Rorschach's Journal

I beg your pardon, I don't mean to blog with such consistency. But after an encounter with Rorschach in Watchmen, I felt compelled to write. Such truth in Rorschach's words; they were in line with the thoughts in the book "Satan & The Problem Of Evil", which I'm currently studying.

For some, the movie Watchmen was a total waste of time. I, personally, felt it was a good movie, excluding the gore as I'm no fan of extreme violence. It was a little draggy, and certain parts were illogical if you were to reason, but hey, it's a movie after all, right? The music was also fantastic. The movie opened with Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin", and tracks throughout include Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence", Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable", and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". It cuts, therefore, as one good movie on the whole.

I used to attribute all kinds of suffering, evil, mishap, accident, and sorrow to God. I believed that there is a divine purpose for all these to happen. But after reading (still in the process of) the book "Satan & The Problem Of Evil", I realised that Augustine's blueprint worldview (the view of the world rooted in the assumption that behind every specific event there is a specific divine reason as to why it was ordained or at least allowed to take place) may not be as flawless as it seemed after all.

For how can we attribute that which is evil to a God who is good by nature? If all kinds of evil are part of God's divine plan, how can we be blamed and be justly punished for them? If it's so, God is the author of evil, and therefore we are absolved of responsibility for all our actions, because it is God who ultimately determines what we want and what we do. And so, I began a quest to look further into this matter, as I've always questioned the origins of evil, and why we're morally responsible for it.

Rorschach was a sociopath, a lunatic, branded by people around him who don't see life as he does. But I see Rorschach as more of a Christian than a psycho. Rorschach believed in moral absolutism and moral objectivism. In his world, good and evil are clearly defined, and evil must be violently punished. For this cause, he alienated himself from the rest of the society. From his words, it was also clear that he held the postapostolic father's views concerning evil. He believed in incompatibilistic freedom. God created all of us (even Satan and angels) with a free will; the ability and self-determining freedom to choose. We are the ultimate cause and explanation of our actions. In one scene, Rorschach said that it wasn't God who made the world the way it was (referring to the war-torn world with constant nuclear threats). He said it was us, humans.  

And as I read, I came upon the trinitarian warfare worldview, which combines belief in the Trinity with a recognition of the war-torn nature of this world. It's a view of the world that understands that there are good and bad spirits significantly involved in the affairs of the world. It argues that the scope and intensity of suffering and evil we experience in this world are only adequately accounted for when viewed against the backdrop of a cosmic war between God and Satan. Satan and his angels have their free will and therefore, they have the ability to thwart God's plan. But God will always work with his people to bring good out of evil, often with such effectiveness that it may seem that the evil was planned all along. [Extracts from Satan & The Problem Of Evil]

This is a huge subject to cover in a blog post. My attempts in elaboration are futile to a certain extent I believe, but nevertheless, they are essential. I've only covered a chapter of the book, but I've gained new perspectives and insights concerning the problem of evil. It is time we break free from the cliche of comforting ourselves that it's part of God's divine plan when things screw up or when evil occurs. The fact that this world looks like a warzone is because it is a world at war. Therefore, we as Christians, are all in this war together, to defeat the evil forces of Satan.

Let us stand firm in our beliefs, as we strive to battle against the formidable opponent, Satan and his angels. We may fall, now and then, but as Rorschach's final words go: We should never compromise; even if it's Armageddon.

No Country For Old Men

Alright, folks. Not exactly the best person to write posts on movies but I'm compelled to do so. For the always-surfing-the-net-and-reading-movie-posts people, don't be disappointed or disgusted with this. Just. Bear with it.

*WARNING : Spoilers Ahoy*

The Story
1980, West Texas. In a voiceover, the local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) tells of the changing times as the region becomes increasingly violent. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), while hunting pronghorn, stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone awry. Corpses, guns, vehicles are seen everywhere. One surviving Mexican is seen asking Moss for "Agua" (water). Moss ignores him and walks around, inspecting the site. After a fair bit of observation, he finds the ultimo hombre under the shade with the coveted 2 million in a satchel. Finders, keepers, and Moss goes home with the satchel to his waiting wife. Later in the night, he suffers a pang of conscience and returns with water for the dying Mexican. Incidentally, returning gangsters discover him and this sets off a cat-and-mouse game for the 2 million.

Chigurh, a professional hitman, has been hired to retrieve the satchel of money. Chigurh comes in at the beginning of the movie, apprehended by a deputy sheriff for possession of a captive bolt pistol. He escapes custody by strangling the deputy while handcuffed. Now two parties are hunting for Moss, Chigurh and the Mexican gangsters. Moss sends his wife back to her mom's in Odensa, while he rents a motel and hides the satchel of money in a vent. Unknowingly to Moss, there is a hidden radio transponder inside the money which enables Chigurh to track Moss down via the corresponding receiver. At the same time, the Mexicans track Moss down and wait inside his room to ambush him. Moss, however, realises the danger when he returns and rents an adjacent room and retrieved the money through the vent. Chigurh kills all 3 Mexicans in the room before realising that Moss has escaped with the satchel.

