A better way to deal with sick shooters

Like everyone I was stunned by the recent shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.  My son lives in New Zealand, but he lives on the North Island.  He did have a teacher colleague who was in lock-down in Christchurch.  My cousin Linda was actually on the South Island and had been in Christchurch a bit before and as I write this she and Derek are back in Christchurch before they head back to Canada.

Derek was the first one to get my attention posting on Facebook something about one of the victims--the first one who actually greeted the shooter.  Another Facebook post from Derek was about one of victims who had tackled the shooter resulting in his death and that of his son.  I shared one of them and am pleased that some of my friends shared it a little bit further and before too long I could see other people had picked up the posts from other sources.

Then Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister had posts up saying that she would never utter the name of the shooter.  It might be recalled that several shooters in the past credited earlier shooters with inspiring them.  To some sick people the shooters were portrayed as some weird sort of hero.  There are many factors mostly not understood that result in mass shootings and it seems the general public knows more about the shooters then they do about the more numerous victims.

Hopefully this latest shooting will start to reverse the publicity--it should be more about commemorating the victims than the sick belligerents.  We need to understand what causes a particular person to commit such horrid deeds.  We need to be able better to predict who is more likely to emulate earlier shooters and decide what steps can be taken to minimize the danger.   This is now a global concern and needs to be taken with co-operation between all national authorities.

What we as individuals and particularly politicians need to be more careful of is not to publicize sick people, but remember the victims.

Jacinda has set a good model of what should be done.  I can't resist mentioning that Donald Trump was pathetic.  How they were each elected was a contrast and might have another lesson.

Donald Trump was elected with less votes than his main opponent Hilary Clinton.  In some jurisdictions there would have been a run off if no candidate received 50% of the votes, but the American system was set up with critical input from slave owners that allows disproportionate  power to smaller states.  The contest allows for strategies that take advantage of voters who are unhappy about something and whose vote can be leveraged.  Actually everyone is unhappy about something, but the Republicans have mastered stirring up social concerns that actually disadvantage minorities who can be targeted to enable getting power for their conservative economic agenda.

New Zealand offers a proportional system that means a significant fraction of votes are split among parties rather than geographically.  As it happened Jacinda's party only accumulated the second most votes, however the party that finished third felt more in alignment with Jacinda's party and agreed to support the more liberal party of Jacinda's.  Obviously both parties joining together had to be willing to share power and be willing to compromise some of their policies.

The voters in New Zealand's system made a better choice, but not only for themselves, for the whole world.  We need more examples like Jacinda Ardern.

I wanted to get this off my chest before the next crisis has its own urgency.

SPECIAL FEATURES AND THE DISTRACTED VIEWER

This post amounts to a bit of a confession, but I bet many of you can identify with some of my activities.

Are you a victim of multi tasking? Multi tasking is a modern pandemic. Too many options and an inability to be satisfied as long as you think something else might be more satisfying.

Do you love reading books? watching movies?  surfing the net? eating? music? sports?  Do you have obligations such as chores?  How about all the hassles of making a living?  So many things you want to do and so many others expected of you.  How can you squeeze it all in?

In a previous blog I noted that it really is impossible to do two things at the same time to a high quality. I used the example of eating and playing music.  I stick to the basic idea that you cannot appreciate eating and listening to music to the ideal maximum at the same time.  But they go well together.  Anyway heard someone suggest the multi tasking helps you get through a lot of boring tasks easier so I am using that as a rationale.

The addiction is hard to give up even when you realize for each task you attempt you are missing something.  I love watching movies and sometimes do so when I am doing household chores or writing blogs, or surfing the net or even working and to be honest I know I am missing something.

Can movies be confusing?--sometimes deliberately and sometimes not.  Have you ever had trouble sorting out the characters?  Or figuring out the plot?  Are we watching a flashback or a flashback of a flashback? Or an imaginary projection?  Or how come so many people think this is an exceptional movie?  If so, we are on the same page which may not be  the page we are supposed to be on.

As a parent of young children I remember having to wait with my young son before going to school.  I got into the habit of watching a movie with him on tape, stopping it as we had to leave for school and continuing the next day.  It is true you get more out of something if you finish it before taking on another task, but it is better to make use of little bits of time the world provides.  In order to watch as many movies as I do, I watch many of them in snatches and often while doing something else.  Along the way I developed the habits I live with today.

I had heard about special features, but for awhile thought of them as merely gimmicks to increase sales.  At a family function talking with my cousin Linda and her husband Derek I explored the idea of special features.  I got inspired to check them out and came to appreciate some of the benefits.

Director commentaries can clear up a lot of confusion.  Also help you to appreciate some details that otherwise would get overlooked.  Featuring details helps you understand.  Some details I never appreciated were with costumes and makeup, but nevertheless felt the effects of efforts made.  A friend of mine, Shawn Hagerman took a film course in university and loved to tell about mistakes his university prof  pointed out in class. One I remember was from "The Graduate" where the characters drive over a bridge in actuality the opposite direction to the supposed--it wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a mistake either.  Lots of movies change details and make all sorts of alterations so that the story will be more understandable or more enjoyable.

Casting is often discussed.  The world is becoming more intertwined with actors crossing national and even linguistic boundaries every day.  Mads Mikkleson, Marion Cotillard, Anupam Kher, Kristen Scott Thomas, Bruno Ganz have been spotted speaking several languages.  I watched Jodie Foster in a French movie.

Music is a feature that adds to my movie enjoyment.  Composers have the problem of having to follow the visual presentation and help set the mood.  One feature on the Three Colors series really demonstrated how music can be very integral to a film.  Another feature showed a composer who collected a variety of sounds to use in movies as a sort of special effect. I watch a lot of Bollywood movies on DVD and have found many have a feature just devoted to song, sometimes following them in sequence reminds me of the movie.  More interesting are features devoted to the making of a song or a general discussion by the composers--I watched my favorites, Shankar Ehsaan Loy on a number of their movie projects.

I should add that I don't like a movie to be overwhelming with special effects, but obviously they can enhance your enjoyment.  I realize that most of what you watch is not what it seems, but the illusion makes the movie better.  Its the overwhelming exaggerations that can get tiring.

Watching the special features is not a short cut, but they can help deepen your understanding.  Hopefully you don't get too distracted.