Caveat: 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈

“좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈” is the title of a Korean western.  Yes, western, as in western genre movie.  It takes place in 1930’s Manchuria, which was a bit of a wild land at the time, with the Japanese trying to exert imperial control, while the Chinese, British, Germans and Russians tried to regain spheres of influence, and with disgruntled and outlaw-ish Korean freedom fighters and Mongolian tribesmen thrown into the mix. 200px-The_Good,_the_Bad,_the_Weird_film_poster
The title is an homage to Eastwood’s classic American western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” – it translates as “the Good, the Bad and the Weird.”  The title itself tells you there’re are some interesting post-modern things going on.  It’s over-the-top in terms of violence, but worth seeing.
I love how it includes all these seemingly out-of-sync cultural objects and references – 1920’s big-band dance music, Japanese soldiers, Korean merchants or black-marketeers, Mongolian tribemen sitting on horses on hilltops looking like Native Americans…  but I would imagine it might not be that far off vis-a-vis what Manchuria must have been like in that era.  Of course, everything is exaggerated and re-imagined, just in the way American westerns re-imagine North American history, too.

Caveat: The faith-based economy

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 I don't normally like South Park that much.  But sometimes I watch it, because the social and cultural commentary can be so amazingly intelligent and deep-cutting.  One such episode I caught recently was the one entitled "Margaritaville" about the way that what we believe really drives the economy.  Kyle becomes a Jesus figure, and saves the economy by taking on everyone's debt (the way that Jesus takes on everyone's sins) and thus allowing everyone's lives to return to normal.  It's pretty funny, but scarily accurate in the way that it explains how the government bailouts are supposed to work.

And another episode where Mickey Mouse beats the crap out of the Jonas Brothers is funny, too, although much nastier and cruder, more in alignment with the South Park norm.

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