Fade To Black

An interrogation-styled conversation is orchestrated in the office of Easy Rawlins. Driven by his fierce determination to end the rash killings birthed by Harold, he callously probed Miss Ostenberg with little to no consideration for her immediate feelings. This was hardly a subtle scene of subjective violence. No physical assault took place but Ostenberg was administered a sense of terror and subjugated with guilt. Its objective was to seek information on the whereabouts of Harold and Ostenberg proved to be stealthier, resilient and more cunning than I had imagined her to be.
“when was the last time you saw him?” asked Easy. “your not doing this over some old tools” Ostenberg stated (Mosley 270). Threatening to call her home and discuss this matter with her husband quickly subdued her resistance and neutralized (or perhaps paralyzed) her own defensiveness. “Its not right for you to do this.” She said (270). The following declaration by Easy reveals to us and Ostenberg alike that he knows that she is a black woman. “I’m not going to argue with you, lady. Either you give up Harold or you give up your white life” (270). A black woman with a skin complexion light enough to pass for a white woman. Her request was plagued with insecurity but genuine intrigue about his insight. “Do I look like a black woman to you? she pleaded.” You look like Bozo’s grandmother” (270) he said referring to her blatantly caked make up. An outright insult with the intent to induce shame and disregard her attempt at guise. He was almost unrecognizable even to himself, this is evident in his statement “ I could hardly believe how brutal I was toward the fragile, elderly woman” (270) Despite his awareness of her frail state he justified his demeanor for a dominant moral code which she indirectly had violated. “...Harold had given rise to all kinds of sorrow and the woman before me had given birth to him. She was responsible and I wouldn’t let up” (270). He goes on to explain his point of view and reason for his aggressive approach. Harold was the cause for the trauma experienced by his victims and the grievances felt by their loved ones. Ostenbergs ill raising and negligence of Harold had produced his psychotic state of mind, ultimately binding her to his dealings.
Rawlins noticed a subtle gesture in Ostenberg as he denounced Harold as a murderer and it is undeniable to his expertise what he witnessed take hold of her. An involuntary twitch. “For me it was her eyes. They opened wide at the accusation I leveled, wide and brown and down-home. She had the colored curse in her veins” (270). The phrase he used...”down-home” relates to the countryside. An accustomed way of life. In other words, he could see a gesture which he implies is familiar to him, because he is black, hence his ability to identify it in her, despite her pasty shade. His use of language is swift and quite colloquial yet subtle details do not escape his words, as they do not escape him.

The mind's terrible taste

The dominant model of our constructed world is control...or our attempt to do so, in all quarters. In our most elementary understanding of perception is that we as individuals do not consider moment to moment experiences which are not within our current field of vision as existing within our reality. Lacking the expressivity of Zizek, he nevertheless would assert that if we are not directly involved with an event at hand, a cognitive reality, then its existence is wiped out for that moment in time. Perhaps this inability to perceive all acts within our lives simultaneously is an evolutionary acquired attribute best suited to keep us centralized on our present function; remain alert and survive. This function may affect our species in ways we can only imagine taking place all the time. It blinds us so to speak, from day to day events while we perform our moment to moment procedures. I for one am unable to experience the loss of my home brought on by a hurricane or a tsunami. I can however sympathize with the concept of loss and indeed feel distressed by the inability to do anything in that situation and feel afflicted by the urgency that is required for those victims. However, experiencing an event first hand has undoubtedly a profound impact on our rational mind. It is this notion of rationality that distinguishes humans from all other predatory species. Anthropological judgements primarily claim that it is our ability to create (harness) tools, construct language and develop culture which separates us from the animal kingdom and yet it is reasonable to say that our keen self of awareness driven by our (under or over developed) Ego which guides our motives is responsible for our lack of control a many a time. A mob scene is the enunciation of introspection breathed to life.
A friend of mine affirms that "The system is structured to regulate in a chaotic environment and provide order, or at least an illusion of it." Conceivably, he is on the path to a truth, we may in fact have lost touch with the realm of chaos...unfortunately our neurotic culture is a cooperated form of consent selecting what is admissible behavior while pegging that which is not. At this point, any motion which acts in defiance of the established criterion is scrutinized for its objectionable stance, for instance a civil disorder or an insurgency. A riot is not just a violent event, but an overwhelming expression of rhythmical emotion performed by an empathic group of individuals functioning as a living, breathing organism. A riot is not random act of violence, it is nurtured by a set of grievances felt, experienced and lived by the collective consciousness of the congregation. A riot is an obligated act of unanimity. A visible development of the invisible modifications of human perceptions.

