DARE MIGHTY THINGS – a movie review of JUST MERCY by Gary Smolker, Movie Reviewer, Values Critic and Trial Attorney

WHAT IT TAKES TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Some people believe all it takes to change the world is to have a good idea, to have a good plan, to have a skill, to be smart, and to work hard.

Those people are wrong.

It takes all of the above plus conviction and hope.

The film JUST MERCY teaches us that lesson.

“JUST MERCY”

JUST MERCY is a film based on a true story.

JUST MERCY is about an unjust legal system.

The film tells the story of a black man wrongfully convicted of murdering a white woman in Monroe County, Alabama.

An all white jury, the prosecutor, the chief of police, the entire white police force, white townspeople, and a trial judge did not care about truth or justice when that black man was on trial for murder.

A corrupt white judge did not care about truth or justice or that an innocent man had been wrongfully convicted of murder and was on death row waiting for his execution date to be set when he ruled on a motion to reopen the case, when he denied a motion to give the wrongfully convicted black man a new trial.

THE OPENING SCENE

In the opening scene we see, Bryan Stevenson’s mother telling Bryan:

“If you don’t recognize the danger in what you are doing, you wasted your time going to Harvard Law School and you should ask for your money back.”

“Out there in Alabama they are going to chew you up and spit you out.”

Bryan replies:

“It isn’t my job to make people happy.  It is my job to see that justice is done.”

“I know what it is like to live in the shadows.”

“I want to fight for people who need help the most.”

“That is why I am doing this.”

NEXT SCENE

Attorney Stevenson arrives in Monroe County Alabama at an office building where he is greeted by his assistant Eva Ansley and the landlord who are having a heated discussion.

The Landlord tells Bryan:

“I am sorry I can’t rent this space to you.”

“I didn’t know you were going to set up a law firm/legal clinic to represent convicted murders on death row.”

“I can’t have that kind of law firm in my building.”

MORE TENSION

Attorney Stevenson walks into the W.C. Holman Correctional Facility to have a meeting with Walter McMillian, his first prospective client.

The guard at the door entering into the hallway to the meeting room tells Attorney Stevenson:

“You can’t go in until I complete a complete body search.”

Stevenson replies:

“You can’t do that; I am his lawyer.”

NEXT SCENE

Attorney Stevenson is taking off all his clothes in front of the guard.

After he has removed all his clothes, the guard tells him:

“I have to do a complete body search.”

“Spread them.”

THE CASE AGAINST MCMILLIAN

There was no direct evidence that McMillian killed the white woman.

The prosecution was based on the testimony of one witness.

That witness testified that shorty after the murder of the white woman, he saw McMillian and the dead white woman in the Dry Cleaning establishment where the white woman had just been murdered.

INVESTIGATION

Attorney Stevenson tirelessly conducted a through investigation.

A LIGHT MOMENT

While Stevenson was looking at records of the case in police department record archives, a black clerk asked Stevenson black secretary:

“Is he married?”

His secretary replied:

“No.

“But, he is married to his work.”

FRUITS OF DILIGENCE

While looking through police records, Attorney Stevenson finds a taped interview.

In the interview the Chief of Police asked the key witness to testify that he saw McMillian at the scene of the murder.

The Key Witness replies: “I would never say that! I did not see him there!”

THE KEY WITNESS

With much difficulty and after exerting much charm, Attorney Stevenson asks the key witness:

“Why did you change your mind?”

“Why did you tell the police chief that you would not testify that you saw McMillian at the dry cleaners and then testify at the trial that you saw McMillian there?

Leading up to those key questions, Stevenson asked the key witness:

“Do you have any children?

The key witness replied:

“Yes I do.”

“I have three children.”

“I thought having a child would be like having a dog.”

“I was wrong.”

“I wish someone would have told me having a child is not like having a dog.”

Attorney Stevenson then told the key witness that:

“ McMillian has children and a wife.”

“He loves his children and his wife and his wife and his children love him.”

THE KEY WITNESS’S STORY

The key witness was an orphan.

He had been raised by abusive foster care parents.

On time he was in bed and his pajamas caught on fire.

His skin burned.

He has never forgot the smell of his burning flesh.

Every since then he has been deadly afraid of fire.

He was in jail for robbery at the time the police chief asked him to lie about seeing McMillian at the scene of the crime.

After he refused to lie, the Police Chief had him transferred to a cell on death row.

Shortly after he got to his cell one of the inmates was electrocuted – the smell of burning flesh attacked him in his cell.

The Police Chief then talked to him again.

He then agreed to give false testimony at the upcoming murder trial.

MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL

Attorney Stevenson prepared and submitted a motion for new trial.

The key witness testified at the hearing on the motion.

During his testimony he recanted his prior testimony.  He testified that he had lied.

He testified that he had not scene McMillian at the scene of the crime.

Another witness testified that the key witness could not have seen McMillian at the scene of the crime because he was working with him in a garage fixing a transmission.

The judge denied the motion for new trial.

SEE THE MOVIE

Ask yourself: Why did the police arrest McMillian in the first place?

You should see the movie if you want to know why and/or to find out what happened next.

 

 

Gary Smolker, Movie Reviewer, Values Critic, and Trial Lawyer

Copyright © 2019 by Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved

 

Decor, Ambience, Expectations, and Identity – by Gary Smolker

I want to have “a ha” enlightening moments, pleasurable moments.

Style and Layout of Interior Furnishing

It is my position that every room we enter is a stage setting.

The style, the layout, the wall coverings, paintings, sculpture, flowers on the table – if any –  the flooring, the furniture and the furnishings, each send a direct message to us when we enter a room.

In a restaurant, the message sent is multifaceted.  The message is –

• a message telling us what to expect – what kind of menu to expect, what kind of selection of food to expect, what to expect of the quality (of the food, the taste of the food and creativity of the food and beverage creations we consume, if any) of what we will be eating in that restaurant and the what to expect of the beverages severed – available for us we drink,
• a message telling us who the owner-operator of the restaurant is,
• a message telling us who the owner-operator wants us to believe he/she is,
• a message telling us how the wait staff will behave, and
• a message telling us how we are to behave.

On Tuesday, February 20, 2018, my good friend Jon Warner took me to LAQHAUS, located at 11671 Victory Blvd., L.A., CA 91606.

LAQHAUS is a restaurant I had never heard of.

