Who will kill filmmaking first?

[Andrew Reid]

Is there No Limit to our suffering.

Locked in a race as to who can kill the arts first, we bear witness to a gargantuan dick swinging contest fought between haphazard bureaucrats in government and a deadly bat pathogen. The fight is escalating with no end in sight, but one thing is for sure – corporate America will profit endlessly.

New blog post:

https://www.eoshd.com/news/who-will-kill-filmmaking-first/

[IronFilm]

2 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Most of our governments with the exception of New Zealand, Norway, Finland and Taiwan are merely reactive committees,

Unfortunately if you lived in NZ and closely followed the ridiculous slapstick comedy of events here, then you'd realize NZ's government is no exception. They're a reactive committee too, to put it charitably, and a very slowly reacting one too. 

We only look so good to the rest of the world thanks more to dumb luck than anything else, and due to the amazingly good hand of cards the gods dealt us in the first place. 

Because we're a low density country, which is an island by ourselves (easy natural barriers to defend ourselves with! Zero land borders with anybody else), in the middle of nowhere (sandwiched between a sea and an ocean), with only one city that is also the most remote city in the entire world!

If last year was a computer game simulation we were playing, you couldn't hope for a better starting position! It's like playing the game on easy mode. How much credit can you really give our government when they're playing the game in the easiest of easy modes??
(oh plus also, during the earliest months while everyone in the world was trying to figure out a response we were in the midst of summer, and didn't need to be in the extra hard mode of doing this in middle of winter. Yet another natural factor that was in NZ's favor)

Then on top of this, we also had one of the world's harshest lockdowns a country has had for initially for quite a long while. (good for squashing a virus? But the economic consequences of that are not trivial and can't be ignored forever) And yet, we still had to later on in the year go into a second lockdown. Fingers and toes crossed that we don't get a third!

[Tim Sewell]

2 hours ago, IronFilm said:

And yet, we still had to later on in the year go into a second lockdown. Fingers and toes crossed that we don't get a third!

Appreciate what you're saying, but I guess we sure would like to be going into a 3rd lockdown after 25 deaths than after 70K+. There's governmental incompetence and then there's 21st century UK Conservative Party governmental incompetence!

[good_1da]

Quote

The trick succeeded only because the people’s interests had been twisted for years in an orchestrated campaign of propaganda. Before the mention of a Brexit referendum...

(Sighing) 

Here we go again, another article demonising the working classes. People Andrew Reid does not know and has never met, but apparently knows everything about and is quick to stereotype. Same tired old cliches...blah blah, led by donkeys, didn't know what they were voting for, lied to....blah blah blah. Honestly, this article could have been written by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

A quick UK history lesson... In 1975 the UK voted to join a common market with other European countries, not to join a political union. Many Labour MPs (e.g. Tony Benn, Michael Foot, Barbara Castle etc), unions and labour voters were against joining at that time. So euroscepticism has never been a right or left issue.

Flash forward to the present. The EU bears no relation to the common market people in 1975 voted to join. It was long over due that the people of the UK be asked if they wanted to be part of a political union.

On 12 Dec 2019 (UK election day) the people voted to save democracy and uphold the 2016 referendum result. A million times more important than Brexit, democracy itself was on the ballot paper. Thankfully enough British people still believe in the ballot box and they did just that. This is why in areas like mine, the Redwall (traditional Labour voting areas but not socialist) crumbled.

It will go down in UK political and democratic history as one of the most remarkable and important nights ever. Not because Boris Johnson and the Conservative party got an 80 seat majority. But because people from towns and villagers all over the UK lent their votes to save Democracy and once and for all crush the idea that MPs, the BBC, ITV, Sky, big business, newspapers, the establishment and powerful vested interests get to decide election results.

Apparently, Andrew Reid believes working class british people are drones. He's very wrong about that.

 

[fuzzynormal]

"personal attributes above don’t stand out in a modern show-biz style argument on TV news, let alone in a tabloid newspaper, which is how we decide who we elect."

As it is in all democracies.  We endure the mood swings of populism.

