Schrödinger's Camera

A recent blockbuster has lead me to think about the power of film.

Many friends and colleagues know my poor knowledge of film and how I find it difficult to sacrifice large swathes of time to actually sit down and watch a film. I was however, convinced to make a rare trip to the cinema a few weeks ago to see the highly acclaimed and highly brilliant Inception. Without actually dwelling on the plot, giving a review or ruining the film for those that have not seen it, I would like to talk about a major question that the film poses about its own medium.

The major question at the end of the film relates to a "did it or did it not" ending that is open to interpretation. A person's own interpretation of this ending place the film in wildly different contexts. While the debate rages between "yes" and "no" amongst many people, my own take of the ending was slightly different. The film does not actually pose a definitive answer to the problem and is clearly deliberately ambiguous. With that in mind, I have to believe that drawing a conclusion either way would be incorrect.

A power of film that I have only just realised is that it can tell a story without any kind of conclusion. If we take the film as a self-enclosed world that has no narrative beginning or end (which is backed up by the cyclical nature of the film) then all endings are possible. In effect, "yes" and "no" to the mystery at the close (the end of our foray into the world of the film) are both true at the same time.

This was the first time that a film allowed me to hold two completely contradicting ideas in my mind at the same time.

-The English Student

Surrogate Death

"To reach inside a vault, whatever be the cost."

It was a hazy surrounding and a certain part of me knew that it was a dream. I made my way across the pavement near my house and saw, hobbling in front of me a mannequin that had begun to move. It had only one leg and was suspended on the other side by a crutch. Spinning in circles it drew closer and then moved away from me, before confronting me head on. It told me that it had great interest in biting me and this naturally disturbed me enough to wake me up.

The story of Cerpin Taxt has had similar effects one me. This album tracks the story of a man that intentionally poisons himself, falls into a coma and while unconscious travels through the depths of his own psyche. When he finally awakens, he is so distraught with the nature of reality that he finally resolves to kill himself. This second attempt is a successful one.

As I get closer to the inevitable ending that I face in a few weeks and the life change that I have been planning for months, I have began to wonder if this too is a surrogate form of death. It is the end of a life, it is an end that I have anticipated and yet it is an end that I have not yet fully understood. I may not be dying, but surely these thoughts of parallels to the thoughts of a dying person. We experiment with these death substitutes so that we can attempt an understanding of the ultimate mystery without actually sacrificing our conscious investigative tendencies.

Surrogate death is not real death and this may be the whole appeal of it.

-The English Student

Poisonous Debating Societies

The chances are that if you rose to prominence in a college debating society then you will become a politician.

I was a passive member of some of these societies and went along to view a debate or two on subjects that interested me. As anyone that has every gone to a college debate knows, it is a frankly bizarre situation. Practically everyone in the room will know each other and will already have rivalries and strategies for derailing an opponent. Added to the air of self-importance and complete lack of humour, this all equates to an unusual and fairly depressing environment.

The most bizarre thing for me however, is the format of the debates. A debating team will be given a position on a subject and have to argue it, regardless of their personal opinions. Why on earth should anyone want to argue a perspective that they do not believe? What sense of accomplishment can be achieved when you have successfully convinced someone of a point of view that you do not share?

The advantage of debating societies for potential politicians is obvious. They get a chance to network, form opinions and place themselves in the political mentality. However, it also conditions them for putting across opinions that they do not believe. This naturally creates a huge amount of insincerity in the budding politician. This is obvious in countless countries, where politicians hold a contrary view, not because of their believes, but because of their career.

If we want sincere politicians, we should train them in a sincere way.

-The English Student

Cheap Respect

There is a huge amount of respect flowing between myself, my co-workers and my bosses these days.

However, it has become very obvious, very quickly that this respect is cheap and hollow. It is all well and good to shower praise on someone in an effort to make them feel wanted and respected. Converting this into something tangible seems to be nigh on impossible for a capitalist corporation like the one that I am temporarily working for. When it comes down to it, how much do they respect us if they do not back it up with something real.

Perhaps I am doing a gross disservice to head office. After all, what kind of person or worker would I be if I was only looking for tangible rewards for my efforts? For that to be acceptable, we would need to live in an economic society that has put a tangible value on all products and services, forcing people to gain this value by sacrificing their time. So capitalism then.

But even putting aside my anti-capitalism angst there is a very simple equation going on here. If someone or a group of people put value on something (e.g. money, time, words) then it seems only right that they show their appreciation using the same 'currency'. Otherwise it is just hollow pandering that has absolutely no meaning whatsoever.