LAQHAUS

LAQHAUS is a one room restaurant located in that part of Los Angeles known as North Hollywood.

The minute I walked into LAQHAUS, I was blown away by the what I saw on the walls.

Below are some photographs I took of what I saw on the walls.

See photographs of what I saw painted on one of the walls, below.

The caption/statement accompanying the painting/portrait of Marilyn Monroe states:

“Imperfection is Beauty

madness is Genius

and it is better to be absolutely Ridiculous than absolutely Boring”

– Marilyn Monroe

The minute I read that comment, I knew the menu in that restaurant would be exciting, and that whatever dishes were served to me would be exciting.

I immediately knew I was going to enjoy every aspect of my experiences in that restaurant.

There were more painted quotes next to portraits of famous movie stars painted on one of the walls.

See below:

The statement accompanying the portrait of Marlon Brando/”The Godfather” states:

“CONFIDENCE IS SILENT.

INSECURITIES ARE LOUD.”

I love, that statement, and I completely agree with that statement.

 

I also love the statement next to the portrait of Robert Di Nero.

After looking at those pictures painted on one of the walls, I knew I was going to love the place.

I was not disappointed.

The Food

The food in LAQHAUS was a joy to eat.

For my main course, I had a typical North Hollywood California version of a hamburger with fries.

I had lemonade to drink.

The fries come with a selection of dipping sauces.

  

INGREDIENTS: This hamburger sandwich consisted of a Beef Patty (beef comes from a grass fed cow), Tillinook (spelling?) Cheddar Cheese, Bacon, Grilled Onion, Chipotle, Aioli, Tomatoes, Arugula, on a brioche bun.

For dessert I had an Oreo Sushi Roll.

The above photo of the Oreo Sushi I had for dessert at LAQHAUS was posted on Instagram @garyspassion on February 20, 2018, with the following text:

Do you like Oreos?  Do you like Sushi?

Imagine eating an Oreo crust surrounding rich creamy vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with caramel.

INGREDIENTS: Oreo/Sushi Roll, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Coconuts, Caramel.

You May Follow My Off the Beaten Track FOOD Experiences on Instagram @garyspassion

Below are descriptions/”write-ups” of two of my recent lunches, – lunch on Saturday and lunch today, posted on Instagram @garyspassion.

Korean B.B.Q. At One of my Favorite Korean Restaurants

Below is a photograph of the lunch (a Koren BBQ Short Ribs box-lunch) which I ate today (March 5, 2018).

The above photo is posted on Instagram @garyspassion on Monday, March 5, 2018 (today).

My box lunch consisted of BBQ Short Ribs, Fried Rice, Fried Beef Filled Dumpling, Fried Chicken, Seaweed Salad, Ginger, Mixed Green Salad.

The name of the Korean Restaurant and its address are provided in my post on Instagram @garyspassion.

Corn Beef on Rye at One of My Favorite Jewish Deli Restaurants

Below is a photo of the corn beef on rye sandwich I had for lunch two days ago (on Saturday, March 3, 2018).

You don’t have to be a connoisseur to be able to  SMELL really good corn beef before you taste it.

The corn beef on the rye bread in the photo above smelled so delicious, I was beside myself with joyful anticipation of how wonderful that corn beef would taste – before that corn beef sandwich touched any of the taste buds on my tongue.

You may can read my description of all my senses that were triggered when I saw that sandwich, when I smelled that sandwich and when I tasted it.

See my post on March 3, 2018 on Instagram @garyspassion.

In my post I provide the name and address of the delicatessen where I ate that sandwich and describe the entire eating experience I enjoyed in that deli.

Decor, Ambience, Expectations and Identity

Each experience – from the atmosphere in the restaurant, to the way you are treated by the wait staff, to the way the food is presented, the way the food looks, the way the food smells, the way the food tastes –  which you experience in a restaurant creates that restaurant’s identity.

Conclusion

Depending on conditions and circumstances the delivery of a message is 7% verbal, 38% vocal, and 58% nonverbal.

We live in a society of ambience makers and elegant people.

By looking sharp and acting sharp you fashion a sense of pride, positivity, and self-worth that can transcend circumstances as well as social perceptions.

How you dress and what you do, including where you go out to eat, expresses your individualism and your relationship to your own community and to mainstream culture.

You can fashion dignity and self-worth over and above your circmstances by looking good and being “cool.”

Experiences are the new brag.

Seek great experiences.

Be impressive: Share great experiences with others.

Bon Appetite.

Copyright © 2018 by Gary Smolker

Follow me on Instagram @garyspassion

 

Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin – by Gary S. Smolker

Copyright © Gary S. Smolker 2014

Updated June 28, 2014

The only thing that matters is how one feels in one’s own space.

It is very important to be comfortable in your own skin.

As a result of people striving to be comfortable in their own skin -to enrich their own lives- many significant changes are taking place.

 

ONLY YOU CAN BE COMFORTABLE IN YOUR OWN SKIN

We are living in a time of large scale social change, marked by creativity, innovation, questioning of authority, rugged individualism, concern for self, the emancipation of women, changing demographics, wide scale use of smart phones and many other significant life style transformations.

Today, people are devoting significant amounts of their personal time and energy focused on themselves.  Many people are making strong efforts to take charge of their own individual future.

Today, a developing emphasis on the individual and individual responsibility is growing, the power of authority over the individual is constantly being questioned and reassessed, the traditional authority relationship between men and women – granting authority to the men – is undergoing change and scrutiny, and there are significant changes in the racial educational and economic composition of the population in the United States.

The increased emphasis on the individual cannot be over emphasized.

Concern for individualism has vigorously appeared.

Today, compared to times past, women have attained a great deal more responsibility and freedom.

As a result of having more freedom and responsibility women have themselves come to question their traditional family and social roles and reciprocally, males have raised similar questions about male-female relationships.

As women move out of confinement to the domicile, they experience new outlets and opportunities, demand power/empowerment, respect and “equality”, and are more and more interested in change.

Improvements in methods of contraception and the increase in experiential access to opportunities outside of the home have released women for participation in new roles and functions as never before.

As a consequence of “women’s liberation”, on-going debates on issues of gender and racial equality; the government’s ever growing increase of public debt and social change, including laws regarding contraception and birth control; a cascade of new technologies; and, being bombarded by an avalanche of messages, visual images of massive disintegration of society, a steady stream of information and misinformation and ideas; and, as a result of being constantly exposed to loud acrimonious debates over different points of view, it has become impossible for anyone to live in solitude or in the past.

