Re: [Marxism] Black Panther: Afrofuturism Gets a Superb Film, Marvel Grows Up and I Don?t Know How to Review It

[Andrew Stewart via Marxism]

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I grew up in the 1990s and so the span of Marvel Comics that were part of
my childhood, as well as the several cartoons, were pretty different than
what we have been getting since the first IRON MAN from Marvel Studios.
Marvel was always extremely high on both the melodrama and the social
justice parables, sometimes to the extent of being unbearable. My frame of
reference for the canon therefore is including that stuff. Indeed since
Marvel Studios emerged, it has been pretty obvious that Marvel and DC  have
effectively switched roles, now it is DC-based films like the Batman
pictures and Superman with all the pathos while Marvel is pretty bubblegum
in comparison.

Speaking specifically about the Panther titles, Ta-Nehisi Coates has been
writing it for the past several years and the result have been interesting.

-- 
Best regards,

Andrew Stewart



Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2018 06:41:13 -0800
From: DW 
To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition

Subject: Re: [Marxism] Black Panther: Afrofuturism Gets a Superb Film,
Marvel Grows Up and I Don?t Know How to Review It
Message-ID:

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

Andrew, one of the better reviews. I *still* think you, like many of us
political types, are taking the film way too seriously. I can't disagree
with what you say but you do fail in one area: trying to rely what the
*comic* book was all about and how this film reflects, or not, the original
idea of The Black Panther. I always judge a work of art (even a cartoon)
based on the canon of that film. You to touch on it be far too briefly. The
Black Panther fits into the Marvel Universe/Marvel Cinematic Universe
franchise (Thor, Avengers, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.
etc. etc.).

These comic books were all conceived as or were eventually integrated into
this universe(s) and in fact our Black Panther character and his general,
played by the wildly popular (because of her starring role in The Walking
Dead as Michonne, the sword wielding and general bad-ass Zombie killer)
Danai Gurira are in the upcoming Avengers film "Avengers: Infinity". Both
characters are part of the ensemble of super-heroes out to save the planet.
The 'social significance' of this I have to assume is irrelevant beyond the
rather flaccid attempt at liberal globalization and "anti-racism" exhibited
in The Black Panther.

Lastly, I enjoyed the attempt to humanize the characters beyond their 2
dimensional presence with cute banter between them. This is not unique to
this Marvel film as  they have been doing this in the last few years by
giving the characters a little levity in their lines. Of course the
amazingly wonderful Guardian of the Galaxy serious is *entirely* based on
such banter and it works well (not to mention that the two Guardian films
have simply the best sound track of any film ever made. EVER. :)

David Walters
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[Marxism] Fwd: The Internet Research Agency: behind the shadowy network that meddled in the 2016 Elections | Southern Poverty Law Center

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Great reporting from Alexander Reid Ross.

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/02/21/internet-research-agency-behind-shadowy-network-meddled-2016-elections
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Re: [Marxism] David Graeber: manufactured ignorance: the strange case of Juan Cole and the Kurdish freedom movement

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 2/21/18 5:28 PM, Chris Slee via Marxism wrote:

On the other hand, the PYD - conscious of the oppression of Kurds in Turkey - 
was right to be suspicious of any armed groups backed by Turkey and the Gulf 
states.  Turkish aid to Syrian rebels came with conditions attached, including 
a requirement to be hostile to the Rojava experiment.


I have no idea what this means. Does anybody in their right mind think 
that the FSA was going to ethnically cleanse Rojava because Erdogan gave 
them AK-47s?


You know something, Chris, I did a search in Greenleft Weekly yesterday. 
There is only a single reference to Ghouta from back in 2013 after a 
thousand died from Assad's sarin gas attack. The cretinous Tony Iltis 
wrote: "In the absence of evidence, propagandists for both sides have 
promoted conspiracy theories to explain the attack's motivation." WTF? 
Both sides?


But when you search for "Rojava", you get ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIX 
ARTICLES.


And when you wrote about the horrendous assault on Aleppo by Assad, you 
once again used the plague on both your houses bullshit. The Socialist 
Alliance issued a statement that included this: "The proliferation of 
armed groups not subject to democratic civilian control has been a major 
contributor to Syrians’ suffering." What does that mean? That Islamist 
groups incited Syrian and Russian jets to bomb hospitals? I have heard 
the same junk from Netanyahu after the IDF bombed Gaza.


I was happy you all dropped the Leninist nonsense. I only wish that you 
would also drop the kind of cheer-leading that is typical of sect 
formations.



