The Duty Duet

[Abishai100]

In the urban basketball-drama film Above the Rim, an emotionally scarred (and retired) but gifted African-American basketball player named Thomas has to find ways to be a positive influence on a younger high school basketball star named Kyle who may be falling into the criminal element of the socially stagnant gang-crime infested American inner-city. At the end of the film, there is a watershed street-community basketball tournament in which Thomas plays on Kyle's team to help him depose of a flock of talented if not more aspiring teams.

As we watch Kyle soar to great heights in the tournament, we notice the skill and threats posed by other teams with great talents, deadly bullies, and intriguing team choreography, and we're compelled to evaluate the metaphysics of the competitive but peaceful sports arena as representative of progressive politics consciousness. "How can sports/teamwork complement our democratic aspirations for a more cohesive America?"

Imagine that the modern world of terrorism-complicated geo-political networking (e.g., European Union, United Nations, etc.) compels two Americans (one a culture icon and role model or 'celebrity,' and the other an Internet-blogging idealist and democracy advocate and graduate of a prestigious Ivy League school) to speak in public forums (press interviews, global Internet discussion boards, etc.) about the objective reality of networking obstacles.

Let's imagine this celebrity is Tom Cruise and our hypothetical Ivy League idealistic Internet-blogger is an Albanian-American named Dr. Ajay Satan (currently an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University).

This Cruise-Satan 'duet' would certainly remind us of the pro-populism politics 'spirit' that hoisted the pro-pedestrianism Cuban revolutionaries Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to the level of 'socialism diplomats' (or demi-gods!).

What 'wiggle-room' under this current media-hoarding if incendiary (i.e., criticisms about unabashed nepotism-politics and untempered chauvinism) Trump Administration do we see for entertaining ideas/stories that such a hypothetical Cruise-Satan duet would signify our practical modern civilization focus on 'people-based passions'?

If we feel comfortable and 'safe' entertaining relevant 'federalism-critique storytelling,' then we should feel better about the marketing of free-speech pride films such as All the President's Men, Milk, and Oleanna.

So here's a story about this Cruise-Satan duet I wrote regarding a video game censorship controversy (regarding a pro-war G.I. Joe film adapted video game). I want to feel like the election of a finance-wizard (and consumerism-savvy) U.S. President (Donald Trump), the first celebrity-prez since Ronald Reagan, caters to a new age social demand for 'pro-commerce storytelling.'


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Tom Cruise and Dr. Ajay Satan were considered 'society sociologists' in their respective 'realms.' Cruise was a respected American movie star and 'celebrity,' and Satan was a respected Ivy League assistant professor of psychology and pro-democracy Internet-blogger on the popular forum World Discussion Board. Cruise started talking in press interviews about the value of pluralism and tolerance to his personal interests in using the media 'market' to advertise the burgeoning of his religious group the Church of Scientology. Satan was discussing the special opportunity 'consumerism-based politics' (e.g., European Union, NATO, Wall Street, etc.) creates for more progressive traffic-based governance dialogue (i.e., illegal immigration).

As Cruise and Satan secured themselves as the premier diplomats of new age 'populism rhetoric,' writers and philosophers and designers started making comic books, avatars, history theses, and even movies about the special leadership vacuums created by traffic-heavy democracy-exam opportunism discourse (e.g., The Wolf of Wall Street). One night, Cruise and Satan both shared a similar dream while sleeping. They both coincidentally dreamt that they were visited by a fictional American comic book superhero (Cruise by DC Comics' Green Lantern --- a hero carrying a magical ring and lantern --- and Satan by DC Comics' Green Arrow --- a hero carrying magical arrows) who told them of the necessity of using popularity/influence to advertise American values!

Cruise and Satan started talking about video game content (e.g., war-biased 'G.I. Joe' games) after being inspired by their respective dream-sleep experiences. When their chatter caught wind, critics suggested that the hyping of pro-war themed 'G.I. Joe' video games would only provide unwanted fire to the already turbulent dialogue regarding the ethical content in thrill-fest media for youngsters (e.g., video games). One critic, a member of the CNN news team, suggested that considering censoring such pro-war video games could prove to be 'wise.' When Cruise heard about these censorship rumors, he felt compelled to offer the following statement in the press: "If we can't entertain the notion that our video games for kids offer images/ideas regarding challenges to American values, then we are not in touch with pedestrian passions even under this hypothetically pro-commerce Trump Administration 'dominion'!"

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Fahrenheit 451 (Film)

 

[Abishai100]

Chapter 2: The Brothers Grimm


We blame the last celebrity president (Ronald Reagan) for mismanaged capitalism (i.e., Reaganomics), so will we blame this new celebrity president (Donald Trump) for consumerism gibberish (i.e., Enron)?



