The Passion of the Christ

Partly because of the all the fuss, but perhaps more because of my own religious background, I actually decided to go and see The Passion of the Christ. This is a pretty big deal considering the last movie I bothered to see in the theater was Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and my whole plan for this weekend was to get reacquainted with my home and get my life back together. However, it’s been a long time since they’ve made a big screen retelling of the story of Christ and this one, despite all the controversy, looked like it was visually well-made. And besides, what a great title.

We all know “what happens,” so I don’t think I’m ruining anything for anyone, but I think people need to be aware of what they’re getting into when they go to see this film. The film depicts the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, from his arrest at Gesthemane (complete with Judas’s betrayal) to his crucifixion (and briefly, his resurrection three days later). The film is subtitled since all of the characters speak in the language they would have during that time– Aramaic for the Jewish characters and “street Latin” for the Roman ones. Because the movie begins so late in the story and there is little or no exposition in the film, it really helps to know, in detail, the story of the life of Jesus. You can obviously follow what is happening, but the experience is probably better if you know about and understand the significance of things like Jesus’s prediction that Peter would deny him three times, the appearance of Veronica and her famous veil, and in general, how crucifixions happened (so you could anticipate all the gruesome steps involved).

The real warning I would give movie-goers would not be about the alleged anti-semitism in the film, but the large amount of graphic violence. Granted, it’s the story of a man being beaten and crucified, so there will obviously be some inherent violence, but Gibson and company have included every gory detail of Jesus’s suffering, from his beating by Roman soldiers shortly before he is sentenced to crucifixion to his pained journey to Golgotha to his actual crucifixion. In other movies with particularly graphic violence, some directors choose to cut away at the last moment, saving the viewers the most gruesome moment and showing them only the “after,” if anything at all. However, as director, Gibson chose to show every single detail as Jesus is savagely beaten and flagellated and as nails are pounded into his hands and feet. Jesus, played by actor James Cavaziel, is extremely bloody and wounded during most of the film. Despite all of the family and children focused previews shown before the film, this film is not for children. I knew what was coming throughout the film and I could barely stand to watch the violence. Numerous people in the audience, including myself, were brought to tears during the most bloody moments of the film.

One of the big lessons the creators of the film seem to be trying to convey is that noone other than Jesus, than Christ himself, could endure and survive the persecution he experienced during those last twelve hours. Whether he survived all of that because he was destined for death by crucifixion or simply by chance is a question of faith, but the film does show us that Jesus’s suffering was no joke. All of the controversy surrounding the film focuses on whether it is anti-semitic, but more than depicting the Jews as the enemy, I think the film depicts all of the people of that time as the enemy. We not only see Caiphas (the Jewish High Priest) out for Jesus’s blood, insisting on his death by crucifixion, but we see a crowd enthusiastically choose Barabbas, a murderer, to be released instead of Jesus and Roman soldiers gleefully beat the Nazarene throughout the film. We see citizens following along as Jesus and two other criminals make their way to Golgotha and as Jesus collapses frequently under the strain of his cross and his injuries, they seize the opportunity to beat and heckle him themselves.

In the end, the film left me horrified with that period in human history itself. Granted, even if you do not believe in Jesus as Messiah, the tragedy is only amplified by the idea that a man who was teaching love and kindness was condemned and killed for it. But even if we forget about who Jesus was for a moment, the real horror is that a human society actually existed where a man, innocent or guilty, could be beaten and tortured like that by the State and religious leaders, that citizens would not only allow but enjoy such a spectacle, and that a system was in place where human beings were actually killed by such a gruesome method as crucifixion. Who knows if we are any better people today– there are most likely places in this world where equally violent and horrible things happen– but The Passion of the Christ, if anything, shows how terribly wrong human beings can be to one another.

Home sweet home

After two weeks of drama and multiple relocations, I am finally back in my apartment. I breathed a hugh sigh of relief when I walked through the door of my unaffected, but much missed apartment. Upon my return to my humble abode, I have learned a few things:

