The “lala land” haters say escapism is a waste of time and just amusement but lala land is an expression of inner emotions that we all in la trying to make it face every day. It is a real truth in that sense. Moonlight on the other hand is escapism as exotic as a scifi piece in that I will never know the ghetto or that life and I get to visit distanced by screen from the hardness I and all the haters wont ever know that truth.
To be sure “Moonlight” is a masterpiece that will stand with the classics of Lang and Murnau. It is a brilliant and moving film. It saddens me how people ignore the pure quality to focus on highlighting the diversity. Despite the foreignness of the world it is set in, I did connect with Chiron. I do think “Moonlight” has universality to it but I think most praise it for being what the SJW call “important” aka not white. “Important” is a word used to silence discussion it is to say shut up and repeat after me as if life is an unending college lecture. It has become meaningless. Industry awards are inherently pointless but to give them out based on white guilt is insulting to the craftsmen.
“La La Land” is a great film as well. Shot on cinemascope, as big as the frame is the narrative and performances make it feel like a blackbox play at times. One of it’s greatest strengths that Jack Delaney reminded me of is it is sincere. Most retro old Hollywood inspired films rely on the irony: nudge nudge can you believe this used to be the pictures or that more people went to see these than the great stuff we have today. Much like Postman’s analysis of “1984” party members, Jack noted how eventually the mocking gaze becomes honest enjoyment like the party member running the antique shop front. Most are set in the time of peak Studio System especially the overserious nonironic period pieces that treat the subject like a simpler time as a background to smolder in front of. “La La Land” embraces cinema’s history and the timelessness of the struggles to succeed creatively. Set in present day, it challenges us to question our emotions and what we value. It is beyond postmodern pastiche and is a Hollywood jazz musical about love and not the empty Coldplay love sold to us. It is not novel and that rubs the haters wrong. They are upset that their shiny new toy isn’t new or shiny but worn with age and care. That dedication to yourself and others is something more than just to be satired. That self love isn’t buyable or postable, it is a reward in itself. That the audience’s urban community isn’t a community at all but a parasite that consumed the community that existed and now is dying without a host. People hate on “La La Land” because they feel they must change after viewing.
-E.C. Fiori
The Radical Centrists 