Let's All Go To The Movies. Pt.7.

Best read as a continuation of; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/04/lets-all-go-to-movies-pt6.html

The Substance (2024): This tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkles, played by Demi Moore. Once a popular Hollywood actress as she's aged Elisabeth Sparkles has been reduced to being an Aerobics instructor on Daytime TV. When she reaches her 50th birthday Elisabeth Sparkles is fired from even her Daytime TV show. She is then introduced to a mysterious blackmarket drug known only as; "The Substance." 

After injecting herself with the drug Elisabeth Sparkles, essentially, gives birth to a younger version of herself known as; "Sue" and played by Margaret Qualley. Sue then goes on to replace Elisabeth Sparkles on the Daytime TV show, essentially getting Elisabeth Sparkles her job back. However Elisabeth Sparkles and Sue cannot exist in the World at the same time. They need to alternate every seven days with one body remaining unconscious for that week. Elisabeth Sparkles much prefers her younger, popular, Sue body so she stops alternating every seven days. After three months this causes both bodies to deteriorate.

The Substance is a movie that explores women aging in the Entertainment Industry. How their careers were seen to be coming to an end by the time they turn 40 years old and are certainly over by the time they're 50. The mysterious blackmarket drug serves as a metaphor for all of the anti-aging cosmetic treatments that women in the Entertainment Industry will try to keep themselves looking young and in work. Botox, Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, Peptides, Salmon sperm facials. The list seems to be endless and ever growing with a hot new fad seeming to emerge every day. 

Although strictly speaking a weight-loss rather than an anti-aging treatment the injectable nature of the mysterious substance seems to particularly reference the current fashion for Semaglutide (Ozempic). Weight being another example of how women in the Entertainment Industry are judged on their looks. Back in the 1970's and 1980's, prior to the invention of weight-loss drugs, women were expected to control their weight with rigorious Aerobic exercise routines. Often being commanded by TV presenters such as Jane Fonda, Olivia Newton-John and Richard Simmons.

The movie almost seems like a call for women to reject all of these substances and fads. Making the argument that the only substance actresses should need is the substance of their character; their talent, their skill. Assuring us that true talent will win out despite the Entertainment Industry's misogynistic and ageist attitudes towards women.

The Substance is far from the only movie to explore the Entertainment Industry's attitude towards aging women during this year's Awards Season. 

In "Challengers" (2024) Zendaya plays two versions of her character Tashi Duncan. In the movie's present day Tashi Duncan is around 40 years old, yet was being played by the 27 year old Zendaya. This is a common practice in the Movie Industry with characters of women in their 40's and 50's being played by female actors in their 20's and 30's. Sometimes they're even playing the mothers of male actors who are also in their 20's and 30's. However in the flashback sequences of Challengers Zendaya also plays a version of Tashi Duncan who is around 18 years old. This is also a common practice in the Entertaiment Industry; actors of both genders in their 20's playing teenagers. Something Zendaya herself is famous for from her role in the TV show; "Euphoria" (2019-Present). 

Challengers seems to be asking the Entertainment Industry what is the mysterious point where it is no longer acceptable for actresses to play characters younger than they are and have to switch to playing characters which are much older than they are? The answer seems to be when they turn 18 and become adults in terms of labour laws and their ability to consent to nude and sex scenes.

In "The Brutalist" (2024) Raffey Cassidy plays Zsófia Tóth. She also plays Zsófia Tóth's own, unnamed, daughter. Essentially giving birth to herself. Raffey Cassidy also worked with The Brutalist director Brady Corbet on; "Vox Lux" (2018) in which she also gave birth to herself. Playing Celeste Montgomery and then Celeste's daughter Albertine Montgomery. Both The Brutalist and Vox Lux involve substantial time jumps. So while Raffey Cassidy plays her own daughter she is doing so at the age the mother had been and that Raffey Cassidy herself is. However it does touch on how actresses are given roles so much older than they are they sometimes find themselves playing the mothers of actors who are pretty much their own age.

Stacy Martin worked with Brady Corbet and Raffey Cassidy on both The Brutalist and Vox Lux. A big theme of this year's Awards Season is how her career has been impacted by the very sexually explicit; "Nymphomaniac" (2013). 

I think that Stacy Martin was around 22 years old when she made Nymphomaniac. However she plays the character Joe through a range of ages, from a young looking 15 through to 35. When Charlotte Gainsbourg takes over the character of Joe at 35 it's noticeable how much older the character suddenly appears. Despite Charlotte Gainsbourg only being around 42 years old. Only 7 years older than the character but almost twice the age of the actress who'd played the character in the previous shot. Despite a time jump significant enough for Raffey Cassidy to play her own daughter in Vox Lux Stacy Martin plays Eleanor Montgomery throughout. Apart from drawing everyone's attention to Stacy Martin's ability as an actor this also touches on how far you can go and how far you should go in terms of getting, particularly, actresses to play roles older and younger than themselves.

While many aging actresses must think that the Movie Industry still has a long way to go it really has improved in the last 20 years or so. It used to be that actresses would literally just disappear when they turned 40. Now it is common to see actresses not only continuing to work but also having successful careers into their 50's and 60's. Of the Best Actress Oscar winners of the past 15 years nine of them have been over 40. Making that the normal, with younger actresses like Mikey Madison, Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence the exception, rather than the rule.

Obviously it would be nice if that change was simply the result of the people who make up the Movie Industry undergoing personal growth and becoming better people. However I think that much maligned Social Media and the Internet in general has been a significant driver of this change. It used to that once an actress hit 40 no studio would cast them in a movie. With them not being cast in any movies no TV talkshows would book them as guests, no newspapers and magazines would bother interview them. Now actresses are able to communicate with their community of fans via Social Media without having to go through the gatekeepers of traditional media. 

As a result they don't disappear, even if they're not working. Being able to show studios that they still have large fanbases who want to see them in movies helps actresses to convince studios to put them in movies. Demi Moore's fanbase has been particularly vocal on Social Media during this Awards Season. Keen to see the 62 year old win her first Oscar for playing the 50 year old Elisabeth Sparkles.

As, predominately, a visual medium the Entertainment Industry is particularly harsh of women as they age. As is the Fashion Industry. However the issues that are acute within those industries also affect women in all walks of life. So rather than just looking at physical appearance The Substance also addresses other challenges that women face. 

In the workplace one uniquely Female challenge is Motherhood. At what would be considered the peak of a man's career women have to take a break of up to a couple of years in order to give birth and raise their children at a time when they need constant care. Demi Moore herself took a similar career break at the age of 35 to raise her daughters between 1998 and 2007. Her nomination at The Oscars 2025 could be seen has her career finally overcoming that break to catch up with her Male contemporaries in the; "Brat Pack" of 1980's. Sean Penn received his first Oscar nomination in 1996 and his first win in 2004. 

In The Substance Elisabeth Sparkles, essentially, gives birth to Sue. While they are supposed to be the same mind spilt between two bodies Elisabeth Sparkles and Sue think of themselves as two different people. They rapidly come to hate each other, fighting constantly. Something which is, no doubt, familiar to every mother of a teenage daughter. Or anyone who has ever been a teenage daughter.

In an interesting piece of casting Margaret Qualley is something of a Nepo Baby. Her actual mother is Andie MacDowell, one of Demi Moore's Brat Pack contemporaries. So a lot of the causes of conflicts between Elisabeth Sparkles and Sue represent the sort of Bourgeois rich people problems specific to the Hollywood elite and their Nepo Baby offspring. Things like excess illegal drug use, partying and casual sex.

At around 17:10 on 28/4/25 (UK date) it's highly unlikely I'll be able to pick this up tomorrow.

Edited at around 16:50 on 1/5/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste; 

I'm not part of the Bourgeoisie. I'm not even part of the Proletariat. However if you are a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), the Hollywood elite, watching the movie in your private cinema with your dreadful Nepo Babies. Then I think you're likely to find The Substance to be an intense Psychological Horror. The sort of movie that's constantly seeking out your private, inner-self and trying to stab you in it, repeatedly.

Of course it is not just the Entertainment Industry nor wider society that starts to lose interest woman by the time they reach 40 or 50 years old. It is also Biology, their own bodies. 

Women's reproductive cell is the Ovum or; "Egg." Each woman is born with all the Ovum she will ever have. At the onset of puberty, normally around 13 years old, woman experience the; "Menarche." The Ovaries start releasing one of these Ovum a month into the women's Uterus. If the Ovum is not fertilised by a man's reproductive cell, the Sperm, then it is expelled from the woman's Uterus via the Vaginal Canal. The release of each Ovum to the Uterus is accompanied by the release of the Hormone Oestrogen. The release of each Ovum from the Uterus is accompanied by the release of the Hormone Progesterone.

Between the ages of 40 and 50 years old most women have expelled all of the Ovum they have. So this monthly cycle comes to an end. The; "Menopause." The end of the release of Oestrogen has a massive impact on many aspects of women's bodies. One of the most immediate is that the Vaginal Canal stops producing lubrication, making it easier for it to be penetrated during sex; "Vaginal Dryness." The tissue of the Vaginal Canal also weakens, shrinking the size of the Vagina; "Vaginal Atrophy." It is almost as if at the age of 40-50 the doors to a woman's primary sexual organ, literally, slam shut.

The drop in Oestrogen also causes women's bones to lose density and weaken (Osteoporosis), making them easier to break. Oesterogen is essential for the production of Collagen so the drop in Oestrogen also causes a loss of Collagen which weakens the soft-tissues which protect the ends of bones within joints. Making them more susceptible to joint pain (Osteoarthritis). A lack of Collagen also causes hair to thin and skin to loosen and wrinkle. The drop in Oestrogen also affects the way that the body stores fat. Typically leading to more of it to build up in places like the belly and less of it to build up in places like the Breasts.

The monthly process of each Ovum itself is rarely regular and uniform. So the Menopause is not a single event, like flicking a switch on and off. Instead it can take around a decade. 

During this process around the Menopause - the; "Perimenopause" - Oestrogen levels spike and vary wildly. This can have a range of other impacts on women's bodies, alongside the effects of Menopause. These Perimenopause impacts are primarily related to the way the body regulates the flow of blood though vessels (Vasomotor Function). They include things like the inability to regulate body temperature (Hot Flashes), flushed skin, dizziness, heart palpitations and a loss of energy. Although the relationship between Perimenopause, Emotion and Cognition is not well understood it has been linked with impacts such as Depression and extremely mild Dementia (Brain Fog). They though could just be the effects of other impacts, such as not being able to sleep through the night due to Hot Flashes for example.

The Menses, the Perimenopause and the Menopause itself are all normal bodily functions. Rather like how breathing, eating and your hair growing are all normal bodily functions. However there are some bodily functions which make us more squeamish than others. Particularly sticky, smelly ones like going to the bathroom. People often use humour to distract themselves from those uncomfortable, squeamish feelings. So toilet humour is funny, wherever you go in the World.

Particularly amongst men the squeamishness around the Menses and associated bodily functions is particularly high. Something which is reflected by the shocking horror of all the blood, gore and bodily fluids in The Substance. 

Modern science is perfectly capable of synthesising chemicals which replicate naturally occurring Hormones; Synthetic Hormones. So the impacts of Menopause and Perimenopause can be mitigated through the use of Synthetic Hormones, typically Oestrogen and Progesterone. A similar combination of Synthetic Hormones can also be used to regulate the Menses and act against Conception (Contraception). Oestrogen to trigger the release of the Ovum to the Uterus then Progesterone to expel the Ovum from the Uterus before it has a chance to meet a Sperm and become fertilised.

