WhoWillSurvive2012

The 2012 trailer is out. It's title cards shout dramatically, "Mankind's earliest civilization warned us, this day will come. The end is just the beginning. This November, find out the truth." OK, then, so Sony's Columbia Pictures is releasing the next big disaster movie in November "2012" by Roland Emmerich, who gave us "Independence Day" and "The Day after Tomorrow." starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Gover. It looks like a great thrill ride of movie is coming our way. I, for one, can't wait to plunk down the money to see it in IMAX. If you haven't already done so, check out the movie website. At the risk of being a spoiler, no matter how good the mega-disaster is portrayed, the real world will not end that day, the sun will come up the next, and we'll go on.

Those of us old enough, remember the celebration of the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the excitement of the Harmonic Convergence, and then the tragedy sparked by the passing of the Comet Kohoutek. David Berg's cult The Children of God committed mass suicide believing they would taken away to the cosmos by aliens hiding behind the comet. And then, let us not forget the hysteria of of Jan 1, 2000, even though the new millenium did not begin until Jan 1, 2001, sorry if you haven't got that straight yet.
Now, we have the rising wave of fascination with another date, December 21, 2012, filling some with dread, some with hope, some with disdain, and some with derision.
If you want a clear explanation of how the Mayan calendar works, a modern day Mayan named Chino has posted a good one on YouTube. The Mayan long calendar cycle began 5,125 years ago and finishes its count finishing on the date December 21, 2012.
The new movie 2012 is capitalizing on the dread that the Mayan's calendar prophesies the end of the world, or at least the end of the world as we have known it. As entertaining as the movie is, and all the other stuff we will engulfed with over the next two years, it's really the laziest, least interesting view of that date, beaten only by the opinion that it means nothing at all. After all, the idea of an impending apocalypse nearly upon us, is not unusual among the religions of the world. The one thing about that date we can predict with absolute accuracy is that 2012 mania will explode, both on the news of that day and the days leading up to it. A lot of cataclysmic acts will be explainable as simple, self-fulfilling prophecy.



Far more interesting are the concepts that the end of these days, is the beginning of next era, as explained by the Hindu and Tibetan calendars. These view the end of an era as a transformative experience that ushers in a new age of enlightenment and harmony, although the transformation itself may be a rough ride. Unfortunately, most pop culture creators are going for the spectacular, but dumbing down story lines.




Fortunately there are those writers and filmmakers who see the opportunity to go for the high bar of quality entertainment with concepts that inspire and fire up our imaginations, to give us a glimpse of a future where human beings become their better selves.






Let's face it, the world is changing, faster and faster, and if we don't think about what is actually coming our way, we won't be ready to deal with it with common sense.



Of all the coming books and movies of the near future presented by December 21st of 2012, the best example is "Drones, Clones and Pheromones". In the film, the next era of humanity begins with the first child born after the end of the Mayan calendar. He is in fact the first of our descendent species, known to predictive biologists as homoperfectus.


I call this story "the best" because it is a magnificent story exploring in human terms the consequences of our taking evolution into our own hands. Human decisions will shape our descendants, rather than mere chance. The story is told with breath-taking action and effects. The science is up to date, and the science fiction is plausible. It poses questions about the consequences of our science, that we'd damn well better be thinking about now, before it's too late. Its characters and their love and hate relationships are engrossing and multi-dimensional. It is humanity here and today and tomorrow.


"Drones, Clones and Pheromones" is soon going into production, destined to be the definitive 2012 story. In the meantime, have fun watching the Columbia Pictures version of mass destruction and mayhem.

State of Hate

As a child raised in a nice, small-town church, I was taught that personal redemption and loving one's neighbor was the good news to be spread throughout all the world. As I grew up, I realized that many church leaders were the worst violators of that Christian agenda. I saw the teaching of hatred, moral leaders caught up in vice, church-led persecutions of undesirables, superstitions leading to the deaths of innocent men and women, and torture in name of God, until it became clear that the spirit of Satan had overtaken these institutions. In my crisis of faith, I decided no one had anything to teach me unless their wisdom and compassion exceeded my own. I came to see that what people believe God to be is actually a mirror of their own heart and soul.

