documentaries

THE PEOPLE VS THE STATE OF ILLUSION

Tue, 29 May 2012 19:12:19 +0100

The People Vs The State Of Illusion, by Austin Vickers, is a documentary, much in the same style as films such as The Secret, What the Bleep Do We Know, and Down The Rabbit Hole. These films use heavy scientific evidence expounded by experts in various fields to prove the existence of spiritual experience.

When I saw the trailer to The People VS The State of Illusion with all the professional graphics and stock footage, I thought, “Oh no, not another one of these slick new age documentaries for the masses.” But when I attended a screening at my local art house theater, I was impressed that the subject of the film dealt with how our beliefs and emotional memories create our reality. The film did seem to be a 101 course on emotional life, but did bring up profound ideas on how one can take hold of one’s life by facing one’s deeper emotional storehouse.

It is said that we are using only 1% of our mind’s capacity, but this film suggested that we are only processing this 1% because we are only seeing what we expect to see. Those expectations come from belief systems that are charged with emotional energy that many people would like to escape. Dr. Joe Dispenza, a neurologist and lecturer, explained how we use addictions to escape these feelings. He also went on to describe how many of us try to maintain a persona that is much different from who we really are in order to “fit in” to society. It is interesting to see nervous breakdowns seen in light of this persona crumbling away.

Dr. Thomas Moore, who wrote the best-selling book, Care of The Soul, in the film said: “To take this source of life …we get when we are born, deep within us and we can tap into it and you find strength and you find your identity, you find the difference between you and other people…In order to follow it [your own path] does take courage. It’s going to take you into actions that people don’t approve of, it will take you into actions you may be afraid of…” He goes on to explain how tapping into this source within one’s self allows the experience of one’s flow in life; to experience one’s full potential and purpose in life.

I am constantly on a search to see how I am continually creating my reality and I see how my expectations can limit my ability to see what is really happening in my world and the opportunities it presents. Debbie Ford, a life coach, said, “It happens in a moment. It doesn’t have to take ten years on a couch to have a shift in perception. It takes a willingness and desire to know that what you’re looking at now, when you’re limited and stuck, is not true.”

Despite the new age documentary formula, I applaud Austin Vickers for bringing to light the subject of emotional healing and looking at one’s belief systems as a way to develop self-empowerment and enlightenment. Even though the concepts are on a beginning level, it really inspires one to start to look within at those dark emotional spaces most would rather never have to face, but are so much a part of our being.

No techniques or exact cures were given in the film, but there are quite a lot of workshops, books, DVD’s offered on the website and at screenings. The DVD is coming out Fall of 2012 and will be distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Highly recommended.

THE INTERRUPTERS

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:23:01 +0100

The Interrupters, the story of interrupting the cycle of anger and vengeance.

There are so many wonderful reviews of this film, so there is not much left to say about it. This is my favorite review so far. It's a very powerful, insightful and personal review called Extinguishing the Ecstasy of Anger.

During the film, I saw how rampant vengeance killings are in Chicago inner city neighborhoods. The killings are not exclusive to gang drive-by shootings, but surprisingly between school children not associated with gangs. Young adults and children involved with drugs easily give themselves over to vengeance. This situation reminds me of a documentary about a tribe whose tradition and culture was to give in to vengeance killing until they were on the verge of extinction. Some missionaries showed them they didn't have to live or die that way.

The film follows three interrupters who are essentially counselors that have discovered how to stop the cycle of vengeance killings and violence in their own lives. When children see their older brothers and sisters and other relatives directing their anger and frustration towards violent retaliation, they learn that violence is acceptable and a necessity to bring closure. The film follows the interrupters in their daily attempts to nip violence in the bud. It takes spending time to really get to know people and showing them how their lives could be different by not attempting to resolve their frustrations through violence. The interrupters invest a lot of time and energy helping one person at a time to change lives for the better.

Where the Interrupters worked, the violence decreased by 45%. At one point, the government sought to bring in the national guard when they saw the murder statistics were on par with the casualties in war-torn countries. Thank God the community decided to stand up and stop this invasion.

The reason I find this film so powerful is not because violence is so rampant in our country; it's because it shows the process of how people can gain control over their own lives and become self-empowered even in extremely negative situations. It also shows how communities can become empowered and start to create livable environments.