Chigurh continues his hunt using the receiver before locating Moss in another hotel. By now, Moss realises that a device is being used to track him. A firefight ensued and spills onto the streets. Moss escapes once again, heavily wounded, and Chigurh not any better, with a wounded leg from a shotgun blast. Moss awakes in a Mexican hospital, only to be greeted by another operative hired by the drug buyer, Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson). He offers to save Moss' life in return for the money. Moss rejects, Wells returns to his room, and is killed by Chigurh just as Moss calls the room. In the phone conversation, Chigurh offers a deal in which Moss' wife will be spared if Moss forfeits the money, but Moss would still be killed. Moss rejects.

Moss calls his wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) and tells her that he will give her the money and send her away, and says that once he finds Chigurh and kills him, he will join her. In a conversation between Carla Jean and Sheriff Bell, Carla asks Bell for help and protection for Moss. Bell gives his word that Carla's man will not be harmed. Unfortunately, Moss was found and killed by the Mexicans in a shootout as Sheriff Bell arrives a little too late. Carla Jean arrives later and discovers the death of her husband.

Some time later Bell visits his Uncle Ellis (Barry Corbin), an ex-lawman. Bell is planning to retire due to his weariness of the changing times, but Ellis points out that the region has always been violent. Ellis then tells him a story about Uncle Mac who was gunned down in his own porch. At the end of the conversation, Ellis says, "What you got ain't nothing new. This country is hard on people. You can't stop what's coming. Ain't all waiting on you. That's vanity."

In the meantime, Chigurh locates Carla Jean in the home of her deceased mother. They had a conversation and Carla was told that Chigurh gave Moss his word that she would die if Moss did not hand over the money. Chigurh then says that Moss used the opportunity to save her to try to save himself. Chigurh reconsiders and offers Carla Jean the same "coin flip" opportunity previously given to a shopkeeper. Carla Jean however refuses and says that she knew what was in stored for her. She says that the coin has no say, but it's just Chigurh. The scene ends with Chigurh leaving the house, carefully checking the soles of his boots, an indication, maybe, that Carla was killed. As Chigurh drives away, he was involved in a serious car accident. He paid some money to two kids on bicycles for one of their shirts before turning it into a sling for his broken arm with a jutting bone. He leaves the scene before the police arrive.

The film ends with Bell at home, now retired, reflecting on his life choices. Bell relates to his wife (Tess Harper) two dreams he had, both involving his deceased father who was also a lawman. Bell reveals that in the first dream, he lost some money his father gave him. In the second dream, they were both riding horses through a snowy mountain pass. He sees his father carrying fire in a horn, quietly passed by Bell with his head down. He was "goin' on ahead, and fixin' to make a fire" in the surrounding dark and cold. When Bell got there, his father will be waiting. Bell ends the story with, "Then I woke up."

Certain information, facts, and casting names are courtesy of Wikipedia.

Interesting stuff
There are few interesting things in the movie which captured my attention. They are :

1) Captive bolt pistol - Also known as cattlegun, used by Chigurh in blowing locks and killing his victims.

2) The conversations - The story was filled with interesting and intelligent conversations with an accent which was potrayed very well by the actors.

3) The story - It was a great movie, with a sort of open-ended conclusion. Not one where everything is predictable. One of the few movies where the antagonist (Chigurh) lives while the protagonist (Moss) dies. Injuries, deaths, and bombings were all realistically portrayed.

That's about it folks, a movie that got me thinking. =)

Thousand Summers

A brief synopsis of a very touching episode of Futurama : Jurassic Bark can be found here.

For those who've never watched Futurama before, check it out. This episode really touched me alot, especially the ending part. Fry was wrong about Seymour. Seymour waited for him to return until the day of his death. For a moment, my heart was seized with grief and sorrow. Futurama was supposed to be a comedy. What happened?

And for a moment, I thought about my own dog back home. And my fishes. And my friends. And my family. I will be back, Sasha. Wait for me.


I Will Wait For You
If it takes forever I will wait for you
For a thousand summers I will wait for you
Till you're back beside me, till I'm holding you
Till I hear you sigh here in my arms

Anywhere you wander, anywhere you go
Every day remember how I love you so
In your heart believe what in my heart I know
That forevermore I'll wait for you

The clock will tick away the hours one by one
Then the time will come when all the waiting's done
The time when you return and find me here and run
Straight to my waiting arms

If it takes forever I will wait for you
For a thousand summers I will wait for you
Till you're here beside me, till I'm touching you
And forevermore sharing your love.

From the musical Umbrellas of Cherbourg.