I do think we've basically drifted away from the solemnity of attitudes that affected culture after WWII and we're leaning hard back into humanity's default mode.  Your anecdote about Germany supports this argument, I believe.  Their culture reflects the gravitas of a nation that learned lessons in a very hard and disturbing way.

From my perspective in the states, Americans are isolationists so we have an unfortunate ability to be narcissistic, knee-jerk-contrarian, and insular.  We're doomed to have non-serious people elect other non-serious people until that way creates a crisis and tragedy....then we'll all be like, "damn, we can't do that anymore."   A few generations will pass, rinse-repeat.  WWII interrupted this cycle and also heaved a victor/spoils unto us right at the height of the industrial revolution, so we've been on the happy side of the scale for a short stretch.  We're spoiled children, to be it bluntly --and now our toys are breaking or have broken.  Throw in a pandemic that basically is trying to steal our last lollipop and you see how the Boomers react to it.

Also, the whole lock-down thing exposes a flaw I can't stand regarding a global economy.  I'd much more prefer micro-economies regionally based that would create more local employment in the trades and food distribution, but that model is an unfortunate fantasy and has many flaws as well.  Eh, that's a tangent.

Like you said, it's always a choice of trying to decide what's the lesser of two evils.  Nobody likes doing that.  We here, unfortunately, have been conditioned to think we're entitled to the best of anything we want. 

[fuzzynormal]

All that said, art thrives in chaos, as it should.  That too is human nature.  Whatever models exist to help create that art might change, but it'll happen.  Yes, in the brave new world it will have a harder time to rise above the noise, but the good stuff will be always be vibrant and endure.

Always remember when looking back into the past and considering art that what survives also existed amongst a sea of mediocrity.  We recognize the good stuff because previous generation have curated it for us.

[Tim Sewell]

1 hour ago, fuzzynormal said:

We're doomed to have non-serious people elect other non-serious people

This, I think, is the crux of our problems in the West currently. Seriousness is no longer either a requirement nor a virtue in elected politicians. Especially in the Anglosphere (with a couple of exceptions), we've taken to electing deeply unserious people who, even worse, are completely insulated by wealth from the results of their witless tinkering.

[IronFilm]

6 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

From my perspective in the states, Americans are isolationists

I WISH isolationism was the dominant thread of politics in America, unfortunately the constant nonstop wars USA gets into decade after decades proves that is not the case. American politics is very very much so interventionist, and not isolationist. 
(and wars are but one way that Americans meddle with affairs overseas 😕 )

6 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

WWII interrupted this cycle and also heaved a victor/spoils unto us

Was USA really the winner in WW2?
Technically the conventional thinking is indeed that USA "won" WW2, but if it was any kind of victory at all it is was a borderline pyrrhic victory. 

https://www.fff.org/2012/02/16/won-world-war-ii-2/

6 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

We're doomed to have non-serious people elect other non-serious people

"Those who seek power are not worthy of that power. " ~ Plato
(basically if someone wants to be a politician... that should rule them out as a good option!)

"The best argument against Democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

[fuzzynormal]

2 hours ago, IronFilm said:

but if it was any kind of victory at all it is was a borderline pyrrhic victory. 

I’m not implying the US carried the burden of victory in Europe.  For that you have to hand it to the Russians and their relentless war of attrition. Of course the Brits holding on and keeping their front a challenge made a big difference.

I’m talking about coming out of the thing being in the best shape. Political clout. Natural resources unmolested. Banging economy. A lot of the German scientists. —The post war boom was incredible. The atomic age in the USA was filled with affluence and optimism.  

The goal in WWII may have been to take down fascism, but we certainly got rewarded in the aftermath.

Also, we’re a nation of citizens that are very much isolationists, (not as much as 80 years ago) but our government was certainly emboldened by WWII to change that attitude. 

Still, insular attitudes by most US citizens is a definitely a fact. Barely 40% have a passport. 

[1Ale82]

6 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

Still, insular attitudes by most US citizens is a definitely a fact. Barely 40% have a passport. 

In fact many Americans consider they go to a different country when they go to a different US state, while for Europeans that would be seen as going only to a different region

[Oliver Daniel]

@Andrew Reid - I agree on so many levels. It's at a point so monstrous and disorientating it's just.... f*cked. 

