Coco is a Horror Story

 Warning: spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen Coco then why are you reading this blog post?

Note: This blog post discusses the belief system in the movie Coco. This is not a discussion or criticism of the actual Día de Muertos.

Remember when Pixar and Disney released Coco, that heart warming movie about honoring and remembering your family?

Remember how awesome it looked on screen with its amazing use of color?

Remember how you cheered when Miguel realized that Hector was his great-great grandfather all along? And how you cried a little when Coco finally remembered Hector?

Remember how you sat at the back of the movie theater and realized that buried underneath this lovely family movie was a premise so disturbing it turned Coco into a horror story?

No? Oh wait, that was me.

My over analytical brain screamed at me that Pixar had inadvertently portrayed the Land of the Dead as a purgatory (at best). It definitely wasn’t a version of heaven.

Why? Because although the premise of the Land of the Dead, as setup by Pixar, seems straightforward and innocuous, it harbors some alarming implications.

First off, the Land of the Dead seems to use the following rules.

1. When you die, you go to the Land of the Dead.

2. To remain in the Land of the Dead you need to be remembered by someone in the Land of the Living. The Pixar setup specifically moves away from the concept of family remembering you, to being remembered by anyone at all (for example, fans).

3. If no one remembers you, you ‘die’ a second time by disappearing.

4. The longer you continue to be remembered in the Land of the Living, the better off your ‘lifestyle’ in the Land of the Dead. Ernesto de la Cruz, who continues to be worshiped as a musical legend, seems to be having a great time despite being dead.

In the movie we discover that the character of Ernesto stole all of his songs from another man. Hector was once Ernesto’s partner in a singing duo. When Hector tried to leave, Ernesto decided to murder Hector and steal his guitar and songs. As this is a Pixar movie, Ernesto’s skullduggery is revealed, and Hector is restored to his rightful place as the songs’ creator. He is now remembered, and can continue to ‘live’ in the Land of the Dead. Ernesto, presumably, slinks off into oblivion to eventually disappear.

Here’s the problem... There appears to be no method or mechanism in the Land of the Dead to determine if you should be admitted or not. Osiris isn’t there weighing up the quality of souls before they enter nor is St. Peter, or any other type of eternal being. Ernesto is a straight out murderer and thief and he gets to keep living the sweet life even after he’s dead. Nothing happens to him. He would have continued having his excellent afterlife of fame and fortune if not for Miguel (that pesky kid). As long as Ernesto was remembered and revered, nothing happened to him.

At this stage, The Land of the Dead could be seen as a type of purgatory where everyone hangs out until they get sorted into other planes of existence. But there’s no sign of that ever happening in the movie. Your continued existence in the Land of the Dead is based on a popularity contest.

The more you’re remembered, the longer you stay, the better your lifestyle. That’s why Ernesto is having such a good time. He was famous down on Earth and his fame has carried over into the Land of the Dead. He only loses his place in the pecking order when Miguel (a living person) discovers the truth and remedies the situation.

Meanwhile, Hector is having an awful afterlife. Coco is the only living person who remembers Hector and her memory is fading. Hector is in dire straits and down on his luck. Hector may have been a dedicated family man in the Land of the Living, as well as a talented singer/songwriter, but the Land of the Dead doesn’t know and doesn’t care.

The Land of the Dead is as blind and unknowing as the Land of the Living. Whatever heinous acts someone committed in secret remains undiscovered even after they’re dead.

And then the implications for this version of the Land of the Dead get worse. As discussed, the rule seems to be that your lifestyle in the Land of the Living gets translated into the Land of the Dead. The more popular you were while alive, the more likely you’ll remain ‘alive’ in the Land of the Dead, as long as someone remembers you. The richer you were when alive, the better your accommodation when dead. There’s one very big problem with this rule–there are plenty of people who have been truly horrendous and are remembered fondly by their followers.

There are plenty of very rich people in the Land of the Living who will be remembered long after they’re dead, even though they were terrible human beings.

Somewhere in Pixar’s version of the Land of the Dead, Hitler along with assorted serial killers and despots, is having a terrific time. And neither he, nor any of his evil friends are in any danger of disappearing any time soon.

And that is why Coco is a goddamned horror story.

In Praise of Wendy Torrance

I saw The Shining when it was first released all those decades ago. The responses by critics were mixed and I remember thinking that Jack Nicholson’s and Shelley Duvall’s performances were extreme. Especially Shelley Duvall. Wendy seemed like a meek housewife who did nothing but cry and run around screaming.

Stephen King said exactly the same thing, “(S)he’s basically just there to scream and be stupid, and that’s not the woman that I wrote about.” I’d also read the book and, like Stephen King, I was disappointed with Stanley Kubrick’s interpretation of the novel. But despite it all, I’ve seen the movie multiple times and over the years my fondness for it has grown.