I totally recommend this film as required viewing for everyone. Even though it is about a tough subject, it is ultimately hopeful, uplifting, and universally applicable.

KUMARE

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:59:04 +0100

"You are all great beings and you must stop pretending that you are not." - Kumare

I found Kumare to be a surprisingly sweet and gentle, albeit extremely controversial, documentary; which was conceived and directed by, Vikram Gandhi, a New Jersey-born American of East Indian decent. It was beautifully filmed with excellent audio. The documentary follows Gandhi as he playfully dresses up as an Indian Guru and watches the response he gets in India and in the U.S. Then he decided to see if his alter ego as an Indian Guru, could get a following. So he went to Phoenix where he knew no one and started his own "teachings" as the Indian Guru, Kumare. His teachings consisted of made-up chants, fake "yogic" postures and a blue light meditation which he created himself. He also spoke in an Indian accent, dressed in robes, wore his hair long and behaved in a way that made people think he was not familiar with western culture.

Brought up in a Hindu family that clung to their religious rituals and beliefs, Gandhi is a bit rebellious regarding Hindu religion and spiritual practices in general. His endeavor to expose the whole Guru experience through this documentary experiment may seem quite sacrilegious, but it is cloaked in the sweet nostalgia of a loving childhood upbringing filled with sweet memories of his family's culture.

I have had a fair amount of experience with Gurus in my life. I spent 20-plus years following the teachings of a very famous guru and met some other gurus after I became disillusioned with that spiritual practice. If I had met Kumare, I would have thought he was a very strange guru because he was humble, respectful, warm and accessible. He didn't do magic tricks to impress his followers. He didn't make passes at the ladies or young boys. He didn't expect his followers to adhere to a system of etiquette, such as never turning your back to the Guru in his presence, bowing down, treating his picture in the same reverent way, and other such worshipful practices. In fact, his followers invited Kumare to their homes and he listened to them and even rolled on the floor in an effort to understand their experiences in life. Most guru's I've encountered are more into lecturing their followers; they demand to be put on a pedestal and have no time to listen to their devotees' individual concerns. So from my guru experience, Kumare is a fake, but a loving, gentle and respectful fake.

In the film, Kumare is continually interjecting into his spiritual lessons that he his a fraud and that his students don't need him as a guru. He would say that a guru is no more closer to God than we are. He even had his classes use a vision board to show themselves never really needing a guru. He gave his students an exercise to pretend that they were Kumare, and Kumare played the role of the student. In the exercise, they lecture Kumare on what they themselves need to do to improve their lives. Kumare was teaching them self-empowerment, which I believe, is the greatest spiritual teaching.

I saw Kumare as a counselor. He allowed his students to tell him all their concerns and the intensity of the concerns shocked him at first. He allowed individual meetings with his followers and seemed to be a great listener. But would these people have come to him, if Gandhi didn't dress up as a guru and call himself Kumare? Which brings me to the subject of how do people get the credentials to call themselves a professional this or that? I call myself a film reviewer, because I just do it; I don't have any certification. I also call myself a writer and I don't have a college degree in writing. I'm sure there are lots of people who call themselves gurus who don't have any certification or blessings from the Shankaracharya. There are those that have great talent in counseling that have never gone to school for it, yet they are probably better than any counselor who got their degree from an Ivy League University.

I could see as the film progressed, that Gandhi developed skills in helping his followers which greatly shocked him. He was actually becoming Kumare, the Guru. He planned to reveal himself to his followers to show he was really Vikram Gandhi from New Jersey. It was an intense moment.

Which brings me to the betrayal aspect of this film. Kumare screened at the 2011 Tucson Film and Music Festival. I stayed for the Q&A. The film showed Kumare taking a break from developing his Phoenix following by investigating healers and spiritual communities in Tucson and Southern Arizona. According to the film, Tucsonans really fell for the Kumare-facade. He visited an organic farm community in Southern Arizona that was founded by a man who is the self-proclaimed spiritual leader of the group. It was apparent that the film was quite skeptical of new age spiritual practices and not supportive of groups that depend on someone outside themselves for their spirituality. Well, there happened to be two ladies from that community in the audience. It was their first viewing of the film and they clearly expressed their feelings of betrayal, having been fooled into thinking that a real Indian Guru had visited their organization.