I have since arrived at a place of personal peace in finding a spiritual path that unquestionably offers me teachings to enhance my compassion and wisdom. I have no problem with Christians who keep to the good news of personal redemption and loving one's neighbors. The problem is the Christian crazies who act out their self righteous hatred on others. These bible thumping fundies even hate and mock denominations that actually live up to Christian ideals, such as Quakers (Society of Friends), welcoming congregations and the Unitarians If fundies simply practiced their sins in the privacy of their own churches, no problem, the maddening thing is that they relentlessly shove their hatred down the throats of their neighbors and try to sway governments to join in and make laws respecting their unChristian brutality.

When AIDS first appeared, largely among gay men, Christian haters preached God's vengeance, while other Christians organized to help the afflicted. This is the modern version of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It became clear very quickly who were the compassionate children of God, and who were the angels of darkness posing as angels of light. By their fruit we came to know who is who. Now they're at it again. They are fighting to deny same gender couples the sacrament of marriage, using gross distortions of Bible quotations, and logic twisted beyond repair. The glaring omission from their rants is Christian compassion. Christian groups who fight against equality for all Americans are constantly at work spewing their evil and trying to deceive the very elect of God. As with the AIDS crisis, when some churches acted with compassion while others postured and spread hatred, so today some churches recognize that to bless the union of any two people who wish to commit their lives to one another is the Christian thing to do.


The California Supreme Court rightly ruled in favor of same gender marriage. Our constitution begins with a fundamental principle that the law must be applied equally to all citizens, and in the absence of a compelling common good exception, no one nor group may be denied the benefits of the law. It's a curious paradox that if we accept the fundies contention that marriage is a religious institution then it ought not be part of our state law. Any and all California citizens must ally themselves with pro-marriage forces, and work to stop the constitutional amendment to deny marriage to a whole group of families, many of whom are raising normal, healthy children.






HATE GROUPS: These are the primary hate groups under the Christian banner. We hope that other Christians see the evil in their agendas and shun them and speak out against them.





Westboro Baptist Church - You may object to listing Fred Phelps first as he is clearly the ugliest example of Christian hatred, but it's in keeping with the tradition of fundamentalist church leaders using the most extreme examples of gay people as proof of their hateful rhetoric. Anyone who buys into this group's message of God's hatred, may as well go all the way and attend Satanic worship services.

Focus on the Family - James Dobson has created a TV personality of himself as an expert on what's good for families, while working to destroy families that don't conform to his narrowly defined family group. He makes no pretense of his vicious intolerance, indeed, he calls the assertion of equal rights and the support of gay families in California and Massachusetts "lunacy". It's fascinating in a perverse way to see his tortured twisting of both scripture and facts. The end result of his work is to vilify loving parents, intensify intolerance in schools for young gays and children of gay parents, and the ripping apart of loving families. Perhaps he should rename his group, Crosshairs on the Famiy.

The Catholic Church should know better, as the Catholic church at one time in its history performed same sex union ceremonies. The literature still exists, and those who say it did not are either uninformed, misinformed, or outright liars. The plus side is that Catholic Charities is a shining example of Christian compassion in practice. Moreover, there are compassionate dissenters who work to change the situation from within.

Family Research Council - Tony Perkins is behind the group whose statement on homosexuality asserts without any logical justification or appeal to actual social or medical science data the following: "Family Research Council believes that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed. It is by definition unnatural, and as such is associated with negative physical and psychological health effects. While the origins of same-sex attractions may be complex, there is no convincing evidence that a homosexual identity is ever something genetic or inborn." This is a fine example of the fundamental principle of propaganda that if you repeat a lie often enough, no matter how outrageous, it will come to be believed. Curiously, their own statement on the structure of family, "The family should be respected as a largely autonomous sphere of self-government, not as something inferior to the civil government."

Traditional Values Coalition - Lou Sheldon has made a career of injuring gay people every chance he gets. One wonders what goes on in the mind of a man who spends all of his time obsessed with the sexual practices of strangers. His nightmares must be bizarre beyond imagination. His work has been to deny gay people rights in housing, jobs, family creation, and personal freedom. The times I've heard his hysterical, distressed voice, made my skin crawl, a normal response to anything creepy. The problem with "traditional values" is the lack of evaluation of their rightness. Our value should be based on kindness, fairness and equality, instead of outdated morality based on prejudice, ignorance and inhumane intentions.