• One way to remove the smoke smell from a fire-affected building is to put ozone machines around and let them run for 24 hours to deodorize the area. However, now, instead of smelling like smoke, the common areas of the building now smell like a dentist’s office– that weird bubble gum flouride scent. It gave me a headache just walking back and forth from the car to my apartment while I was moving back in. Maybe I would be less affected if I was a dentist.
• When they say you should properly defrost your fridge when turning it off for an extended period of time, they really mean it. Despite the apartment management company entering the apartment earlier this week to empty the fridge of perishable items (i.e., almost everything save a few bottles of champagne and some cans of Diet Coke), the fridge did suffer from the sudden lack of electricity for over a week. I had a fair amount of bagged ice in the freezer and that not just melted, but leaked down into the regular fridge section, leaving a nice little puddle to clean up under and in the crisper drawers. And, even if your fridge is pretty clean, there is invariably some food molecules and such that end up lingering on the shelf surfaces and if there’s no power and therefore no refrigeration, those tiny molecules will end up spoiling and necessitating some cleanup. That was fun.*
• Keep your sink clean of dirty dishes. There were only a few, but any lingering milk from your coffee or morning cereal will create a nice little petri dish surprise when you get back two weeks later. Yay for bleach and other harsh cleaning chemicals.
• Plants need to be watered regularly. Seriously. My several window boxes of pansies weren’t doing that great in the first place, but they seemed to have made it through the worst especially since it rained during the second week of my absence and they are out far enough on the balcony to actually catch some rain. However, I have two very sad, very dehydrated variegated ginger plants. But I think they’re resilient– they were once one medium-sized (but still expensive) plant that over the course of six months, grew big enough to become two large plants. They are as tall as me! Granted I am a small person, but if I were a house plant, I would be a relatively big one.
• Tivo is, in fact, one of the greatest things ever. When the power turned back on sometime late Tuesday, it just went back to doing it’s thing. So, when I returned, there was almost a week full of my favorite TV shows waiting for me, including new episodes of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and this week’s Law & Order SVU.
• Whatever time of day, wherever you are, there is always an episode of Law & Order on . This is something I realized not when I moved back home, but as I relocated around and didn’t have my hundreds of DirecTV channels. I think I may have watched more episodes of this show in the past two weeks than I have in all of the years prior. Between reruns on TBS, TNT and USA, this has got to be the most frequently run show in history. And I never get tired of it. I still watched three Tivo-ed episodes today when I returned home.

So, it was not the worst time of my life, but this was perhaps one of the most frustrating and unsettling two weeks of my life. I love to spend time in my apartment and I love to spend time alone. I have lived in this particular apartment for a year and a half now, but I have worked hard to make it exactly the way I want it, from decorating and redecorating to setting up all the little amenities that have become an integral part of my daily life and routine. And suddenly, when I was faced with the reality that I was not going to be able to live in that home I had created for an undetermined amount of time, a frustration, stress and sadness hung over my head constantly. Yes, I had somewhere to stay, complete with all the modern conveniences of life including cable TV and high-speed Internet, but it is difficult to go through every day without a place to call home, to call your own, to know where you are going to go at the end of the day and know that it isn’t just a temporary resting place. I felt always out of place with a forced loneliness and need. I felt unsafe. I know my brief experience does not even begin to compare to what actually homeless and disadvantaged people experience, but I have learned to truly appreciate my home even more after whatever slight taste of the experience I have had.

But now, I’m tucked back in my own bed with fresh sheets and my beloved comforter. And I’d just like to thank the manager and the staff at the Hilton Garden Inn (Mountain View) for being sympathetic and a great hotel staff and hotel in general. And thanks to my manicurist and friend for being sympathetic, for getting angry and worked up on my behalf, and for getting me the name of a personal injury lawyer just in case. And finally, thanks to my friend for letting me stay with him in his one-room palace when I didn’t want to stay in the other hotel they switched me to because I didn’t feel safe and for making me feel safe and at home.

* Did you ever notice that “fridge” is spelled with a “d,” but “refrigerator” (for which fridge is an abbreviation) and “refrigeration” are not? Ah, the eccentrities of the English language.

Amusing Google search

If you go to Google and type in “blog breasts”, the top link is to my blog entry on breasts. I am so amused that it almost makes up for living in hotel hell right now.

Separate but equal is never equal

More than 1700 same-sex couples have been married under San Francisco’s little act of “civil” disobedience. Thousands more are continuing to line up before Tuesday’s hearing to determine whether the state’s ban on same-sex marriages is constitutional. Most are from the Bay Area, but couples are coming in from all over the country to get married.

That’s beautiful.

Most straight people who are together don’t want to get married, but look at how desperate so many same-sex couples want to get married and publicly declare their love and lifetime committment to each other. Someone should do a study, if they haven’t already, of same-sex couples in general or specifically, these newlywed couples and see how long they stay together after getting married, whether the legality of it sticks or not. I bet same-sex couples would have a much lower rate of divorce– you know why? When you have been denied a right for so long, you appreciate it when you are finally given it. The ban on same-sex marriage, if anything, has probably only made marriage an even more sacred and more cherished union to same-sex couples.

If the courts have now ruled that “sodomy” is no longer illegal, then the courts have declared that this type of physical interaction between members of the same sex is, for lack of a better word, “okay” (or at least the laws that make it illegal are unconstitutional and a violation of privacy). If we can recognize the “okay-ness” of the physical act, isn’t it only natural to extend that “approval” to the emotional and spiritual relationship that can accompany the act? How ironic that so many will revile homosexuals for their presumed promiscuity and unsafe sex practices, but they will not grant them the right to marriage and the opportunity to declare to the world that they are partners in life, committed and true? I bet through legalized same-sex marriage, many homosexuals will publicly disprove the negative stereotypes that have plagued them in this country.

