Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Susan's Cool Well, I've spent the last two days watching the coverage of the Democratic National Convention on various news channels (Fox, CNN, etc). It's been interesting. For those who don't know, I have a very keen interest in politics; particularly American politics. I find the entire process interesting and I love to learn about all of the people involved. It's funny, because I used to find politics incredibly dry and boring (as I'm sure many kids/teens do). However, the more I learn about it, the more I come to find it interesting and enjoyable. Knowing how it works also tends to give me some reassurance, especially when it comes to combatting the various conspiracy theories out there. The best way to debunk that stuff is to know what you're talking about and to understand how the system works. It's amazing that so many critics of various politicians (on both sides), simply have very limited understanding of how the process operates. This is the first convention that I've actually watched in detail. I'll also be watching the Republican equivalent whenever it comes around. So far, it's been worthwhile I think. Although I tend to disagree with Republicans on certain issues (civil rights, stem cell research, the environment and various other things), I find that I agree with them on other issues (defence and economics being the big areas). And considering all of the stuff that I'd heard from Democrats in recent years, I had kind of written them off as being viable at this point. Many of their members simply seemed to want to attack Bush, rather than actually offer reasonable alternatives. I don't think that politics should be about saying "the other guy's an ass, so vote for me." Surely it should be about saying "this is what they want to do, this is what we want to do...now you decide." Unfortunately the world isn't that civil most times, no matter what nation you live in (it gets just as partisan in Australia as it does in America, believe me). But I have to say, two people have impressed me at the convention so far. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Clinton's speech was simply amazing. It's one of the best political speeches I have ever seen. Whether you like him or not, Clinton has a way of framing issues -- a way of making very clear distinctions about matters of policy. He doesn't do it in a way that alienates people, but instead, he gently moves you closer to his point of view. It's very effective. His speech actually made me feel that the Democrats stand for some pretty awesome things in terms of their heritage and that, despite some of the crazy things in that party, the ideals are fundamentally sound. Barack Obama was also impressive. He's a fantastic public speaker and he clearly has a grasp of the core political differences between both parties. It seems like he will end up being the first African American to be elected to the US Senate (which I find totally bizarre - the USA is a lot further behind Australia and many other nations in this regard), which is obviously going to be a very historic thing. Moreover, some people are suggesting that he may one day be the first African American president. I guess only time will tell, but I wouldn't be surprised. In any case, I've enjoyed the coverage. I would say that I'm not really affiliated to one side of politics (the left or the right), because in general, I don't believe that life's solutions can be found in one particular ideology. I tend to feel that the best thing is to take solutions from a variety of sources -- whether it be Republican or Democrat -- to fix a broad array of problems. That's why I have a difficult time actually aligning with a political party overall. Anyway, enough about that. Kill Adam is moving along nicely. Did you guys check out Tony's chapter? Wonderfully written. Up until this point, I didn't know much about Persona. He was a very mysterious character, which is no doubt a deliberate feature. However, seeing some of his background is great; seeing his motivation, how he became who he is. This reminds me of some of the writing I've been doing for Killing-Bill.com, regarding the character of Bill. When you look at the surface of Kill Bill, you actually see something very superficial. But it's true to say that there are various layers going on behind that. Bill is a pimp. And the DiVAS are really representative of "his women". He really sees this as a mark of achievement. This is how he lives, how he defines success. It's not unexpected, considering his past (I won't mention it in case you haven't seen Volume 2). This also relates to the rivalry between The Bride and Elle Driver, which is noticeably different from the relationship between The Bride and Oren Ishii/Vernita Green. If you compare The Bride to Elle, you can see right away that they're quite similar; they're both tall, beautiful blonde women. When The Bride was a part of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, she was really at the top of the pecking order. It was her first, Elle second. But once she left, Elle became first in line. This creates a special and unique rivalry between the two characters. This is why Elle wants to do away with The Bride herself. It's no secret, afterall, that Bill has a place in his heart for The Bride that doesn't exist for Elle. At least, not at the same level. Not to mention that Elle is totally different from the other characters in general. She stands out for one major reason; there is not a single redeeming quality about her. The Bride has a child and she's trying to make a life for herself. Vernita's in the same boat; she's gotten married and she's trying to do the right thing. Oren, while not turning her life around, has still been in a situation where she's had to kill to survive. So at the very least, one can feel some sympathy for her on that level. But Elle? She's got none of that to worry about. She's pure evil, through and through. Just look at the exchange between her and Budd in the trailer, before The Bride arrived -- there was definitely nothing honorable about that. And her relationship with Pai Mei further proves that she's a sneaky, selfish character. This is one thing I love about Kill Bill and it's one thing I'm loving about Kill Adam. These characters are being given colour all the time. Tony's post has kind of made Persona three dimensional, where he was once far more superficial. Now we know why he is who he is. And that's really important, I think. Edit: Er, yeah, Alex...I just want to point out that I was making brief comments in my blog. So, this was by no means an in-depth character profile. I'll save that for the site, rather than posting it here. I have to give people something to look forward to. ~_^ Actually, my comments were mostly very superficial and general. There's a hell of a lot more to discuss in a proper, fully-featured article.

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