Midrange Weekly March 1
Your Weekly Round Up On What’s Got The Midrange Staff’s Attention
Midrange Staff @midrangeyvr
Welcome back to Midrange Weekly and oh wow are we really going to do March again? The last one lasted a decade. For many of us, we are reaching various anniversaries for when the Coronavirus became a real thing that was really happening. If that seems like a sobering revelation, perhaps now is a good time to see if it is still legal to drink in a park. This week has seen all manner of oddities or frustrations spanning everything from frivolous pop culture distractions to more serious issues of governance. Or in the case of the golden Trump statue being wheeled around at CPAC, a little bit of both. Alas, Trump is no longer president, which means it’s time we start directing our insolent umbrage at the new guy. Luckily there is plenty to go around.
I Can’t Wait For The Justice League Movie To Just Go Away
It wasn’t so long ago that when a film crashed and burned, either critically, commercially or both, that was it for it. Expelled from the churning currents of media hype cycles and relegated to whatever streaming service felt like buying the rights, they were left to reside in the obscure provinces of our online ether. That’s where Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a mediocre movie from a mediocre director was supposed to be exiled to; an unremarkable coda to an unremarkable journey. The Justice League film was, expectedly, a doomed project. It was inevitably consigned to such a fate by a lackluster story, boring as shit characters, behind the scenes issues, and most prodigiously, The DCEU’s reckless pursuit of replicating the success of its Marvel analogues as quickly as possible and with as little leg work as possible. The result was a dull affair, a hollow facsimile of The Avengers with none of the chemistry or charisma. While inspiring mostly collective antipathy from critics, it brought in a respectable 650 million- but that was still far short of the billion dollar metric used to measure the success of major event films.
Justice League was the latest sordid entry in a career of films from Snyder that are characterized in equal parts by arrogance and delusional naivety. One of his earliest hits 300, was at best a gratuitous simulation of video game level story telling replete with an end boss at every sequence. At worst it was actually a pretty explicit endorsement of proto fascism of a distinctly Third Reich variety. In the story those born with disabilities are righteously left to die. Morally true leadership is determined by one’s ability to wage war. The Spartan people are depicted as genetically superior in strictly propaganda like terms. Ideologically speaking there is little difference between the Spartans and the invading Persians, except that one of armies is not white. Snyder’s adaptation of The Watchmen wasn’t much better. Beyond the admittedly novel opening sequence, it was horribly cast and stiffly executed. Those that tried to laud his aesthetic decisions in the film as visionary somehow forget that the graphic novel was basically a completed storyboard from which he did little beyond copy and pasting. Also he played Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen during a sex scene, which was very awkward. Flash forward to Justice League’s precursor Batman Vs. Superman, and things get just brutal. Ben Affleck got to be Batman, yet can’t register a facial expression beyond mopey the entire time. Our titular heroes decide to become friends because they learn their mothers had the same name. The gratuitous third act inclusion of Doomsday showed the villain portrayed un-ironically by a CGI lump of shit. Speaking of excrements, there’s a scene in which Lex Luther, played by Jessie Eisenberg, gifts someone a glass jar of piss as part of a murderous prank. Why is Jessie Eisenberg Lex Luther?
Like I said, his movies are bad, and Justice League similarly inept. After its release, that should have been the end of it. Alas, Zack Snyder fans are, while not a rare breed, a highly vocal and contentious bunch. Due to Snyder having to leave the project on account of a personal tragedy as the film neared completion, another director, Joss Whedon, was recruited to bring the film over the finish line. In light of Justice League’s disappointing vision and contextually anaemic box office returns, Snyder’s acolytes were quick to blame the situation on Whedon’s alleged revisionism. Their deflections quickly metastasized into the belief in, and then the assurance, that there was another version of the film, unadultered from Snyder’s conceptualizing by Whedon or anyone. This theoretical edit of the film, The Snyder Cut as the neoglism would be known as, was advocated for, even demanded by fans. The extent to which such a cut ever existed became immaterial for argument’s sake when HBO Max announced they would produce and release the film. However such a question is not irrelevant on more procedural and ethical levels, which is what really upsets me about the whole thing, beyond having to just hear about it more.
There has been some debate about how much of the revised version of this film consists of original footage that was erroneously cut by Whedon or brand new footage from reshoots that occurred after the project was green lit. Either way one forms an opinion, there is no way to square this circle in regards to vindicating Snyder. If there were indeed a great deal of reshoots, then that is a tacit acknowledgment that there never actually was an existing alternate version of this movie just waiting to be released, and that despite Whedon’s influence what we really saw originally was mostly the output of Snyder. All of the assurances that Snyder had a better take on the film were an indulgent farce that is nevertheless being indulged. If all of this footage did mostly exist and was cut, then Snyder was operating under the foolish audacity to make a roughly 4 hour movie. If elements such as Darksied, Joker, or Martian Manhunter were already filmed but couldn’t be squeezed into an over 2 hour film, what the hell kind of operation was he running? Movies aren’t supposed to be 4 hours long.