I struggled for a few days with how elated I felt by the message of the film and the contrasting feeling about the method that was used to bring out that message. But ultimately we allow ourselves to be betrayed when we give over our own sovereignty to someone else in order to relinquish responsibility for our own life choices. It was the original intent of the film to show how people so easily hand over their spiritual development to someone else. Kumare constantly challenged his followers, often hilariously, in an attempt to snap them out of the delusion of following him, but to no avail. Gandhi deeply bonded with his followers through Kumare, who he calls, "his ideal self." He struggled with revealing his true persona and was saddened that his relationship with them would change. As a testament to the bonds he had developed with his students, ten out of his fourteen regular "followers" still kept in touch with him even after he "lifted the veil" and some were even present at the Q&A.

I'm hoping this film will get distribution soon and I know it will anger many spiritual movements when it does, if it hasn't already. Many spiritual leaders depend on having followers who are highly dependent on them. They convince the devotees to think they can only connect to God or their own Higher Selves through them. The message of true self-empowerment threatens many spiritual movements today.

In conclusion, the film turned out to be much more loving than a documentary whose goal it was to show how easily fooled people can be about gurus. The message of self-empowerment was sweetly delivered. Highly recommended. See the trailer at the Kumare official movie website.

THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 03:21:57 +0100

The Economics of Happiness is an eye-opening documentary which explores the impact of globalization on local self-sufficient communities and how people in general are effected negatively on all levels of life. Globalization is tremendously wasteful and the film describes this in some detail. People whose self-sufficient communities are suddenly overrun by globalization or westernization are finding themselves feeling poor from the new economic pressures. Self-esteem erodes and leads to a deep depression with the homogenization of culture and the brainwashing of global fashion trends. But there is a happy ending.

The first half-hour of this film is a downer. It is a hard look at the effects of consumer culture. This situation can feel utterly hopeless, especially if you subscribe to the fear-inducing ideas of too many people on the planet right now for the Earth to sustain and that CO2 is a poisonous gas. I don't subscribe to these ideas. I do believe we are polluting our planet and misusing Earth's resources so much that it would be hard for any amount of people to survive. But I also believe that the Earth can comfortably support all of us if we respect her.

The second part of the film offers the solution of localization. Business becomes more accountable. Locally grown food becomes safer, more nutritious, and offers more variety. The filmmakers emphasize that going local does not mean going without, but actually having more choice. And people's well-being is enhanced by a feeling of community that comes along with a more interdependent localized economy. All the fears of over-population and excess CO2, just melt away, considering a life where people do business locally.

If you have any aptitude for cost accounting or economics, you will love the breakdown of how prosperous we could be if we turned to local economies. Catherine Austin Fitts, an economist that I follow, has always said that there is great opportunity in the midst of our current economic crisis.

This film is a must-see to educate one's self on the myths and propaganda of the Globalization Movement and to give one strength of heart in the coming economic transition. It's ultimately a very uplifting documentary.

The official movie website includes a trailer and how to purchase the DVD.

LIVING WITHOUT MONEY

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:24:07 +0100

“Money distracts us from what’s important.”- Heidemarie Schwermer, Living Without Money

Living Without Money is a documentary by Line Halvorsen about Heidemarie Schwermer, a retired psychotherapist, who decided over 14 years ago to start living without using money. And what I mean by money is any currency (electronic, coin or bills), any credit, and any alternative currency. It first started out as an experiment and now it's a way of life for her. She gave everything away, let go of her apartment and started housesitting. She likes to travel, so this transient lifestyle suits her. Everything she owns fits in a carry-on suitcase. When she is not housesitting, she is invited to stay at people's homes while she is giving classes, counseling and lecturing about living without money. Housesitting clients and organizations where she speaks pay for her travel. She trades her labor and takes surplus food from farmer's markets and food stores to provide for her other living expenses.