A similar type of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is also used in Feminising Gender-Confirmation Treatment; changing a Transgender person's outwards appearance from Male to Female. However there are a number of differences. The most important being the dosage used. In Gender Confirmation Treatment much higher doses of Synthetic Hormones are used. 

The mix is also a little different. Sometimes Testosterone is used to mitigate the impacts of Menopause and Perimenopause, primarily to counter a drop in sex drive. Progesterone actually produces Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which I'm tempted to describe as; "Testosterone on Steroids." Except that Oestrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone and DHT are all Steroids. In Feminising Gender-Confirmation Treatment much of the Synthetic Hormone Therapy revolves around DHT Inhibitors; chemicals which either prevent DHT from being produced in the first place or stop it having an effect.

It has long been an argument by women that even a Transgender person who has completed full Feminising Gender-Confirmation Treatment still cannot be considered a woman. Due to them lacking the experience of being a woman. The experiences of Gender-Based Violence and Menstruation being the most often cited. Both which sound like a massive nuisance to me, probably the scariest man most of you will ever meet. By the Menstruation benchmark there is certainly an argument that a Transgender person can be a post-Menopausal woman. 

Over the years I think I've got to know around half a dozen Transgender people who completed full Feminising Gender-Conformation treatment. Which, when you consider how rare Transgenderism actually is, is a pretty massive sample size. However these were people I just knew socially rather than was interviewing for a research project. I still got the general impression that they'd all spent their entire working lives saving up in order to afford Feminising Gender-Confirmation Treatment. In order to allow them to retire as non-sexual, post-Menopausal women.

The caveat being that on that Grand, Operatic, Crayola - or if you're so bad at science you decided to become a Biologist instead; "Micro" - scale a Transgender person who has fully completed Gender-Confirmation Treatment will still be tied to their original Biology. 

One of the most commonly used DHT Inhibitors has the generic name; "Finasteride." In very small doses Finasteride is sold as part of a snake-oil solution under brand-names such as; "Propeica" and; "Proscar" to convince men it combats hair loss. However I think it's just their shrinking genitals which convince them their pubic hair is growing longer. In much higher doses Finasteride is used to treat enlarged Prostates and cause Prostate Cancer, if you're that way inclined. Due to them not having much DHT to inhibit at those doses Finasteride causes Liver Failure in women. So they have to wear latex gloves, even while handling film-coated tablets. Meaning that if Elliot Page were to ever to end up as a minimum-wage care worker. That's something he would have to inform his employer about.

Menstruation and its phases; Arche, Pause, Peri-Pause are all normal bodily functions. However many of the impacts of, particularly, Menopause, can result in abnormal bodily functions. The sort of thing you want treated as a Medical Problem. The fractured and dislocated hips and crumbled spines associated with Osteoporosis are definitely the sort of things you want to have treated by a Doctor who actually knows what they're doing. So there is this constant conflict between whether Menopause and Perimenopause should be treated as a Medical Problem or just accepted as part of life. I don't think any of us enjoy having to wipe our own asses, yet we don't call an ambulance every time.

The term; "Menopause" was actually coined by the French Medical Student Charles-Pierre Louis de Gardanne in Paris in 1812. He and his contemporaries observed that although they experienced a permanent pause to their Menses Menopause wasn't a disorder or disease which affected women of the Peasant class; the Proletariat. It only affected rich women; the Bourgeois. Menopause is, literally, a Bourgeois affliction or; "Bougie Disease." A similar divide was found in Japan; Menopause is a Luxury Disease which only affects rich women. 

One possible explanation being that Bourgeois Trophy Wives are seen merely as; "Arts Décroatifs" where working women have a purpose beyond being pretty little sex toys. So are likely to suffer fewer adverse Emotional impacts to the gates slamming shut on their sexual organs. In an age before widespread contraception it was probably something to be welcomed by women who couldn't afford a; "Nanny" - etymologically an older woman who cares for her children's children. 

So in The Substances the mysterious blackmarket drug also serves as a metaphor for all the lotions & potions, Vaginal Lubricants, Vaginal Balms, HRT's and magical healing crystals that can be used to alleviate the impacts of Menopause and Perimenopause. 

It is the Menopause which causes the drop in Oestrogen which causes the loss of Collagen which causes saggy skin and wrinkles. So, technically, all the anti-aging skin-creams are actually treatments to alleviate the impacts of Menopause. Definitely not the sort of thing that should be used Premenarche. Not that anything that can be found between the crystals and the snake-oil on a lifestyle guru's Ecommerce platform is going to have much effect, negative or otherwise.

At around 17:20 on 1/5/25 (UK date) I am going to have to pause this now, in order to address a different phase in my life. I hope this pause will last less than a month.

Edited at around 15:15 on 23/6/25 (UK date) to refresh myself on the above and copy & paste; 

This issue of whether Perimenopausal women should be reduced to only being thought of as a Medical Problem doesn't just apply to the Menopause. It runs through the medical profession and wider society. I'm sure we can all still, just about, remember 2020. When we entirely reduced our societies to this clade and that strain, PCR and lateral flow tests. Just as I'm sure we all know that the lockdowns did not work. The vaccines did not work. Covid-19 is still very much with us. The only thing that's changed is our attitude. The people who spent their lives dreaming of the day there's a deadly Pandemic have finally got it out of their systems and we're back to accepting Covid as just a part of life. Just as we did back in 2019. 

If we were to apply that reductionist attitude to Selena Gomez then we wouldn't be able to talk about her billion dollar Rare Beauty cosmetics company, the Rare Impact Fund Mental Health charity it supports. The acting awards she won for her role in; "Emilia Perez" (2024), the most nominated movie at The Oscars 2025 or her TV show; "The Only Murders in the Building" (2021-Present). We wouldn't be able to talk about Selena Gomez's successful music career that she seems able to dip in and out of as she pleases. We'd only be able to consider Selena Gomez as Bipolar Disorder and a Kidney Transplant as the result of Lupus. Likewise we wouldn't be able to talk about Elliot Page in terms of his acting career and accolades. Only the fact that he is Transgender makes him susceptible to Liver Failure from contact with  DHT inhibitors.

If you reduce Transgenderism in that way then you have to talk about it in terms of being a Birth Defect. Interestingly during pregnancy the Female Hormone Progesterone transforms into the Male Hormone DHT. It is this very powerful form of the Male Hormone Testosterone which drives the formation of Male genitalia in foetuses. So a lack of either Progesterone or DHT could be what causes a foetus which has Male DNA to develop into a child which has Female genitalia. The type of Transgender that Elliot Page seems to be. Likewise too much Progesterone or DHT could be what causes a foetus with Female DNA to develop into a child with Male genitalia.

The 2025 Awards Season has looked extensively at the Totalitarian Social Engineering central to The Brutalist school of Urban Planning, likening it to traditional computing. Along with its opposite, the Libertarian Social Ecology of the likes of Murray Bookchin. Something which actually contributed to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing.

Murray Bookchin's first book was; "Our Synthetic Environment" (1962) which was originally published under the pen-name; "Lewis Herber." This looked at how environmental pollutants affect the Human Endocrine System - the system which governs Hormones like Oestrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone and DHT. How those pollutants' effects on the Endocrine System can cause Cancers and Birth Defects. Later that year Rachel Carson published; "Silent Spring" which took a less politically radical look at the same issue. 

Combined these books had such a massive impact on the public consciousness that they totally changed the way that the public thought about pollution and how their environment affects their lives. Leading to the removal of Dioxins from most consumer products and a total ban on the Pesticide DHT. They ushered the birth of the Environmental Movement which continues to be common place in discussions over politics and the Social Contract across the globe.

Back in early January, around the start of The 2025 Awards Season the US Congress received an official report showing that 1 in 1000 American adolescents are undergoing Hormone based Gender-Confirmation treatment for Transgenderism. Which works out as 1 child in every High School in America. At the same time only 1 in 10,000 American adolescents are being treated for Cancer.

While it's far from the only way to think about it Transgenderism can certainly be considered as a Birth Defect, likely caused by environmental factors affecting the Endocrine system. When Murray Bookchin and Rachael Carson showed that environmental factors affecting the Endocrine system were causing childhood Cancers there was a first national, then international outrage. Huge public demand insisting that the pollutants be banned. We are now being asked to believe that Transgenderism is ten times more common in the US than Cancer. Yet rather than there being national outrage and demands that the pollutants causing it be found and banned people actually seem to be celebrating it.  

One likely explanation is that no-one really believes that the majority of people claiming to be Transgender are actually Transgender. They're just making it up for attention. Transgenderism is really significantly less common than Cancer in America. Rather than being the result of some pollutant the tiny handful of cases of Transgenderism are likely being caused by something going a bit wrong within the Endocrine system itself. Something as impossible to predict and guard against as the mother being annoyed by someone doing something small in some supermarket checkout queue. Causing the exactly the wrong level of a stress Hormone to be released at precisely the wrong moment during pregnancy.

If that's the case then America is facing another scandal. That one child in every US High School is being subjected to completely unnecessary, life-long and life-changing medical treatment. A national epidemic of Munchausen's Syndrome. Yet there's no mass outrage. Demands that the US government, America's Sovereign, protects America's children from these unethical, unscrupulous medical professionals who, no doubt, would perform Kidney Transplants on any child who wanted and was prepared to pay for one.

At around 16:00 on 23/6/25 (UK date) I'll pick this up on Wednesday, amateurish jump-scares permittting.

Edite at around 16:30 on 25/6/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;

Perhaps showing how the Entertainment Industry is changing for the better Demi Moore has worked pretty consistently since returning from her career break in 2007. In 2020 she appeared in the NBC/Peacock adaptation of; "Brave New World" based on the 1932 novel by Aldous Huxley. Playing "Linda," the mother of the gifted storyteller from the Savage Lands who was trying to be integrated into the futuristic, Socially Engineered Utopian city. As with George Orwell's later, 1949 novel; "1984" Brave New World is an attempted to warn about the Totalitarian Social Engineering that was inspired by; "Metropolis" (1927) and went onto inspire both Nazism and The Brutalist School of Urban Planning. In its visual style the 2020 adaptation of Brave New World borrows heavily from Metropolis.

The female lead in Brave New World (2020) is played by Jessica Brown Findlay who is probably best known for her role in the TV show; "Downton Abbey" (2010-2015). However people who only know Jessica Brown Findlay from Downton Abbey will probably be unaware that she's an actress who seems very comfortable with onscreen nudity. 

In 2014 Jessica Brown Findlay had nude photos and videos of her stolen by hackers and leaked on the Internet. I cannot remember if this was part of the same massive leak of celebrity nudes that included Jennifer Lawrence as I didn't pay it much attention at the time. Although I remember reading it as a headline in a newspaper and flamboyantly turning the page without reading the story while thinking; "That seems like a waste of effort. Downton Abbey's the only thing I've seen her in where she's kept her clothes on!"

As I was watching Brave New World (2020) I increasingly came to regret not paying more attention to Jessica Brown Findlay's leaked nudes as it became obvious that they were a big subtext to the show. Part of wider discussion about the increasingly blurring of the line between actor and sex-worker then through hacks, leaks and Internet porn sites, now through AI. Along with how to minimise the negative impacts on the people who appear in nude and sex scenes. That big theme of The Oscars 2025, one which disproportionately affects women in the Entertainment Industry.