People Are Tired of Being Talked To, They Want to Be Talked With

The mega-trends that are shaping our times have massively accelerated.

One mega-trend is that there has been a seismic shift from presentation to participation in many areas of daily life.  People are fed up with being talked-down-to.

The shift from presentation to participation means that the days of the Gods, sitting up on Mt. Olympus and telling us how things are and what to do, are long gone or rapidly coming to an end.

People are tired of being talked to they want to be talked with.

Today, people can use technology to search for information and to have a global conversation.

People are hyper-connected: As a result of our use of the Internet and other communications technologies we all engaged in a global conversation.

We are using technology to connect with others – not just with people we already know, but with people who have similar or related interests that resonate with us – and not just to search for information.

In fact, it is estimated that 3 billion more people will join the Internet’s community by 2020.

Everyone’s perceptual space, expectations, life style and peace of mind has been shaken up.

Taking Care of Your Body and Mind

People want to feel cared for.

How does that play out in the practice of medicine?

Consider being told by an MD to put an eye-drop in your child’s eye or in your own eye.

Have you ever been told to do so by an MD?

Have you ever noticed that the eye drop falls onto your eye and/or onto your child’s eye then off your [child’s] eye and wondered how much (if any) of the eye drop actually got in the eye?

Health is “emotionally charged.”

If you are told by your physician to put an eye drop in your child’s eye and you see the drop dribbling down your child’s cheek you are going to be stressed out.

Did your physician tell you that is supposed to happen?

The moisture of an eye drop is too much for an eye to handle; part of the eye drop will ALWAYS dribble down your face or down you child’s face!   That is what is supposed to happen!

MDs, for the most part, have no clue that they should tell you that an eye drop you apply to your child’s eye will always dribble down off the eye.

Is your physician or you partially “brain dead?”

It is not “easy” to know what to communicate, or to know how to communicate or to have empathy or to show empathy.

Being “smart” is not enough.

Always ask questions if you don’t understand something!

You are in charge of your own health.

If you have a young child, you are in charge of  your child’s health.

You are in charge of your own life and your child’s life if you have a young child.

Understand Your MD’s Behavior

One of the large scale social changes being experienced today is that many people are appalled at their personal experience of how medicine is being practiced today on a day to day basis ; they are appalled at the lack of scientific curiosity, the lack of social skills, the lack of humanity, and by the medical profession’s lack of understanding of what is required and expected in a physician patient relationship and the money obsessed focus of the mindset of their MDs.

A galaxy of feelings and impressions is involved in a healthcare encounter.  The medical profession has a name for this: “patient experience.”

There is a human dimension to medical care.

If you are one of those people who are disappointed by the way your current MD practices medicine, understand why your physician acts the way your physician acts and get over your disappointment by moving forward.

If your physician is not adequately addressing your educational, emotional, spiritual needs and feelings, doesn’t make you feel cared for, move on.

You have lots of options.

Move forward because only you can be comfortable in your own skin.

We create ourselves in the everyday choices that move us in life.

It is up to us to create our own lives; it is up to us to create the life we want to live.

If you think you are not deriving “value” from your office visits with your physician: Ask your physician questions. Tell your physician you want answers to questions and/or changes in the way your physician treats you.

Demand your physician’s personal attention.

There are many physicians vying for your attention, bringing medical information to you and exposing you to them and their ways of thinking.

Magazine stands and book stores are full of publications which claim to tell you how to take care of your health.

Newspapers and TV shows and radio shows and the Internet constantly publish information on how to take care of your health.

If you can’t have a forthright conversation with your physician and/or you don’t get any satisfaction or enough satisfaction or enough value from seeing your present physician, look for another physician who is amazingly brilliant, touchingly humane, highly trained, superbly skilled, up to date on the latest research findings and medical thinking and who has a great personality, warmth, empathy, great people skills, is practical and puts you the patient first, puts your concerns, your feelings, your condition (physical and mental conditions) first.

Physicians need to treat the soul and spirit of the patient, not just the body.  In the olden days, when most doctors were solo practitioners ministering to patients, the offered patients communication and empathy as well as technical proficiency and excellence.

There are physicians that still do that: there are physicians who care about how well they communicate with patients and conduct themselves as professionals.

Caring, nurturing, knowledgeable, educated, skilled, brilliant and helpful people exist; some of them are physicians.

Even if you are not trained as a physician, you know whether or not you feel cared for.

Move Forward

Take responsibility for your own life.

Accept your “freedom.”

Don’t behave like a helpless puppet.

You are in charge.

REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS

 

Creative talent is a highly adaptive one and involves specific and complicated processes of thought.

Creativity requires an open mindedness and removal of inhibitions.

Practicing medicine, the stress on conformity in the medical profession and psychodynamic forces inherent in the practice of medicine do not encourage open-mindedness.

Many physicians have mental limitations as a consequence of studying to become a physician which are exasperated by their training and which become severely debilitating as they get further and further experienced in the daily routine of practicing medicine day to day.

A MD friend of mine recently mentioned to me that most physicians lose their dynamic sensory and information processing capabilities.

He explained to me that the memorization demands of the natural science/life sciences courses taken before and while attending medical school destroys their capacity to solve problems by thinking creatively. 

According to this friend: A physician’s creative orientation and ability, if they had any, diminishes and finally goes away as they practice medicine.

While practicing medicine their mental capability due to following standard methods which are recipe book like protocols they follow while they are engaged in their day-to-day professional work.

He explained that very few lectures, in medical school, engage a student’s mind. 

Relatedly, he explained that physicians are not taught to think innovatively so that as they work, they can gain insight into patients’ needs and strive to find new solutions. 

In summary: Young doctors are not educated to be curious researchers and inventors as well as knowledgeable, compassionate, and effective healers. 

They are not trained to be physician-investigators. 

Mind Expanding Experiences

Medical training is not entirely a boring brain deadening experience. 

Throughout basic clinical education small groups of students are presented with a realistic case study (in a hospital or elsewhere) of a patient showing special symptoms. 

The students work together to figure out what is wrong with the patient and what to do about it. 

Tasks are assigned by the instructor that allow the medical students to discover the skills and knowledge any doctor needs in treating a patient that is ill, in traditional areas such as pharmacology, anatomy, and physiology.