This film also shows that some people think she is just a parasite. She is not really "living without money", but living on the money of others by accepting gifts and trade from those who originally acquired their goods with money. On the other hand, Heidemarie believes due to greed, the economic system will collapse even more than it has and we all need to start now to experience a moneyless system. Our current monetary system creates anxiety over security concerns and many interviewed in the film expressed their fears. But Heidemarie feels she has no worries and experiences increasing freedom the more she lets go of using money.

Heidemarie says things don’t work in our current economic system. People are not fulfilled. Her purpose is to create a more simple life and help others do the same. She gives workshops where participants from all walks of life learn to live without using money for a week. Afterwards they discuss their experience in relation to money. She says it's not just getting a free meal; it's that more fundamental realizations happen.

A group of girls from an environmental youth group, kind of like Greenpeace, took the challenge for a week. They started out bartering with only one pencil. Most shopkeepers shown in the film seemed to joyfully embrace bartering with them. One shop owner just wanted to make a gift to the barterers, but the girls insisted on a trade. So he agreed to trade gifts. They started out with a pencil and ended up bringing home bags of things. The girls ended up understanding that you don’t even have to trade, you can just come from the level of helping each other.

Heidemarie allows herself to get into the flow of receiving and giving without expectation of getting back. Bartering is just a start to get into the flow of manifesting what you want. Heidemarie says, “I have developed a strong confidence. I know that everything I need will always be available to me.” Money, in this case, is essentially replaced with an energy exchange. Gifts have great energy and when trading is done in this spirit, the energy exchange is huge. You could say it's a win-win situation. Heidemarie helped to set up exchange markets and exchange circles where people bring things to give away and people come to take whatever they want. A similar system called, The Really Really Free Market system, has sprung up all over the U.S. This kind of system seems to be quite natural. Even in the U.S. we see penny cups provided everywhere at stores and restaurants for people to take or leave a penny.

Heidemarie does not live a poor life, she showed some of her students that they could trade for spa time. There is great abundance all around us. Seeing how one can take advantage of unused surpluses of food that is thrown away by farmer's markets, grocery stores and restaurants is real evidence of the abundance everywhere. The documentary, Dive, shows that the amount of food thrown away everyday could feed the world. So in terms of money, there is only perceived scarcity. There is plenty to go around.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and found it to be way too short at a mere 52 minutes. I would love to learn more in depth about the realizations people had from not using money and Heidemarie's experiences in manifesting what she needs and wants for herself. She has written a book on her experiences without money called, Das Sterntalerexperiment: Mein Leben Ohne Geld, or The Star Valley Experiment: My Life Without Money. It is not yet translated into English. I would very much like to see an expanded version of this film or a sequel. At the very least I'd like to read the book.

I don't take this film or Heidemarie's lifestyle as the only way to live without using money. Her lifestyle works for her because she is retired and likes to travel. For people who would like to have a place to call home, this would not be the correct lifestyle to lead. I have seen YouTube videos of people who have squatted and are living in make-shift shacks with no regular plumbing, or modern conveniences. I don't think anyone has to live that way either. There are people who are pulling away from the system more and more and becoming self-sufficient and doing it in a comfortable way.

It may seem hypocritical to say you are living without money in a society that runs on money, but I think the point of what Heidemarie is trying to show people is how to live calmly and abundantly if and when the global economy completely collapses. I used to be in a group to create a local currency. One of our members would always bring up the point that if we woke up and there was no money, we would soon realize that we don't need it. At that time, I didn't believe that people would have the presence of mind to think like that. After seeing this film it now makes sense. This documentary is an example of how people can choose to live their lives if money does disappear. Heidemarie also says, “Many people tell me, ‘With you around, life is easier.’…..”Many people write to tell me, ‘Your living without money encourages us, because we fear ending up in the gutter.’” An economic collapse doesn't have to be hunger, homelessness, looting and riots in the street. An economic collapse can actually be an experience of freedom from a system that causes us so much anxiety and a realization of great abundance and self-empowerment. It's how we choose to perceive it.

This film is available on DVD and can be ordered online here. And you can see a trailer here. I haven't seen it at Netfilx or Blockbuster yet. I'm going to ask my local DVD store to order it. I'm sure it will be very popular in light of what's happening in our economy right now.

HAPPY: THE MOVIE

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:31:14 +0100

"The professor said to me, you could never measure happiness. Now why they thought you could measure depression which they were all doing, but you couldn't measure happiness, I'm not sure." - A psychologist, Happy the Movie.

