Skyfall: The True Bonds of Family

The newest installment of the long running spy thriller franchise, Skyfall, is a refreshing take on the classic character. The leading man, Daniel Craig,  is chillingly handsome, classically debonair, and purely athletic in the third film of his reign as the ultimate action hero. After the success of Casino Royale and Quantam of Solace, it could be tempting to escalate the physicality and special effects to new heights in order to compete with banal action flicks starring retired professional "wrestlers" that are now flooding the market.

The new director, Sam Mendes, known for such films as American Beauty, Road to Perdition, and the exciting spin on the Shakespearean Henriad, The Hollow Crown, wisely decided to internalize the conflict without getting the mushy melodrama of romantic love involved (see Casino Royale). I do not mean to mislead, there is abundant external action: bulldozers ripping train cars apart, subway cars hurtling off their tracks, bombs exploding, pistol machine guns, urban motorcycle chases across roof tops in Istanbul, but the true impetus of the film is the eponymous hero's bond with his surrogate mother, M, and his detachment from his own biological roots.

The film charts his changing feeling (perhaps even "love"?) towards his mentor and stand-in mother, M. At one intimate moment between the two of them, after Bond neglects to tell the full story of his parents because he realizes she knows everything already, M off-handedly comments on how orphans like himself, "always make the best recruits". Perhaps it is purely strategy to train such agents for tactical reasons: they are loyal, obey authority, find purpose in following orders, but the viewer is left with the feeling that such a comment actually underscores a much deeper truth: M now stands for mother. Their relationship is challenged from the beginning when she orders a dangerous and rumored fatal kill shot on double-o-seven. From this low point however, the characters' relationship is slowly one of reconciliation. M ignores the strong recommendations to have Bond removed from service after his failed physical, she allows him access to MI's top secret files on their next mission, she supplies him with weapons and support, she goes along with his kidnapping plan to act as bait to lure Bond's newest archnemesis Sylva to their hiding place, Bond's own ancestral home, the titular Skyfall.

When Bond eventually sees his own home bombed to the ground, he responds in his typically British, sly fashion: "I never really cared for the place". So much for being sentimental.  His affection sees its final transformation when it is almost literally transferred to the wounded M on the chapel floor--outside of which are buried his own biological parents.  Lady Judi Dench was masterful in her life and will remain in Bond's memory even in her death. She lives on in the sentimental English bulldog kitsch that is bequeathed to him and will most certainly be the only personal effect he now owns. Through it all, it is the reliance on family, perhaps not the family you were born with, but the family that has loved you and shaped you, that is most important.

Skyfall is a movie of lush and exotic scenery. It is a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen to truly be appreciated. The glow of Shanghai's neon night, the flaming dragon boat ride to the island casino, the post-apocalyptical fallout island, and the chaos of Istanbul's bazaar are cinematically wonderful. Even the underrated opening credits are some of the most visually stimulating I have ever seen. Paired with the original score by England's diva dame, Adele, these credits are a kaleidoscope of Rorschach tests and delicate foreshadowing that are as visually stimulating as they are pure Hedonistic sensory overload.

I believe that's all for now. I'm looking forward to writing about the masterful, and understated, villainy of Javier Bardem (Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men) and the Cain and Abel allusive parallels between two "adopted sons" of M, but I must think on it a while. 

Hope you enjoyed. 

The Original Hipster

Dear Hipsters, 

This may come as some surprise to some of you, my fellow brethen, clad in lumberjack flannel, thick-rimmed Ray Bans, eco-chic Toms, listening to the custom "Chill" mix on your iPod, writing in your Moleskine journal at the local independent coffee shop, but I've got some things to say to you. 

You are not the first hipster in American history. Almost two hundred years ago, the originals came onto the scene with a revolutionary message: "trust thyself". New Englanders by birth, these so-called "Transcendentalists" called for a new age of self-reliance, distrust of authority, forging a new path of confidence and non-conformity. In a new study released this week by Harvard University sociologists, hipster is actually defined by these Transcendentalist traits, namely non-conformity. As soon as something gets popular, hipsters change their opinions. 

An actual conversation I once overheard in my local used bookstore which went something like this: 

"Have you ever heard of a band called 'Fleet Foxes'? 

With undeniable disdain, "Have I heard of them? I have every album on limited edition vinyl!"

With undeniable remorse, "Well, they're alright."

Classic hipster move. Check and mate. Regardless of response, they win the cool competition: if you haven't heard of them, they enlighten you with their uniqueness, if you're overly familiar, they distance their opinions.  

Maybe our own modern-day hipsters have something to learn from an American original: rely on your self, trust thy self, don't look for approval from others for your style, your taste, your truth. Sure, you think you're all alone in this, you think you're so misunderstood. Before you start moaning and putting on your black eye shadow, as Emerson once said, "to be great is to be misunderstood". It's not about the world not liking you, it's about the world not comprehending your message because it is so radically counter to the status quo. Non-conformity has always been an undercurrent in American culture, from Emerson to Kerouac to King, but "marching to the beat of a different drummer" will never mean you have to shop at Urban Outfitters to find your Beat headphones. The original message is about something deeper than all of that superficial style. Non-conformity is about changing your world view so that it encompasses the whole world and your inner world simultaneously. It's about being political active by civil disobedience, seeing the world through Nature's eyes, and relying on your own inner strength.