“Diagnosis” of medical conditions (i.e. problems) does require a limited amount of analysis, called “differential analysis” [a hit and miss way of determining the cause and/or existence of a medical problem], AFTER the problem already exists.

Because medical training revolves around lecturing and the rote presentation of facts and the practice of standard diagnosis techniques it does not foster the curiosity and inquisitiveness that great innovators commonly display.

As a result, in their every day medical practices very few physicians reach or come to medical conclusions on a particular case after completing many studies and giving a matter much thought; instead, they come to their “medical conclusion” re diagnosis and treatment by following a “one-size-fits-all” a recipe in a recipe book. 

Physicians not been trained to become lifelong learners – strong thinkers who are curious and who work proactively to satisfy their curiosity.

They have been trained (some might say programmed) to follow standard procedures – they are in effect highly trained robots, that is why the standard practice of medicine is in the midst of a huge change, it is being overtaken by innovations. 

A willingness to innovate (which is totally lacking in the standard practice of medicine) will determine the clinical, social and economic futures of medicine in the United States. 

The vast majority of the current set of physicians are not willing to innovate.

Instead, the vast majority of  physicians feel compelled to stay within “standards of medical practice” and do not question, or analyze whether such “standards of practice” make “scientific sense” or not. 

They do not experiment or have a willingness to innovate or to explore challenges to currently accepted “medical truths.” 

They are not curiously engaged humans who want to help patients by pushing medicine further.

They are discouraged from making, recording and acting on their own clinical observations which could or would lead to the establishment of new and better medical care, and new standards of care.

Being curious and then designing and caring out experiments to test ideas is one of the most satisfying uses of a mind. 

Most physicians give up their ability to engage their minds in the pleasurable and satisfying activity of doing research when they begin to practice medicine – because to them the practice of medicine is like playing a broken-slot-machine which always pays – and they “think” they will get great pleasure out of making a lot of money and that is why their focus is on making as much money as possible as quickly as possible.

In that regard, almost all medical doctors practicing medicine in the United States today tried to go into whatever medical specialty would make them the most money in the shortest period of time and are obsessed with making the most money they can make from the practice of medicine.

Another one of my MDs friends further explained to me why there is such a pronounced lack of creativity and innovation in the medical profession as follows:

• “Most MDs are one trick ponies.” 
• This friend (a highly acclaimed MD – who does not practice one trick pony medicine) further explained to me – “If you only know how to use a hammer, everything is a nail.”

Energizing the Minds of Physicians

Research projects energize students, engage them in serious science, and generate the kinds of questions that lead to new discoveries. 

A focus on medical research in the training of medical students and in medical practice would give medical students and physicians a richer, fuller appreciation of how their clinical practice fits into the larger world of scientific knowledge and which would enrich and refine their decision-making capabilities.

Adding a research requirement to their education and to maintaining their license to practice medicine would dramatically enhance medical care – help patients by pushing medicine further.

In my opinion, everyone would benefit.

Is It True that Physicians Are “Poor” Businessmen/Have No Business Sense?

Many successful business people have told me that MDs have no “business sense.”

Have you wondered why it is the general feeling among many successful business people that MDs have no business sense ?

Here are some questions I have asked myself in order to gain insight into that issue:

• QUERY:
• (1) How many physicians practicing medicine have thought about what practicing medicine has done to the functional capacity of that “muscle” in their head called their brain as a result of lack of mentally stressful mind-strength building exercise in their daily lives?
• (2) How many care?
• By the way: “Scientific” experiments demonstrate that use of the brain builds neural networks that enable the brain to process information faster and more efficiently.  In other words, using your brain makes you smarter, increases brain function.
• The old saying “use it or lose it” applies to brain function.

GIANTS IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

There are giants in the medical profession who are human wonders.

Also, the conventional make-up of the scientific and educational background, personality, values and world-view of a growing number of people in the medical profession is changing.

I am meeting a physician this afternoon at the check in area of jetBlue at Logan Airport in Boston before I fly back to LAX, Los Angeles International Airport.

This physician has an open mind, but that description seriously understates the reality, which is that he is totally curious and eager to learn and asks question after question.

This morning my daughter and son-in-law took my ten year old grandson to be examined by a retina specialist and a trauma eye surgeon for a follow-up examination.

The first thing the retina specialist and eye surgeon said when he saw my grandson was: “I know how to make toys.  Would you like to see me make toys?”

The surgeon then proceeded to make an origami hopping frog and a flying helicopter.  He precisely folded pieces of paper and precisely tore pieces of paper with his own fingers.

When he was done those pieces of paper had been transformed into a hopping frog and a flying helicopter.

This is a true story – someone with that dexterity and people skill actually practices medicine as an eye surgeon in Boston.

He is an expert in the retina of the eye.

The rest of the members of the clinical medical team have extraordinary expertise and are just as kind and as extremely accomplished and competent physicians as the toy making eye surgeon who made toys for my grandson just before examining his retina early this morning.

Males Being Rebuffed by Stunning Women

One young woman friend of mine [a beautiful and smart woman] rejected her parents desire that she marry a doctor because she thinks the single MDs pursuing her (young Ferrari driving money making obsessed male physicians) are too lacking in substance, she thinks they are shallow self-destructive individuals and if she dated any of them or married anyone of them she would be doomed to living a tasteless meaningless life. 

This young lady doesn’t want to have the emotional burden such physicians put on the women who prostitute themselves to gain that type of physician’s tasteless attention.

She considers their lack of “substance” to be a “sick” situation which will lead those shallow people to “self-destruction” and being in a constant state of extreme unhappiness. 

She is concerned about their mental health.

It is her opinion that those Ferrari driving young MDs did not go into medicine to help people but instead went into medicine because they are insecure and feel worthless as human beings: they will always be striving to compensate for their feelings of worthlessness and insecurity through fantasies of “greatness” which they have striven to realize by becoming a physician.

It is her opinion that her Ferrari driving young MD suitors

•  Believe they will prove their worth to their parents by being an MD.  They psychologically are not well formed or mature adults.  To the contrary, they will have a never compelling need to obtain their parents’ approval, the approval of the rest of their family and of their community and her approval by being a money making machine.

• The feeling of lack of worth has been so consuming in their lives that nothing short of overwhelming financial success will make them feel acceptable.

 

It is her opinion that those young men are unhappy and will always be unhappy.

