THB #93: The Batman (no spoilers)
| March 6, 2022
The horror of 100,000 American dead (and counting) from the Novel Coronavirus and the grotesquerie of watching a man murdered before our eyes by a white policeman applying the pressure of body weight and a knee to the neck of an already under control black man will certainly bring us a wave of documentaries to sadden the soul in the years to come.
But on this very week, there are 3 new documentaries that speak to the plight of young women in our nation through the last six decades. They couldn’t be much more different in style or substance. But each packs a punch that cannot be denied and should not be avoided.
The story that has the earliest origin is AKA Jane Roe (FX/Hulu), which is both a history of Norma McCorvey’s life, her struggles as the famous Jane Roe in the Roe v Wade case, her late conversion to born again Christianity, and her confession of intentionally misleading others in the final days of her life.
Nick Sweeney is a relatively new documentarian, the first of his 5 films coming in 2014. And it is apparent in the film in various ways. His approach on this one, in terms of new footage, is very Maysles, following around McCorvey for what she proclaims as her deathbed confession. But the research and found footage elements are quite excellent, especially with McCorvey to narrate much of it. Who was this woman before, during, and after Wade. And then who did she become when the attention subsided a bit?
For me, the alternative title of the film could have been, “That’s So Norma,” because the personality was so strong and distinctive from early on in her life. She was abused. She was self-destructive. But she was also daring in strong in a ways we take for granted these days… or perhaps we have forgotten what that looks like.
It’s one of those narratives that is deceptively simple, because it always feels so sincere and undeniable. McCorvey is, somehow, both Forrest Gump and all the famous people he meets and all the pain that never quite seems to register in him, all in one.
It was fitting that I watched this right after the closing episode of Mrs America, a series I quite liked in all its kinks, and which ended with footage of the real-life version of the women whose lives together in the struggle had been dramatized. I miss those women. Women of their spirit are certainly around and growing in power every year. But one of the beautiful things about that era was that those women were not cleaned up so much. In fact, Gloria Steinem’s concern about her looks made her am interesting outlier in the series, much as she was a leader. I grew up hearing men frame Friedan and Abzug and others by their prejudiced standards of beauty. But this so missed the point.
And so it was for Norma McCorvey, who was not a traditional beauty, but carried herself with a power that was always apparent. Remarkable for a person who was so often victimized and who so often victimized herself.
On The Record (HBO Max) is the third documentary on sexual abuse by the team of Kirby Dick and Amy Zierling. The first, The Invisible War, is about abuse inside the military. The second, The Hunting Ground, is about sexual abuse on college campuses. And their latest is about really about workplace sexual abuses, particularly as it regards women of color, though it does center around media mogul Russell Simmons.
The skill set here is at the highest level of this group of films. The structure, editing, and imagery qualifies as artistic. But the facts are laid out, as in any quality doc. Drew Dixon was a soul-deep music lover and knew tahts he wanted to make a life out her passion. And she did. In her early 20s, she was a rising star behind the scene in the urban music scene. She had the ear for it. She understood the artists. And she was backed by Russell Simmons, who was an ascendant star-maker and star in his own right in that world. By the time she was 26, she was out, depressed, a bit broken, and a victim of acquaintance rape. In fact, the relationship the two had was used by Simmons to create the opportunity for the rape that happened.
But then the film also takes us back through what seemed like a magical era for black culture in America and addresses the dangers of success, especially for men who felt their power grow to the point where asserting that power became a daily habit, no matter what the cost to others.
Not unlike AKA Jane Roe, a big part of disarming the cynic in all of us is the intimacy the central figure allows. We spend enough time with Drew Dixon that we feel like we know her, more than a little. You can see the pain of her journey in her eyes. And then in the eyes of other women. We all have bullshit detectors. But unless you came to this film with your mind already made up to disbelief the women, I’d dare you to show me where you think these women are insincere. And when you have a long list of women, telling very similar stories, details connecting without rough edges, offering the camera their truths, it is not like taking one rape accusation and wondering if it is accurate. Five percent or so of rape accusations, like all accusations of violent crime, are expected to be falsely reported. It does happen. But it doesn’t happen to 30 women at a time.