But his get’s to be now. The fact that Justice League is getting a second, highly revised, shot at relevance is a bothersome revelation. This movie had its chance and failed. Instead we are getting a 4 hour super version of coming down the pipeline. There has been a new media junket, previews and drip feeds of all the new additions and scenes, and a new trailer- one that obnoxiously also plays Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen (he played the same song again! Stop doing that Zack Snyder!) It must be nice for him- to fuck up and just get a second chance, not based on anything meritous but through uncommon circumstances. The myriad competitors in an increasingly saturated streaming market are also operating during a pandemic when traditional vectors for film consumption have been highly destabilized. As such, streaming platforms are eager for anything that may get clicks and they can get exclusive rights to, so sure Justice League Redux.
Another angle in which to approach and interpret these developments is through, if not directly appeasing, at least responding to the toxic energy of Snyder fans who are all but demanding this. Bowing to the visceral emotions of a niche but zealous fandom is becoming a more and more common precedent, often to problematic results. The backlash towards The Last Jedi, lead in part by a noxious mixture of objections to the to the film’s attempt to democratize the idea of The Force and move beyond legacy or dynastic drama and gender oriented chosen one narrations, led the producers to attempt major course corrections in the story for Rise Of Skywalker. The results were widely incongruous and just out of left field narrative changes that left no one satisfied. Social media has equalized thoughtful discourse on films along side the rantings of angry trolls pissed that a movie didn’t go the way they wanted. The fact that Snyder fans, stimulated by his arrogant and shallow brand of film making occupy the later almost exclusively has led the petulant demographic to believing they are owed something. I wish HBO hadn’t appeased them.
As with Star Wars, it seems unlikely such appeasement will yield anything beyond diminishing returns. The inclusion of a cinematic version of The Darkseid character- certainly very cool in the comics- is striking only in its generic aping of Thanos from The Avengers, and lazily appropriating Marvel’s cinematic language is what got the DCEU in this unenviable position to being with. Jared Leto’s version of the Joker is in this thing now, but his Joker was pathetically- hilariously- terrible in Suicide Squad. This isn’t something to celebrate. Now the promotional material has him cosplaying as Jesus which, again, is just so obnoxious in its delusional certitude that this is all very provocative and not just agonizingly cliché. The updated version of lead villain, Steppenwolf, now adorned with so, so many shiny spikes, really clarifies everything wrong with Snyder films. He carries himself with an heir of unearned pretension and clout under the guise that his pop culture ventures operate at a higher level of discourse and darker, mature interpretations. But in reality they’re nothing more than a 12 year old kid smashing some action figures together. I can’t wait for this next round of melodramatic pugilism masquerading as high drama to come out, suck, and then finally (please) go away. -Tristan
Americans Elected Biden To Bomb Syria, Apparently
This week President Biden launched an air strike against targets in Kobani, Syria. If the advent of such news of small scale incursions into middle eastern countries brings flash backs of the Trump administration, or Obama’s, or basically all of them since Reagan, you can start to see why there is so much opprobrium surrounding Biden’s actions. Biden’s defense department alleges that Iranian forces operating clandestinely within Syria have launched attacks at allied and US forces within Iraq. To be clear such an allegation is entirely plausible. Thusly a retaliation of commensurate force was appropriate and required, says the DOD. However, this recent bout of military flexing on Biden’s part has clarified the cynical, and apparently warranted frustration of liberal and democratic voters- why did they fight tooth and nail to wrestle control from Trump just to have their chosen victor conduct himself in a similar manner? They were told that they had to get Trump out for any chance of improvements to the inexcusably decrepit social safety net in America during not only a pandemic but the apotheosis of market capitalism’s levers distributing more and more money to the rich to the detriment to an already immiserated group of Americans. Instead he is bombing Syria.
The futility of such a measure, beyond the question of ethics, rings louder than usual, as the parallels with Trump’s term are acute in this case. In the first months of Trump’s presidency he too bombed Syria, an action that earned him genuflecting praise from conservative and even centrist media. They said that was the moment Trump truly became president, implying in the bluntest of terms how much value we place on our leader’s appetites for jingoistic adventurism (seems to be a theme this week looking back on my Snyder rant). In reality the air strikes did nothing more than put some holes in the runways of an airfield that were repaved and ready to go a couple days later. Not exactly a rousing accomplishment. It’s doubtful Biden’s maneuverers will be any more effective at deterrence in the long run.