The Shining recently turned up on Netflix and I sat down for another viewing. As I watched I found myself re-evaluating the character of Wendy Torrance. I also gained a new respect for Kubrick’s casting choices. Shelley Duvall’s physical look (the large eyes and slight build), along with the quality of her voice makes us subconsciously assume that Wendy Torrance is a pushover. A woman too child like to ever stand up for herself–a dull person without much interest in the world. A woman who, rather than leave her husband when he injured her child, remained in the marriage.

However, Wendy’s actions are in complete contrast to her appearance and her words. She’s an intelligent woman who goes up against evil and wins.

Let’s take a look at Wendy’s actions and how they reveal that Wendy is a strong and intelligent woman. Something that her surface emotions and appearance don’t convey.

When we’re first introduced to Wendy and Danny, she’s reading The Catcher in the Rye. The main room is packed with books. The coffee table holds a copy of The New York Review. The subtext seems to be that Wendy is the voracious reader in the family. When Wendy is talking with the doctor, the titles of the books can’t all be seen, but the ones that can be viewed reveal a wide spectrum of genres.

When the Torrance family arrive at the hotel and settle into a routine, Wendy is the one who keeps the hotel running. She’s the one that checks the generators and checks the phone lines. She’s the one that contacts the rangers’ station when she realizes the phone lines are down. When Wendy and Danny go into the maze they’re able to walk to the center (after a wrong turn or two), and navigate their way out again. When Jack has his terrifying nightmare at his desk, Wendy immediately runs to him to see if she can help. When Danny appears in the room she tries to get Danny to go upstairs while she helps her husband. When she thinks Danny has been hurt by Jack, she doesn’t hold back in her opinion, and rushes Danny out of the room.

Thinking someone else may be in the Overlook with them, Wendy is the one that gets a baseball bat. When Jack begins to threaten her on the stairs, she initially tries to warn him off, but when he lunges, she smacks him in the head. Then she drags him down into the kitchen and locks her violent crazy husband in the storage locker. After that she grabs a knife and heads into the garage to use the snow cat. But the snow cat has been sabotaged.

Back in their bedroom, when Jack enters with an axe, she quickly gets herself and Danny into the bathroom and locks the door. Then she lowers Danny to safety out of the bathroom window. Trapped in the bathroom after Danny’s escape, she positions herself close to the door and cuts Jack’s hand with a knife. After Jack leaves, and despite being terrified out of her mind, she exits the bathroom to try and find Danny.

In the final minutes of the movie, Wendy bundles Danny into the functioning snow cat left outside by Dick Halloran and drives away from the hotel and towards safety.

Wendy’s actions (what she does) and Wendy’s emotional state are in complete contrast with each other. How Wendy speaks seems boring and uneducated, but Wendy has all the hallmarks of a woman masking her intelligence. She says what she needs to get along, and to ensure her husband’s rampant entitlement and ego remain intact. And yes, there’s the unfortunate scene earlier in the movie where Wendy appears to justify Jack dislocating Danny’s arm. But the look on her face implies that Wendy has been scared of her husband for a very long time. Later, Wendy screams, sweats and cries her way around the Overlook, clearly frightened out of her mind. But who wouldn’t be a nervous wreck dealing with a psychopath of a husband, cut off from the outside world in a haunted malevolent hotel?

Now, let’s contrast Wendy with Jack. Isn’t Jack Torrance wonderful? So bright, so creative. A former school teacher (and therefore an educated pillar of the community), and a writer. He’s working on a new project.

In the interview for the caretaker’s position, and at the hotel, he talks about his writing. His demeanor says that as a writer he should be held in high regard. His conversations about his writing go unchallenged. Once the family has moved to the hotel, rather than go outside and take a walk with his wife, he brushes her off. He should, “Try to do some writing first.”

Jack’s words keep saying, “I’m a writer Goddammit. And I’m important.”

And just to reinforce this message, we’re introduced to how little Jack knows about Wendy during the job interview and what he thinks about certain other fiction genres. When Stuart Ullman tells Jack about the Grady murders, Jack responds, “As far as my wife is concerned, I’m sure she’ll be absolutely fascinated when I tell her about it. She’s a confirmed ghost story and horror film addict.” This is followed by a smile and dismissive laugh from Jack and Stuart.

But what do Jacks’ actions say? First off he thinks dragging his wife and child up a mountain to live in isolation is a good way to get a book written. Despite having zero ideas. Once he’s settled into the hotel, he does nothing except throw a ball around, and sleep until 11.30 AM. His wife takes care of Danny, keeps their apartment clean, cooks the meals, and keeps the hotel running. He doesn’t lift one finger to help her. In a moment of irony, she serves him breakfast on a silver platter, signifying Jack’s position as king of this particular castle. Jack Torrance is also a dry drunk. He spends a lot of time complaining and justifying his decisions and actions to Lloyd.