I know an unfortunate number of women who have been preyed upon and raped. You probably know more than you realize, as so many keep silent. And this film speaks to the culture, as much as the act of rape. How did these women see themselves? How much were they willing to withstand? Almost all of them question their own choices about the moment in which the line was crossed.
The world is filled with abusers less obvious than Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein and Russell Simmons, and on. The shame so many (including myself) feel about not screaming out earlier about horrors that were so apparent is still fresh. There are more billionaires around than ever. But you don’t have to be a billionaire to be an abuser. Just hop on Tik Tok and see the often healthy and often terribly unhealthy ways that young women see themselves today. Some perps may be out of the game. But there is still plenty of danger.
Filthy Rich: Jeffrey Epstein (Netflix) is the most like a traditional piece of documentary. Highly produced. Beautifully directed by Lisa Bryant. Impeccably edited. This is the story of the girls who became tethered to Jeffrey Epstein, from the first girls who would accuse him to the last days of his life, all in about 4 hours.
This is the most traditional streaming series true crime doc of the group. It starts at the beginning and ends at the end, with some cleverly graphic-ed time shifts throughout. Completely solid. Each episode subtly turns out to have a specific hook, even as the overall story progresses.
The show is not coy. Audience members want to know what these girls looked like when they were girls. And we see. But first, we see them as adults. We see how many of them looked a so similar. And we see how time has changed them. We hear their pain. We see their pain. We feel their pain.
People who are steeped in this story are not going to get huge surprises. Small revelations, perhaps. But mostly, it is the consistent, clear-minded, complete telling of the tale that keeps it so very shocking. And so very sad.
The only missing gear is really three of the girls who ended up being the primary recruiters for Epstein, as named in the legal case that was settled so disgustingly. Haley Robson, who acknowledges having recruited actively, speaks in the film. Nadia Marcinkova, Sarah Kellen, and Adriana Mucinska do not.
But the central through line of the film that really holds it all together are depositions of Epstein himself. His answers are not varied much. But hearing the questioner try to push him. And listening to him plead the 6th, 5th, and 12th over and over and over again, becomes his primary voice in the film. And it is very powerful.
As the film goes on, the idea of what Epstein’s world was like becomes more and more obvious, even as the viewer is unlikely to harbor any similar thoughts like Epstein. It becomes less and less about this young woman or that young woman and more clearly as cold and callous and heartless as it was… and the damage to the women, whichever part of the history they had, be more heated and pained and inescapable.
Watching these three films in a group will not leave you warm and fuzzy. But you may never be clearer on what young women face in this world we live in, even today. We’re still debating Roe, powerful men continue to harass young newcomers, and sex trafficking is not just for billionaires (though many continue the practice).
You will come out of this experience (and I would include Mrs. America, which also offers great complexity even as it wears its politics on its sleeve) reminded where your own heart is. Not always fun. But we must never forget the pain of others or the communal significance we each bring to the world.
-30-
May 1, 2022
"Netflix, the great disrupter whose algorithms and direct-to-consumer platform have forced powerful media incumbents to rethink their economic models, now seems to need a big strategy change itself. It got me thinking about the simple idea that my film and TV production company Blumhouse is built on: If you give artists a lot of creative freedom and a little money upfront but a big stake in the movie’s or TV show’s commercial success, more often than not the result will be both commercial (the filmmakers are incentivized to make films that will resonate with audiences) and artistically interesting (creative freedom!). This approach has yielded movies as varied as Get Out (made for $4.5 million, with worldwide box office receipts of more than $250 million), Whiplash (made for $3.3 million, winner of three Academy Awards), The Invisible Man (made for $7 million, earned more than $140 million) and Paranormal Activity (made for $15,000, grossed more than $190 million).From the beginning, the most important strategy I used to persuade artists to work with me was to make radically transparent deals: We usually paid the artists (“participants” in Hollywood lingo) the absolute minimum allowable by union contracts upfront, with the promise of healthy bonuses based on actual box office results—instead of the opaque 'percentage points' that artists are usually offered. Anyone can see box office results immediately, so creators don’t quarrel with the payouts. In fact, when it comes time for an artist to collect a bonus based on box office receipts, I email a video clip of myself dropping the check off at FedEx to the recipient."