Until our economy runs on words, they can keep their hypocritical nonsense.

-The English Student

Album Review: Dark Night of the Soul

At last, the Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse collaboration has been released.

The album was plagued by constant delays and legal challenges. The main obstruction to the release seemed to be a dispute over plans to include a blank CD with the album, encouraging people to copy and pass around the work to other people. While this encouragement was not put into words, it clearly bothered EMI, who blocked the release for an entire year. The controversy over the album was only heightened by the suicide of Sparklehorse lead Mark Linkous a few months ago.

I was naturally wondering how this album would compare or contrast to the controversy swirling around it. The work itself is littered with big names like Julian Cassablancas, Gruff Rhys and Iggy Pop. These musicians create a wonderful sound scape within the Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse production. The album is dark, foreboding and yet full of somewhat jaunty melodies, creating contrasting songs and tones. On paper, this could have been a classic album.

However, it does seem to fall short of these expectations. The final few songs (possibly excluding the eerie title track) tail off into more wayward music and that is when the whole problem of the album is underlined. All of these high-profile guests have not just joined in as an influence, they have controlled their respective songs. This has made it difficult to listen to the whole album has one piece. In the end it is more a collection of songs and loses a certain coherency that would have elevated the album further.

With all that however, it is still a fascinating chapter in the evolution of alternative music.

-The English Student

Anti Social Behaviour

I had two contrasting bus journeys yesterday.

The first trip of note was on my daily commute home from work. It was just after rush hour and the bus was relatively full, warm and wet from the downpour outside. As I was listening to music and reading a great roar emerged from the back of the bus. It did not take long to figure out that the noise was coming from a large group of young teenagers that had taken to shouting ridiculous quotes, singing clichéd songs (re: Journey on a bus journey) and bellowing obscenities.

On the other hand I was on a bus very late last night coming in from an evening of revelry. I, like many of my friends was quite drunk and likely to look for a bit of fun to take away the draining agony of such a journey. We had jokingly thrown out a few clichéd phrases to some other people that we were acquainted with on the bus and it very quickly snow-balled into a loud and hilarious shouting match. I had a vague thought for the few people on the bus that did not seem to be enjoying themselves. I justified it by thinking that this behaviour is obvious and even appropriate on this particular bus.

I suppose the difference between these bus journeys is that in one case I felt there was a huge level of anti-social behaviour as ordinary commuters were disrupted by unemployed teenagers. In the second case the revelry seemed like a case of bus-wide pro social behaviour. Perhaps there is a case to be made for myself here and some guilt could be assuaged. At the same time, it cannot be denied that my behaviour was in fact, disruptive and I should not have two standards for similar circumstances.

I still however, maintain that we were much funnier!

-The English Student

Our Chancery Lane

I do enjoy my daily trip through the legal area of our capital city.

I only get glimpses of the area as I pass on my way into the city centre yet each glimpse seems to tell a story. Recently, the legal system has been split into separate areas in the city rather than the centralised system that was previously in place. As a result of this, I pass two areas of the legal system on my commute. Each of these areas seems to show the same two traits.

I meet the new court first on my commute. The building is a massive investment for the city, with huge glass façades and polished stonework. Upon its completion, the foot traffic around this area has grown exponentially. As an English Student I should not be so inclined to judge a book by its cover, however there does seem to be mainly two types of people surrounding the court. Many professional looking people with high class suits and robes frequent the area, most likely profitable lawyers and judges. The other group wears less expensive clothes, eat their breakfast on the street and are sometimes assaulted by photographers. So lawyers and criminals then, making each other more obvious by contrast and being forced to meet each other on the steps of the new court.

After passing this new area I go through the old court area. It is much quieter these days and is no longer assaulted by photographers. In fact, the only people really seen around these courts are people wearing long robes and ridiculous wigs. I began to wonder if the legal system had simply exported people that they did not enjoy dealing with to another area of the city. To grossly simplify the issue from the perspective of a bus, they tried to separate the lower class from their upper interests. This attempt seems to be a glorious failure however, as a small and secretive public house next door opens earlier than most laws allow, offering a place for the 'working class' to relax at almost any hour in the day.

Despite attempts to change the dynamic, the legal areas remain a self-perpetuating patchwork of rich, poor, law and disorder. While this institution may change area, fundamentally it will not change at all.

-The English Student