A particularly notable sex scene in Brave New World (2020) involves Hannah John-Kamen playing "Wilhelmina - "Helm" - Watson." A character who, very deliberately, shares the same first name and initials as Richard Wagner's first wife. The sex scene is notable for the way in which it doesn't show Hannah John-Kamen's nipples, in a show which features a lot of nipples, nude and simulated sex scenes. 

If you've seen really any US network TV show regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) then you'll know how it is possible to do even very graphic sex scenes without showing nipples in such a fluid and natural way you don't even notice. This sex scene from Brave New World (2020) was different from that. It was as if a censor or the actress' agent had forced their way onto set and was holding a metal bar in place to stop the camera panning down to show nipples. It felt very unnatural and forced, really drawing attention to the fact that they weren't showing Hannah John-Kamen's nipples. All the while you're sitting there thinking; "The fact we can't see her nipples doesn't change the fact she's fully nude in a vast warehouse like room surrounded by a gang of, essentially, scaffolders!"

Margaret Qualley's previous work also touches on that big theme of actors as sex workers. Her breakthrough role came in the US TV show; "The Leftovers" (2014-2017) where she played; "Jill Garvey." In the first season her best friend was played by Emily Meade, a very sexually precious character who is constantly trying to seduce her best friend's middle-aged father into an inappropriate relationship. I can't remember if Emily Meade actually appeared nude in The Leftovers but not being regulated by the FCC it is certainly a show which has nude and sex scenes in it.

One particularly memorable nude scene involves Jasmin Savoy Brown's character and her group of female friends, who are all around the same age as Emily Meade's character, running fully nude through the woods. For reasons the show doesn't even begin to attempt to explain. The Leftovers being the sort of show that takes a great deal of pleasure in not explaining its many mysteries. The only explanation I can think of is that it was a reference to a similar scene in the 2013 movie; "How I Live Now."

How I Live Now revolves around the "Daisy Rybeck" character played by Saoirse Ronan. A teenager of about 17 or 18 years old Daisy is visiting Britain from America and falls in love with "Eddie" played by George Mackay. The two are then separated amid the aftermath of a Nuclear Terrorist Attack. The early part of the movie, before the attack, is almost all building towards a sex scene between Daisy and Eddie. 

Aged just 13 Saoirse Ronan was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at The Oscars 2007 for her breakthrough role in; "Atonement" (2007). How I Live Now was really the cute 13 year old actress' first role since turning 18 and being able to appear in nude and sex scenes. So as the movie builds towards the inevitable sex scene you find yourself sitting there almost praying; "Please don't be creepy! Please don't be creepy! Please don't be creepy!" When the sex scene comes it is very tastefully done in a way that even the FCC would allow. It's just enough to establish the nature of Daisy and Eddie's relationship. Making it clear that they're more than just good friends, they're each other's all important first true love. Then later on in the movie there's a dream sequence in which Saoirse Ronan is running fully nude through the woods. It's the Horror movie using her full-frontal nudity as a jump-scare. Which has got to be a rather dubious thing to have said about yourself.

Following The Leftovers Emily Meade went on to have a rather central role another HBO TV show; "The Deuce" (2017-2019). Arguably The Deuce is a show about Urban Geography. It tells the story of the section of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue in New York City in the 1970/80's, all the characters who interact with that small piece of a city. Many of the characters interacting with The Deuce at that time are sex-workers, including Emily Meade's "Sarah/Lori Madison." So it includes many example of actors as sex-workers such as in; "Anora" (2024).

Initially the sex-workers are drug addicted street prostitutes. However some of them gradually also become Porn actors. First in movies shown in Porn Cinemas and then in movies released on newly invented VHS tapes which people can own and watch at home. What allows this journey into Porn to begin is the relaxation of New York State's Obscenity Laws. I can't remember the exact quote but a lawyer describes the change by saying something like; "The Courts are increasingly finding that New Yorkers don't have any morals to outrage!" Rather like how the German public didn't seem to have any morals left to outrage during The Weimar Republic, allowing it to become the gay capital of the World for a time.

Particularly for Emily Meade's character her Porn journey is driven by the rise of the new technology of VHS tapes. This sees her become a Porn Star, crossing into the mainstream appearing in music videos for rock bands in the 1980's. Margaret Qualley's spandex clad scenes in The Substance seem deliberately similar to her The Leftovers co-star Emily Meade's spandex clad scenes as a 1980's Porn Star in The Deuce.

At around 16:45 on 25/6/25 (UK date) I should be able to pick this up tomorrow.

Let's All Go To The Movies. Pt.6.

Best read as a continuation of Part 5; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/04/lets-all-go-to-movies-pt5.html

Emilia Pérez (2024): This is something of a difficult movie for me to cover as it features Selena Gomez. Someone who has been nudged in my direction, largely due to her well publicised health issues; Lupus, a kidney transplant as a result of Lupus and Bipolar Disorder. Although I should point out that small nudge was nothing like on the same scale of the massive, collective, shove others have received.

Selena Gomez is a Billionaire from her Rare Beauty cometic company, part of the profits of which are channelled into the Rare Impact Fund to enable to young people to gain access to mental health resources. Selena Gomez had a role in this, the most nominated movie at The Oscars 2025, a role which saw her win the Best Actress prize at The Cannes Film Festival 2024. That is alongside her role in the multi-award winning TV show; "Only Murders in the Building" (2021-Present). Selena Gomez also has a successful music career she seems able to dip in and out of as she pleases. So there is clearly a lot more to Selena Gomez than just her health issues.

I particularly don't want to focus on Selena Gomez's health issues because they are personal and private. I also appreciate that, particularly with mental health issues, there is still a lot of stigma surrounding them. The specifics of how Selena Gomez's health issues would affect anyone, along with the side-effects of the treatments used, can be quite embarrassing. Not the sort of things that people feel comfortable talking about. Recently Selena Gomez expressed concern that the medications she is taking for her health issues may prevent her from becoming a Mother. Particularly the kidney transplant requires her to be on some pretty heavy duty drugs for the rest of her life. As these drugs prevent her body from rejecting the donor kidney stopping taking them from anywhere between nine months and two years simply isn't an option. All of which is a bit much for a first date.

However Selena Gomez's health issues are really the reason why she was being nudged in my direction. For every one of Selena Gomez's health issues that I know about I also know, and am probably related to, someone who has the exact same health issue. Back in late 2017 one of my Mothers was admitted to a hospital's Intensive Care/Treatment Unit (IC/TU) with a Lupus-like autoimmune condition. Partly to protect my Mother's privacy rather than explaining to people exactly what was wrong with her I pretty much just told people to Google Selena Gomez.

As a result in my family and social circle these embarrassing discussions about the health issues Selena Gomez shares have been had so many times they've lost all power to embarrass. They've become the sort of thing we need to be reminded not to talk about loudly in public places, as they make other people uncomfortable. So if Selena Gomez has absolutely no-one else in her life to talk about her health issues with without embarrassment then I could certainly be that person. Although I would say that being united by our problems sounds like a terribly unhealthy basis for a romantic relationship. Excellent for an Alcoholics Anonymous-style support group but absolutely terrible for a couple.

Apparently since being nudged in my direction Selena Gomez is now engaged to Benny Blanco. The small faction that was nudging Selena Gomez in my direction also felt the need to murder a 10 year old girl, Sara Sharif, by pushing her down some stairs. Then have her killers flee to Pakistan to create a fully fledged international incident. None of which has made me want to get more involved. However the news that Selena Gomez is engaged to Benny Blanco has appeared in front of my eyes and gone into my brain. Forcing my brain to do something with that information. Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco seem to be united by something they both enjoy doing, making music. That seems a much healthier basis for a romantic relationship than any romantic relationship I would have had with Selena Gomez. Plus they both seem to live on the same continent, which probably helps.

Emilia Pérez centres on Rita Mora Castro, played by Zoe Saldaña, a struggling lawyer in Mexico. One day she is employed by drug cartel boss Jaun "Manitas" Del Monte, played by Karla Sofía Gascón, who wants her help to fake his death and transition to a new life as a woman. Rita Mora Castro duly obliges.

However that is really only a prelude or prologue. The story really begins four years later when Rita Mora Castro has a chance meeting with Manitas. Now identifying as a woman, Emilia Pérez. It turns out that transitioning to live as a woman has not brought Manitas the happiness they had hoped for. So they employ Rita Mora Castro's services again. This time to allow Emilia Pérez to return to Mexico to reunite with their family without the knowledge of Manitas' wife Jessica "Jessi" Del Monte, played by Selena Gomez. Back in Mexico Emilia Pérez and Rita Mora Castro unite to establish a charity organisation to campaign against Cartel Violence.

As such Emilia Pérez is a movie all about Transgenderism, that topic which is just so fashionable in America at the moment. There are only two genders; Male and Female. Those genders are determined at conception by the Father's DNA. However in a very small number of people something goes a bit wrong in how that DNA blueprint is built into the finished article. As a result those people end up being both Male and Female. They transcend both genders. 

For a lot of Transgender people this isn't an issue. They're perfectly happy with the gender their public image presents to mainstream society. However some Transgender people, like Manitas, feel they would be happier if their other gender was the public image they present to mainstream society. So they undergo gender-confirmation treatment in order to present their other gender as their public image. Whatever public image Transgender people choose to present to mainstream society; the day, the light, their private, inner-self; the night, the dark, will always be a Transgender person. It's never a matter of a man changing into a woman or vice-versa. It is always a Transgender person choosing which public image they wish to present.

This is something the movie establishes early on when Rita Mora Castro travels to Tel Aviv, Israel to meet with Dr Wasserman, played by Mark Ivanir, the Doctor who ultimately performs Manita's gender-confirmation treatment. The meeting takes the form of a duet sung between the two; "Lady," in which Dr Wasserman makes clear to Rita Mora Castro that he can only fix the body, not the soul. If the soul is a he then she will be a he.

Emilia Pérez's unhappiness is Manitas' failure to reconcile with his Male gender. The return to Mexico and the establishment of the charity to combat Cartel Violence is an attempt by Emilia Pérez to reconcile with Manita's Male gender. Violence is a genetically pre-determined Male trait. Over the years I've got to know many women who have served in the military and/or are accomplished at Combat Sports. I don't know Rhonda Rousey, however she seems a famous example of the type of woman I'm talking about who is probably easy for you to Google. Despite these women being much more experienced and trained in violence than I am I've found that just by virtue of being Male I will always be that fraction of a second quicker to violence than them. So the movie's use of Cartel Violence as an expression of Emilia Pérez's Male gender also touches on the Machismo culture of Latin America which drives much violence, particularly gender-based violence.

Karla Sofía Gascón are themselves Transgender. Choosing in 2014 to undergo gender-confirmation treatment in order to present their Female gender in public rather than their Male gender, Juan Carlos Gascón, which had already had a reasonably successful acting career. The second most nominated movie at The Oscars 2025 was; "The Brutalist" (2024). During Awards Season this sort of played about with the fourth wall, the invisible divide between performance and audience, by becoming engulfed in a bit of a scandal over the help it received from Artificial Intelligence (AI). Emilia Pérez also played about with the fourth wall as we were all forced to face up to the violence of Gascón's Male gender. In the form of a number of damaging Twitter and Social Media posts from their past.