Jason Blum Sees Room For "Scrappier" Netflix
| April 30, 2022
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Critic-Filmmaker Gavin Millar Was 84; Films Include Cream In My Coffee, Dreamchild
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| January 24, 2022
DP/30 Audio: Bombshell, Jay Roach
| December 13, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jonathan Majors
| December 4, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Mustang, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
| December 4, 2019
thank you, David. Excellent.
Hollywood Reporter finally reported the real cost of “The Irishman”- $225 million not including publicity, marketing and the cost of renting all of those cinemas to show it. I haven’t seen it on Netflix’s Top Ten Daily list. Just sayin.
All those shows seem worth watching. I loved Mrs. America. Great television.
Rams, just be grateful that it got made at all by hook or by crook. They have got plenty of irredeemable shit like 6 Underground to pad out the Top 10 Daily list. It’s interesting that Apple have nabbed Flower Moon though. Did Netflix have first option and bail out? Or were Apple doubly determined to nab a prestige project and announce themselves as a major player in the streaming race to the bottom?
The new Scorsese movie will be distributed by Paramount with a supposed actual theatrical release. Apple will finance it. I actually saw “The Irishman” in a cinema. I’m a big fan of “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull”. But, and that’s a big but, “The Irishman” was bloated, undisciplined, and unfocused. I thought the de-aging was hideous. Joe Pesci was unfathomable. Robert DeNiro was great when he played the elder Scheeran Al Pacino was over the top fun. I guess nobody remembers “Hoffa” with Jack Nicholson because it was a flop. If you haven’t noticed, Netflix doesn’t appear to have any “prestige” tv movies with any sort of budget on its horizon. They should stick with those sensational documentaries like that tiger thing. They are very successful with those and the teenage rom-coms. Netflix is probably happy Apple saved them north of 200 million.
reichstag fire, amerikkkan-style
i liked ‘the lovebirds’ on netflix, a pleasant diversion from heartbreak
As far as I am concerned, Scorsese flushed $225 million down the toilet. I despise every fucking gangster in every one of the “prestige” gangster movies, and would happily watch hour after hour of these awful greedy characters confessing their stupid crimes, and strapped to a chair getting zapped to death as they deserve…. especially for their disgusting accents. I remember well, lying on a beach nearly 50 years ago, reading Puzo and thinking, “What a load of crap”. It still is. All of it.
Just to restore some balance, I believe IRISHMAN is the greatest movie thus far this century and is worth every penny and then some. Nobody knows how much CITIZEN KANE cost and nobody cares. The same will be true of IRISHMAN in the decades to come. So there.
Money in budgets works macroeconomic miracles. $225 million sloshing into the economy via the pockets of well-paid professionals is an immense blessing.
“The Irishman” is no “Citizen Kane”. I am quite sure my sentiments are in the vast majority on that one. Of course somebody knows how much “Kane” costs. Probably in the 2 million vein. And nobody will care about “The Irishman” in a very short while because it has built up no cred, heft or allure that “Citizen Kane” has been endowed with over the years. And the 225 million film has returned nothing to the zero sum business model that created it except maybe a few new subscribers. And no Oscars either. Just sayin.
Did The Irishman kill your dog or something? You really have it out for that movie.
is this real life
here allow me:
SIMULATION COMPLETE.