You're around Manchester aren't you? My space is open. You could occupy one of the (many) empty coworking desks with free coffee etc, bitch about celebrity Youtubers, play with my C70 and film the empty sad streets around the utopian Ancoats area. It's dark and raining. 

[MrSMW]

5 hours ago, 1Ale82 said:

In fact many Americans consider they go to a different country when they go to a different US state, while for Europeans that would be seen as going only to a different region

Hmmm, opinions and all that, but I am pretty sure there is a lot bigger difference between European countries than there is between US States?!

[IronFilm]

1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

Hmmm, opinions and all that, but I am pretty sure there is a lot bigger difference between European countries than there is between US States?!

Depends which countries and which states you're referring to. 
I'd say there is a bigger difference between New York and Alaska, than there is between Sweden and Norway. 

[SteveV4D]

2 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Depends which countries and which states you're referring to. 
I'd say there is a bigger difference between New York and Alaska, than there is between Sweden and Norway. 

There's a lot of difference between London and a small Village in Yorkshire, yet both are in England... 😉

Ultimately in Europe you have changes in language between Countries, the need for passports at some crossings, and of course, there's no Europe President. 

US is more akin to the UK, where we have Countries Wales, Scotland and NI with their own rules and Government, with variations much like the various states in America.  However crossing to them doesn't carry the same weight as say visiting France, Germany or Spain.  I can still speak English in Scotland, pay by the same currency and follow rules that are similar to my own Country.  This isn't the case with other Coutries in Europe.  Even though the EU as the Euro, countries like Norway have their own currency, and culture can vary more. 

[josdr]

Nobody is killing film making. As long as there is a story to be told, there will be the need for the medium through which it will disseminate

[MrSMW]

2 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Depends which countries and which states you're referring to. 
I'd say there is a bigger difference between New York and Alaska, than there is between Sweden and Norway. 

Kiwis and Aussies...and then there are those folks in Tassie 😉

Sweden and Denmark speak a different language but mostly understand each other. I’ve watched ‘The Bridge’ 🙂

[Thpriest]

Basically the world has become some kind of crazy B-movie mix of They Live, The Crazies and a Brave New world but told in an Instagram Stories/TikTok bite sized chunks manner so that we will never understand or care about the big picture. Whilst we are distracted by all this, 99.9% of us will become poorer and the environment will finally be completely trashed.

[MrSMW]

They Live in a TikTok style. Yep, that’s about the sum of it.

 

[fuzzynormal]

On 1/5/2021 at 9:30 AM, fuzzynormal said:

We're doomed to have non-serious people elect other non-serious people

And now you see the fruit of this reality.

[Andrew Reid]

On 1/5/2021 at 6:14 PM, good_1da said:

(Sighing) 

Here we go again, another article demonising the working classes. People Andrew Reid does not know and has never met, but apparently knows everything about and is quick to stereotype. Same tired old cliches...blah blah, led by donkeys, didn't know what they were voting for, lied to....blah blah blah. Honestly, this article could have been written by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

A quick UK history lesson... In 1975 the UK voted to join a common market with other European countries, not to join a political union. Many Labour MPs (e.g. Tony Benn, Michael Foot, Barbara Castle etc), unions and labour voters were against joining at that time. So euroscepticism has never been a right or left issue.

Flash forward to the present. The EU bears no relation to the common market people in 1975 voted to join. It was long over due that the people of the UK be asked if they wanted to be part of a political union.

On 12 Dec 2019 (UK election day) the people voted to save democracy and uphold the 2016 referendum result. A million times more important than Brexit, democracy itself was on the ballot paper. Thankfully enough British people still believe in the ballot box and they did just that. This is why in areas like mine, the Redwall (traditional Labour voting areas but not socialist) crumbled.

It will go down in UK political and democratic history as one of the most remarkable and important nights ever. Not because Boris Johnson and the Conservative party got an 80 seat majority. But because people from towns and villagers all over the UK lent their votes to save Democracy and once and for all crush the idea that MPs, the BBC, ITV, Sky, big business, newspapers, the establishment and powerful vested interests get to decide election results.