A great many Social Media posts were unearthed and they were almost all in Spanish. So I can't say I've gone through them in any level of detail. However a particularly controversial group attacked Black Lives Matter and the death of George Floyd. Keeping with the Awards Season theme that Black Lives Matter supporters need a lesson in Objective Reality, a brutal reality check. At the time of his death George Floyd had an, above average, Blood/Oxygen Saturation of 98%. He most certainly could breath. He died of a Cardio-Pulmonary Arrest as a result of his choice to take a large dose of Fentanyl. The only person who killed George Floyd was George Floyd.

Another particularly controversial group of Gascón's Social Media posts attacked Islam's attitudes towards women. There are currently around 1.9 billion Muslims in the World. With the role of Caliph unfilled there is no central leader of Islam codifying the religion's teachings. So there is quite a range of variation amongst the beliefs of those 1.9 billion people. However there are large factions of Islam which have seriously problematic attitudes towards women. The Taliban being, probably, the most high profile example. Although driven by a deep Anti-Semitic hatred of Jews rather than any specific Islamic attitude towards women The October 7th Genocide (2023-Present) was marked by gender-violence so appalling it, prima facie, constitutes Crimes Against Humanity, contrary to Article 7.1(g) of The Rome Statute (1998).

The people who support Black Lives Matter tend to be the same sort of American Liberals who deny that large sections of Islam has a real problem with women while being also big supporters of both Hamas and Transgender rights. So this group of Social Media posts seemed to offer them another brutal reality check. Likening their support for Transgender rights to the gender-based violence of Hamas and the denial of women's rights by Islamic groups such as the Taliban.

Another large group of Gascón's Social Media posts seemed to involve them being, well, bitchy. About The Oscars themselves and a wide variety of celebrities, including Selena Gomez. As far as I can tell all women absolutely hate each other. While I've been actively avoiding getting involved even I know Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber are supposed to be engaged in some great bitchy feud over Justin Bieber, who dated Selena before marrying Hailey. Gascón's Social Media posts struck me as a Male trying to copy that Female bitchiness and not getting it quite right due to it not being in their nature. Similar to how; "Challengers" (2024) seemed like an attempt to graft Male Homosexuality onto Heterosexual women.

I do not point out that people cannot change their gender, their nature, merely the public image their present of themselves in order to be hurtful or spiteful. I do it in order to explain how difficult it is to be Transgender, never being truly Male or truly Female. I would hope that amongst non-Sociopaths that would inspire feelings of patience and understanding, rather than hate.

However Awards Season is really the period of mass public engagement which America uses to renegotiate its Social Contract. That sort of unwritten balance of compromises which holds any society together. What Transgender activists seem to have forgotten is that we all experience this conflict between our private, inner-self and the public image we present to mainstream society. As explored in Richard Wagner's use of night, dark and day, light in; "Tristan Und Isolde." Something which was borrowed by Pytor Tchaikovsky's; "Swan Lake" and Lars von Trier's "Melancholia" (2011). It was explored more recently by; "Poor Things" (2023) at The Oscars 2024.

As is always the case when it comes to negotiating a Social Contract the question is how much of their private, inner-self should non-Transgender people be asked to sacrifice in order that Transgender people don't have to sacrifice their private, inner-self? A lot of women consider it to be a sacrifice of their private, inner-self to have to get undressed in front of a man. Is it acceptable to force them to make that sacrifice in order to prevent a Transgender person from having to make the sacrifice of being reminded that they'll never, truly, be a woman? I think even more women consider sexual violence to be a violation of their private, inner-self. Would it be more reasonable to force a Transgender perpetrator of sexual violence to serve their sentence in a male prison rather than force women who have abided by the Social Contract to sacrifice that part of their private, inner-self?

Arguably Humans are pretty much the same wherever you go in the World. They've also been pretty much the same for tens of thousands of years. Tellingly early on in Emilia Pérez Rita Mora Castro visits Bangkok, Thailand to research gender-confirmation treatments. Thailand is something of a global leader in this area because its culture has, really, always accepted Transgenderism as something which exists. So when it comes to negotiating a Social Contract there aren't really any new issues, just new compromises to be found on old issues.

However our understanding of these old issues has improved and expanded. That better knowledge changes the compromises we make. DNA was first identified back in 1869. Similar subsequent scientific discoveries have allowed us to establish that there are only two genders but a tiny minority of people are both genders. So we know and can prove that Transgenderism exists. So we now know that in the balance of a Social Contract there is no point giving any weight to the private, inner-selves of people who don't think Transgenderism is real and that people who claim to be Transgender are only making it up and don't deserve any rights.

Of course for both Transgender and non-Transgender people it is possible to focus far too much on that conflict between our private, inner-self and the public image of ourselves we present to mainstream society. In so much of our daily lives it just really isn't an issue. It might sound like Woke virtue signalling to tell you that I really wouldn't care if I went into a shop and the person serving me was Transgender. However the truth is that I just don't care that much about the private, inner-self of someone who is briefly serving me in a shop. Their hopes, fears, gender or sexual orientation.

Likewise if The Great American Bell Ringing of 2021 hadn't happened and Selena Gomez and I were talking to each other directly, rather than freaking each other out with this post, I certainly wouldn't greet her by saying; "Hello Kidney Transplant!" Likewise the people who watch Selena Gomez on TV shows and in movies, listen to her music, buy her cosmetics or fantasise about her with no clothes on aren't interested in her private, inner-self. It has absolutely no impact of the way they interact with her. It's not callous or uncaring to say that that the interaction between them and Selena Gomez is almost entirely governed by the almost illusionary public image that she presents to mainstream society. As is almost every interaction between all Humans, anywhere in the World, throughout history.

The caveat to that is that the majority of the thinkers on the idea of a Social Contract, starting with John Locke, have argued that it can only exist if it is enforced. So discussion over where to draw the compromises in a Social Contract have to be translated into enforceable laws. When writing laws, as with providing healthcare, you have to deal in Objective Reality rather than Expressionist Illusion. As Christian-Scientist Val Kilmer recently demonstrated.

At around 17:05 on 21/4/25 (UK date) I'm not sure when I'll be able to pick this up again.

Edited at around 17:25 on 22/4/25 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;

The question of where to strike the balance on Transgenderism in America's Social Contract is complicated by the fact the issue has become just so fashionable. 

Just before the start of the 2025 Awards Season, back in January, the US Congress received a report confirming that 1 in 1000 US adolescents were undergoing gender-confirmation treatment. That works out as roughly one child at every American High School. For context only 1 in 10,000 US adolescents are undergoing treatment for Cancer. The claim that Transgenderism is 10 times more common than Cancer in America is just not believable. If one child in every American High School had Cancer then there would be national outrage. The US Department of Health would be working flat-out, under huge pressure, to find out what is causing so many American children to suffer from a medical condition which requires significant surgical interventions and lifelong drug therapies.

Probably a big part of this is that it is just Human nature to seek out the rare, the new, the exciting. Back in the time of The Weimar Republic (1918-1932), when; "Metropolis" (1927) was made everyone in Europe was similarly obsessed with Asia, the East, the Orient. The height of fashion were Art Deco designs in the shape of a Japanese folding fan featuring light and dark colours. To allow people to experience illusion of the rare heat and exotic animals of the land of the rising sun. 

Another big part of the reason why Transgenderism is so fashionable is probably that a lot people's private, inner-self is a very dark place indeed. Obviously they don't what to project that public image to mainstream society. So instead they choose to signal the image of a virtuous person who really cares for marginalised groups, like the Transgender. The thinking seeming to be that it doesn't matter if they rape little children, they must be a good person because they'd never address anyone by the wrong pronoun(!)

Probably another big part of the reason why Transgenderism has become so fashionable is that life is hard. Both Transgender and non-Transgender people have this constant struggle of the conflict between their private, inner-self and the public image they project to society. 

As if it were part of some sort of Authoritarian-Capitalist master-plan inspired by The Brutalist School of Urban Design we are living increasingly socially isolated lives. When we do interact with other people it is on that very superficial, transactional level where we don't really care about each other's private, inner-selves, we barely notice the public images being presented to society. In America it's become increasingly fashionable to complain about not being; "Seen." People feeling that they're barely being noticed, no-one cares about their hopes and fears. Throughout the More Economically Developed world there is said to be a loneliness epidemic.

One way to make sure that you are; "Seen," receiving the attention we all crave is to appeal that that facet of Human nature by making yourself seem rare, new, exciting. During the time of The Weimar Republic that would have involved pretending to be Asian or Oriental. As Margaretha MacLeod did, renaming herself; "Mata Hari." These days it seems to involve pretending that you're Transgender.

I've yet to be convinced there is anything new about the Human condition. However this modern sensation that not even our public images are enough to be seen by mainstream society seems to be intensifying the conflict with our private inner-selves. The question of what is so wrong with our inner-selves, our personalities, that prevents us from projecting a public image that people will see and notice?

Thailand has a culture which has, really, always accepted Transgenderism as something which exists. As with much of Asia Thailand doesn't really have religion in the way that followers of Christianity and Islam would understand it. Instead it has more of a belief system based on the Animist idea that everything in the Universe is connected. One of the most widely recognised symbols of this collection of Asian Animist belief systems is that Yin Yang Symbol from Taoism. This represents the need for balance between two conflicting forces. That can be any two conflicting forces; light and dark for example. However in the West it is most probably known to represent the two conflicting forces of Male and Female. What is notable about the Yin Yang is that the large force has a small part of the opposing force within it. So there is a black dot within the white and a white dot within the black. Showing that even conflicting forces are interconnected and contain a small part of each other.

Transgender people are both Male and Female at the same time. However it is possible to be exclusively Male in gender yet have some Female personality traits and vice-versa. There certainly isn't only one Male personality and only one Female personality. While I find that as a man I will always be quicker to violence than a woman I know plenty of men who are much quicker to violence than I am. I also know plenty of men who are much slower to violence than I am. 

With the stress of conflict seemingly force us to constantly question what is wrong with our private, inner-selves it might seem like an easy solution to confuse personality traits with gender. It's more comforting to tell ourselves that our problems are the result of us being Transgender and presenting the wrong gender as the public image of ourselves rather than admitting that we've just got quite a dull personality. Something which is particularly true when Transgenderism is considered the rare, exotic, new thing that not only does everyone want to see, they want to be seen with.

There is a widely recognised and serious psychological disorder called; "Munchausen's Syndrome." The sufferer will invent a fake medical condition, the rarer and more exotic the better, in order to "Seen" by Doctors and revel in the attention that comes with being ill. It's a massively amplified version of that thing we all did when we were kids of pretending to be sick to get out of school. The disorder is probably more commonly recognised as; "Munchausen's By-Proxy." In which the sufferer inflicts the fake illness on a proxy, a person under their care. In order to be "Seen" by Doctors and revel in the attention that comes from being a virtuous person who cares from the sick.

I don't think there is a Doctor on the planet who would subject a patient to a kidney transplant simply because the patient wants a kidney transplant. They would first need to establish there is a medical need for the patient to have a kidney transplant. If they're unable to find a medical need they would subject the patient to intensive psychological screening in order to find out what has gone so wrong with their personality that they've convinced themselves they need kidney transplant.

Gender-confirmation treatment is hugely medically invasive. Early in Emilia Pérez there is the song; "La vaginoplastia" in which the Doctor in Bangkok reels off to Rita Mora Castro the surgical procedures involved. In what I thought was a missed opportunity it doesn't even begin to mention the lifetime of drug therapies involved. The medical profession is still guided by the Hippocratic Oath part of which states; "First do no harm." So as part of accepting that Transgenderism is a real medical condition and some people with the condition will benefit from gender-confirmation treatment medical ethics dictates that you have to establish there is a medical need for treatment, including intensive psychological screening. You don't perform gender-confirmation treatment just because the patient says they want it.