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Re: [Marxism] David Graeber: manufactured ignorance: the strange case of Juan Cole and the Kurdish freedom movement

[Chris Slee via Marxism]

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Louis Proyect quotes David Graeber:

"While in the early days of the Syrian revolution, Arab communities too created 
directly democratic councils, many on a model inspired by a Syrian anarchist 
named Omar Aziz, the militarization of the conflict had very different effects; 
where in the Kurdish areas, the revolutionaries created their own militias, the 
Peoples Protection Forces (YPG) and the Women's Protection Forces (YPJ), most 
of the secular, left revolutionary organizations in the rest of Syria made a 
conscious decision not to join the armed struggle, leaving that to military 
defectors who made up the Free Syrian Army, then, increasingly, to Islamist 
militias armed and supplied by outside powers such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and 
Qatar."

Louis comments:

"What unmitigated bullshit.  The "secular, left revolutionary organizations" in 
the rest of Syria focused on providing social services to neighborhoods and 
entire cities under siege.  To help keep them from being annihilated, the FSA 
defended them as best they could.

"In fact, if it wasn't for the FSA, these Bookchinite experiments could never 
have happened since Assad was trying to buy time.  He allowed them to take 
place until his air force was finished exterminating East Aleppo, Homs, Ghouta, 
et al.  Now, he will do the same thing to the Kurds.  Divide and conquer..."

I will concede that Graeber's statement quoted above does not adequately 
recognise the difficult conditions facing democracy activists in areas under 
attack by Assad's forces.  Hence he gives the unfortunate impression of blaming 
the activists for the situation they find themselves in.  I don't think that 
was necessarily his intention, but it could be taken that way.

On the other hand, the PYD - conscious of the oppression of Kurds in Turkey - 
was right to be suspicious of any armed groups backed by Turkey and the Gulf 
states.  Turkish aid to Syrian rebels came with conditions attached, including 
a requirement to be hostile to the Rojava experiment.

For a time, Rojava was less affected by war than some other parts of Syria.  
But this should not be exaggerated.  Rojava was subject to an economic 
blockade, armed attacks by Turkish-backed rebel groups, bombardments by the 
Turkish armed forces, and the threat of a full scale Turkish invasion.

In this context, Rojava (and later the broader Democratic Federation of 
Northern Syria) sought to avoid armed conflict with the Assad regime.  They did 
not want to simultaneously fight both the Turkish army (and its proxies) and 
the Assad regime (and its allies).

Chris Slee


From: Marxism  on behalf of Chris Slee via 
Marxism 
Sent: Tuesday, 20 February 2018 10:58:05 PM
To: Chris Slee
Subject: [Marxism] David Graeber: manufactured ignorance: the strange case of 
Juan Cole and the Kurdish freedom movement

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http://www.focaalblog.com/2018/02/16/david-graeber-manufactured-ignorance/



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[Marxism] [UCE] “The Young Karl Marx”: A revolutionary specter haunts your local movie theatre | Bill Meyer | People's World

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo via Marxism]

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http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/the-young-karl-marx-a-revolutionary-specter-haunts-your-local-movie-theatre/


Sent from my iPhone

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[Marxism] Fwd: The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz/Volume One/06 Darkening Prospects — Resisting the Reaction - Wikisource, the free online library

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Marx's utterances were indeed full of meaning, logical and clear, but I 
have never seen a man whose bearing was so provoking and intolerable. To 
no opinion, which differed from his, he accorded the honor of even a 
condescending consideration. Everyone who contradicted him he treated 
with abject contempt; every argument that he did not like he answered 
either with biting scorn at the unfathomable ignorance that had prompted 
it, or with opprobrious aspersions upon the motives of him who had 
advanced it. I remember most distinctly the cutting disdain with which 
he pronounced the word "bourgeois"; and as a "bourgeois," that is as a 
detestable example of the deepest mental and moral degeneracy he 
denounced everyone that dared to oppose his opinion. Of course the 
propositions advanced or advocated by Marx in that meeting were voted 
down, because everyone whose feelings had been hurt by his conduct was 
inclined to support everything that Marx did not favor. It was very 
evident that not only he had not won any adherents, but had repelled 
many who otherwise might have become his followers.


full: 
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Reminiscences_of_Carl_Schurz/Volume_One/06_Darkening_Prospects_%E2%80%94_Resisting_the_Reaction

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[Marxism] Fwd: The US has reached the last stage before collapse - Business Insider

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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In The History of the Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire, Edward 
Gibbon luridly evokes the Rome of 408 A.D., when the armies of the Goths 
prepared to descend upon the city.


The marks of imperial decadence appeared not only in grotesque displays 
of public opulence and waste, but also in the collapse of faith in 
reason and science.