 

For all the reasons listed above, she doesn’t want to have anything to do with any of those young suitors.

Other, dynamically accomplished women (who coincidentally are smart and stunningly beautiful) I have talked to are totally turned off by the phoniness they are being subjected to in the business and social world they inhabit. 

They feel they are “prized” by successful men as status symbols and are not adored or appreciated prized or cherished for being the warm caring persons who they are or for the good companionship and loyalty they have to offer —

• One beautiful smart successful woman explained her mindset:  She is revolted at being cast in the role being a dynamic businessman’s Gucci purse. 
• She is revolted at being a prestige high status decoration. 
• Another beautiful smart successful woman explained to me that the pressure of being phony – while accompanying her successful husband at ‘society events:  While at parties and social events the amount of phony interest she must display and being forced to be entertaining she is is too emotionally exhausting. 
• She would rather stay home and watch TV than go to another party in the star studded world she lives in.  The routine of being a member of high society is maddening.  Doing the same thing day after day, year after year, is maddening to her.  She cannot imagine anything more boring than living her present high society life. 
• The routines people in her social circle have taken up are tasteless. 
• She is a rugged individualist, who is physically fit and intellectually cultured, who can’t stand the “over-civilized life” she is forced to live. 
• The boorishness and meaninglessness of her existence tests the very limits of her endurance. 
• She is resolved to escape her present life.

 

• These women know who they are and who they want to be in a very fundamental way.
• They have self knowledge.
• They are dedicated to protecting their dignity in their money-driven every day world where their souls and status as a person are constantly under attack.
• They realize how precarious the balance is between creation and annihilation and destruction in the life they lead and in the business world they and the men in their lives inhabit.
• In that world everyone always is seeking investors and to make more money.
• In such a world everyone feels they must “look” successful.  They must spend a lot of money on clothing and cars and houses and jewelry, etc. etc. etc.
• However, the “thinking” women described above – who are moving towards becoming the persons they want to be, and have understood who they are and the psychodynamic forces at play in the world work – don’t want to be emotionally and financially dependent on a man or to be his “eye candy.”
• They are not hostile or bitter or resentful.
• Nor do they have destructive feelings.
• They know what they want.
• They want to be loved and to love; they want to receive bliss and to give bliss.
• They want to give and receive care and nurturance.
• They are not fickle.
• Their sexuality and emotions are inextricably intermingled.
• Their bodies wear the smile of accomplishment; they emote a subjective sense of freedom.

SOCIAL STATUS AND NUMBING OF A PHYSICIAN’S BRAIN 

The practice of medicine [which is viewed by brilliant people as a “game” of association] attracts “smart people” but overall does not attract or hold the attention of people with the most “brilliant” minds.

I recently flew from Los Angeles International Airport to Logan Airport in Boston.  

The person sitting next to me on my flight from LAX to BOS told me that 4 out of his 6 closest friends/classmates – fellow students at Cal Tech – “wanted” to be MDs during their freshman year at Cal Tech.

He also mentioned that after taking pre-med courses for a year or two, half of them decided they didn’t want to be MDs. 

He implied that his fellow Cal Tech undergraduate student closest friends saw the handwriting on the wall:  “Brain Death”  would happen to their brains if they continued to prepare for the practice of medicine and “heaven forbid” if they actually became practicing physicians they would lose their acute highly developed ability to think.

He concluded and his friends concluded that practicing medicine would be an act of self-destruction.

He expressed his understanding to me that he and his friends at Cal Tech have hyperactive dynamic thinking alert minds that are always on the go and which need to be fueled by and are energized by having constant new challenges and experiences.

That Being Said: He concluded that being a MD would be too boring an existence ant that being an MD would cause his hyper-active highly functional brain to atrophy.

He mentioned that the smartest people in the world attend Cal Tech —

• Cal Tech students have the highest SAT scores —
• Additionally, it is a small elite school.  There are only 1,000 undergraduates, 1,000 graduate students and a faculty of 1,000.

• This leads to lots of interaction between students with one another and with faculty which is prized by everyone.

• The faculty wants to teach the most brilliant students.

• The most brilliant students want to be taught by the most brilliant faculty and to interact with other brilliant students.

THE BABY BUST AND ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET OF THE SO-CALLED “SMARTEST, BEST AND BRIGHTEST”

Recently, while visiting my eldest daughter Terra, in Marblehead, Massachusetts, I read the Winter 2014 issue of WHARTON Magazine.

“Wharton” is a prestigious business school in the United States.

One article described a study which compares Wharton graduates who graduated in 1992 (the class of 1992) with the class of 2012 in terms of the number of graduates who plan to have children.

The study found that the number of Wharton graduates planning to have children has dropped nearly by half over the past 20 years.

These averages are equal for men and women.  They are both dropping out of parenthood.

This change in plans is not unique to young business professionals.  It’s part of a larger trend: a nationwide baby bust.

Across the United States, births have dropped precipitously.  In 1992, the average US woman gave birth to 2.05 children over the course of her life.  By 2011, it had dropped to 1.89, well below the replacement rate of 2.10.

Another article in the Winter 2014 issue of WHARTON Magazine reports that:

• The amount of interest in entrepreneurship at Wharton is just crazy.

• Historically the school has been associated with careers in finance and consultancy.

• For the first time, more Wharton students are interested in starting companies than in buying them.

• A growing number of Wharton graduates are willing to trade wing tips, three-star Manhattan restaurants and Tribeca lofts for sneakers, take-out pizza and sleeping under their desks as they race to get a product out the door.

• In fact more members of the Wharton graduating class of 2013 started a company than joined a hedge fund.

Our civilization has reached a tripping point.

Many people want to exercise freedom by (a) expressing who they are, (b) by experiencing who they can be, and (c) by living their life to the fullest.

They have concluded that the most important thing in their lives is to be comfortable in their own skins.