Obviously the people who are only pretending to be Transgender for attention and the people who are suffering from a Munchausen's like psychological disorder which has convinced them they are Transgender. They can't pass that medical scrutiny. So have started to demand that they can self-diagnose as Transgender and change the gender they wish to present in the legal sphere at will.

That makes it much harder to reach a balance of compromise on Transgender rights within the Social Contract. It certainly makes it much more difficult to convince people that Transgender people do deserve rights because Transgenderism is a real thing and they're not just making it up for attention when the overwhelming majority of people claiming to be Transgender are just making it up for attention. None of us should be asked, let alone forced, to sacrifice any part of our private, inner-self to accommodate other people's desperate need for attention and utter refusal to address their own flaws.

At around 17:55 on 22/4/25 (UK date) I'll try and pick this up tomorrow.

Edited at around 17:15 on 24/4/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;

Alongside Christianity and Islam Judaism is one of the Abrahamic religions. However it began as a polytheistic religion. Jews worshipped many different gods representing different aspects of existence. So you had Hadad - the god of Storms and Rain, Yam - the god of Seas and Water Sources along with Maloch - the god of Human Sacrifice, as depicted in; "Metropolis (1927)." As such Judaism is much closer to Asian Animist belief systems than Islam and Christianity are. They view God as something of a conceptual other, an old man with a beard living in a different dimension - Heaven. While Jews consider G0d to be the dimension Humans live in, the Universe. This tends to make Jews much more tolerant of things like Transgenderism. Taking the position that if G0d is the Universe and something exists in the Universe it must also be G0d, particularly if it is Jewish.

In recent years much of the debate over Transgenderism in America and Europe has involved trying to explain the difference between a Transgender person and a Drag Act. A Drag Act being a comedy character, rather like a Clown. Much of the comedy often comes from the fact that we're not meant to believe it is a man that has changed into a woman. We're meant to know that it's clearly a man dressed as a woman. All the way back in 1998 Israel won The Eurovision Song Contest while being represented by Sharon Cohen, a Transgender woman adopting the Drag Persona of Dana International. Obviously that was intended to provoke some debate in Israel, although nowhere near as much as you would expect. Certainly much less then the topic is provoking in America and Europe nearly thirty years later. Due to the similarities of their belief systems Israel really rivals Thailand as a World leader in gender-confirmation treatments.

Although he appeared in an episode of the very; "R.U.R: Rossimovi Univerzalni Roboti" (Rossum's Universal Robots) inspired US TV show; "Dollhouse" (2009-2010) Mark Ivanir is probably best known to US audiences for his role in; "Homeland" (2011-2020). In the show which was well connected to the actual Intelligence Community Mark Ivanir played the Russian Intelligence Officer or; "Spy" Ivan Krupin between 2015 and 2018, at the height of the Obama-Biden Regime's attempts to rig the 2016 US Election with its Russian Interference conspiracy theory. 

Homeland is a remake of an Israeli TV show; "Hatufim" (Abductees) (2010-2012). Mark Ivanir is Israeli, rather than Russian. Like almost all Israelis he did compulsory military service in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) where he worked in Military Intelligence. So technically Mark Ivanir is actually a former Spy. His role in Homeland very much mocked the Obama-Regime's claim of interference from Russian spies. The Russian spy isn't real. He was actually an Israeli spy.

During his time in Israeli Military Intelligence Mark Ivanir played a role in; "Operation: Joshua" (1985) which airlifted Ethiopian Jews from Sudan to Israel. That touches on the border area between Ethiopia and Sudan being The Birthplace of Humanity, the place where the Human Race first emerged. It also touches on how when Moses led Jews from Egypt to Israel in The Exodus some Jews ended up going to Ethiopia instead, leading to the similarities between Judaism and the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church. The only Christian Church which recognises the apocalyptic Book of Enoch from the Jewish Bible.

In his song in Emilia Pérez; "Lady" Mark Ivanir likens Dr Wasserman's work to a war. Singing that in all his years of performing gender-confirmation treatment he's never been able to end the conflict, the war, between a Transgender person's two genders. However with Mark Ivanir being an Israeli who served in the IDF that can also be used to discuss Israel's long history of war and conflict with its Arab neighbours. 

With Mark Ivanir having participated in (non-combat) IDF operations in Sudan that touches on the long history of Israel's conflicts being compared to Sudan's wars, going back to the Second Palestinian Intifada (2000-2005). The damaging effect that whataboutism has had on both countries, particularly Sudan which had a Two State Solution imposed on it, creating the nation of South Sudan. The current outrage at Israel over the war Hamas imposed upon it compared to the total lack of concern about the much longer, much more vicious war currently going on in Sudan. With Homeland being a show all about returning hostages and being a remake of an Israeli TV show about returning hostages Mark Ivanir's role in it goes to the heart of the war Hamas has imposed on Israel; The October 7th Genocide (2023-Present). The taking of 251 hostages, prima facie, a Crime Against Humanity contrary to Article 7.1(e)(i)(k) of The Rome Statute of 1998.

Mark Ivanir's time on Homeland overlapped with Costa Ronin. A Russia speaking Russian-Australian actor who played Oleg Igorevich Burov in; "The Americans" (2013-2018). Following the 2022 intensification of The Ukraine War (2014-Present) Costa Ronin seems to have joined the rest of the Russian speaking Russian-American cast of The Americans and Anora (2024) in becoming a marginalised community within America. One which people seem to think it's time to welcome back into the mainstream.

As you may have guessed from the key scenes taking the form of songs Emilia Pérez sees itself as an Opera. Particularly Classical European Opera is seen as very elitist high art and culture. A good way of letting people know how much more intelligent you are than them. However the plots of many Classical European Operas are utterly ridiculous. Far more ridiculous than the Telenovelas that Karla Sofía Gasćon is famous for could ever get away with. It's certainly no coincidence that in much of the English speaking world that Telenovelas are known as; "Soap Operas." Daytime TV shows with outrageously silly plots aimed at 1950's housewives and sponsored by the makers of household soaps and cleaning supplies.

What elevates Operas to high art and culture is not the stories but the way that the music is used to tell the story. It's used to convey the emotion of the story, allowing the audience to feel what the characters are feeling. A very well known piece of Classical European Opera comes from Gioachino Rossini's; "William Tell." It's often wrongly called; "The William Tell Overture" although the overture is a combination of little snippets of all the music in the Opera. The piece is actually called; "March of the Swiss Soldiers" which depicts soldiers, on Horseback, rushing to battle. Played live by a large orchestra in a concert hall with properly designed acoustics it really helps you feel as though you are galloping into battle on a Horse. Particularly if you are experienced at Horse riding, as a 19th Century audience would have been.

When the first movies were made the technology didn't exist to include a soundtrack. They were all Silent Movies. However movie makers were able to show their Silent Movies in theatres accompanied by a live orchestra. Making the storytelling of many Silent Movies similar to Operas. The first US movie to do this was; "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) about the Ku Klux Klan. It included Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" to show the Manifest Destiny of White Americans to lead the World. Within Germanic Paganism a Valkyrie is sort of like an angel which carries the souls of dead warriors from the battlefield to, essentially, Heaven. So the music very much invokes the peril of coming battle and death.

Now the technology exists to include soundtracks many filmmakers still borrow from Opera. Rossini's March of the Swiss Soldiers is famous for being used as the opening theme to the US TV show; "The Lone Ranger" (1949-1957) and the 1956, 1958 and 2013 movies. Operatic pieces will frequently be used in TV shows and movies, normally to convey that the villain is doing something particularly villainous. 

By far one of the most ridiculous plots to any Classical European Opera has got to belong to Giacomo Puccini's; "Tosca" which was very much inspired by Richard Wagner's work. One scene includes a dawn execution. In Italy at the time the Opera is set dawn would be signalled by the ringing of Church bells. So the music in the scene uses bells, in order to make you feel as though you are in Italy at dawn. It's recognised as one of the first uses of theatrical sound-effects.

No doubt there has been debate over whether Emilia Pérez can be considered an Opera, rather than just a Musical. There has long been debate over whether it is possible to make an Opera movie. Even the best cinema surround sound systems can't compete with the all consuming, visceral experience of a full live orchestra performing in a properly acoustically designed concert hall. It's the difference between going to the Coachella music festival and streaming the Coachella music festival on YouTube. It turns out that without the visceral experience live versions of songs are just worse versions of songs.

When people go to see Classical European Operas, some of which are now hundreds of years old, no-one is going expecting a surprise plot twist. Instead they're going to see how the performance of the Opera is staged. So as a form of storytelling Opera is very big and very animated. Tosca doesn't mourn the death of her lover with a silent tear and a faraway expression. She wails her heart out, at the top of her vocal range for 10 minutes. Despite its elitist reputation Opera really isn't that much more sophisticated than WWE Wrestling.

Another very big, very animated form of storytelling is Japanese Kabuki Theatre. You probably think of going to the theatre as being much like going to a movie. You sit in silence in a darkened room for several hours while actors perform in front of you, behind an imaginary fourth wall. 

Kabuki Theatre is completely different from that. The stage is set up in a town square and the audience crowds around it or watches from businesses surrounding the square. Kabuki stages often include a; "Hanamichi" or; "Flower Path" stage which stretches through the crowd allowing characters to make dramatic entrances. A lot of what you will recognise from big arena concerts by popstars; surprise entrances, stages stretching through the crowd, trapdoors, lifts and people being raised on wires are all things borrowed from Kabuki Theatre. Another huge element of Kabuki Theatre is; "Keren" or; "Playing to the Crowd." So when a villain or hero enters they will turn and make big gestures to the crowd who will all boo or cheer. Completely removing the fourth wall and making the crowd part of the performance. The ultimate visceral experience.

Kabuki Theatre performances traditionally begin at Sunrise and end at Sunset. It is common that a Kabuki Theatre performance will include a main play along with a series of short, hour long, plays. These serve as intermissions in the main play in order to give the actors in the main play a chance to eat, rest and do other things. Kabuki Theatre is often mistaken for Bunraku shadow puppet performances. That's because Bunraku is used in intermissions in the main play in Kabuki Theatre productions.

It is probably going too far to say that Kabuki Theatre was invented as a front for prostitution. However Kabuki Theatre is deeply intertwined with prostitution. If you liked one of the actors you saw performing on stage then during the course of the day long performance you could pay to have sex with them, during the Bunraku and other intermissions. A big theme of The Oscars 2025 has been actors as sex workers. The Japanese term; "Yujo" can be used interchangeably to mean; "Actress" or; "Common Prostitute." Japanese culture is rather famous for Geisha's who are often mistaken for prostitutes. They're really high status companions who perform social rituals rather than sexual services. Referring to someone as; "Yujo" was quite the insult.

Kabuki Theatre was originally performed by all Female casts; "Onna-kabuki." Due to the intertwining with prostitution that was banned. Given rise to; "Wakashu-kabuki" in which Female roles were played by young boys. Due to the intertwining with prostitution that was banned. That gave rise to; "Yaro-kabuki" in which all roles were played by men. Although that still didn't stop the rampant prostitution the Japanese authorities had really given up on trying to ban it by that point.

As such the history of Kabuki Theatre is part of that long storytelling tradition of Males taking on Female roles and vice-versa. A theatrical tradition of Cross-Dressing which includes Drag Acts.