I loved Happy: the Movie. Happy is directed by Roko Belic, the director of the documentary Ghengis Blues and the director of photography of I Am: The Documentary. Originally, Happy started out by Belic making a documentary for Tom Shadyak on happiness. Shadyak gave him the money to film the documentary and Belic ended up raising the money himself for distribution. During the filming of Happy, Shadyak decided to make his own documentary called, I Am which is about his own quest for happiness and turned out to be an expose on connectedness and changing the world. So I see these two films as sibling films.

I found the Happy movie to be immensely uplifting. It was a surprisingly practical and down-to-earth documentary on the nature of happiness and how one increases happiness in life. One of the values of being happy is that, in a state of happiness one is most able to clearly experience life and more easily take advantage of opportunities. The film started out exploring positive psychology. Among other psychology experts, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the author of the book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, was interviewed. He explained that Flow is basically doing what you most want to do while experiencing the timeless of being in the now. There were many examples in the film of people experiencing flow. There was an amazingly down-to-earth example of a guy who is a cook in a restaurant who really looks like he's in the flow when frying food. Experiencing happiness, being in the flow actually gives a person energy rather than tiring one out. Happy people also get back to their baseline faster after stress or you could say they recover from stress faster.

Material happiness was explored. It was found that in the U.S., once a person makes $50,000/year, anything after that makes no difference in happiness. A rickshaw driver in India was said to be as happy as a middle-class U.S. citizen. Even though the rickshaw driver had little material comforts, he had an extensive neighborhood support system which greatly contributed to his happiness.

The film explored what places on earth are the happiest and which are the most unhappy. The most unhappy country was Japan where people work very long hours and literally work themselves to death. There is a term for it, Karoshi, which means death from overwork. But surprisingly, one of the happiest places is also in Japan in a small village in Okinawa called, Ogimi. This village boasts of having the world's highest population of centenarians. When these centenarians were asked why they live so long, they said their community is very close-knit. Neighbors take care of each other and their community is like one family. They also support their traditions. They go to bed early and get plenty of sleep. One lady who was interviewed looked like she was eighty years old, but she was actually 106 years old.

The film went all over the world looking for happiness. In Denmark, a single mom with two kids joined a co-housing community when she had financial difficulties. The film showed how co-housing communities take the financial burden off people and give them an extended family and sense of belonging which promotes a deep sense of happiness. The people of The Kingdom of Bhuton (in the Himalayas) believe their government is responsible for the happiness of their people and therefore, keeps track of their gross national happiness through supporting spirituality.

One especially moving section of the film for me was a demonstration of how love and connectedness can replace bullying in a school. Michael Pritchard, an emotional healer and stand-up comic, was shown giving a class on cultivating emotional intelligence to an assembly of middle-school children. He asked students to get up and tell their feelings about being bullied. As a result, there was an immediate and profound transformation from separateness to connectedness in the whole room.

The film showed many more examples of how people cultivate their own happiness and the positive effects of happiness. In comparison to I Am: The Documentary, The Happy Movie is a superior expose on happiness and connectedness. I was thrilled that The Loft Cinema in Tucson, AZ showed a trailer for the film, which meant Happy is off the film festival circuit and now having a limited theatrical release. During it's film festival tour, Happy won numerous awards including multiple audience and best documentary awards. For Happy Movie screenings and info on the DVD release dates, go here. For a trailer and more information about the Happy Movie, go here.

I AM

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 01:18:01 +0100

"We started by asking what's wrong with the world and we ended up discovering what's right with it." - Tom Shadyak, director of I Am.

I AM is a documentary about Tom Shadyak's quest for the answers to his questions about life. The film, which is totally narrated by Shadyak, starts out showing a generic mental hospital to introduce the subject of mental illness. It immediately changes to the story of Shadyak's mountain bike accident where he suffered a broken wrist and concussion. The concussion created complications where Shadyak suffered debilitating migraines for 6 months or more. During that time, he got the idea for the film when he contemplated dying and started to experience a profound connectedness to all life.

