#predestination
Moon Knight 102: Strong Women, Bad Bosses, and Predestination
“Summon the Suit” had strong performances by Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawk, but not enough attention has gone to May Calamawy’s performance. Layla’s anger, hurt, confusion, and gradually dawning realization of her husband’s psychological condition is crucial for selling the idea that this whole affair isn’t just an elaborate hallucination on Steven’s part. To that end I have to call out the directors for not giving her more reaction shots to drive home what she’s going through. Two more seconds before the knock on the door wouldn’t have killed the runtime, guys!
We also found out more about Marc Spector and his work. My first thought on learning the shitty details of Marc’s relationship with Khonshu was, “Nice touch, writers. There’s nothing more relatable to a contemporary audience than an abusive employer.” You’d think that after all those millennia of dealing with humans he would’ve picked up some social skills.
Unsociable though he may be, Khonshu may well be right about Arthur Harrow having no conscience. Arthur has been seduced by the comfort of predestination. It’s the religious equivalent of athlete’s foot – itchy, embarrassing, and tends to come back just when you think you’ve finally got rid of it.
If you overuse the concept of good and evil and take it too seriously, there’s a number of rabbit holes you can get drawn down. One of them is the idea that everyone’s eventual goodness score can be known in advance. This is called “predestination”, a doctrine that’s bedevilled Christianity for centuries and recently staged a comeback. That’s led to the fairly recent science fiction speculation on punishing the guilty before they commit a crime. This can lead to all sorts of theoretical ethical dilemmas, but what isn’t theoretical is the toxic effect that knowing one is among the Elect, the Calvinist term for all those who have been prejudged to be “good”, has on people. 19 out of 20 tend to have a smug arrogance in their own superiority, content to know that God has pre-approved their every conceivable action, rather like the holder of a pre-paid credit card. But 1 out of 20 is going to be aggressive and act on the knowledge that their every conceivable action has been pre-approved, no matter how heinous. That’s bad. What’s worse is when that one aggressive person convinces the 19 more passive ones to enable his violent schemes without question because they must automatically be “good”. That toxic stew has corrupted many a church, and it looks like it has its claws in Arthur’s community as well.
Looking forward to #3.
Reblog and put in the tags what movie plot twist genuinely made you go
A Hidden Life (2019, Terrence Malick)
A Thousand and One Nights (1969, Eiichi Yamamoto)
Brighton Rock (2010, Rowan Joffe)
Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974, Jacques Rivette)
Charlie’s Angels (2000, McG)
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003, McG)
Closely Watched Trains (1966, Jiri Menzel)
Dottie Gets Spanked (1993, Todd Haynes) (Short)
Greta (2018, Neil Jordan)
GUO4 (2019, Peter Strickland) (Short)
Hail Satan? (2019, Penny Lane)
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004, Danny Leiner)
I Am Keiko (1997, Sion Sono)
Knives Out (2019, Rian Johnson)
Lisa and the Devil (1973, Mario Bava)
Notting Hill (1999, Roger Michell)
Pirahna 3D (2010, Alexandre Aja)
Predestination (2014, Michael & Peter Spierig)
Psychout for Murder (1969, Rossano Brazzi)
Santa Sangre (1989, Alejandro Jodorowsky)
Searching (2018, Aneesh Chaganty)
Senso (1954, Luchino Visconti)
Shadow (2018, Zhang Yimou)
The Demoniacs (1974, Jean Rollin)
The Immigrant (2013, James Gray)
The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954, Kenneth Anger) (Short)
The Living Dead Girl (1982, Jean Rollin)
The Palm Beach Story (1942, Preston Sturges)
Two Orphan Vampires (1997, Jean Rollin)
Valkyrie (2008, Bryan Singer)
TikToker Reveals Why Teachers Are Quitting En Masse
Ah yes, bastardized Calvinism. All the modern conveniences you want — like the value of work ethic, asceticism, and investment — and nothing you don’t — like wealth moderation and providing for the common good.
Religious ideas, transplanted into new context to serve economic and political gain.
AKACapitalism — how we got here and what it’s doing to us. By: Teachers
Additional thoughts on the Mythology of Modern Economy
https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/what-calvinism-did-for-economics
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism by Benjamin Freidman