Japan's main Animist belief system is; "Shinto" which translates as either; "Way of the Gods" or; "Way of the Holy Forces." There are over 300 hundred categories of these gods/forces or; "Kami." However amongst the most important are the five; "Kotomatukami" or; "Distinguished Heavenly Kami" and the; "Kamiyo-nanyo" or; "Seven Generations of the Age of Gods." The Kotomatukami and the first two generations of Kamiyo-nanyo are considered; "Hitroigami" or; "Those who exist alone." They are both Male and Female. You could describe them as; "Transgender." Male genitals; "Otongi" and Female genitals; "Otonobi" didn't emerge until the fifth generation of Kamiyo-nanyo. 

So the contrast between the Hitroigami Kami within Japanese Shinto and the Cross-Dressing of Wakashu-kabuki and Yaro-kabuki is a useful way to highlight and discuss the differences between Transgenderism and Cross-Dressing.

It was used, rather impressively, for just that purpose at the Opening Ceremony of the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. The one just before The Great American Bell Ringing of 2021. The one where we learned that, apparently, I know absolutely nothing about Horses(!)

Another movie to follow in Part 7.

18:10 on 24/4/25 (UK date).

Let's All Go To The Movies. Pt.5.

Best read as a continuation of Part 4;  https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/04/lets-all-go-to-movies-pt4.html

Anora (2024): This tells the story of Anora "Ani" Mikheeva, played by Mikaela "Mikey" Madison, a Russian speaking Stripper and Prostitute. So it is an example of an actress as a sex worker. A line which is becoming increasingly blurred by the rise of DeepFake Pornography.

As a prostitute Ani is employed by Ivan "Vanya" Zakharov, played by Mark Eydelshteyn and the pair have sex on numerous occasions at Vanya's mansion. These sex scenes are shown in the movie contributing to the issue of how to mitigate the negative effects on actors who have to appear in nude and sex scenes. Recently one of the main ways nude and sex scenes have been mitigated is through the use of so-called; "Intimacy Coordinators." People who act almost as Stunt Coordinators or Dance Choreographers. Planning and risk assessing sex and nude scenes in advance. Notably Anora did not use Intimacy Coordinators promoting discussion about whether their absence contributed to a more negative experience for Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn. 

Not being an actor or someone who works in the Movie Industry the use of Intimacy Coordinators is another area I really don't feel qualified to comment on. However my understanding is that their main role is to ensure that everyone involved feels empowered and supported in ensuring that they're not being forced to do things they are uncomfortable with. Not only do different people have different limits to what they are comfortable with even the same people have different limits at different times. So, as is so often the case with matters of sex and nudity, this is not an issue where we're ever going to be able to arrive at one correct answer. All you can really do is keep the discussion going, offering different perspectives.

Both Mikey Madison, 25 years old, and Mark Eydelshteyn, 22 years old, are quite young actors at the start of their careers. So there is then the discussion about how the nude and sex scenes in Anora will affect their careers moving forward. It's unlikely that it will have the same effect as; "Nymphomaniac" (2013) had on Stacy Martin's career. That movie featured a lot of actual sex scenes which were intended to provoke feelings of disgust and revulsion. While I've not seen them I suspect the simulated sex scenes in Anora are much less graphic depictions of much more normal, less offensive, sex. However there is a possibility that both Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn will now be seen as actors prepared to do nudity and sex scenes, without the added expense of Intimacy Coordinators, so will now only be offered roles which feature nude and sex scenes.

Although often described as a newcomer or rising star Mikey Madison is actually already well established in her career. She had a main role as Maxine "Max" Fox in the TV Show; "Better Things" which ran from 2016 to 2022. Alongside that and other TV roles she had also appeared in eight movies prior to Anora, including well known movies such as; "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" (2019) and; "Scream" (2022). Presumably making her another Jew who found Melissa Barrera difficult to work with. The younger of the two Mark Eydelshteyn is much less well established in his career. Having previously only appeared in the small, little known, Russian movie; "The Land of Sasha" (2022).

So looking at the issue from a gender-neutral perspective we should be much more worried about how the nude and sex scenes in Anora will affect Mark Eydelshteyn's career than Mikey Madison's. However I think we all know that the World and the Movie Industry is not gender neutral. Woman are far more often the victims of gender-based violence at the hands of men than the other way round. Meaning that we have to assume that Mikey Madison will be more at risk of negative consequences from the nude and sex scenes in Anora. She'll be the one more likely to be dismissed as nothing more than a pair of breasts she's prepared to show on screen. Mikey Madison will be the one who is flooded with DeepFake Porn and Porn Movies featuring actresses who look just enough like her. When, inevitably, the movie's copyright is stolen and the sex scenes are uploaded to Porn Websites they won't be getting tagged with Mark Eydelshteyn's name.

Anora is directed by Sean Baker who, it must be said, does make rather a lot of movies about sex workers. In 2015 he made; "Tangerine" which is about Transgender prostitutes working the streets of Los Angeles. Although Mikey is just a nickname when you first hear about newcomer Mikey Madison appearing as a sex worker in a Sean Baker movie it does make you wonder whether it's yet another Transgender actress playing yet another Transgender sex worker. Due to that topic being so darn fashionable in America at the moment. Being reminded that we have to be more concerned about how the nude and sex scenes will affect Mikey Madison because we do not live in a gender-neutral world, male and female are different genders and are treated differently, contributes another dimension to that topic. Dare I say not quite such as fashionable one.

Mikey Madison won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Anora. I don't want to detract from her win. Particularly as I suspect that might come back to bite me. However it's almost a cliché to say that simply being nominated at The Oscars is the real victory. Every year in, every category every nominee is really good enough to win. It takes something a little bit extra to go from nominee to winner. In many ways this is deeply unfair. Normally that extra little thing is more to do with the trends and topics of that particular year rather than anything the nominees themselves have any control over.

I think what helped push Mikey Madison over the line this year was how Nymphomaniac has affected Stacy Martin's career. Like all nominees Mikey Madison will now go before a committee which will consider, and likely grant, her membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). When that list of new members is published I wonder if Stacy Martin's name will also appear on it? I can certainly think of a few members of the Academy in good standing who would support her membership.

After employing Ani for sex on a few occasions Vanya then employs her to pretend to be his girlfriend for a week. During that week Vanya asks Ani marry him as a way to prevent him having to return to Russia, although he assures her he has genuinely fallen in love with her. They fly to Las Vegas and get married.

It turns out that Vanya is the Nepo Baby son of Nikolai Zakharov, played by Aleksei Serebryakov, a Russian Oligarch and borderline gangster. Objecting to Vanya and Ani's marriage Nikolai Zakharov instructs Armenian gangster Toro, played by Karren Karagulian, to kidnap Ani and force her to annul the marriage. After the Russians go to great lengths to prevent the relationship the marriage is annulled and Vanya returns to Russia.

This allows for discussion of The Great American Bell Ringing of 2021. In which the CIA went to great lengths, including banning me from Instagram, to prevent Miley Cyrus and I from talking to each other directly. Even in the QWERTY alphabet; "Mikey" is just one letter away from; "Miley."

The fact that in the movie the American CIA is portrayed as; "The Russians" puts a new perspective on that often repeated claim of; "Russia's invasion of Ukraine." In the movie most of; "The Russians" are actually Armenians. Rather like that other member of my little group of 'Facebook Friends' I was cut off from by The Great American Bell Ringing, Kim Kardashian.

Along with neighbouring Azerbaijan Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. When they both became independent of the Soviet Union Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war with each other over the Nagorno-Karabakh Region (NKR). It was the 2022 intensification of The Ukraine War (2014-Present) which prevented Russia from upholding the Lachin Corridor Peace Agreement allowing Azerbaijan to seize full control of the NKR in 2022. Any mention of Armenia also touches on The Armenian Genocide (1915-1917). An actual Genocide.

The movie is, primarily, set in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, New York City. An area which has such a large and longstanding ethnically Russian population that it is often dubbed; "Little Odessa." An informal acknowledgement that the Ukrainian city of Odessa is part of Russia. Like many of the residents of Little Odessa many of the cast of Anora are Russian speaking ethnically Russian and Armenian Americans. 

Ever since The Super Bowl 2024 I've been, slowly, catching up on Season 3 onwards of the TV show; "The Americans" (2013-2018). Due to the ITV network's wild optimism in its now defunct Streaming Service this was, effectively, banned in the UK. 

The Americans is a show about deep cover Soviet spies living as Americans in the 1980's in and around Washington D.C. They are supported by Russians at the Russian Embassy who all have their own lives and families back in Soviet Russia. Like Anora it includes a sizeable ethnically Russian, Russian speaking American cast. I do not speak Russian. However even I can tell that there is a difference between Keri Russell's Russian and Annet Mahendru's Russian.

The Americans was on air when the Obama-Biden Regime attempted to steal the 2016 US Election with its "Russian Interference" myth. Something I'm just getting onto now. While the show ended in 2018 you get the impression that none of the ethnically Russian, Russian speaking cast have worked since the 2022 *ahem* 'Russian Invasion of Ukraine.' Making them and other Russian-Americans, such as those living in Little Odessa, examples of the type of marginalised community that Sean Baker likes to work with.

As such the movie seems to be posing the question of whether it's time that Russians, particularly Russian-Americans, be welcomed back into the mainstream. The success of the movie at The Oscars 2025 seeming to provide a clear answer.

A Complete Unknown (2024): This tells the story of legendary American singer song-writer Bob Dylan. From his arrival in New York City, as an unsigned artist, in 1961 through to his controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. However many diehard Bob Dylan fans will not enjoy this movie. In concentrates more on telling the Subjective, Expressionist, artistic spirit of the story rather than the Objective Facts.

Music is something which exists. It needs to be made with tools. As with movie making if you are in the business of making music then there is something to be said for talking about the tools you use. The new tools which have just been invented and new ways of using existing tools.

However there is a certain type of music fan, they are typically men, who don't make music themselves. Yet they all have these really complicated, expensive Hi-Fi systems. Not only that they can tell you about every semi-conductor in every circuit of their expensive amplifiers, record players and speakers. Their fandom is fuelled by, typically, Rock Bands such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin who constantly re-release remastered versions of the same album over and over again. Apparently you can really hear the difference in the EMS VCS3 Synthesiser on the 2023 remastered version of; "The Dark Side of the Moon." Provided you've got the Technics SU-G700M2 Amplifier as part of your Hi-Fi system!

Obviously there is no right or wrong way to enjoy music and art. However I see it more as an emotive, visceral experience. I can't help but think that type of music fan is missing the Expressionist, artistic pleasure of music by getting bogged down in the Objective Reality of technical details.

You could liken this type of music fan to the Algorithmic Problem Solving of Traditional Computing. They need to have the original 1979 vinyl release of The Dark Side of the Moon. They need to have the 1988 Ultradisc re-release. They need to have the 1999 re-release on both CD and vinyl. They need to have the 2009 5.1 Surround Sound re-release on both vinyl and CD and so on. They need to play these versions of the same album, in order, on their Hi-Fi systems with each semi-conductor of every circuit set to precisely the right output. Almost exactly like a traditional computer following an algorithm.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) based computing however relies on Meta-Heuristic thinking. It might not have every version of The Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd has ever re-released and it might not have a Technics SU-G700M2 Amplifier. AI knows all the songs though.