I use to think that civil unions were the solution, but Massachusetts was right. Civil unions are not enough. We are thinking too small. Marriage, truly and completely, is the only real answer. Have we not learned that “separate, but equal” is rarely ever equal?

Fire

So, I’m sitting in a hotel room across the street from my apartment complex because of an electrical fire that started this morning around 7 am. I am thankful for the very nice accomodations and generous daily stipend the apartment management team has set up, that everyone is safe and the free high-speed Internet available at this hotel (although I can’t seem to connect to anything for work– perhaps for the best). Of course, given those things, I am very tired and more than a bit restless as I wonder when I can return to my humble abode and if there was any damage done, whether it was from the fire, from putting the fire out or complications with the electricity (oh Tivo, please be safe).

Despite the fire being out and the damage being seemingly contained, we’re still not allowed into the building because of the danger of asbestos. However, the firemen were nice enough to put on a whole lot of gear and go into the apartments to retrieve essential items so that we can get through the next couple of days (the price you pay for a fire breaking out on a three-day weekend). I made out my little list with all of the things I would like to have for the next few days, but then I prioritized and marked the items the fireman should actually bother with. Realistically, it would be easier for me to go and buy clothes than having a very large fireman searching through my underwear drawer for matching bras and panties. However, he did make a brave effort anyway to get some clothes and in the end, here is just a sampling of the weird items I have with me:

• My (work) laptop
• My briefcase with all important office keys, my new digital camera, and the bottle of nail polish from my last manicure (for convenient touch-ups)
• Some clothes, including a not very useful assortment of underwear and a velour jacket I threw on when the fireman (woman, actually) was practically beating down my door to evacuate the building
• Contact lenses plus related accessories as well as backup glasses
• Almost the entire line of Dermalogica products that I had in my bathroom plus random hair care products that were with them
• Disc 1 of the West Wing first season DVD set (happened to be in my laptop)
• My (khaki) Coach purse
• My watch
• Random CDs in my car that I never listen to because I usually listen to my iPod
• My wallet and my Blackberry, both of which I grabbed when evacuating the building
• The plastic laundry basket all of this was carried down in

What I would also like to have (and would have gotten if allowed to get my stuff myself):

• My iPod
• My Blackberry charger
• All of my clothes and shoes
• My Tivo (I still haven’t watched the newest ER and I am almost physically incapable of watching live TV)
• My brand new Tiffany Elsa Peretti necklace and my custom made ID necklace
• My silver hoop earrings that I wear almost everyday in four of my five ear piercings
• Some real luggage to put everything in

And while all of this is going on, one of my best friends is in the hospital with appendicitis! And here I thought it was going to be a quiet weekend.

Breastmania

Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Superbowl, Breast. See, our culture really is obsessed with breasts. The sad thing is that there is more press, outrage and intended investigation surrounding the allegedly intentional flashing by our beloved JJ and JT than there is about all of the allegedly misleading intelligence on WMD in Iraq and the subsequent decision to go to war. I mean honestly, John Stewart was right when he pointed out that there is something seriously wrong with the fact that the FCC launched an investigation into the incident at the Superbowl faster than anybody in the federal government has been willing to even talk about investigating the validity of intelligence on WMD in Iraq and our rationale for going to war. And if President Bush did lie to the American people, insisting that Iraq was an imminent threat, will he undergo the same kind of character attacks and scrutiny that President Clinton did when he lied about sleeping with a woman? There are degrees to every crime, people– even lying. And if President Bush is found to have lied, will he be encouraged to go on national television, tell the truth, and apologize– like Clinton and Jackson?

Whether it was a stunt or a genuine “wardrobe flaw,” looking at that picture (conveniently blown up for everyone at Drudge Report), neither one of them look very happy at that moment. Nevertheless, Janet and Justin have managed to get a lot of publicity over this and as they always say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. In my opinion, the real people who will be made to pay will be MTV– everyone seems to be holding them ultimately responsible and gone will be the days where MTV can be the “cool, young, hip” part of “mainstream media” (i.e., the major networks during primetime). No more half-time shows, no more grudging respect for their Rock the Vote campaign. Instead, I foresee a future where MTV will be relegated once again to the backwoods of cable TV where they will be considered a liberal, fringe media outlet that serves up sex and shock along with music videos and rock stars. This time, they may have gone too far and whatever respect they have managed to gain as a media presence has been severely tainted.

Personally, I could not care less about the “incident.” I watched the Superbowl on a 57″ television in high definition sitting about eight feet away and even with my well-trained eye, I thought she was wearing a pastie. And while that may not be a whole lot better, Lil’ Kim got away with that years ago.