"Who did the talking then, the whip or the chain? You've got pleasure from a sentence of pain, But then they get you with the burden of shame, the true measure is the one that remains, don't wanna don't wanna, don't wanna be your pain baby, don't wanna be your pain" ---Jourgensen

The Horsemen

Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death are the couriers that we envision when doom arrives in the form of an apocalypse. An apocalypse can be experienced on a grand scale where the entire world community is aware and experiences disasters of great proportions, such as a natural disaster or hand-made ones like war. An apocalypse cannot be considered of lesser significance or life altering if it is experienced by one person whose life has been inverted in the most devastating manners. I think of Bob Dylan's "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" in which a poor man watches his family slowly starve to death, work is not attainable, his home is decrepit, his resources are rotting or infested with rats, there is no indication that he blames anyone and life as he knows it is natures cruel gears and unforgiving system. Were it not for his desperate bullets he would have had to endure a "living hell" with only death as a merciful end...
An apocalypse of sorts was felt world wide but specifically in the United States during the roaring twenties in the form of the Great Depression, this was one of numerous apocalyptic events of that era. Financial losses were felt especially harder on the working class. Many unemployed and homeless with no "bail out" in sight. Films like The Panic Is On: The Great Depression only briefly depicts a resurrection of hopes and financial stability by turning to the government. Optimism is felt and relief of such enthusiasm is greatly appreciated and needed by people. The film works wonders as it re-inspires the US.
FDR's NRA further invigorates the broken spirit of the American people. Socialist-like programs become accepted, passed and successfully employed. Medicare, Social security, Welfare, Tax subsidies to Corps, to Individuals, to farmers etc., Public schools/Universities, Community Colleges to name but a few. With a Federal budget deficit as gargantuan as is. It seems "unhealthy" for our nation to rid of such programs despite their "red" taint.

On the other hand, it can be disputed that the implementation of social programs has done slim to nil to actually change the economic standards and climate of many dependent individuals, much like our endless war on drugs. Peace.

Wolves and Hell

Be it The scapegoat tale or the birth of a nation film, they both represent a if not-so-subtle violent competition to win over the minds of the people. People are the apparent "controllers" of their own governing system. If I have learned anything thus far from reading excerpts from Gustave Le Bon's manual of thought control, his highly acclaimed The Crowd: A study of the popular mind is that, the policies and rights offered (by those who wish to govern) to any people, of any culture, of any time are not the convincing factors to win over the masses. It has become clearer in my mind, though I continue to struggle with articulating the following: that having an emotionally charged group of people can have an extremely beneficial opportunity for those who have won the hearts of the masses.
In The birth of a nation, the action packed sequences immediately generated a feeling of adrenaline, due to the music and distressed "victims" running about...there something about crowds running in fear that cause distress to any spectator...I can see how this film was influential to white men who felt the need to align and "become a hero" like those in the film. The mob mentality is almost a primal reaction, animalistic even. This brings me to mention that politics in itself is a competition amongst wolves and i have come to believe that the representative of any party must be a master of rhetoric to disguise himself a sheep, in order to persuade any voter.
As with the above mentioned contest of wolves. The scapegoat's Mr. Asbury stated "oh yes, in politics we are all lambs and the wolves are only to be found in the other party..." It was this phrase that defined the very moment when the "war" amongst these men was truly coming to a climax. I say this because it gave me an glimpse of Asbury's mind at work. But these are not fairly original concepts, as a brief understanding of the Marxist point of view would allow any reader to see that notions like these are visible (perhaps subjective) in the Capitalist system. Capitalists are in a competition amongst each other, compelling each faction to maximize profits or go under and out of business...somewhere amidst this drivel is a Darwinist upholding this methodical form of violence.
... The chilling truths of a Red Record and the inspired by truths of The lynching of Jube Benson share not only similarities in that they had similar methods of "punishment" but also in the vividly and graphic nature of violence that was illustrated through a mastery of writing. Both works use tantalizing and detailed words to accurately describe the scenes of torture, I would say they read right out of a fiction novel depicting the horror genre. Pinhead, a Clive Barker character was famous for being a guide of sorts through hell and a master of sadistic forms of torture. "Come, We have such sweet sights to show you..." is what his invitation into his realm of unspeakable terror demanded. But not even Barker could conceive of such atrocities committed by the Southern White Christians in both a Red Record and The Lynching of Jube Benson.