It is AI based computing's ability to follow the Expressionist, artistic, fluid, spirit of things rather than rigidly following a set of mathematical rules which makes it such a threat to the jobs of people working in the Entertainment Industry. Traditional Computing may have been able to provide a tool, like a new type of pen, which would allow a Human to animate graphics more quickly. However AI is able to replace the Human and use the pen to animate the graphics itself. 

This conflict between artistic Expression and rigid adherence to, almost, Algorithmic rules is central to James Mangold's movie. When he travels to New York City Bob Dylan very much sees himself as an acoustic Folk musician. He is signed to a record company after he meets acoustic Folk legends Woody Guthrie, played by Scoot McNairy, and Pete Seeger, played by Edward Norton. The climax of the movie centres around Bob Dylan deciding to use electric instruments, including amplifiers, at the Newport Folk Festival. Something which is deeply opposed by the booking committee for the festival and festival goers as they see it as breaking the rules, the Algorithm, of Folk Music.

When Bob Dylan is first signed his record company only allows him to include a few of his own songs on his debut album, insisting that it is mainly covers of well-established Folk standards. Much of the movie centres on Bob Dylan's desire for artistic freedom over commercial success. Ultimately driving him to break all the rules and use electric instruments, despite the Newport Folk Festival being worried about ticket sales. So it really digs deep into that ever present conflict between art and commercialism.

I should point out that the first time Woody Guthrie's music was ever recorded it was not by a record company but by the US Government for the Library of Congress. It was felt that the Folk Standards that Americans were singing to entertain themselves during The Great Depression (1929-1945) were such an essential part of America's history that they needed to be formally archived, like Presidential letters. So Woody Guthrie's work does, literally, chart America's history. Meaning that if you start talking about the Woody Guthrie character in the movie you can almost immediately start talking about any aspect of American history in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

I should also point out that when Woody Guthrie met Bob Dylan in New York City in 1961 much of his life and work had become consumed by alcoholism and a bitter feud with a New York Real Estate developer by the name of Fred Trump. Father of President Donald J. Trump. So although I don't think it's an intention of the movie you could easily start talking about that. Trump haters being bitter, washed up, alcoholic, lower forms of intelligence who just don't get it.

The movie also features Bob Dylan's relationship with Joan Baez, played by Monica Barbaro. I like to consider Joan Baez's 1995 live cover of the Bob Dylan song; "Ring Them Bells" to be the official anthem of The Great American Bell Ringing. Although, really, anything from the 1995 live album of that name can be used to mock the CIA.

Of course Bob Dylan is played by Timothée Chalamet who also produced the movie. Timothée Chalamet appeared at The Oscars 2025 ceremony with his rumoured girlfriend Kylie Jenner. At the time of The Great American Bell Ringing Kylie Jenner wasn't actually part of my little group of 'Facebook Friends.' Although I think it might have been possible to extend her an invitation. Possibly to join in with a Structured Reality style discussion about the Super Bowl and Awards Season. Meaning you'd have been reading this back in early March, rather than late April.

Miley Cyrus actually managed to cast a shadow over The Oscars 2025. She provided the song; "Beautiful That Way" to the soundtrack for; "The Last Showgirl" (2024). This features Pamela Anderson as Shelley Gardner, an aging Las Vegas Showgirl who can't come to terms with the fact that her career is now over.

There's actually quite a long history between Miley Cyrus and Pamela Anderson. Miley Cyrus' 'Nikolai Zakharov' approved relationship with Maxx Morando was unveiled to the public when Miley Cyrus visited Pamela Anderson to support her in the launch of her run of the musical "Chicago" in May 2022. Just after The Great American Bell Ringing and just in time for what should have been The Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Something which is definitely embarrassing in 2025, given that it was deeply embarrassing back in 2022.

In 1998 the British Popstar Billie Piper launched her career with; "Because We Want Too" aged just 15. By 2005 Billie Piper had moved into acting, appearing as the companion, Rose Tyler, in the newly relaunched; "Doctor Who" (2005-Just the Gays Now) In 2007 she took up the role of Belle/Hannah Baxter in; "Secret Diary of a Call Girl." (2007-2011). In which she played a prostitute up to and beyond the point she wrote and released the best-selling book the TV show was based on.

Obviously Secret Diary of a Call Girl is almost exclusively sexual themes and includes many sexual scenes. So it did include the male, almost bravado of us finally getting to see the child-star, the Sci-Fi/Fantasy actress nude. However it was written by a woman, Lucy Prebble, who went onto work with Billie Piper on the much more serious; "I Hate Suzie." Many episodes were also directed by a woman, Susan Tully. 

So rather than being out-and-out DeepFake Porn type sleazy it sort of plays about with idea of that sort of sleaziness. So while you do get to see Billie Piper nude and pretending to have sex it mainly makes extensive used of body-doubles. It also makes very blatant use of body-doubles. In one scene Belle/Hannah is shown the model to be used in the artwork to promote her book, one of the body-doubles. She turns to the camera and exclaims; "She looks nothing like me!" Although it’s not mentioned on the Wikipedia page I think that in the later seasons they gave the body-doubles acting credits on the closing titles, alongside the main cast.

In, I think, Season 3 Belle/Hannah's book is so successful that American producers want to make it into either a TV show or movie. So they fly her out to New York City and take her to Broadway to meet the actress they want to play her. A character which is a thinly disguised version of Pamela Anderson. All big fake, breasts and dyed blonde hair. Belle/Hannah turns them down because she thinks they haven't understood her work and their version will be too sleazy.

So the big thing the CIA was hoping to shock and mystify the World with in 2022 was considered fodder for mainstream, network TV back in 2010.

The Last Showgirl was really the big snub of The Oscars 2025. Despite going into Awards Season with quite a bit of momentum it ended up receiving no Oscar nominations. Its association with Miley Cyrus being the reason for the snub.

Miley Cyrus was a presenter at The Oscars 2025. Primarily brought out to provoke a reaction, mainly from me. The idea being to present it live before the assembled members of the Academy; The reason why The Last Showgirl was snubbed!

Specifically Miley Cyrus was brought out to present the award for Best Sound, an award she's never going to win herself. It was won by “Dune: Part Two” (2024). 

It was during the global premiere tour to promote Dune: Part Two that Zendaya wore the Thierry Mugler “Machinenmench” dress, inspired by; “Metropolis” (1927). So that brought in Metropolis, Freder Fredersen’s similarities to Vaslav Nijinsky, of The Ballets Russes. How Freder’s opening scenes in the Pleasure Garden resembles the opening to; “Swan Lake.” Pytor Tchaikovsky’s apparent obsession with closeted homosexual King Ludwig II of Bavaria who was also Richard Wagner’s main patron. Both Tchaikovsky and Wagner’s use of light and dark as a metaphor for the conflict between our private, inner-self and the public image of ourselves we present to mainstream society. How that was also used by Lar von Trier in; “Melancholia” (2011). The controversy that led to.

Next to all that you had Miley Cyrus standing there. Looking lost.

At around 16:25 on 16/4/25 (UK date) I'll try and finish this part tomorrow.

Edited at around 16:30 on 17/4/25 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;

A Real Pain (2024): This is about to estranged Cousins who are reunited by the death of their Grandmother. Benjamin "Benji" Kaplan, played by Kieran Culkin, is a drifter and slacker with no grown-up job and no family. David Kaplan, played by Jesse Eisenberg, is a much more serious character with a wife and children of his own. David Kaplan finds Benji Kaplan to be annoying, a real pain.

Crucially the Kaplans are Jewish. In death their Grandmother has paid for them to tour her native Poland and explore their family history. So this is the seemingly obligatory Oscar nominated movie about The Nazi Holocaust. Although it's an Oscar nominated movie about The Nazi Holocaust that people might actually want to watch. It's done as a comedy.

A lot of people have been taught to forget that Poland was the first National Socialist (Nazi) Dictatorship in Europe. Before Italy (1922). Before Germany (1932). 

In 1918 Democrat US President and fan of the movie; "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) Woodrow Wilson installed Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski of the National Democracy movement (ND/Enjedca) as the government of The Second Polish Republic (1918-1939). Enjedca viewed all of Poland's problems as being the result of a Jewish Conspiracy. It believed that if Jews were allowed to restore their ancestral nation of Israel then it would become a base from which the Jews would conquer the World. Enjedca also rejected the Marxist path to Socialist utopia instead believing that it could only be achieved through aggressive nationalism.

The First World War (1914-1918) had seen both The German Empire and The Russian Empire destroyed. They had fought each other into mutual economic annihilation prompting their starving populations to rise up in revolution. Driven by Communism in Russia and just general, non-partisan, anger in Germany.

The Second Polish Republic established by Woodrow Wilson included territory which is now considered Germany. Immediately after being established The Second Polish Republic declared war on and invaded its neighbours; Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia, with the intention of annexing their territory as part of Poland. Ultimately Enjedca wanted to invade Russia and annex Russian territory as part of Poland. That brought them into conflict with what by that point was The Soviet Union. The Polish-Soviet War (1918-1921).

In 1921 Polish forces led by Józef Piłsudski launched an offensive to attempt to capture and annex Kiev, now Ukraine, as part of Poland. The Kiev Offensive (1920). They were crushed by a Soviet counteroffensive, ultimately turning the tide of the war leading to a Polish defeat. Demonstrating that Poland was not the all powerful nation of Enjedca's dreams this seriously damaged Józef Piłsudski's political career.

In May 1926 a group of Polish military officers, led by Józef Piłsudski, overthrew the Enjedca government. Establishing a military junta known as; "Sanation." Defeated in the 1929 Election the Sanation junta annulled the results and continued to rule The Second Polish Republic as a military dictatorship until 1939. "A Real Pain" was pretty much how everyone, except Woodrow Wilson, referred to The Second Polish Republic.

When Adolf Hitler rose to power and established Nazi Germany in 1932 Poland's Enjedca saw him as something of a hero. A powerful ally who would help restore them to power. So when Nazi Germany invaded Poland it was barely resisted, the 'invasion' taking a little over a month. Poland was only angered when the Soviet Union launched a counteroffensive to stop the Nazis in Poland, before they could invade Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Soviet Russia itself.

In A Real Pain the Kaplan Cousins first arrive in Warsaw. Prior to Woodrow Wilson establishing The Second Polish Republic the majority, some 90%, of Poland's Jews lived in Warsaw. However both Enjedca and Sanation systematically set about forcing them out. Using boycotts, Nazi Germany style laws and Kristallnacht style political violence. Enjedca in particular felt that Jews could never be true Poles and wanted to forcibly deport them from all of "Polish" territory. Meaning Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Russia.

When Nazi Germany took control of Poland they initially saw a different solution to Germany and Poland's shared; "Jewish Problem." Nazi Germany instead started to gather all of Poland's Jews together in a walled off area of Warsaw; The Warsaw Ghetto. Although overwhelmingly Jewish Nazi Germany also forced many Catholic Christians into The Warsaw Ghetto. There were actually three Catholic Churches operating within The Warsaw Ghetto.

In 1942 Nazi Germany started to implement its "Final Solution" to the; "Jewish Problem." Transporting Jews to Death Camps and killing them in massive numbers. An example of an actual Genocide. As part of this Final Solution Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto were transported to Death Camps, mainly Treblinka. In order to keep them calm and compliant they were told that they were being; "Deported." Something Polish Jews were well used to under both the Enjedca and Sanation regimes of The Second Polish Republic.