The moral and ethical implications are paramount, but it’s worth looking at the factors of foreign and constitutional entanglement that are animating the fight around the Syria strikes. Biden’s press department curated their response around the notion that by hitting Syria they were sending a message to Iran. Funny how Biden’s Press Secretary didn’t have such benign assurances about these actions a few years ago when Trump was doing it.
Great question. https://t.co/79K8uyzwGi
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 26, 2021
The idea of attacking one country to send a message to another is obviously problematic. Syria is many things, including extremely traumatized by the despotic rule of Assad, but it is a sovereign state. Yes, they themselves have not been able to clamp down on foreign covert actions along their eastern boarder, but maybe ask America how it’s doing curtailing its own domestic terrorist problem before they say that gives them grounds to violate said sovereignty. Furthermore, the attack brings up the murky question of authorizing such an operation. Constitutionally speaking, only Congress can declare war on another nation, however the President has unilateral authority to implement any kind of military operation in the name of self-defence. The term self-defence has done increasingly heavy lifting over the years as such rationalizing was the pretext for everything form the Vietnam and Korean wars to many modern post 9/11 operations, thusly obviating the need for congressional approval in such cases. Congress has tried to reassert and more strictly legislate their sole power to approve such attacks as of 2019, but it’s already too late. There is so much precedent for such manoeuvring on the president’s part that Biden’s administration is unlikely to receive much legal push back.
Indeed, so much of the modern presidency has been defined by finding legal and judicial loopholes to expand the executive’s singular power; that’s what makes this so frustrating. Almost immediately after the offensive Iranian actions occurred in Syria, Biden’s team had the legal and operating pretext for a response ready to go for dissemination throughout the press. This is the same administration that just can’t seem to get those $2000 checks out. The same president that just can’t seem to bring himself to cancel student loan debt, despite it being well within the purview of his executive authority. Biden’s excuses for not doing so are outrageous, citing that the financial relief it would provide to millions of Americans manipulated and cornered by an exploitive and predatory academic loan infrastructure might also benefit a few rich people that didn’t need such aid. That it might help a few of the wrong people means he wouldn’t dare help any of the rest of them. Biden and his supplicants have all the precedent and legal rationalizing they want as to why he can circumvent congress to blow up a small part of Syria but when the Senate Parliamentarian, a position so obscure that even the Senate Parliamentarian likely had to Google it, objects to raising the min wage to $15 an hour, Biden’s people bail on the idea. Indeed it has been the latest in a recent series of attempts to find any way to throw cold water on raising the min wage. But when it comes to sketchy statecraft via millions of dollars of ordnance? You better get out of Biden’s way.
This isn’t what people voted for him to do, this isn’t what millions of American’s desperately need addressed. If he finds such manoeuvres necessary to deter adversaries and protect American troops in the region, fine go ahead. But to do so with such swift determination and then say your hands are tied on so many vital domestic issues is beyond frustrating. -Tristan
Taken Advantage Of From The Bottom: Rent And Poverty
Via The Tree
We live in a society where we think we care when we really don’t.
I’ll clarify this statement at the end.
But first, let’s start back in March when the pandemic hit. At the time our federal government knew immediately that if they didn’t do something fast, a large swath of Canadians would sink if not given financial support. A responsive few weeks later, $2000 checks started landing inside the bank accounts of Canadians in need, those whose jobs they were no longer allowed to go too. I was one of said Canadians. It was an amazing show of compassion and understanding by our elected leaders. Keep the middle from falling while we attempt to navigate this virus. Smart politics and economics.
When I look back at this time, I’m reminded of what we can achieve if the will should strike us. Our government knew and understood the implications and ramifications of what might transpire if they didn’t act quickly. The amount they allotted, this $2000 figure, showcased their grasp of what Canadians needed to support themselves so as to sustain a modicum of normalcy. I’d like you to hold on to that figure as I intend to come back to it.
From The Atlantic:
“In his new book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond, a sociologist at Harvard and McArthur Genius grant recipient, follows the lives of landlords and tenants in some of Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhoods. Desmond spent time living in a trailer park where residents were threatened with a mass eviction, and in a rooming house on Milwaukee’s North side. For more than a year, he shadowed two landlords and several tenants to capture intimate portraits of the circumstances, court hearings, and personal challenges that lead up to, and followed, the eviction process.”
This was written in 2016. I read Desmond’s book in 2018. I’ve mentioned it several times in the past. It’s remarkable. It touches on all the trappings we don’t see with those who live on the fringes. How they’re taken advantage of. The loss and lack of stability they endure. It’s a book of hardship, grief and despair. Set in Milwaukee, its central narrative can be seen in every city in North America. Vancouver specifically.
From The Tyee:
Vancouver’s SRO hotels feature small rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens. The aging buildings provide housing for many of the city’s poorest people, whose sole source of income is usually disability or social assistance benefits.