R.J. RushdoonyChristian Reconstructionists - is the most prominent of the hateful billy-club Bible buffoons who think only a brutal, homicidal religion is approved by God. Like so many other Christian destructionists, they project their own bias and evil onto others, and seek to punish them as a way of expiating their own well deserved guilt. Here is a clear example of "wolves in sheep's clothing."


There are an enormous number of anti-gay groups, far too numerous to list here. Writing about them at all is a nauseating experience, but we've go to keep an eye on hate groups so we are ready to cope effectively with their terrible agendas. There are also other groups such as "Religious Right Watch" who help compile information on the haters.

A Man on a Mission

This is a reprint of a column I was invited to write for Sparks which was also published in the San Francisco Bay Times.







A Man On A Mission
Published: February 14, 2008

By Wayne Schotten

Who hasn’t experienced the letdown after obtaining a hard-won goal and asked, “What do I do now?” We are powerful creatures when we have a clearly defined mission, but become complacent and distracted when we have achieved some part of our objectives. That is not entirely bad, of course, since we do have a right to enjoy the benefits of our victories. Otherwise, why bother to fight battles in the first place? The purpose of life is to live and enjoy our lives. That said, we can’t help but realize there is so much yet to be done. How do we refocus?

My personal history approximates the history of gay liberation. I was a child during the Eisenhower era, and I vaguely remember the newspaper pictures of White House demonstrations by business suited men and women, members of the Mattachine society, named for the Italian theater Mattachino jester, who would speak the truth to the king when no one else would. As a teen in small town Ohio, I thought I was the only boy in the world attracted to males, until Life magazine published pictures and stories of large groups of gay men hanging out together in Greenwich Village and Hollywood. Zap!!!

I came out in Cincinnati at a time when the novelty there was a downtown restaurant that was a gay hot spot at night. The waitresses loved us and helped us meet the new guys who walked in.

When I moved to Hollywood, while exploring my new sexual freedom with a series of lovers, I joined demonstrations supporting Willie Brown’s campaign to dump the sodomy laws in California. During my years in a serious relationship with the one man I should not have let slip away, I took part in protests at the LA coroner’s hearing over the cops beating a gay man to death and trying to sweep it under the rug. I walked with the first gay civil rights demonstration down Hollywood Boulevard in which skinny boys joined old queens in singing, “I’m not afraid anymore”.

Though only mildly religious at the time, I helped the fledgling Metropolitan Community Church, led by Troy Perry, when it was meeting at the Encore Theater in Hollywood. With the emergence of the counter culture and its acceptance of gays and lesbians, I found I could be an openly gay cinematographer on movie sets whose producers thought counter culture equated to artistic ability.

I moved to San Francisco and became involved in fighting the draconian Brigg’s initiative that would have banned gays from teaching in California. I worked with the group starting the gay center in Berkeley. The rise of Harvey Milk and the gay community in the Castro was a heady, wonderful example of a good life for gay people.

When AIDS appeared, my personal physician, Dr. Richard Hamilton, invited me and my best friend Mike Kurtz, who later died of AIDS, to help prepare the audiovisual materials for the world’s first medical profession gathering at Pacific Medical Center to address the emerging epidemic. To this day I am repelled and appalled by the response of the Reagan-appointed CDC officials who attended. I quote, “Gentlemen, don’t you think you’re being overdramatic?”

Every one of those actions had a clear and immediate threat to our safety and freedom. Times are different now, and I am not even sure what obstacles or what necessities younger gays are facing now. My sense is that our fight for equality today lacks the intensity engendered by an immediate threat to our well-being. It’s possible we may have a huge battle thrust upon us, if the right wing wackos succeed in mounting a significant move to amend the US Constitution to deprive us of first class citizenship.

Our future is a mission with three paths - mutual support and protection, sharing our gifts with others, and empowering ourselves. Take time to volunteer and be involved in our community and the larger community in which we all live. Give yourself to concerted action for which you feel fire in your belly, whether it’s marriage equality or the SPCA. Above all, define the change in the world that would compel you to engage upon a mission, then devote yourself to making it happen.

If you ponder what a mission is, you’ll come to see the value of having your own personal mission. Then enjoy the good feelings that come from it. Joseph Campbell was fond of saying, “If you follow your bliss, doors will open you didn’t even know existed.” That is so true, my friend, so true.