Apparently, Andrew Reid believes working class british people are drones. He's very wrong about that.

 

A lot of assumptions about me in this I don't like. But let's focus on the facts.

If we rewind to 2005, you are probably not with a strong opinion on the EU. Probably getting on with your life just fine. Country seems to be doing well. Certainly better than the state of it today after 10 years of the Tories. I am from a 'red' Labour area. Manchester. Tony Blair did a decent job of running all of the country not just London, and Manchester was booming, pretty much. This is after a full 30 years of EU membership and a so-called political union... it is actually far more of an economic one than what the Express would have you believe about Merkel bossing us around.

Post-Brexit, how is your life better. And what will you personally gain from it. Answers on a postcard please...

Here is what was in it for me... To be clear - nothing. Under EU membership as a Brit I spent 8 years living in Berlin visa free, with travel around Europe as easily as getting train to London from Manchester. I had a life in Berlin, very valuable to me. Now I have a 90-day max stay and have to pay as much as 40% import duties and VAT on anything I buy from Amazon or a UK website when in Berlin. Camera deals, eBay, that kind of thing, is now ruined. Meanwhile the German post has stopped sending to the UK altogether, whilst they decide how to restructure the cost of postage. It used to be that anything I couldn't bring back to the UK in my luggage would be put in a box and go back that way. Not any more. It will likely now get hefty charges stamped on it and there will be tons of paperwork to fill out.

Now, imagine if you are running a UK or Europe based business. The European based side can't serve customers in the UK at all at the moment... can't use the post. The UK side now has a 600 page document to familiarise itself with, and staff cannot avoid duties and VAT when sending to their biggest neighbours and trading partners. It's shit. In terms of bureaucracy the EU actually cut down on paperwork, especially in terms of the movement of goods and people.

Meanwhile people now require a visa of course to work in a different EU country if they are British, which means the younger generation won't have the same freedom as I did, creatively, as a filmmaker, to escape the high rents of Manchester and London, or to explore new places and meet new people. It's a disaster for them. Getting a visa is expensive and requires health cover, which is also expensive. Hundreds of quid a month expensive. Before, it was free and on the NHS for emergency care throughout the EU, be it in Manchester, Barcelona or Berlin.

The EU gave us free roaming, 100GB per month with EE for £20 to use throughout Europe, they spurred the private sector on to abolish some of their highest charges. It saved me a fortune in Berlin. The EU gave online streaming one market for DRM, so that Amazon UK could stream the British content in Europe, for when you are on holiday or living here. The cross border portability of content like movies and TV shows has now ended.

Moreover, I can't find a single benefit of Brexit for me... Not a single thing. It's all more expensive, more hassle, less freedom, depressing shit.

The irony of you saying the 'democratic' Referendum crushes the idea that the newspapers (like the Express, Daily Mail and tabloids) and powerful vested interests get to decide the results... When actually the outcome was the direct result of the newspapers banging on about refugees and EU bureaucracy for years on end, and the powerful vested interests of people like Farage or Johnson... mostly vested in themselves, as opportunistic scumbags. When you say that MPs get to decide election results, you ignore the fact they are the elected representatives of the people. However for this to work, democratic society has to be well informed. Over the EU, they were not. Simple as that. And if MPs and government had no power to plot the course of the nation, what's the point of voting for them in the first place? All this anti-parliament BS that came up during the debates on Brexit and the court cases, with the press attacking the judiciary, was a scandal. Very few so-called working class British people voted for Brexit knowing in factual terms exactly what was in it for them. They just got wound up emotionally. Like I said before, rewind to 2005 or even 2010 and nobody down my local pub in Manchester is talking about how much their daily lives are hindered by fishing quotas and tariffs on Japanese imports, and how they can't wait to leave the EU to negotiate their own. Let alone, "we can't wait to leave in order to get all those specific advantages including X, Y, and Z".

The very fact you haven't listed any specific advantages for your own life, livelihood, town or village of Brexit tells me a lot...

How about putting to one side the 'taking back control' and the slogans for a moment and listing the explicit benefits you have personally felt since 1st January 2021.

The first corona vaccine is German by the way.