GSS

 

Smolker Letter No. 14 “Ten Criteria for Selection of Best Movie Derived by Me While Pondering Whether Quentin Tarantino Should Be Damned for Making His Newest Movie “Django Unchained” and Steven Spielberg Should Be Praised for Making His Newest Movie “Lincoln.” (Updated January 29, 2013)

Smolker Letter No. 14

“Ten Criteria for Selection of Best Movie Derived by Me While Pondering Whether Quentin Tarantino Should Be Damned for Making His Newest Movie Django Unchained and Steven Spielberg Should Be Praised for Making His Newest Movie Lincoln”

Am I knowledgeable and intelligent or only opinionated?

by Gary S. Smolker

(Updated January 29, 2013)

Introduction

While trying to figure out whether Quentin Tarantino Should Be Damned for Making His Newest Movie Django Unchained and Steven Spielberg Should Be Praised for Making His Newest Move Lincoln”, I developed the following ten criteria for me to use to tell the difference between a good movie, a great movie, and a greater movie, and the greatest movie.

The Ten Criteria I Use for Selection of Best Movie

1. Does the movie hold hundreds of the most varied audiences spellbound?  The best movie should keep the movie goers’ curiosity alive without faltering.  The viewer should feel there is no time to go to the bathroom or to buy popcorn while that movie is being shown.  The best movies move forward unfailingly at all times, the underlying rhythm of the whole is masterly. Thematic unity is preserved throughout the film.

2. Does the movie cause viewers to relate to characters in the movie, to understand the characters, to like or dislike the characters, to care about what happens next to the characters and what the characters do next?  In the best movies, all the characters are “real”; all the characters are believable; viewers know where the characters are coming from, know the characters’ motivations and intentions, who the characters are is not a mystery.

3. The best movie will provoke self-aware contemplation — will make a viewer think about who the viewer is, what the viewer’s values are, and where the viewer stands on important issues.  The best movies spark a daily and efficient public discussion of an important issue.

4. The best movie will teach unforgettably.  The best movies have take home value.  The best movies teach the viewer something useful.  The best movies cause excitement.

5. The best movies show a conflict about a real issue with complete clarity through words and images which illuminate the core issues presented in the story told in the movie.  The best movies show you how an event, issue, or impulse or vision took shape. The viewer is shown and finds the deep source of a conflict.

6. The best movies convey a moral lesson with complete clarity.

7. At the end of the best movies, the audience has learned something new.  The best movies are full of facts and density of thought which transport the viewer into another reality.

8. The best movies prompt the viewer’s curiosity, make the viewer want to learn more about something or someone.

9. The main character in the best movies has a philosophy of life and aesthetic sensibilities.  Wit, eloquence and density of thought is portrayed by the main character as the main character acutely, passionately and intensely lives his or her life.

10. In the best movie the story is presented through images and dialog in a coherent way with such an abundance of feeling, thought, imagination, and unbounded spirit that the thickest mind and slowest eye is aroused to think and see what the film maker perceives.

Knowing the Cultural Bearings of Society and the Temper of the Times

It is important to understand the public’s mind set.

People today live in turmoil and anxiety.

That being said, it is my opinion that it is critical to know the cultural bearings of society and the temper of the times if you want to win a political election or if you want to be a successful movie maker or to be successful in any other endeavor.

It is essential to understand public opinion, the power of public opinion and the mindset of the public.  You must know where the public mind is, what the public’s values are and how the public sees things.

In short, you must understand the world you live in.

In my opinion Mitt Romney never had a chance to win his bid to become President of the United States because of the cultural bearings of American society, the voting public’s mindset and the temper of the times.

In my opinion Quentin Tarantino understands the cultural bearings of society, how people think, how people see things, what people’s values are, where the public mind is and the temper of the times.

That is why Quentin Tarantino and his movie Django Unchained are successful.

We live in a brutal violent world where people do disgusting things.

People do more disgusting things in the real world than they do in the make believe world of Django Unchained.

The brutality portrayed in Django Unchained teaches a lesson in morality, a lesson in history and a lesson in government.

Because the moral and historical lessons are so powerfully portrayed in Django Unchained is the reason why Django Unchained is a box office runaway money making success that has been well received by both by the public at large who bought tickets to watch it and by professional movie critics who have reviewed it.

The powerful message (and moral lessons to be derived from that message) portrayed by the images and scenes in Django Unchained is why famous successful movie stars who played different parts in Django Unchained were thrilled to act in that movie and is the reason they were able to deliver such powerful performances.

The actors in Django Unchained want to deliver the message that Django Unchained delivers.  They are happy that Django Unchained has raised public consciousness and discussion about the brutal nation-state portrayed in that Django Unchained.

Should Quentin Tarantino Be Damned for Making His Newest Movie Django Unchained?

Some people say that Quentin Tarantino has a disgusting manner of story telling, that he has a sick mind; that Quentin Tarantino is a person who considers violence and depravity the norm.

Some people claim that hard studies directly associate screen violence – such as the screen violence portrayed in Django Unchained – with overall violence in society.

Some people claim that violence in media gives fuel to potential young killers, who don’t know what they are doing or why they are doing it when they commit acts of violence.

Some people protest that Django Unchained is exploitative.

Some people claim that Django Unchained is a revenge fantasy.

Some people claim that watching Django Unchained will encourage and fuel more violence than being familiar with the biblical injunction of “an eye for an eye” and/or will fuel more violence than being familiar with the legal concept of “self-defense” and/or than from being familiar with current events or from being familiar with modern history and/or than from watching broadcast news reports and/or from reading general print media.

Some people claim that Quentin Tarantino is responsible for the current state of violence in society along with all other film makers making films of the same genre.

I don’t agree with that assessment that Quentin Tarantino is responsible for the current state of violence in society or with the prediction that the film Django Unchained will be responsible for noticeably more “unsanctioned” violence in society.

On Screen Violence in the World at Large

Nobody blames Tarantino for the recent violence in Libya, the killing of the American Ambassador in Libya, the recent violence in Egypt, riots going on in Egypt, Egyptian police killing protestors in the street, or for the on-going violence in Syria, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, in India, in Algeria, in Mali or in Yemen.

We live in a brutal violent world where people do disgusting things.  Quentin Tarantino did not invent that world, cause that world to come into existence, or cause violence and disgusting conduct to flourish.

The world was violent and brutal before Tarantino started making movies and before Tarantino was born

The media and YouTube regularly broadcast violent pictures which depict violence and daily killing going on in many countries in the world.

The print media and broadcast media constantly report on armed rebellions that are taking place in various parts of the world, bombings of government facilities, bombings of public facilities, people bullying each other, rapes, wrongful sexual conduct, and every other kind of disgusting human conduct.

The public is provided by the media with a daily diet of detailed graphic reports on all kinds of disgusting acts (including acts of violence) in many countries.

