protect. We have every single right to question anything they do. It is that simple. You keep asking me to call them out, that makes it seem like you are waiting for it. I do not stand behind anyone on either side, I am my own person. I have every right to speak out against who ever I want to. I should not be told who I have to speak against. Who are you to tell me? The RLSV have their own issues, they are not a community at the RLSH are, they are not a subculture, they are just people that question RLSH, in whatever manner they so choose. I personally am taking my time and doing real research besides what one posts on a blog, I am searching for truth, and I am searching for what really matters, and what issues are truly at hand. I have every right to question what I wish, and say what i wish, and at this point, nothing I have said crosses any lines of inappropriate conduct, so I will keep doing and saying what I please, and I will continue to do so by being informed.
ReplyDeleteThen I respectfully disagree. You have been considerably biased against the RLSH but I don't see you calling the RLSV out for these so-called issues you speak of. You are right. You have every right to question what the RLSH do and what you consider to be right or wrong about what they do. But the RLSH and their supporters also have the right to consider the source and nature of the people making these judgments. When you've got people in the RLSV community like gloryhound You-Tube idiots like Lord M who prostitutes himself on it as much as he accuses RLSH of doing, when you have guys like Poop Knife with blatant personal vendettas against Master Legend with his wonderful little anti-Semetic email address and libelous/slanderous claims, or crass Malvado with his admissions of drug and alcohol misuse then it diminishes the value of what they say. It's like a hardline Ku Klus Klan member trying to give lessons on racial tolerance or a wife beater preaching passive solutions to matrimonial conflicts.
ReplyDeleteThat last blog you put up against Master Legend was a pretty low shot. I'll be the first guy to say that I don't believe half of what he says and that he's a far bit on the eccentric side but that does not make him a bad person. Flaws aside or your dislike of the guy but his work to help his community speaks for itself.You're entitled to your opinion or the search for what you call "answers" or "truth" but it seems you're looking to the RLSVs as your sole source of this and that's unfortunate. Like I said, I'm not interested in your quest. I don't need to be patient because I'm not waiting on you for anything. Follow your own path - it's not my concern where it takes you but if any harm or unnecessary belittling of any RLSH or RLSH supporter friends goes down then I will step up every time to defend them. And unlike those clowns in the Youtube video I don't need shotguns, gang style appearances, or machetes to do it.