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People started saying the Tom Cruise's and Dr. Ajay Satan's messages in the media had become so relevant and symbolic of new age populism politics (important for the Trump Administration) that kids were comparing Cruise and Satan to the Mortal Kombat video game warrior-avatars Johnny Cage (a slick American fight-specialist) and Raiden (Eastern god of lightning and martial arts expert). With Cruise as Cage and Satan as Raiden, it seemed there was much intriguing media chatter for the Trump Administration to consume, process, and regurgitate. One of Trump's advisors, a very shrewd former CIA-man named Wily Willis, suggested that the President do a media campaign hyping to different 'media characters' --- Johnny Depp and Jude Law!

Johnny Depp had become popular as an eclectic movie actor whose offbeat but crafted work in art-focused films such as Edward Scissorhands and The Ninth Gate made him a 'underground-art diplomat.' Jude Law had become a respected character-actor whose stimulating work in culturally intelligent films such as Artificial Intelligence and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow cemented him as a 'pedestrian cinema diplomat.' The two were in talks to make a film together, an adaptation of Grimms' Fairy Tales titled The Brothers Grimm, however, the role of the 'brothers' went to two other gem-actors Heath Ledger and Matt Damon. However, President Trump started saying in the media, "Hey, if we're going to celebrate a movie adaptation of cherished European folklore in the USA (i.e., Sherlock Holmes), I'd rather have two iconic Hollywood 'cinema diplomats' (Johnny Depp and Jude Law) play the roles than two popular 'cinema pretty-boys' (Heath Ledger and Matt Damon).

President Trump's comment generated quite a bit of buzz, as people were saying that he was obviously interested in pedestrian storytelling and cinema-art. Cruise and Satan realized, however, that the hyping of Depp and Law would surely mean the numbing of the pro-populism messages in the media they were trying to advocate (for Scientology pluralism and democratic ideals in general). Cruise decided to say in the press, "Hey, I like Depp and Law as much as anyone, and I personally think they're almost like a 'modern' Brothers Grimm for kids and adults alike to celebrate, but they are not politically investigative or symbolic, as Trump suggests." Satan wrote on World Discussion Board, "Depp and Law may be a new age Brothers Grimm, but they are not trained to deal with market-complexity issues such as pro-capitalism censorship (a modern rendition of McCarthyism and Nazism) like Cruise and I are."

When Depp and Law got wind of such sentiments which downplayed how President Trump was hyping them in the media, they decided to retort to the critique that they were not socially investigative by offering to make a Sherlock Holmes film, but while Law got the part as Holmes' dependable assistant Watson, the part of Holmes went to Robert Downey, Jr. (not Depp). The Sherlock Holmes film was a satisfactory success, and it even spawned a sequel. The Trump Administration decided to promote the marketing of the film as evidence that any citizen is capable of engaged folk imagination. "Sherlock Holmes is popular (just like comic books these days) again, since Americans are concerned about civics, justice, and urban sanity in this age of commerce and traffic!" Trump stated. However, a deranged psychopath heard this statement by Trump and decided to copycat the American horror film character Leatherface (the fictional chainsaw-wielding cannibal from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror film franchise) just to see if Jude Law really was worthy of portraying Sherlock Holmes' detective-assistant Watson!

Cruise and Satan both read the story of a serial killer calling himself 'Leatherface' who already killed five police officers (all LAPD). The killer left a note which read, "Behold! I am the 'Red Dragon' here to bring forth a new Dark Age of knights and wizards and to challenge the claim that Jude Law is the appropriate Watson for Sherlock Holmes and shrewd enough to decode real 'civilization mysteries' such as the bloodlust reign of the Harlot of Babylon (Biblical)!" Cruise and Satan both remarked that if nothing was done, President Trump's comments regarding the 'accessibility' of media-character streamlining (i.e., Depp and Law) would result in all kinds of anti-media fanaticism (especially once the press started 'romanticizing' the 'work' of this 'Leatherface copycat-psycho' the same way Charles Manson was years ago). So, Cruise and Satan decided to start making pro-leadership comments such as, "Perhaps we [Cruise and Satan] are indeed like the Mortal Kombat avatars Johnny Cage and Raiden, as young people and video-game fans have been saying, so the Trump Administration needs to pay heed to the real world processes that make consumerism idols!"

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JOHNNY CAGE (CRUISE) and RAIDEN (SATAN):

JOHNNY DEPP and JUDE LAW (THE BROTHERS GRIMM):

HARLOT OF BABYLON and 'RED DRAGON':