Nobody in America claims that the print and broadcast media and YouTube should not be doing so, or that local people who are witness to such horrible events should not take videos of what they see, upload their videos and then send them out over the Internet.

Being in Touch with Reality, in Touch with the New Normal

Do the many people who are upset by Quentin Tarantino’s depiction of violence in Django Unchained believe the news media should not report the following RECENT OR CURRENT ONGOING EVENTS:

1. a young woman going to college is raped at a bus stop on her way to school in India,
2. a child is shot while she was riding on a bus by members of the Taliban because that child is known for leading a campaign to educate women in her country,
3. a suicide bomber blows himself or herself up while riding a bus, or walking or driving on a public street in Israel, Iraq, India, Afghanistan, or in any other country or nation,
4. missiles being shot into Israel,
5. the kidnapping and forceful taking of civilian hostages,
6. people not able to escape a raging fire in a nightclub because security guards block there way out of the only door through which they could exist,
7. torture of prisoners,
8. U.S. military turning over captured enemy combatants to Afghanistan detention facilities where the prisoners are tortured and abused,
9. beheading of hostages,
10. monks setting themselves on fire and burning themselves to death in protest,
11. U.S. drones killing innocent citizens in foreign countries,
12. Afghan soldiers and policemen killing their American soldier allies and compatriots,
13. the latest actions of Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and/or the Kadashians,
14. sexual molestation of boys by Catholic priests and the cover up by leaders of the Catholic Church,
15. sexual molestation of boys by a football coach at a prominent university and the subsequent cover up of child molestation by the head coach and by the President of the University
16. sexual molestation of boys by their adult leaders in the Boy Scouts,
17. women being stoned to death after they have been gang raped,
18. the Enron scandal or
19. the fraudulent actions of Bernie Madoff ?

We are regularly (perhaps daily) bombarded with stories by news media of violence, disgusting conduct, depravity and irresponsible conduct.

The Character of the Society In Which We Live and Temper of the The Times We Are Living In:

People Are Fed Up with Being Powerless, with Being Exploited, and On Top of That People Are Disgusted by the Conduct of the Rich and Powerful

In my opinion it is very important to understand the character of the society in which you live.

It is also important to understand people’s rational and irrational impulses.

It is a cherished American value to allow free debate, the free flow of information and the free flow of ideas.

In my opinion, one of the several reasons Mitt Romney did not win his bid for the Presidency of the United States is that a good portion of the people who voted for president are of the opinion and sincerely thought and believe that Mitt Romney is a disgusting person because Mitt Romney has no remorse about his involvement in and profit from the firing of American workers whose jobs were exported to China and those jobs in America were replaced by workers in China, instead Mitt Romney is proud of the fact that he (Mitt Romney) was responsible for firing of American workers and then exporting those fired Americans’ jobs to China.

People who were disgusted at Mitt Romney’s behavior in connection with the exporting of American jobs to China had the opinion and believed that as President, citizen Mitt Romney would do what is “legal” but what would be immoral in their opinion for his (Mitt Romney’s) own financial gain and for the financial gain of his friends and his supporters.

Those voters believed that Mitt Romney as President would be a threat to working men and women in America, a threat to the financial and emotional health and security of the common people in America.  In my opinion, that is why they did not vote for Mitt Romney for President.

Additionally, those voters believed it would be morally irresponsible to give him (Mitt Romney) Presidential Power to do to do “legal” but what in their opinion are “immoral” acts.

Put another way, although it was and still is legal to fire American workers in order to transfer their jobs from America to China, many Americans did not want their President to be a person who relentlessly did so without any remorse, did so solely for his own personal financial gain and personal financial profit and is proud of doing so.

People who don’t understand why Mitt Romney lost his bid to become President of the United States do not understand that the majority of the voting public in the United States are fed up with what they consider in their personal opinion to be disgusting immoral conduct by rich and powerful people in society.

Quentin Tarantino understands that a majority of the people in the United States, and a  majority of people worldwide, are fed up with being powerless, are fed up with what they consider to be immoral conduct by the powerful in their society and will cheer on a person who stands up to that and will not back off.

Before making Django Unchained Quentin Tarantino understood, in his heart, that a majority of people in the world would cheer on a black bounty hunter like the character Django in Quentin Tarantino’s newest movie Django Unchained.

Tarantino’s movie  Django Unchained reflects Quentin Tarantino’s genius at assessment of the intellectual and emotional mindset of our times: that people are fed up with misuse of power by the powerful and therefore he would be able to create a box-office hit of a movie by making a movie where the “little” guy wins against a powerful guy in a classic battle against all odds.

Tarantino knew that people would react strongly to the sadistic, brutal and exploitative conduct of the plantation owner Calvin Candi in the film Django Unchained — that is the reason Quentin Tarantino created the sadistic, brutal arrogant character Calvin Candi.

One of the many intellectual, emotional and moral points made by Quentin Tarantino in Django Unchained is that although whipping and beating slaves and ordering one slave bash in the head of another slave was legal in the South before the Civil War, because doing so was “legal” did not make Calvin Candi any less repulsive or immoral.

That just because something is “legal” does not make doing it “moral” is an idea to reflect upon and the degree to which Mitt Romney’s failure to win the recent Presidential election can be attributed to such a mindset is something to be reflected upon.

We know that things do not happen “over night.”  Change does not come about “over night.” Society changes slowly, even when inspired to change by an effective transformative leader.

In that regard, on November 18, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to make some remarks at the dedication of a national cemetery.  The next day, on November 19, 1863, in President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln defined the great task lying before the American people by proclaiming that we are “…dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

In the Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln set out a vision of government that continues to play a great role in the American consciousness — that the purpose of the founders of the United States in breaking away from Great Britain, that their purpose in declaring independence, in obtaining “freedom” from the tyrannical rule of the British King and their purpose in dissolving all political connections with the State of Great Britain and any allegiance to the British Crown, in the minds of the founders of the United States, was to break away from British rule in order to create an independent nation that would be ruled by a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Masterful Story Telling

Django Unchained demonstrates that Quentin Tarantino has a genius for imagery, for the use of imagery to tell a story, for the use of imagery to make a point, for the use of imagery to make an argument, for the use of imagery to rile us up.

The images of white men whipping black slaves, of white men setting a pack of attack dogs loose to tear apart a runaway black slave who has been caught after running away, of an owner ordering his slave to bash in the head of another slave all  strike an emotional and intellectual cord in a great number of viewers.