REBOOT.
[flashing cursor on screen…]
“i liked ‘the lovebirds’ on netflix, a pleasant diversion from heartbreak“
Issa Rae is a Goddess.
she’s adorable, i want to be her friend. (would have made a great silent-movie era performer, her eyes are so expressive)
i was going to say, sitting here reading quietly and the tiniest spider i’ve ever seen has spun a wee web between my thumb and index finger and didn’t notice till i had a web.
Leah, as you described that I suddenly pictured Costner laying in that cell in Wyatt Earp, with the cockroach crawling over him.
I take it you watch Insecure? I do not love this season. I’m into the drama for sure but I need a bit more hijinks and gags. Like the Coachella episode.
Hey, look what I found: “AMC Theatres has ‘substantial doubt’ it can remain in business”
This is the convo I’d like Dave to have. What if theater chains can’t make it through the other side of this? Look at our country. Who the FUCK knows if/how badly the protests are going to create a second wave. The admin has all but disbanded their pandemic response, which means it’s going to be a state by state proposition as to how effectively the virus is controlled – and THAT is going to be problematic cause here comes austerity! So we are well and fucked for at least a couple of years on this end.
So my position is this: widespread film distribution in the United States is dead for at least 2 years. Dead. Not happening… Which means it could be longer cause you can’’t just flip the switch on a bunch of shuttered theater chains. So 3 years – 4 years for regular, mainstream return of movie going? Tell me I’m completely out on a limb here? This isn’t a plea to pUt BlAcK wIDoW oN StReaMing, but more sincere curiosity: what do studios do? Tenet! Like…we get it. It’s COMING TO THEATERS YOU FUCKING LOSERS NO APPLE TV FOR MY MOVIE. HOW is it coming to theaters though? It ain’t opening in this country in July, that’s for sure.
And Cinemark is going to reopen without a mask requirement! Those are good questions amblinman.
2 years, 3 years, 4 years? Which is it? I get what your saying, amblinman, but conjecture and speculation are all we have at the moment. It can wreck one’s own psyche to chase mice inside your skull by trying to extrapolate present crises to future scenarios. I always recall going around with a knot in the pit of my stomach in the weeks after 9/11 and being told that it would herald a War on Terror that would last beyond my lifetime. And by Christmas that year all anyone gave a shit about was American Idol and Lord of the Rings.
As a general principle, try and live in the present and things will go smoother. As ghastly as that sounds right now.
“I always recall going around with a knot in the pit of my stomach in the weeks after 9/11 and being told that it would herald a War on Terror that would last beyond my lifetime.“
:::Blinks in the direction of Iraq and Afghanistan.::: Oh…okay. I don’t agree here but in any event this blog very specifically has been dedicated to lots and lots of guessing about the future of things. And NOW you don’t wanna guess about things when it’s much more interesting than arguing over adjusted grosses?
my 2-4 year thing was simple: as of now there is no way widespread distro happens in the U.S. for two years. You figure a vaccine, treatment changes things. That takes, what, a year? Add that. So sure, I’m saying – uprwards of 4 years before major distro is available to studios in the U.S. We’ve read articles in which it’s stated Tenet “needs” 80% screen penetration of existing theater screens (if I’m understanding the math which I’m probably not), we know that’s not happening. Or is that not true and tenet will go “titanic” and try to make money over 300 billion weeks? NONE of this is interesting to you at all?
I mean…shit. I’m home. Talk to me, goose.
i’ve only just started watching ‘insecure’, didn’t realise some HBO stuff is now available with my cable on demand service so i’m way late to the party.
(also, 9/11 wasn’t a highly contagious virus? good lord)
Apologies if I came over as rude, amblinman. Thing is, we’ve (incredibly) in the Western Hemisphere only been living in the upside-down for the last ten weeks. It seems like longer, but it’s still only a blip on the span of our lives. So to postulate about where we’ll be in two, three, four, ten, twenty years, weeks or any other random date seems redundant to.me at least.