The people of Rome, Gibbon writes, fell prey to "a puerile superstition" 
promoted by astrologers and to soothsayers who claimed "to read in the 
entrails of victims the signs of future greatness and prosperity."


Would a latter-day Gibbon describe today's America as "decadent"? I 
recently heard a prominent, and pro-American, French thinker (who was 
speaking off the record) say just that.


He was moved to use the word after watching endless news accounts of 
U.S. President Donald Trump's tweets alternate with endless revelations 
of sexual harassment.


I flinched, perhaps because a Frenchman accusing Americans of decadence 
seems contrary to the order of nature. And the reaction to Harvey 
Weinstein et al. is scarcely a sign of hysterical puritanism, as I 
suppose he was implying.


And yet, the shoe fit. The sensation of creeping rot evoked by that word 
seems terribly apt.




full: 
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-reached-last-stage-before-collapse-2017-12

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[Marxism] Fwd: The Scion of a Pakistani Political Dynasty Comes Out - The New York Times

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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The video, posted on the internet last summer, wasn’t supposed to be the 
coming-out story of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.


It opens with the voice of a man wryly narrating a fictional encounter 
in which he is asked to leave an airplane for “speaking Arabian.” The 
words “Queer Muslim Proud” appear on the screen, followed by an 
introduction to the subject, in neon letters. As audience members in a 
dimly lit club cheer, Mr. Bhutto appears in a silky dress, dancing to 
the 1980s hit, “Disco Deewane,” by the Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan. He 
shimmies and sways, a pink scarf pinned to his hair, light-blue eye 
shadow reaching up to his eyebrows.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/arts/design/zulfikar-ali-bhutto-pakistan-drag-somarts-.html
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[Marxism] Gilbert Achcar - the war is far from being over in Syria

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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https://medium.com/stories-soas/the-war-is-far-from-being-over-in-syria-17937139ac29
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[Marxism] Come the Recession, Don’t Count on That Safety Net | Eduardo Porter | The New York Times

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo via Marxism]

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/business/economy/recession-safety-net.html


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Re: [Marxism] Black Panther: Afrofuturism Gets a Superb Film, Marvel Grows Up and I Don’t Know How to Review It

[DW via Marxism]

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Andrew, one of the better reviews. I *still* think you, like many of us
political types, are taking the film way too seriously. I can't disagree
with what you say but you do fail in one area: trying to rely what the
*comic* book was all about and how this film reflects, or not, the original
idea of The Black Panther. I always judge a work of art (even a cartoon)
based on the canon of that film. You to touch on it be far too briefly. The
Black Panther fits into the Marvel Universe/Marvel Cinematic Universe
franchise (Thor, Avengers, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.
etc. etc.).

These comic books were all conceived as or were eventually integrated into
this universe(s) and in fact our Black Panther character and his general,
played by the wildly popular (because of her starring role in The Walking
Dead as Michonne, the sword wielding and general bad-ass Zombie killer)
Danai Gurira are in the upcoming Avengers film "Avengers: Infinity". Both
characters are part of the ensemble of super-heroes out to save the planet.
The 'social significance' of this I have to assume is irrelevant beyond the
rather flaccid attempt at liberal globalization and "anti-racism" exhibited
in The Black Panther.

Lastly, I enjoyed the attempt to humanize the characters beyond their 2
dimensional presence with cute banter between them. This is not unique to
this Marvel film as  they have been doing this in the last few years by
giving the characters a little levity in their lines. Of course the
amazingly wonderful Guardian of the Galaxy serious is *entirely* based on
such banter and it works well (not to mention that the two Guardian films
have simply the best sound track of any film ever made. EVER. :)

David Walters
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[Marxism] Fwd: Studies in Pre-Capitalist Modes of Production - book review - Counterfire

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.counterfire.org/articles/book-reviews/19459-studies-on-pre-capitalist-modes-of-production-book-review
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[Marxism] Fwd: Who Was Marjory Stoneman Douglas?

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://prospect.org/article/who-was-marjory-stoneman-douglas
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[Marxism] Stamping Out Hunger

[Ron Jacobs via Marxism]

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http://stillhomeron.blogspot.com/2018/02/stamping-out-hunger.html


-- 
Check out my newest books *Still Tripping in the Dark

*,* Capitalism
,
and Daydream Sunset:60s Counterculture in the 70s
 *
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[Marxism] Black Panther: Afrofuturism Gets a Superb Film, Marvel Grows Up and I Don’t Know How to Review It

[Andrew Stewart via Marxism]

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https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/02/21/black-panther-afrofuturism-gets-a-superb-film-marvel-grows-up-and-i-dont-know-how-to-review-it/


Best regards,
Andrew Stewart 
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