Those images repulse a large segment of modern day audiences.

The images of slaves being whipped, etc. in Django Unchained, because they portray violent and disgusting conduct, are supposed to repulse viewers.  The fact that such conduct was “legal” is supposed to make such conduct doubly disgusting.

The actions of characters portrayed in the images created by Quentin Tarantino express Tarantino’s idea and make Tarantino’s argument that slavery is horrible, that no man (a slave owner or any other man) should have that kind of sanctioned and legal power over another man.  Tarantino wants to make the point, and successfully makes the point, that people should treat each other with care for each others dignity as human beings.

Quentin Tarantino fans will rightfully and self-righteously tell you Django Unchained is an attempt by Quentin Tarantino, through the art of movie making, to re humanize mankind by showing the horrors of inhumane conduct.

One can’t help but note the improvement of the state of civilization in the United States  today compared to the state of civilization in the United States portrayed in Django Unchained.

That being said, one can argue that Tarantino is teaching us in Django Unchained that civilization and members of society might become more humane.

Roadrunner Cartoons and Tweetie Bird Cartoons

I was born before in 1945.

I grew up, went to college and lived through the Viet Nam war before Quentin Tarantino made Django Unchained or made any other [popular] movie.

During the war in Viet Nam innocent people in Viet Nam were massacred, innocent people were burned to death by napalm bombs dropped on them by Americans; bombs containing Agent Orange were dropped on Viet Nam and Cambodia to kill forests and other vegetation and American soldiers got horribly sick by handling Agent Orange.  All of this was reported in the news media without any protesting or claiming that the dissemination of such information that the violence and/or disgusting conduct broadcast and publicized gives fuel to potential young killers, who don’t know what they are doing or why they are doing it when they commit acts of violence.

As I was growing up, I was constantly exposed to violence in Roadrunner cartoons and in Tweetie Bird Cartoons.

In those Roadrunner cartoons a bird (a roadrunner) was always running away from a coyote (Wiley coyote).  The coyote wanted to catch the roadrunner in order to eat the roadrunner.  Inevitably, while chasing the roadrunner a misfortune would befall the coyote (such as a rock or anvil falling on his head, or falling off a cliff) as the coyote was chasing the roadrunner.  During each cartoon the coyote would suffer grievous injuries. In Tweetie Bird cartoons Tweetie Bird was always in mortal danger of being eaten alive by Sylvester the cat.  I also watched Tom and Jerry cartoons.  It Tom and Jerry cartoons a cat always tried to catch and eat a cute little mouse.

The point of the above recital is Quentin Tarantino is not the first person to portray violence and disgusting conduct for public consumption.

Should Steven Spielberg Be Praised for Making His Newest Film Lincoln?

Steven Spielberg’s newest movie Lincoln takes place while the Civil War is raging and the Congress of the United States is debating whether to adopt the 13th Amendment of the Constitution.  The 13th Amendment is the amendment which abolished slavery in the United States.

Prior to release of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, people who thought of Abraham Lincoln thought of Abraham Lincoln as having been a self-taught boy who learned by reading by candlelight, as a young man who earned money by being a rail splitter, and as a man who later became a shrewd country lawyer, and later yet became the President of the United States, and as a president of the United States who during his term in office wrote the Emancipation Proclamation which freed the slaves, wrote the Gettysburg Address and saved the Union during the Civil War.

Before release of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln the general public thought of President Lincoln as “Honest Abe.”

The President Lincoln portrayed in Steven Spielberg’s newest film Lincoln is in one scene fantastically funny humorous and fun to be and in other scenes is a self-assertive yet detached person with the singular determination to get the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution adopted by the Congress of the United States.

In those later scenes, Lincoln is portrayed as being ruthless in using others’ help and influence to get the 13th Amendment adopted.

In many scenes it is brought out that President Lincoln had Congressmen bribed in order to secure their vote for passage of the 13th Amendment.

President Lincoln was not portrayed in Spielberg’s film as ever being a clumsy lawyer.

The images shown in scene after scene in the movie Lincoln show that President Lincoln was not a modest man, that he subconsciously assumed power, that he had a disconcerting power to see into questions, events and persons and that he projected superior intellectual power.

Throughout the movie Lincoln it is made clear that as President, Abraham Lincoln towered in mind and will over everyone.

Throughout this movie, President Lincoln is portrayed as being a supremely conscious genius who with a clear mind and great common sense was always scheming to secure passage of the 13th Amendment.

This is not the President Lincoln the general public knew before release of this movie.

CONCLUSION

Both Tarantino’s movie Django Unchained and Spielberg’s movie Lincoln are about efforts taken to secure the freedom of slaves.

In both movies the main character’s goal was to free slaves.

In both movies the main character accomplished his goal.

President Lincoln in Lincoln, Django and Django’s helper Dr. Schultz in Django Unchained were engaged in a battle for freedom.

Django was in a more desperate situation than President Lincoln because Django’s goal was to secure the freedom of the women he loved, his wife.

At the beginning of the movie Django Unchained, Django was a poor black man who couldn’t read or write or ride a horse or shoot a gun.

In order to find out where his wife was, Django needed Dr. Schultz to read the slave sale ledger at a slave market for him, in order to determine who had bought his wife.

These men relentlessly creatively and intelligently pursued their goal with great energy stamina and exertion.

On the issue of killing and violence:

1. More people were killed and maimed and more property was destroyed as a result of President Lincoln pursuing his goal in Spielberg’s Lincoln than as a result of Django and Dr. Schultz pursuing their goal in Django Unchained.
2. There is a much higher dead body count — more people are killed — in Lincoln than in Django Unchained.
3. Lincoln is contains a more morbid scene than Django Unchained.
4. The movie Lincoln contains a morbid scene in which body parts are being carried in a wheel barrel leaking blood from a hospital and then dumped in a pit.
5. The movie Lincoln contains scenes of President Lincoln riding through fields strewn with dead bodies.

These are both great movies because the viewer’s attention is at all times riveted to the story unfolding on the screen, the movie maker portrays each main character is each movie living a clearly defined life style, the movies portray their main characters’ aesthetic sensibilities, all of the characters in both movies are very real (very believable) and the story in each movie teaches the audience important real life useful lessons.

Copyright (c) 2013 by Gary S. Smolker