(also, 9/11 wasn’t a highly contagious virus? good lord)
Well no. I got my knuckles rapped here for talking about the virus directly and rightly so. Consider my medicine taken. My point was that the public moved on quickly before and will again. We’re through it whenever we are through it.
Do you know, my not-too-far-away IKEA opened up.on Monday for the first time since March. Three hour queues to get in, tailbacks for two miles. I couldn’t help but think that if there’s that much pent-up demand for shelving units then I think that the movies should be okay when the time comes. Until then, I’m looking forward to Da 5 Bloods, The King of Staten Island., and Artemis Fowl. Even The Old Guard looks rather promising. Theron in an action role is always an enticing proposition even if the phrase ‘based on the graphic novel’ is up there with ‘directed by Rob Marshall’ as one to give one pause.
Love to all.
UPDATE: I *still* haven’t rented “Satantango” for $14.99 from Film at Lincoln Center. (I’m told I can see it for free on Kanopy, but I don’t have a library system that subscribes to that service.) I’ll be out of town all day tomorrow. Free most of today, but don’t think I can make it happen – not all in one day.
What’s everyone else watching this weekend?
agree 100% with David Oyelowo’s comment on de-linking the BAFTA’s and the Oscars. Silly, IMO, to let your awards become reduced to being a precursor, a junior version of a presumably bigger and more prestigious award. Become its own award with its own identity and values, Like the Cesar, which are much more interesting than the BAFTA’s.
I thnk the guilds should liberate themselves from precursor status, too. They should enjoy independent status, and develop their own quirks, rather than be tools of the Oscar campaigns.
Kanopy image Q can be rotten and/or erratic. if FLC is showing the restored version…
To circle way back in the thread…speaking of Citizen Kane and Irishman, how does Citizen Kane have timeless aging makeup and Irishman just looks creepy even with 80 years of advanced technology?
Also, the only thing I’m certain about with 2020 is that nothing is certain. People kept making jokes about “what’s next? haha.” but it’s actually not funny, because the minute we egg on 2020 to give us its worst, 2020 is all too happy to deliver. I mean, just to make it about movies…with a moratorium on productions, eventually, we’re all going to run out of new content to watch, and it’ll be interesting to see what solutions will come of it. Tyler Perry is doing some, but other than that, what is on the horizon past the few things already in the can?
palmtree, I’ve said it before and will say it again, but in about 12-18 months time you’re going to see an eruption in animation. Any and all creative work that can literally be phoned in will be. I think that Newsom has cleared practical film and TV production to resume from next week, so we’ll see how it goes.
Did anyone else see Space Force yet? For me, it found its feet as it went along. After an uneven first couple of episodes the characters and the tone gradually start to click. I imagine that some of the tepid reactions that I’ve seen are due largely to its unfortunate timing. Let’s face it, June 2020 is just about the shittiest moment imaginable in which to drop a new comedy.
—Let us assume that the guys who hold the purse strings at the major studios asked: “can animation continue during this, even when live action production cannot?” And the answer was, yes. And those guys then said: “Okay, assuming the script is any good, how many more animated films, can we start this month?”
—Remember two parts to this: good scripts for animation, and animators who can show up on time to make an animated film. I am sure that unmade scripts for animated movies existed the day before live action production started shutting down. But how many good scripts for animation existed at that time?
—-thought: does anyone reading this know how many drafts of scripts are physically read by studios executives in the course of a year, in one major studio? The script of Steve Martin’s movie “Bowfinger” had six or seven revisions to it, as I remember reading a copy gotten through interlibrary loan.
—If, this is just a made up number, they read a thousand scripts per year, and 100 of those are revisions of earlier scripts, then that would be 900 potential movies. But most of those scripts would be live action scripts? And a number of proposed animated film scripts would also be revisions of earlier scripts?
