It's odd but some of the most famous blockbuster movies dealing with
virtual reality can easily claim ancestry with Japan. Take the Matrix
for example (and ignore the sequels as we should):
Remember that? The movie that ushered in the new millennium with the bold assertion that the world we're living in is not real, but an elaborate program we're all hooked into by plugs in our bodies in a post apocalyptic world of human vs machines. Groundbreaking effects and surrealistic elements. Now its predecessor may easily be seen as Ghost in the Shell, an anime classic cyber police thriller where human/cyborg relations have progressed to such a state that many people have augmented their bodies with cybernetic attachments.
The main character has an entirely cybernetic body except for her spine and brain. Living in such a state of course brings up confusion and frustration about being human in an artificial body. The Wachowskis borrowed much from Ghost in the Shell in its thematic and cinematic elements:
A lesser known Japan/US conversion is Paprika and Inception. Paprika is 2006 anime movie about a doctor who utilizes a machine to enter the dreams of her patients to work our their inner dilemmas. The surrealism of this movie is astounding, and I'd recommend it to anyone. Know your history, People!
In my research for wikis and collective intelligence, I couldn't help but go back to M.I.A.'s 20 track mixtape that pays homage to Wiki Leaks. It's called Vicki Leekx--one of her new pseudonyms, and she released it as a free download. She's always been an advocate of the site for its whistle-blowing tactics, and the album great demonstrates such.The mixtape takes quotations directly from Assange's interview on the importance of Wiki Leaks:
We chose the right format
We leak the information to the public
And we defend ourselves against inevitable illegal and political attacks
M.I.A. greatly adheres to this idea on the site's importance in a world where the government secrets may not be as iron clad as they used to be.
In addition, she appears to relate to Wiki Leaks subversive use of the Web 2.0 world to her own status as an artist in the music industry. She states in one of the tracks, "I’m not talking about getting it for free. I’m talking about making it freer."
A more in depth analysis of the mixtape in relation to Wiki Leaks along with a free link to the download site may be found here
One of her most recent music videos of the mixtape. Titled "Bad Girls," the music video "Ouarzazate, Morocco in solidarity with the women to drive movement." Take a gander:
Whilst I was scavenging for piracy friendly bands on the Interwebs, I cam across this record label's website. The label is literally called The Collective Intelligence, and it's the project of 8 wide-spread friends. Lucky me. See, collective intelligence is defined by Dictionary.com as "aphenomenoninsociologywhereasharedorgroupintelligenceemergesfromthecollaborationandcompetitionofmanyindividuals. " These guys have just adopted the perfect moniker for their music label. They all collaborate with each other on their projects and band, and they help each other spread the word, fund the recordings, and of course sell the damn music. They have a wiki prepared for all the bands they represent, a forum board for fans to discuss the music, links for the music to be streamed or downloaded (all mostly free), and even set up a FAQ page on their site. How nice of them:
Q: What is the Collective Intelligence? A: Well, that isn't always an easy question to answer, as it is a
lot of things to a lot of people. Simply put, the CI is a group of
eight friends from very similar places (both geographically as well as
mentally) who enjoy playing music together. They've formed numerous
bands and solo and side projects over the years, and continue doing so
to this day.
Q: But isn't the CI the record label of happy-go-poppy bands such as Venus Euphoric and Ultima? A: Well, in a way, that is true. The CI is the mantle over our
collective shoulders, holding us all together where it's warm. The CI
does try to do all it can for the bands and projects to which it lays
claim. But the eight musicians who comprise the bands are essentially
the "staff" of the CI as well.
Q: Could my band sign on with the CI, like I would to a traditional record label? A: Currently, we are unable to accept outside bands/musicians.
It's not really the elitist thing that we're too cool to let anyone else
in, but rather the fact that we barely do enough for our own bands to
justify our existence, and we're certainly not in a place to be able to
help out new bands all that much.
Check it out. The bands are covering an extremely wide range of genres, and they would only ask for a donation to show your support.
It's fascinating to see the morphing of the music industry through the rise of blogging. More and more we see bands setting up obligatory blogs to stream their music in a pre-release effort to promote their music. In the case of the 5 headed beast of alternative rock (They who shall not be named)
This turned the band into legends, for they released the critically acclaimed In Rainbows digitally for free before the physical release. The fans freaked, the industry freaked, the lawyers freaked, but it all worked out in the end. The pre-release gave an opportunity to promote their album to the lazy former Napsters, who of course bragged about the album to everyone they could reach on their grubby little mouses. While the band certainly isn't the first band to do this:
Ending on a good note: Since Trent Reznor seems to be undeservedly cast in the shadow of Radiohead, I'll finish the post with the last known music video of NIN:
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I assume most of us have heard of the Directing Giant Darren Aronofsky. He directed tearjerkers like Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler and the freaky opus Black Swan-- you know the movie where Natalie Portman goes bat shit crazy . However, there's another movie in Darren's collection he doesn't want you to know about-- an anime thriller known as Perfect Blue. Aronofsky bought the American rights to the movie literally so he could steal the bathtub scene now infamous in Requiem:
But that's not all he stole. If you take a long hard look at Perfect Blue next to Black Swan, you'll get a scary little surprise. For example:
Granted, some of the BS scenes appear to only be based on PB scenes that Aronofsky evolved into his machinations, but there's an argument to be made if Aronofsky should really be writing psychosexual thrillers about young girls if shit like this happens.
But that's not what I want to REALLY talk about. Let's take a moment to examine a theme in Perfect Blue. In the 1998 movie, the lead character has recently left her pop group to pursue an acting career (I know right? Trust me, it's worth it) She's a complete tech-tard with her outdated computer, so when she finds a blog titled "Mima's Room," she's excited. The excitement dies when she discovers that someone has not only been stalking her--taking GREAT detail into her daily life--but also the creeper is writing as her pop idol persona. Throughout the movie, we're led to believe that this guy is setting up the blog because as Mima's acting career "flourishes," the blog posts get more desperate and accuse the talent agency and director of forcing her to do the raunchy shit in the tv drama she stars in. But the blogger and the crazy dude are actually two separate people suffering from the same damn delusions:
Big Twist--Spoiler Alert. Turns out that the blogger is actually Mima's female agent, who for most of the movie was a voice of reason to speak out against Mima's controversial steps toward fame (I.E. rape scenes, nude photography). She turned into this. (One of these folks is just an illusion. Guess who is who)
These two cray cray folk work to kill everyone who pose a threat to their image of Pop Idol Mima. The agent comes to believe that she is her online persona--Pop Idol Mima--and of course tries to go Highlander on the real Mima. Considering this movie was created back in the old days of online identity and chatrooms, the situation presented in the movie can serves as a scary precursor to more present cyberstalking problems. We never really think about how the web space can actually influence and ruin one's mental health. You withdraw from the world, and become this personality you've created (maybe not to the stabby effect presented in the movie). But the pleasure of creating and living as a character can be too enticing. And what's worse is that there are a multitude of ways you can find other people to encourage this behavior through chatrooms and interactive commenting : Follow the link for more & check this awesome movie!:
