Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Children of Men

watched Children of Men again last night. I really love that film. It speaks to so many problems in the world. The problems of global capitalism and the way that our un-intergrated cultures inflame our differences. Inflame our fear of other cultures and thus our fear of those who come from cultures other than ours, immigrants.

On the special features there is a debate about whether the is a problem of national and cultural identity. The divide between first and second generations of immigrant families. The first generation is acculturated to the culture of the native land. The second generation can either adopt both the new and old cultures.

The coming environmental collapse will accelerate the immigration problem and we will see a Katrina style disaster on a global scale. It's frightening for me to think about the what the world will be like by the time I am fifty. I can see a future where the refugees of global warming are treated as lesser human beings.

Again and again I see the solution as merging cultures. Human beings have been "immigrating" for centuries. First from Africa to the middle east, to asia and europe. Yet, this is such a small part of public school curriculum. We need to teach our kids more about the shared global history. And it should be thought in a way that shows how we are all linked not just by history but by the global economy.

I don't understand why it is so hard for people to develop a world culture. Or even a continental culture. When I was a kid we celebrated the holiday's of other cultures. I am not Japanese, but celebrated Boy's Day and Girl's Day. Why shouldn't children in American schools celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Bastille Day, and Chinese New Year.

I have been thinking about DeStijl. DeStijl was supposed to be a new international design style. In many ways it succeeded. But, created this cold cleanliness that has no reference to art history. Maybe we need to back pedal a little and create in a way that is informed by non-western art and design. If you look at art history there were so many simple icons which communicated something deeper than traffic signs.

I'm thinking about taking a stab at this. But, it is quite ambitious for just one weeks work.

Interviewed on featurette:
Fabrizio Eva
John Gray
Naomi Klein
James Lovelock
Saskia Sassen
Tzvetan Todorov
Slavoj Zizek

NOTE TO SELF
buy land in Alaska

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