—
If movie theaters are “dead” for 2 years, the consequences are impossible to project… not because of anything having to do with the movie business, but because of the other elements connected to that notion.
Are malls functional in that period? If they are functioning for even half of that year, it makes the notion that theaters cannot reopen at all dubious.
If malls are only partially reopened over 2 years, the entire notion of brick & mortar businesses is up for grabs as well.
The reality is, we are not in charge of this… the virus is in charge until we can develop ways to “tame” it.
I agree that Tenet is not likely to open on July 15… but August 1 is still far enough away that it is possible. Not saying probably… but possible.
Flip side, we could have an expanded outbreak caused by the protests, etc, and theaters (and malls and sit down restaurants, etc) will not open at all this summer.
We won’t know until we know. There is no firm ground below us.
There is also, imo, the very possible opening of theaters and more in July followed by a shutdown in September as flu season starts and COVID reloads.
There is also the possibility that we will be in lockdown of some serious level until there is herd immunity or a vaccine, which could easily be 18 months or 36 months.
Everyone wants answers. And the only real answer I trust is that we don’t have answers. We have and are a moving target.
I don’t think that movie theaters shutter for 2 years then take a year to recover. Either we find a road to being in shared closed spaces or we don’t. It’s not evolution.
I can tell you that my very COVID-paranoid wife is expected to physically go back to work at a pre-school in 2 more weeks and that she is now discussing, for instance, the return of our housekeeper once a week and selective playdates for our 10-year-old after July 1. There are people who are even more obsessed than she who are already at that point. There are a lot of people expanding their “pods” in a hurry, without any testing. But in this household, that could all dry up in a minute if there is another serious outbreak. And we were tested a week ago and she will be tested at least once more before the end of this month.
So yeah… the pipeline movies are the least of our problems if this keeps reasserting itself for as long as 15 more months.
Completely non-committal. Sorry. Intellectually, there is no clear answer… except move to New Zealand… but Leah would hate that.
It’s okay, Mr. Poland. Sounds like it’s what we’re all going through. BUT DAMMIT MAN I COME HERE FOR THE GUESSES! 😉
However, I’ll fight you on this point:
“If movie theaters are “dead” for 2 years, the consequences are impossible to project… not because of anything having to do with the movie business, but because of the other elements connected to that notion.
Are malls functional in that period? If they are functioning for even half of that year, it makes the notion that theaters cannot reopen at all dubious“
I don’t understand how one scenario that involves sitting in a windowless room packed with other humans for 2 hours is equivalent to a giant mall with constant movement and size to allow for proper distancing.
My point all throughout has been Covid is so specifically terrible for the business of movie theaters* because of exactly what it is: a communal experience. Even as other parts of our society open or even return to a semblance of a new normal, movie theaters would seem to be the one without a chair once the music stops. Your comments about your home life are interesting, and honestly probably what a lot of folks are going through. What’s safe? What’s not? In the list of priorities, I suspect *any* movie in a movie theater is going to be dead last.
I’m curious if studios are having these conversations. They have to be, right? It can’t just be a shrug and let’s hope for the best.
And now California movie theaters can open Friday? How many will? Here in Milwaukee the weather has been great and you’d have no idea there’s a pandemic based on outdoor scenes. People are everywhere. Beaches, parks, outdoor dining spaces, beer gardens, drive-ins (went last week it was a blast). Not a mask in sight. But I wonder how that translates to a movie theater. Can’t imagine it does but who knows. People are dumb.
