Argo seen and reviewed here

This is my reaction to the movie Argo and Ben Affleck & Co's "artistic" license that is as far from the truth of the historical events as one could ever imagine.

       I was totally ignorant of the historical events (of the six diplomats) before watching, having the intention to look it up after for accuracy, which is what I look for most in a movie depicting real events.

       But about half way through Argo, I knew that it was mostly fiction because of the never-ending suspense in the form of "close calls" at a pace equal to or exceeding that of famous fictional  suspense thrillers like the Die Hard series. 

     Indeed, as the diplomats left Iran, it reached an unbelievable crescendo.     

      But I checked the record anyway and found that this movie is disappointing after the fact for anyone that posthumously checks the record because it is fiction down to it's core. It turns out that the real "Canadian Caper" as it was known in the press, was indeed a Canadian caper, a Canadian operation, not a CIA one, in which Canadian Ambassador Kenneth Douglas Taylor played a major part and the protagonist of the movie, while CIA operative Tony Mendez, and "exfiltration" expert (as he is depicted in the movie), played a real-life supporting role to the Canadian effort smuggle out o and repatriate the American diplomats.

     Movie director Ben Affleck calls this "artistic license" while  I call it a lack of artistic discipline. 

       I assert that because most people are too lazy to  research anything and take these movies at face value. Thus, in the aggregate, movies like this create a twisted, false idea of history. Because of human nature to be lazy in body and mind, not to question anything on film or in print, Hollywood has a leadership duty to be as factual as possible when dramatizing historical events.

    But my view is even more hardline than that, as i assert that "artistic license" like that employed in this movie is not art at all, rather it is merely the  formulaic Hollywood ritual to  churn out another blockbuster (financial juggernaut) film. 

     True art requires  disciplinary parameters in the form of  rules and guidelines within which unique, honest art is created. For example, iambic pentameter, Shakespearean sonnets and haikus, are all genres of poetry with very rigid rules, BUT NO ONE EVER HAS MADE THE CLAIM THAT Well done example of them ARE NOT ART. 

     No sir, Ben Affleck is smokescreening us and perhaps himself. All he did was avoid a challenge to be creative and truthful at the same time and turn out an important work of art that is entertaining as well. Instead he chose a tried and true (to make millions) much easier hack approach to this historic event that shows his talent for directing and making movies that are more about pop-culture entertainment rather than the enduring art he imagines that he is creating.
    My criticism aside, Argo is a very credible effort and entertaining as intended. The acting, script (and I assume direction) is first rate throughout lending much realism to this work of fiction. In fact, the degree of realism achieved in this move is that of being there with real officials in the government office during this crisis as well as on the streets of Tehran.

Spoiler alert: I love John Chamber's (John Goodman) response to the director Affleck playing Mendez asking if he can teach Mendez to be a director in a day: "I can teach a rhesus monkey to be a director in a day."

And I hope this goes viral and he sees it.

How to vote or how not to vote. This is the question

In the last election were you confuse about who to vote for? Were you trying to weigh what everybody had to say about the candidates before making your decisions? If so, that was your worst mistake. Below is my sound, experienced advice for potential voters whether you are affiliated with the Tea Party , Dems, Reps, independents, progressives (whatever because none apply to what I have to say). Rather than being for voters with a specific party affiliation, this advice is for anybody who is intelligent enough to understand the merit of what I am saying & has enough regard for others to want to cast a vote for the common good of all.

     Here is my advice: First and foremost: Don't listen to  anything  anybody has to say about any candidate. I say this because anything negative about any candidate is either coming from the opposition, whose job it is to make the candidate look bad or coming indirectly from them through your friends and colleagues with whom you discuss politics. Conversely, the same is true for anyone saying good things about the candidate! So don't listen to them either. Their job is to make the candidate look good and and they've influenced people who are trying to influence your decision at polling time.

     Instead, listen to the candidates & your own perception of the candidates as you weigh how they behave and speak. Listen to the candidates every chance you get & to determine if they are addressing the issues that are important. Are they actually talking about substantive issues in a meaningful way or are they just talking a lot about nothing & repeating vague platitudes about ephemeral things like "the American Way" & "justice for all." Are they continuously bashing their opponent or do they seem to be masters of doublespeak? Or are they talking about their  plans to do the job if elected & do the seem sincere& honest? If you tune out all the BS, all the lies, all the news media commentary and opinions and let the candidates speak for themselves, it becomes easy to differentiate between the charlatans who just want the power & prestige & the candidates who have an altruistic motivation for seeking the office. But to cast a vote for the common good, your mind can't be polluted by the self-centered, racism & greed & ethnocentric hatred that they throw at Obama like he is Hitler, a nigger, a socialist etc.They hiss "Muslim"  about him, trying to control your vote by playing on your irrational fears about those thing. So along with my advice not to listen to anyone but the candidate, I will say that this only works if you've cleared your mind of all the irrational fears mentioned above. Because if you still harbor them at poll time, you're either a puppet casting the votes your puppet masters want you to cast, or you 're a selfish, self-centered SOB who cares for no one but yourself (in other words, you're an average American).

     So, all you need to cast a good vote is to not be influenced by all the garbage spread about candidates & you need to quell your irrational fears so your choices can't be manipulated by others. The last thing is that you need only listen to the candidates themselves.  If you maintain an open mind and listen to only what the candidates say and nobody else, and look to them for speaking the truth & being, sincere & candid, I promise you that more often than not, you can reach a choice on your own that is yours and as good or better than anyone else's choice.  That's because, you know what? Most people let their minds get polluted by the enormous amount of pure horseshit that is thrown around in these campaigns due to two factors: their ignorance & their irrational fears that allow them to believe, for example that all Muslims are terrorists and Christianity is superior, being conveniently devoid of terrorism throughout it's entire history despite such events as the killings & bombing in the abortion industry by avowed Christians; the Oklahoma Courthouse Bombing by Timothy McVeigh; David Koresh and his cult; the years of Christian-on-Christian terrorism in Ireland, The Salem Witch Trials and the Spanish Inquisition to name just a few blemishes. 
     But if you've tuned out all the crap & have just listened to the candidates, come voting time, you're much more qualified than most people to cast a good vote. Don't listen to stuff about the candidate, listen to the candidate. Anybody saying things about the candidates cannot and should not be trusted because they either work for them or against them and are getting paid to either build the candidate up or tear him/her down.

      This advice is not comprehensive and will not guide you through an entire ballot of obscure offices and unknown candidates for positions you didn't know existed, but at the very least it will help you to make your own decision on a few races that are important to you.