Wayne Schotten was born in Youngstown, OH in 1944. He is currently developing a science fiction theatrical film featuring action, real science and a beautiful love story between the two leading young men. He can be reached at wayne@wildstrawberryfilms.com.

Open Letter to Presidential Candidates

To:
Barack Obama
Hillary Rodham Clinton
John McCain

This is the voice of an American citizen.

Electing a President of the United States is much more than selecting an individual to fill the office. It is a statement by the American people on the the kind of government we want. How that statement is crafted is highly dependent on the kind of campaign that candidates wage. My vote goes to the one who poses the right questions about the right issues.

Currently our country is a mess brought about the demise of real democratic control of the government. The will of the majority has been usurped by the few, which is an oligarchy, which by definition serves only its own agenda. We have allowed our government to invade another country which had not attacked us. We have allowed the mastermind of the greatest attack ever on American to roam free instead facing the American judicial system. The economy is tanking from the cost of the war, the excessive borrowing of money from outside our country, and we have allowed American jobs to float away across the sea. Our national reputation in the global community is badly tarnished, and fascism has become part of daily American life. I never would have believed this country would be debating how much torture is acceptable and when, because in that discussion is the clear and present evidence this country has lost its core of ethics. Why Christians are not outraged, is beyond comprehension. Why Christians are not outraged that Christians are suffering the worst persecution of modern times in Iraq because of our actions there, can only be ignorance of cosmic proportions.

SO, CANDIDATES, LISTEN UP!

Democrats: Either Obama or Clinton will make an excellent President, and neither has character flaws except in the imagination of campaign managers and right wing extremist commentators. I want to hear from each of you how you will overcome the power of the Republican oligarchy, how you will stop and reverse the flow of American jobs overseas, and how you will secure the benefits of liberty to all Americans. Talk about McCain, talk about the war, talk about the economy. Compete in the market place of ideas, not in the gutter of personal sniping.



Republicans: Of all the candidates you have fielded this election, McCain is the least offensive, though far from ideal, especially in terms of the disastrous war mentality, the trashing of the economy and the shredding of the constitution. On the outside chance you might win the White House, start talking now, in paragraphs not sound bites, about correcting the mess you've inherited. We have a huge and growing national debt. Debts only go away by paying for them, and the government has only one source of real income, so pretending that tax cuts will make things better is capital D Dumb. Attacking spending programs for what they sound like, instead of what they do, does not constitute financial discipline. If you get elected by the notion of continuing the war in Iraq, denying equal rights to all Americans, and refusing to pay our debts, then you're going to be saddled with those policies which can only drive our country further along the road to our ultimate bankruptcy of our economy and our morals.

Thank you,
Wayne Schotten

MySpace Sex Spam and Cop Phishing

This is a message I sent to MySpace.

I've only been on MySpace a few months so I'm still discovering what it is. Because of my varied interests, I get add requests from total strangers. That's terrific. I've also sought friends with interests of mine, and now enjoy the dialogue with them.

My problem is offensive content in the friend requests.

I waste time sometimes going to their page to see if they're legit or another scam to get me to go to some porno site. I'm no prude, but I demand the right to choose when to turn my attention to sexuality.

I always report these as spam because I don't like to be expecting to meet a new friend but get a sex ad slammed in my face instead.

I am sure you are doing your best to beat a problem that wastes a lot of bandwith.

So, please, MySpace, continue with our thanks.


above Abstract photograph "Making Love with Eyes Closed" by Mansel Davies (be sure to check out this beautiful gallery)

below - check out Photographer Elfie's 50 Years of Social Justice

The other kind of add request I hate are those that appear to be from underage young people. I am often approached because of my interests and that includes my actual daily life as well as my virtual life, and I'm happy to share what I know. The problem is that the add request may actually be a law enforcement officer hoping to catch a child predator. I don't know whether this has happened to me, but I suspect that I received a few. Yes, yes, yes we must protect children from predators, but must this be at the expense of my comfort and enjoyment in visiting the world through MySpace? I don't like that kind of crap, and I don't want to see or read that garbage regardless of who is actually sending it.

So what can be done?

First, law enforcement should be strongly encouraged to refine their search technique to seek out only those who are actual predators and leave the rest of us alone. Regardless of what the Patriot Act says, our Constitution forbids unwarranted searches. At the same time the constitution gives law enforcement every right to enforce our laws. There is deep wisdom in our constitutional legal system which was created to avoid the abuses and excesses of the countries from which we came.