Appreciate the comments Dave but have to agree with amblinman on the difference between going to a mall and sitting in a movie. The one piece of good, or at least non-negative, news I’ve heard for theaters in the past few weeks is the thought that the virus is much less likely to remain viable on surfaces (with the exception of metal and copper) than originally thought, which at least lessens one of my own biggest concerns with entering an auditorium.
i don’t understand this mindset.
the virus isn’t “in charge” of shit, it’s a pathogen that exists to replicate, it’s not sentient — we, however, are sentient, and in this era of modern science and medicine there are proven protocols that work to prevent the spread of even a highly-infectious virus. numerous places on the planet have done a decent job of implementing a rigorous plan that suits the particular circumstance/culture to curb the spread and prevent death in high numbers in the midst of a rather serious pandemic. in every case, it involves putting public health and safety first (guess what, bean-counters: people ARE the economy. economies can recover; dead people can’t, and long-term health problems experienced by even healthy people who’ve recovered may have far-reaching economic costs; ‘herd immunity’ without vaccination of any given pop would take years, a con-job term for ‘herd culling’ by people in power who think someone else is expendable)
the virus is not under control in most of the US, and in many places cases are rising. ‘summer’ is not a cure. opening cinemas under such circumstances is irresponsible and dangerous, and the obsessive focus on “will people return to cinemas?” is irresponsible and dangerous, because of course people will return, has anyone met ‘people’? a single carrier is all it takes in a confined space. playing russian roulette with people’s lives is morally repugnant. how do you make it safe to go to the cinema again? start there.
(what’s the source of new data on c-19 viability on surfaces?)
“(what’s the source of new data on c-19 viability on surfaces?)”
This is one of the articles I came across a few weeks ago.
“because of course people will return, has anyone met ‘people’?”
lol. One of the best sentences ever written in these comments.
You’re absolutely right leah. People will go back. Just hope it’s in very small numbers. But that’s naive and not realistic. Anecdotal but based on what I see it’s like there’s no pandemic here now. Maybe Christopher Nolan shouldn’t be in charge of movies coming back.
@Mostly: everything we know about Corona indicates that Soylent Green is people; i.e. the issue really isn’t contaminated surfaces, people are the problem.. It’s people. Breathing on each other, coughing, sneezing, etc.
CA and anywhere else can open whatever whenever they want. Cases are rising in half the U.S. and that’s just the results from reopenings around memorial day. We don’t know what the protests are gonna look like in a few weeks. Leah’s right – summer hasn’t eradicated shit.
What’s gonna happen are this: we will be in full pandemic mode either by mid summer or end of it. We will be in forced lockdown again or people will simply lock themselves down. And we will crater an already fragile economy.
But hey, we gotta get on with our lives sometime, right? Just not all of us.
Here’s a good article on a simple fix that President Babynuts wants no part of because he wants his fucking rallies and he thinks adding a mask to a 300-pound frame adorned with an orange painted skull and weird skinflap of hair would just be too silly looking.
I live in the Bay Area. Cannot tell you how many non-Trump folks think masks are stupid and “you do you”. That’s the Bay Area. How are things fairing in the redder parts of our country?
A fucking mask is a political fight now. A goddamn mask designed to help us open businesses, see friends, and get on with life. You know, all the shit they claim they want. But some “liberals” suggested this i.e. fancy doctors. So naturally we gotta fight over it. 110 dead Americans since Feb and a good portion of the country thinks it’s not a big deal.
If Armageddon were made today, it would be a movie about a bunch of redneck oil rig drillers landing an an asteroid headed for Earth so they can steer it towards California to own the libs.
thx for the link, lurker (this is fairly in line with other recent studies so far — not a main source of transmission but they simply don’t know, not enough conclusive lab experimentation in this limited timeframe; but evidence such as the widespread surface contamination found on cruise ships, cases of community transmission around the globe with undetermined sources, and the massive decontamination efforts of public spaces where crowds gather such as witnessed in Wuhan – plus ongoing concerns re keeping supply chains from transporting the virus around the globe, this is an issue here – means that authorities likely suspect surface contamination is a problem so, an abundance of caution and all that)
anything i want to express to y’all in these times sounds trite or dumb or repetitive in my head so… may the force be with you, i guess <3