By late 1942 residents of The Warsaw Ghetto began to realise that people were being sent to their deaths, not merely deported. So they began to form armed resistance groups. Mainly the Jewish Combat Organisation (ŻOB) and Jewish Military Union (ŻZB). In April 1943 Nazi troops raided The Warsaw Ghetto to take more residents away to the Death Camps. The resistance groups fought back. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising held an infinitely better armed and larger Nazi force off for 29 days. Until the Nazis eventually razed The Warsaw Ghetto to the ground. Turning it into a formal Concentration Camp.

The Jews who fought the Nazis in The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising did not do so thinking they could win. They did so simply to give themselves the power to choose how and where they would be killed by the Nazis. The only power they had left to exert.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising continues to have a huge influence over Jewish identity, particularly in Israel. It is the question of whether to allow yourself to be meekly sent to your death or to fight back. This is something which has become particularly relevant in the wake of The October 7th Genocide (2023-Present).

One of the most famous photographs of The Second World War (1939-1945) was taken during the Nazi's crushing of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Taken by an unknown photographer and featuring unknown subjects it is titled; "Forcibly Pulled From Bunkers." It shows a terrified Jewish boy meekly standing with his hands up as the boy and his family are marched, at gunpoint, from The Warsaw Ghetto to the Death Camps. In the aftermath of The October 7th Genocide the current Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the nation and told them that; "Israel can no longer be the little boy in the ghetto standing with their hands up."

If a terror group based in Mexico had carried out an attack on the scale of The October 7th Genocide on the US then it would have killed 40,000 people and seen 25,000 people taken hostage. Given how the US reacted to the far smaller September 11th Terrorist Attacks I think we all understand that Mexico simply would not be there anymore. In its place there would just be some nice new beachfront properties in El Paso, Texas. Yet in Israel Jews are still genuinely debating whether they should try to fight back or meekly try to come to some sort of compromise with their attackers. 

Crucially during A Real Pain the Kaplan Cousins' tour-guide takes them to The Warsaw Uprising Memorial. A different event from The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In response to The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Polish government-in-exile discovered that some of its allies, weirdly, didn't think that Jews being exterminated was a good thing. So when the Soviet Union had all but defeated Nazi Germany in Poland they tried to cash in on the respect the Jews had won during The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by staging a small uprising of their own. Despite being backed by the Allied Powers The Warsaw Uprising was a spectacular failure with the, dare we suggest poorly motivated, Polish fighters quickly surrendering to the Nazis.

Created in 1989 The Warsaw Uprising Memorial is a very deliberate attempt to erase memories of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and with it The Nazi Holocaust, something Poland never saw as a bad thing. Its primary aim is to promote the myth that the Soviet Union was the real villain in The Second World War by pushing a claim that the Soviet Union delayed its liberation of Poland to allow Nazi Germany to crush The Warsaw Uprising. In Poland's mythical history of The Second World War the 27 million Russians who died fighting Nazi Germany were just a cunning ruse. The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and probably the Jews too, were all secretly allied with each other against Poland.

The act of the Kaplan Cousins being shown taking a tour of sites from The Nazi Holocaust in A Real Pain is itself highly controversial. In 2018 Poland passed the Amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance. Essentially giving legal force to Holocaust Denial. It forbids any reference to Poland's collaboration with Nazi Germany in The Nazi Holocaust, such as The Jedwabne Pogrom (1941). It even makes it illegal to point out that the Auschwitz Death Camp, The Treblinka Death Camp, The Majdanek Death Camp are, by geography, Polish. 

Another concerted effort to rewrite the history of The Second World War so that the Soviet Union was the real villain, The Nazi Holocaust never happened, 580,000 Poles never volunteered to fight for Nazi Germany and assist in The Nazi Holocaust. And if they did it wouldn't matter. Exterminating Jews is something to be celebrated!

Raising a real possibility that the movie may be banned in Poland on the second day of their visit the Kaplan Cousins visit the Majdanek Death Camp, portraying it as being in Poland. The Kaplan Cousins then bond over a deep heart-to-heart in which David learns to see the world from Benji's perspective. No longer seeing him as a real pain. Although as Jews they still have to bear the burden of The Nazi Holocaust, which despite continued Polish denials is a real pain to bear. Hopefully more people will learn about it now that there's finally an Oscar nominated movie about it which isn't an absolute pain to watch.

Before they leave Poland the Kaplan Cousins visit their Grandmother's childhood home. In keeping with Jewish tradition they try to leave visitation stones yet are stopped by the neighbours. Showing how deep Anti-Semitism continues to run in Poland.

Kieran Culkin won the Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Real Pain. I actually have a copy of; "Igby Goes Down" (2002) on DVD which I was tempted to dust off to plagiarise the speech about Marijuana to explain how a certain type of person relates to music, just to see if anyone would notice. However Kieran Culkin is probably most well known for his role in the hit TV show; "Succession" (2018-2023).

I can't say that I've ever watched Succession. In covering Awards Season I've completely given up on my day job. Something which has provided me with the time to fit in a full three one hour TV shows per week. A big thing which is stopping Succession from making the cut is the people who watch Succession. How they make a point of telling you that they watch Succession. Their way of letting you know that they're so much more intelligent than you are.

In the US Succession was broadcast on the HBO Max channel in Sunday night Primetime. HBO Max clearly wasn't prepared from Succession to come to an end. Forcing it to scramble for a similar TV show to fill the timeslot. It settled on the third season of the UK/US TV show; "Industry" (2020-Present).

I watched the first season of Industry and found it promising if not yet good. It's made by people who haven't made a TV show before and even big US TV shows made by people with a lot of experience struggle to properly find their feet within the first six episodes. Then the Pandemic hit and completely knocked Industry off its feet. Although I did watch it I can't remember anything about Season 2 other than a general impression of a TV show which really isn't coping. The supposedly shocking simulated sex scene 20 minutes into every epsiode with means the US audience is going into a commerical break(!)

However HBO Max had a gap in its schedule. So the Hollywood hype machine kicked in and we're supposed to believe that Season 3 of Industry is the greatest TV show ever made. Mikey Madison lookalike Marissa Abela is the greatest actress ever seen.

Everybody wants to be associated with The Oscars. So studios and even individual actors and directors all employ Public Relation (PR) firms to lobby throughout Awards Season. First to get their work nominated and then to get their work to win. A cynic would suggest that every Oscar is the Oscar for Best PR campaign.

The general public has been given a little glimpse into this world with the feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. In 2024 Justin Baldoni directed Blake Lively in; "It Ends With Us." The movie and particularly Blake Lively was not well received. 

Just before the start of this year's Awards Season, taking advantage of a shortage of things to talk about, Blake Lively blamed Justin Baldoni for the public backlash against the movie and her, personally. Claiming he'd hired a PR team to run a smear campaign against her. Ironically Blake Lively did this by hiring a PR team to run a smear campaign against Justin Baldoni. The type of battle of PR teams which is normally kept behinds the scenes during Awards Season.

Around 17:25 on 17/4/25 (UK date) I will have to finish the last little bit of this part tomorrow.

Edited at around 14:00 on 18/4/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;

Conclave (2024): An adaptation of the 2016 Robert Harris novel of the same name the movie tells the story of 118 Cardinals in The Roman Catholic Christian Church as they are sequestered in a Conclave to choose the next Catholic Pope, following the death of the previous Pope. It deals with all the factionalism, campaigning, politicking, deal-making, lobbying and skulduggery involved in a candidate trying to garner the votes needed to win the top honour.

It does touch on some very big issues. Such as bribery and financial corruption, infidelity bordering on sexual abuse and that oh so fashionable issue in America at the moment; Transgenderism. The Conclave is disrupted by a suicide bomb attack on the Vatican which is part of a coordinated series of Islamist terror attacks across Europe. Prompting a big debate whether or not to meet violence with violence.

So the movie also touches on Islam's apparent war against Christianity, its attempts to drive it from its birthplace in the Middle-East. The novel was written during the height of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL/Daesh) Genocide of Christians and others in, predominately Iraq and Syria. I was particularly involved with the Catholic Syriac Military Council element of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) which now seems to have been abandoned by the West amid the ever deteriorating situation in Syria. Although in a change from the novel in the movie the Archbishop of Baghdad is now the Archbishop of Kabul, Afghanistan. Bringing into discussion the US-led response to the September 11th attacks which ended in a lengthy failure.

I feel I should point out though that ISIL's seeming obsession with the Roman Catholic Church as the; "Crusaders" only really serves to underline that they were never an Islamic organisation. While early Islamic history does make some reference to conflict with the Romans it's referring to The Roman Empire. At that time the Roman Empire wasn't Christian, it was polytheistic worshipping multiple gods like Venus, Mars and Mercury. The Christian Crusades didn't happen until nearly a thousand years later. Islam does have extreme factions to it, Salafists, Deobandis and groups like Al Qaeda. Just as Christianity has had extremist factions such as the Puritans and the Pilgrims. While there is always a debate over whether theirs is the correct interpretation of the religion it is, at least, based in the religion. ISIL seemed to know less about Islam than I do.

Really though the movie was included in Awards Season to provide a euphemism for all the campaigning, politicking, deal-making, lobbying and skulduggery which takes place throughout Awards Season. So when the movie was being discussed 'Trembley' would be a reference to someone in the industry, 'Sister Agnes' would be a reference to someone else in the industry and so on. With the person in the industry being referred to changing depending on the conversation. Released in the US just before the 2024 US Election the movie played the same role during that election campaign. Particularly on Social Media.

While all the Awards Season discussion of the movie refers to people within the Entertainment Industry the movie itself name-checks the actual Roman Catholic Church. The current Catholic Pope is a real person. Likewise Dean of the College of the Cardinals is a real job within the Catholic Church, it is currently being done by a real person. Something which is true of all the roles featured in the movie. So the attention the movie received during Awards Season really forced the Catholic Church to pay attention to it and Awards Season. To try and work out what is being said about them.

That draws the Catholic Church into the world of the Entertainment Industry, where it may not have been comfortable. One of the big themes of this Awards Season has been the fine line between Actor and Sex Worker which has become ever more blurred through the rise of DeepFake Pornography. It's involved a deep exploration of the cinematographic, technical, differences between actual sex being shown in a movie like; "Baise-moi" (2000) and actual sex being shown in Porn Movies. Topics that good Christians probably shouldn't have a working knowledge of.

Although the Catholic Saint Mary Magdalene was a Prostitute. Prior to The Second Agricultural Revolution everyone was concerned by The Malthus Problem. That the Human population would grow to the point that natural resources, like food, was no longer able to sustain it. Due any population's primary goal being pleasure and its main source of pleasure being growth. Given how populations go about growing I think we all understand what the Church of England (CoE) Protestant Christian Priest Thomas Malthus was politely referring to there.

So Awards Season using Conclave as its sort of codebook for discussions about the Entertainment Industry did seem like a bit of a cheap shot against the Catholic Church. You suspect that Liberal minded Hollywood wouldn't have been comfortable displaying such casual disregard for any other religion. Certainly not that famous Hollywood cult The Church of Scientology and its Nation of Islam (NoI) faction.

The equivalent role to the Pope within Islam would be the Caliph. That's currently a role which is not filled by anyone. However if it were there seems little chance that meetings within Islam to choose the new Caliph would be treated as casually in Awards Season as Conclave. 

Although with the movie touching heavily on ISIL attempts to restore the Caliph and the Caliphate that makes for rather a meta talking point of its own. Particularly given the role the movie played in the 2024 US Election where the Nation of Islam was a considerable factor.

To be continued in Part 6.

14:50 on 18/4/25 (UK date)