The report authors point out that the average rents for SROs are far above the shelter rate — the amount people on social assistance are provided for housing — of $375 for a single person.
That means many tenants are paying a large portion of their social assistance or disability cheques to pay their rent, leaving less money for food and other necessities.
A major factor in rising rents is gentrification of the SRO buildings. Since the mid-2000s, several of the SRO hotels have been emptied of their low-income tenants, sold, renovated and then put back on the rental market at much higher rates.
The project’s survey found the highest rent at the Metropole Hotel at 320 Abbott St. at $1,600 a month.
This comes from a feature Jen St. Denis posted this past Friday. She’s The Tyee’s Downtown Eastside reporter. Her column touches on the recently released report from the Carnegie Community Action Project. They’re an advocacy group which has surveyed single-room occupancy buildings since 2009. Their latest finding concluded that between 2018 and 2019, rents for SRO’s rose by an average of 9.8% from $648 per month to $712.
I’d like you to look at the following:
This is what those on welfare receive annually in Canada, via Maytree.
Notice a problem here?
There’s a lack of regulation and rent control for everyone at the bottom and a lack of empathy and will from elected officals in Ottawa. We care when it’s regular Canadians who might fall as was the case back in March, but for those who need our assistance the most, we give them so little, with no protection, and we wonder why tent cities emerge? How do expect an individual or family on welfare to get ahead when their rent could be double what they are given from welfare? Why aren’t we giving welfare recipients $2000 a month as we have with those who received pandemic aid?
“The group is calling for the province to raise welfare rates and implement vacancy control, which would tie rent increase limits to the unit and not the tenant. That would reduce the eviction of tenants to allow larger rent increases.”
Helping someone in need you don’t just give them a quarter when they require a dollar. You don’t leave them to the mercy of slumlords itching to steal as much of their meagre allowance and expect them to rise up. You give them a chance. A real one. You value their lives and empathize with their stories.
The following comes from that Atlantic feature from 2016.
Desmond: I don’t know if it did. I do know after that happened, there was a period in my life where I started getting more and more interested in poverty. When I was confronted with just the bare facts of poverty and inequality in America, it always disturbed and confused me. I thought [poverty and inequality] was not only unnecessary, but also out of character and out of line with our broader ideals.
White: How do you think it goes against the broader ideals of America?
Desmond: I think that we value fairness in this country. We value equal opportunity. Without a stable home, those ideals really fall apart. Without the ability to plant roots and invest in your community or your school — because you’re paying 60, 70, 80 percent of your income to rent — and eviction becomes something of an inevitability to you, it denies you certain freedoms.
Jen St. Denis’ feature illustrates that we need to be better for those who need it most. Look, I don’t expect you to run outside and picket in front of city hall in protest of what you’ve read here. Change rarely happens that way. However, knowing and understanding of what others go through, specifically those marginalized on the lower rung helps breed reform. The less we look away, the better it is for all of us.
Strathcona Park is my favourite place in Vancouver. I’ve been playing basketball there for years. I can’t now because its been overrun by hundreds living in tents. Instead of crying wolf to the city because I can’t play a dumb game, grappling with why so many live there is better suited for my own well-being and morale fibre.
We live in a society where we think we care when we really don’t.
I’d like us to change that. I hope you do too. - Jamie
FLUX FIVE
This Week:
Appaloosa “The Day We Fell In Love” 2009 Kitsune Maison 6
Alain Kan“Nadine Jimmy Et Moi” 1974 Single
Pir “Autechre” 1999 EP7
Beach Baby “Bon Iver” 2009 Blood Bank EP
Chinese Man“You Suck Me” 2007 The Groove Sessions
Enjoy! - Mick
Things From The Internet We Liked
Why Doesn’t Every Song Have A Sax Solo?
This is the issue that Tik Tok user- and national hero- Evan Jacobson aims to address. Over on his channel he is doing what’s honestly a great job inserting sax solos into songs you never knew needed them. It’s awesome.
@evanjacobsonn Like for pt 2 😁 #saxophone #solo
♬ original sound - evanjacobson
@evanjacobsonn American Boy by Estelle like for pt 3!! #saxophone #solo
♬ original sound - evanjacobson
Vox Explains The Alexei Navalny Story And Why Putin Wants Him Dead
Jamie touched on the Alexei Navalny story in our February 15th edition of Midrange Weekly. This excellent explainer by Vox details Navalny’s past, his subsequent rise and why Putin wants him gone. Do check this out.
Mr Twin Sister Is Back
Hell yes Mr Twin Sister is back. The experimental pop/jazz/electro/funk outfit has been consistently putting out some of the most subtly exciting and vivid music for years now. They’ve got two new tracks up on Bandcamp and they are both fantastic. Check out one of them, Expressions, right here and consider supporting them with a purchase.