When Shadyak felt physically better, he went on a journey to interview a number of great thinkers such as Howard Zinn, Desmond Tutu, Lynne McTaggart as well as many others, including scientists and doctors. He asked them questions such as, "What's wrong with our world and what can we do about it?" and, Is competition or cooperation innate to humans?

The mental illness suggested in the beginning referred to greed and competition as mental illnesses. Greed is considered a mental illness because one craves more and more even when one has enough. Competition is seen as a mental illness because cooperation, which is considered an innately human quality, is eclipsed by trying to be better than others.

There were some interesting studies sited (I will have to see the film again to find the exact studies.) about cooperation being innate in animals. Herd behavior is said to be actually based on democracy, not on a monarchy or decisions made by the alpha animal of the group. I was also pleasantly surprised that the political figures, Howard Zinn, Desmond Tutu and others, supported the idea that man is innately cooperative. Howard Zinn, a political scientist, remarked that war is not innate for humans.

There were many other ideas explored in this film; among them were:
- Consumerism sets us up for separation from the natural world and supports competition. It also keeps us distracted from changing our world for the better.
- The heart is the real boss of us not the brain, as was examined by a research scientist who studies the intelligence of the heart.
- Lynne McTaggart discussed how our Higher Self is part of the Universal Energy Field which we are all part of.
- And by using our unique talents we can change the world.

I found the film to be very intellectual and I can see how many other critics have complained about the lack of scientific evidence for the claims Shadyak was making. The film was somewhat choppy. The director, famous for his wild comedies starring Jim Carey, seemed to structure this film with that same comedic, fast-paced style. The film showed things that upset us which were effectively disturbing, to show us our reactions and to show what's wrong with the world. I would liked to have seen more positive examples of human cooperation and connectedness, rather than examples of where it's lacking in our society, such as in war, greed, and frustration. Although, when I saw someone in need in the film and felt that impulse to help, I could see my innate feeling of connectedness Shadyak was trying to convey.

Roko Belic, the director of photography of I Am also made a complimentary film called, Happy: The Movie, which Shadyak asked him to make right before he decided to make I Am. The Happy Movie was a study on happiness and how people get happy. I saw the Happy film before seeing I Am. I couldn't help myself, but I was constantly comparing I Am to Happy. To me Happy is a much more positive, visceral film. I Am is more intellectual and an almost political film. I Am says stop focusing on buying things and use your innate talents to change the world. Happy says to be yourself, do what makes you deeply happy, just be and the world will automatically change. I Am also says that when you change yourself, you change the way you see the world. And there are other ideas that overlap with Happy, which Happy more fully explores.

I have to say that I liked Happy better (see my review here), but I Am is still a very entertaining, thought-provoking film with high production values. I Am is a film for people who are concerned with doing something to effect the world directly. I Am is currently playing theatrically in limited release and will soon come to DVD. At the time of this writing, I Am is playing at the Loft Cinema in Tucson, AZ. For information about screenings of I Am in your area, go here. For the I Am trailer go here.

BETTER LIVING THROUGH CIRCUITRY

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 19:55:47 +0100

Better Living Through Circuitry is a documentary about the ecstatic qualities of raves. (Sensitive viewer alert: Some bad language and discussion of drug usage.)

Raves are huge parties, not night club events. Raves transcend the whole rock-n-roll scene. Thousands of people young, old, black, white, yellow, red, male, female all dance together and experience oneness and timelessness where all the confinements of the rat race fall away. It's not about how cool you look or who you are; it's all about the dance. It's not a meat market either. Ravers are too busy dancing and connecting on a universal level to get caught up in sexual games. People say they feel very safe at raves and this allows them to completely be themselves. Many feel so safe that they let their inner child run free. There's also an experience of self-empowerment and connectedness that carries over after the rave. One raver said that before going to a rave, he used to be belligerent to strangers and now he is much more open and accepting of others.

The experience of oneness and complete connectedness with everyone at a rave comes through the music (Electronica, House, Techno, etc...) One theory is that the fast regular rhythm of techno music simulates the heartbeat. An interview with BT, Brian Transeau, talks about "Organic Electronic" music. He talks about how indigenous cultures dance to a drum beat that is 4-7 wave cycles per second which corresponds to the theta state, producing an experience of heightened states of awareness and creativity.

