Category: Politics

There are only News and Old News.

I went to see the new Star Trek movie today. I liked it, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about here. It (or rather the title) made me think about somsething that I’ve touched upon in Piracy is Liberation.

They didn’t name it Star Trek XI, or even Star Trek: [individual movie title], even though it is the eleventh movie in the series. They named it Star Trek, like the others didn’t count. OK, considering the story in the film, that might be understandable, but I still think we can see some kind of trend here. A trend to ignore the past and make everything seem new.

Same thing with Rambo, Rocky Balboa and others I can’t think of right now. There is a history behind these films, and the contents of the films are building on this history, but in naming and marketing the thing, that history is more or less ignored.

Same thing with many of the remakes that have come in the last couple of years. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Departed, The Ring, Dark Water, Pulse, Dawn of the Dead and lots of others. Remakes of things that came from far away in time and/or space (counted from Hollywood, of course).

Of coursem you might not want to admit that the film you just made is a rermake, because it takes away some artistic merit from it. And there is some logic in making things sound new because of how the media works. News sell, even if they aren’t really news. So it’s understandable in a short-sighted capitalist perspective, but in the long run and a larger perspective, I’m wondering where it will lead (expecially if we see this trend in films and media as a sign of a cultural phenomenon in all of society)…

Who still gets surprised?

The news (Sydnytt, Sydsvenskan, Aftonbladet, DN, VG, SvD) have been interesting today. It’s about a recently released video made by the police themselves during an event last December, where the cops turn out to be violent racists.

Big surprise.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7URXWvvslY]

They talk just like I imagined they would in a situation like that. I can understand that they need to let out some steam. But when you picture yourself being on the receiving end, being the ones confronting the police, it’s not really the kind of people you want to have to meet. Even if it’s just talk (which, of course, it isn’t, as we’ve seen over and over), it’s downright scary (and scared people make their job easier, of course, but do we want to make their job easier?). Anyway. That’s not the point I wanted to make. The situation is so obvious this time that you only need to see the clip to know what it’s about. The thing I want to talk about is the media.

Swedish media, swedish politicians and swedish police representatives talk almost exclusively about how damaging this is for people’s confidence in the police. As if “we” (ethnic swedes watching the news) all have an interest in keeping “them” (immigrants, ie criminals = not ethnic swedes) friendly and respectful towards the swedish police force. Because it’s important that people trust the police. I think I’m supposed to feel at home in this “we” and share this concern about “their” respect for the forces of Order, but that won’t happen. I’m one of “them” any day.

There’s also been a lot of talk about whether what can be seen on the video is legal or not. Frankly, I don’t give a fuck about that either (although it is a concern that if there was a video of someone talking that way about cops I’m sure it coule be turned against them in court).

Very few, if any, express some kind of worry that this kind of people is the only group in society who are allowed to use violence. That these are people who get away with almost anything, simply because that’s how we organise society. There needs to be a group of people who we all agree are a little better than everyone else, a little bit more trustworthy and noble. Infallible, almost, no matter the evidence to the contrary.

If we were to appoint someone today to a position like that, would we chose these persons, who talk about violently sterilizing people, calling them monkeys because they come from somewhere else or live in a certain area or whatever? I don’t think so. I don’t hope so, at least.

I think I wouldn’t even like to put someone in that position in the first place. It seems kind of dangerous.

Maybe that’s what the discussion should be about?

Ett steg närmare kulturell kollaps…

Sorry, this is in Swedish because I started writing it in Swedish so that’s the way it came out… Normally this blog is in English, of course.
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Ang pågående fildelningsdebatt i HD…

Precis som videon när den kom på 70-talet förstörde filmbranschen, precis som kassetten när den kom förstörde musikbranschen, så kommer nu fildelningen att förstöra all kulturproduktion. Det enda som kommer att finnas kvar är kultur som produceras för producentens egen skaparglädjes skull. Vad händer med den kommersiella kulturen om vinstintresset tas bort ur beräkningen? Tänk på allt fint som skulle försvinna.

Originaliteten kommer vi också att gå miste om när alla har fri tillgång till vad andra har gjort. Och tänk på allt skräp som kommer att flöda på fildelningsnätverken. Material som inte har prövats genom att behöva godkännas av de stora produktionsbolagen för att se om det är kommersiellt gångbart. Vanliga konsumenter, gratiskonsumenter dessutom, kommer att få avgöra på egen hand vad som är bra och dåligt. Vågar vi verkligen lita på deras omdöme?

Vågar vi dessutom lita på att behovet av kultur fortfarande är så stort att någon kommer att vara beredd att se till att dess kreatörer fortfarande har en försörjning? Vågar vi lita på att företag och/eller stat kan se sig ha ett tillräckligt intresse i att kultur fortsätter produceras?

Vi kan bara hoppas…

 

Violence exhibition pt 2.

Vibracathedral Orchestra – Weaving the Magic

The Violence exhibition is up and running. So is the European Social Forum. And at the same time as Violence opened, fittingly enough, something else took place. The local cops stages a wild protest against their own union. I wonder if they had a permit for their demonstration. I wonder who will beat them up if their thing goes out of hand?

Anyway. Here’s a photo of a part of the exhibition:

The prints are 110x86cm. They can be bought for 500 SEK/copy. Contact me ( mattias@elftorp.com ) to order…

Well. That’s it. I’m going to bed.

Loop Orchestra – Cirka 1901

Sweden disgusts me.

We (the nation commonly known as Sweden) just sent another immigrant away. A guy who’s lived here for 7 years. A guy who has a wife here and who feared for his life if he was to be sent back. A guy who was already sent back once but had to return to Sweden since they didn’t let hom into Iraq if he was forced to go there against his own will.

A guy who hasn’t been heard from since he arrived in Iraq five days ago.

This is nothing new, but this time there was media coverage. Media coverage that reports that none of the authorities involved in the affair is willing to take responsibility for his disappearence. Not the police, who took him out of the country. Not the department of foreign affairs (or whatever it’s called in english) since he isn’t a Swedish citizen. And not the Immigrations authorities who decided not to let him stay here. Fucking bastards.

What I would like is for policies to actually change according to reality. If someone who claimed to be in mortal danger is sent back and disappears right after he/she sets foot in their country of origin, then don’t fucking send people there anymore.

What I also would like is for people here to physically prevent the police from taking people who are to be deported against their will to the airport. It has been done and it has worked and it should be done more often. Until policies have changed.

If someone comes to your door who is running for their life, you let them in and give them something to eat. Simple regular humanity, if there is such a thing…