Second, since your MySpace software is constantly evolving, please consider an additional message channel that provides a parental-like buffering so that I can avoid denying anyone's request who legitimately wants to share interests with me? Perhaps messages on this channel would include a notice and an agreement by the user that the messages be available for public viewing, thus watchdogs could spot illegal chat. Perhaps it could work so that not only could the young person make a request in safety, but when we get queried to approve a request it can be a referral to use this additional message system. I think this is a much better way to deal with this real problem, than offending and disturbing me.

What do you think?

Behind the Curtain at Eavesdropper

Other Reviews:
"Karma Cafe" (movie)
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"A Mighty Heart" (movie)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)

It's a tale of two cities. The play "The Eavesdropper" opened a Northern California run in the Off Market Theater in San Francisco with an energetic and talented cast.


Meanwhile the original Hollywood production has been thrown into chaos with off stage dramas fueled by an outside influence, not by the actors or actresses themselves. Similar to the play's tagline "Always check behind the shower curtain" and illuminated by the Wizard of Oz "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.", the production has seen vicious personal attacks, assaults, bizarre behavior, rumors of sexual harassment, favoritism and firings. None of this appears to be the fault of the cast in any way.

These kids are working hard to have a legitimate career in their craft of acting, and they ought to be protected from toxic exposure. I hope the good guys all wake up and rid themselves of this malignancy, and get back on track with their legitimate aspirations. Meanwhile, many of the actors, like Dave Tolemy, have managed to rise to bloom like lotuses out of the swampy waters. However, the darkness that has swept over this company remains an elusive mystery to those of us on the outside.

Review of "A Mighty Heart"

Other Reviews:
"Karma Cafe"(movie)
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)





The true story of Mariane Pearl, wife of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl beheaded by the Taliban on video for all to see, is a film I wanted to appreciate if not like if only to honor their lives. Sad to say, although this film is a dignified tribute to Daniel Pearl and the courage and equanimity of his wife, it was tiresome, confusing and surprisingly lacking in emotional impact. Perhaps it's existence is justified, as it is said at the closing, so that their son will know who his father was, and how his mother dealt with it.

When telling a story of which the outcome is already known, we need to learn something about the characters we didn't know and we need to be shown the dynamics that set up the conflict and the outcome. Might Heart does some of this but the fractured structure of flashbacks and parallel actions do not illuminate any of this. Daniel's disappearance should have been a descent into the mouth of evil, but there was barely a hint of danger. The filmmakers rightfully spared us the horror of Daniel's murder, but we saw nothing of his capture or captivity, nor anyone talking about it, to awaken our sympathy for him. I kept feeling like I should be feeling the pain of this woman, and I am one who does react emotionally to movies a lot. There's an ongoing business with the chart created by Mariane and updated throught the picture in trying to track down the kidnappers, but the filmmakers never give us an exposition of what it means, and how the pieces are fitting together that allows the Pakistani police to find their suspects and raid their homes.

Angelina Jolie performed Mariane's character with sensitivity and authenticity. Dan Futterman and the rest of the cast were up to their roles, so any disappointment with this film was not the fault of the actors. The Pakistani captain played by Irrfan Khan was especially good.


The one real sour note I felt was the implication that torture was a justifiable tool in the hands of the "good guys". I am disgusted beyond measure that this country has abandoned its moral high ground, and now we debate how much torture we can allow so that we do not fall below the morality of our worst enemies. This is no surprise when we consider how much we have turned away from American bravery and honor, and forgotten that warning by Ben Franklin. "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

I imagine the idea was to show the chaos of the Pakistani city of Kerachi, but the editing and narrative was worse than chaotic. The digital video imagery was so poor I got exhausted looking at it. In fact, the CNN news footage was cleaner looking than the stuff shot to tell the story. This should have been shot on film, at least Super 16mm so the imagery could have expression and feeling. Message to filmmakers, from studio to student, "Show me you respect me enough as your audience, to create your works on film. Show me you respect your work as a filmmaker enough to create your works on film. Otherwise, you get no respect from me, and you'll lose me from your audience!"

Other Reviews:
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)
"Karma Cafe"(movie)