Personally, I love techno. My cousin has trigeminal neuralgia and found through a support group, that listening to techno actually helps relieve pain. For me, listening to techno puts me in a conscious meditative state, a kind of alert restfulness. Meditation is recommended for those suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, hence the effectiveness of listening to techno. I've also noticed that when I played some techno for a couple of small children who were fighting, that they soon became harmonious. One of the kids grew up to become an electronica DJ.

This film surprisingly took a stand against drugs. Raves are often known for being drug filled parties or at least that's what the media says. But many of the ravers interviewed said that it really wasn't about the drugs, but it was about the music. Some of the ravers who took drugs during the raves said when they didn't take drugs, they appreciated the experience much more. The high they got was from the music and connecting with the people. One young woman showed what you take to a rave. She emphasized that among the things you need to take to a rave, water is extremely important to stay hydrated, not alcohol; in fact, don't bring any alcohol. A paramedic who stood by during a rave said that the participants were very well-behaved and he actually got into the music.

Raves have had a bad reputation and apparently the cops are often trying to break them up. Genesis P-orridge, the originator of Acid House music, said on governments' view of rave events, "...they know there is an inherent danger in people understanding and appreciating alternate ways of being, which is that they [the ravers] could turn around and laugh them [government] out of existence. I like that point of view, but I do know that even though people feel extremely safe during these raves, there are some deaths due to drugs. Drugs keep dancers from respecting their limits and some literally dance themselves to death. There is quite a loving, caring feeling at raves and many raves try to provide water, snacks and include breakfast the morning after. Ravers also bring water and snacks to share.

This documentary was made in 1999. During that time, raves were still somewhat underground. Today they still aren't very mainstream even though literally thousands flock to them. Raves take place in countries all around the world and still transcend language and culture. The film describes the experience of a rave as having a universal vibe and states that it is actually music for the masses because of the way it transcends all boundaries between people such as sex, age, culture, race, economic status, etc...

The point of view of this documentary is extremely spiritual, loving and all about self-empowerment and as a result is immensely uplifting. I don't mean to push techno music on people who hate it, but many people who didn't think they would like it, actually do find they enjoy getting into the groove of it. This is a great film for understanding the profundity of rave culture. I first saw this on TV and it may still be shown here and there. You can also get it on Netflix or at your local DVD rental store, if you still have one. I rented my copy at Casa Video. See a trailer here.

STRONGMAN

Sat, 14 May 2011 20:28:41 +0100

STRONGMAN, AN UNEXPECTED TALE OF SELF-EMPOWERMENT.

I had expectations of seeing the spiritual development of the subject of the documentary, Stan, who markets himself as "Stanless Steel" the strongest man in the world at bending steel and metal. And at first those expectations were met. Stan is very concerned with eating and living well. He is extremely self-reflective and strives to make his emotional and physical life as clean as possible.

He is very disciplined even in the face of an extremely dysfunctional family. Stan lives with his submissive and unconditionally supportive live-in girlfriend, Barbara. His nuclear family lives in a fixer-upper home out in the country. His grandmother is a complete invalid and Stan often helps his mother care for her. His father seems very supportive of his strongman career, but we see him lounging on the couch most of the time. His brother is a meth-addict who also lives at home. I can see that Stan would have a lot of childhood issues to deal with. So I am impressed with his quest for self-empowerment and self-knowledge.

This documentary was very skillful at taking the audience into a very intimate relationship with Stan and Barbara. We get to see after awhile that Stan is self-centered and emotionally selfish. This self-centeredness at times seemed to keep him from seeing opportunities for self-promotion and effective marketing of his business. I could also see that the strongman field of entertainment often attracts ineffectual and sleazy marketing agents. Stan prides himself on doing real acts of strength. In Stan's efforts to perform on TV, he encounters other strongman performances that are based on tricks rather than real displays of physical strength. As a result, he gets disillusioned with the "big time" of strongman performances in the media.