Although it’s not stated outright, the implications in the film is that Jack may have been fired from his position as a schoolteacher. He’s been an alcoholic for a long time. His dreams of being a writer, are just that–dreams. He probably has a habit of hauling his family from place to place thinking a new town will fix his life. Wendy says at the start of the movie that they moved to Boulder three months ago from Vermont. Her husband, “(...) was teaching school there.”

Jack’s actions show how much he hates the woman in his life who does everything for him. He’s thinks that whatever Wendy does isn’t enough. She should offer him encouragement, but the right kind of encouragement. She should automatically understand what he wants without him having to express it. She should do all of the work because he’s too talented and creative to hold an ordinary job. When Jack decides to kill her, she should just lie down and accept it like any good wife would.

And that is the genius of Stanley Kubrick. A surface viewing of The Shining seems to show a frail, stupid, hysterical woman pitted against a powerful intelligent man and the evil forces of the Overlook hotel. The woman spends a lot of time running around screaming and reacting to whatever is happening in the moment.

Another viewing of the The Shining shows a woman who decides that this time around, she’s not taking any more abuse from her husband and she’s not going to let her son be hurt a second time. She does everything in her power to escape with her child.

Wendy Torrance is a bad ass.

Is an Artist Rebelling Against the System Just What the System Wants?

We’re artists. The world seems terrible. We don’t want to be stuck in an open plan office. We want to hide and produce art. But what if escape, rebellion, and disillusionment have been co-opted by the system for its own purpose?

Things YouTube Has Taught Me: Call Centers for Rich People Also Suck

I bumped into this amusing YouTube video earlier in the week. I have no idea why YouTube recommended it to me. Maybe it was because I accidentally viewed a video about umbrellas the week before. For whatever reason the algorithm decided to highlight it for me, and there it was, waiting to be clicked. Out of curiosity I did and it is pure comedy gold.

It turns out issues with call centers are the same for everyone, even if that everyone bought a $500,000 Rolls Royce Dawn.

The scenario starts with the owner talking about the Rolls Royce umbrella. Rolls Royce puts an umbrella in the door frame of the car so that you can pull it out and not get wet (well, more to the point, your chauffeur can). The owner does not know how the umbrella works.

So, the owner decides to call Rolls Royce (because he thinks the instructions won’t be in the manual). Only BMW answers the call. Because they own Rolls Royce. And there in follows the typical exchange where the call center is utterly unhelpful, although in a pleasant way, while passing the call from person to person, and offering precisely zero information.

Skip through to 3:10 to see the start of the umbrella dilemma and then to 12:26 to hear a high-end call center for a very expensive car in action. Then keep watching for the attempt at reading the owner’s manual, which doesn’t quite spell out how to open the umbrella but hints at the correct technique by describing how to close the umbrella.

The upshot of this video is: despite paying huge sums of money for a car, the owner’s manual is still terrible, and the call center can’t help.

Somehow this makes me feel better about my average lifestyle.

Nothing to do with Writing but Funny

 This has zero to do with writing. But it might cheer you up. Also contains some advice for aliens–I mean people–who are chasing their dreams.

Procrastinate by Watching this Helpful Video about Procrastination

 A video about possible solutions to procrastination from Tim Ferris. It might be helpful. Or it might let you avoid writing for ten minutes. Whatever works.

The Tale of the Unbending Thumb

 I haven’t posted for months. This was because during my enthusiastic push to finish some outstanding home maintenance, I wrecked the tendon in my left thumb. Well, perhaps not wrecked. I mean it was still there. It’s just that it would no longer bend without making a horrible clicking sound, and as time wore on it would bend but not bend back. (I discovered that people freak out when other people have a thumb bent at an odd angle and it stays there.) And finally, it didn’t bend at all. It stayed permanently straight for two and a half months.

And just to really annoy me, it hurt to type.

So, I scaled back a bit and dedicated my limited keyboard hours to my second book (first novel), and everything else got shoved to one side. Like this blog. And the stories I intended to post to Wattpad. And loads of other stuff.

On the good side, at long last I had an excuse to hire a housekeeper (and when I say ‘housekeeper’ I mean a local teenager who needs to save money for nursing school). “It’s me tendon, see. It don’t bend like it used to. Can’t do no cleaning around the house as it hurts me delicate widdle hand. And I’m old. Me knees. Me knees...” The physiotherapist told me that being lazy seemed to be helping as every time I tried to mop my floor, or vacuum the carpet I made my thumb worse. Encouraged by a valid medical reason to shirk my household duties, I promptly hired someone to weed my garden.

Two weeks ago my thumb suddenly started to bend again without causing me blinding pain. Ironically it was when I was getting an ultrasound for my thumb so the physiotherapist could figure out what was going on. He seemed vaguely disappointed that my thumb had decided to cooperate as he’d been pushing for a steroid injection for weeks. 

But I’m not complaining as here I am, right at the end of August (having injured it in May), with a working thumb.

I guess I’d better start blogging again...