The subjects of documentaries are often very affected by having the camera focused on them for a long time. I think Stan’s self-centeredness welcomed the camera’s focus. Barbara had the greatest transformation of anyone in this film. When I first saw her, I could see her suppressing her true nature to unconditionally support Stan. It made me cringe. Barbara never expressed her opinion of how he was doing things and I could see the frustration on her face. Stan was determined to make her into his MC. He constantly made her rehearse and create speeches introducing him on stage before his performances. It was apparent that she did not enjoy doing that but did it anyway to be dutiful. Funnily enough, Stan showed great potential for being an MC and Barbara showed great potential for being a performer.

The documentary later focuses on Barbara's past. We see photos of her when she was a model in high school and after graduation. She was stunning. Now she is in her 50’s like Stan, but you can tell underneath the extra weight she carries that she still has the beauty of a fashion model. Barbara is also a very intelligent person. She's another example of how women oppress themselves for their man.

Spoiler Alert: Near the end of the film, Barbara decides she's had enough of only being Stan's support and not having Stan return any interest or support in her own life. She tells him what she wants and they decide to live apart but continue their relationship. She still feels an attachment to him but demands equal support and appreciation. Way to go, Barbara! To Stan's credit, he works on trying to give her what she requested. It was a joy to see that. This is a start.

This film is still in art-house theaters and will come out on DVD in the near future. Check Netflix and/or your local video store (if you still have one). Check here for a schedule of screenings and go here for a trailer.

ORGASM, INC.

Sun, 01 May 2011 17:45:20 +0100

Orgasm, Inc.,: Exploring the myth of female sexual dysfunction.

Warning: Explicit scientific terms used to describe female sexuality.

This documentary explores the myth of female sexual dysfunction and follows pharmaceutical companies that are trying to cash in on it. Since most women do not achieve vaginal orgasm during intercourse, and most men do, the medical and pharmaceutical industries have taken the opportunity to declare that the majority of women suffer from sexual dysfunction.

The media happily promotes this new "disease" for women. And as we can see in the film, Oprah, the most high profile TV talk show host in the U.S. and "defender" of women's issues, supports the lie about female sexual dysfunction. Shame on you, Oprah! The film interviews various women involved in this industry who are exploiting their own sex for the almighty buck.

Because of media-hype, many women have been brainwashed into thinking that there is something wrong with them sexually. One middle-age woman who was interviewed actually felt so badly about her inability to achieve vaginal orgasm, that she became the first to try out the "Orgasmatron," a machine, developed by Dr. Stuart Meloy an anesthesiologist from NC, that would create vaginal orgasms with the push of a button. The machine consists of a device that will send an electric stimulus through a wire which is surgically implanted along the spinal cord. Ideally, the woman, implanted with the wire, merely pushes a button on the hand-held device connected to the wire to regulate the timing and intensity of the orgasmic-like stimulus. Spoiler alert: The machine only partially worked for this woman. She had it taken out and had a great realization that there was nothing wrong with her sexually. Her epiphany was awesome and profound to see.

I thought I knew about all the tricks of the trade that pray on women's feelings of inadequacy to get them to use female Viagra and other sexual-enhancing devices. But I was appalled how the plastic surgery industry was getting into the act. As you can see from an interview in the trailer, the latest trend is laser vaginal rejuvenation to tighten the labia or make both sides of the labia even. (Why?) They can also reconstruct the hymen and make your private parts look anyway you like. It's unbelievable and can be very dangerous to one's health and sexuality.

Despite the ridiculousness of the horrors the medical industry was trying to force on women, in this documentary there was a great sense of acknowledgment and respect for women's sexuality. I saw this film at the Loft Cinema in Tucson, AZ. After the screening, there was a Q&A with two women researchers in the field of women's sexuality. At first I thought this would be a stupid idea, but it really opened up the audience to discuss sexual issues. One highlight for me during the Q&A was a comment by a young man expressing his struggles with feeling sexually confident with women. He had finally realized, I think before seeing this film, that most women do not achieve vaginal orgasms which freed him to become more accepting, comfortable and creative in the bedroom. I'm sure that guy is getting a lot of female attention now.

All in all, I totally recommend this film. It was more than entertaining and educational for me. I found it to be quite profound. It can be a great date movie, especially if you want to improve your intimacy. Even though this film is still being screened in theaters by special showings, you can rent it on NetFlix. Depending on where you are, you may be able to get it at your locally-owned video store, if you still have one. See a trailer here.