Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

By

Film: A look at the High-Rise

J. G. Ballard lived a tragic life, starting with an internment in a Japanese POW camp when he was a child. The film Empire of the Sun (starring the 12yr old Christian Bale) is based on his book which fictionalized some of his childhood experiences.

Ballard’s writing is brilliant at depicting human nature as a bestiary. There’s even a word for it, Ballardian,

adjective

  1. of James Graham Ballard (1930–2009), the British novelist, or his works

  2. resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in Ballard’s novels and stories, esp dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes, and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments

I was first introduced to Ballard’s work years ago when I audited a class on the avant-garde at Princeton University taught by Craig Dworkin, a brilliant lecturer who is now teaching in Utah (it sure was Princeton’s loss), so I knew what to expect from High-Rise, the film.

Back in the olden days High-Rise would have been rated X.

It is faithful to the novel, the actors are very good, it’s visually striking . . . and yet . . .

SPOILERS AHEAD
Ballard wrote the novel High-Rise in 1975, and the film takes place in that year (or so it seems, if you go by the electronics and the cars). Tom Hiddleston plays Laing, the central character, and his decay matches that of his surroundings. High-Rise depicts the violent class war between the unwashed in the lower floors who hang Che posters on their walls and the upper crust on the upper floors who fancy ABBA music played by Baroque ensembles, all of them alienated from the rest of the world.

Like in Saramago’s Blindness, the hoi polloi have no resources in the absence of a benevolent government, so be prepared for a lot of violence, sex, gore, and garbage when they take over.

I do mean garbage, as in, piles of Hefty bags, mold, and rotting corpses.

The film ends with a child sitting outside the building listening to Margaret Thatcher, who became prime minister of the UK in 1979, give a speech on capitalism. The ending is meant to match the end of the decade.

FORTY YEARS LATER,
Yet, forty years later, the places that turned out like the High-Rise exist where socialism has taken hold. The Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea stands empty, but Caracas has its own High-Rise slum, the Tower of David,

Hugo Chávez was its slumlord.

[For fans who want to see Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Irons working together but would rather be spared the rot, I recommend The Hollow Crown instead.]

UPDATE:
Linked to by Blazing Cat Fur. Thank you!

Share

By

Venezuela: Suicide in slow-motion UPDATE

I read this article before posting this week’s Carnival but decided to post it separately, since it must be read.

Joel Hirst writes eloquently on The Suicide of Venezuela,

I know, because I have watched the suicide of a nation; and I know now how it happens. Venezuela is slowly, and very publically, dying; an act that has spanned more than fifteen years. To watch a country kill itself is not something that happens often.

Hirst describes Venezuela’s downfall as “one bad idea built upon the last in a great edifice of stupidity” – a perfect description for socialism.

The building in the article’s photo is the tower of David. Here’s a documentary on the tower I posted two years ago,

UPDATE
There’s suicide, and then there’s this:

The regime is coldly erasing through death or financial failure the historical middle to upper middle class since the only rich folks that can deal with the current situation are the ones close to the regime.

UPDATE,
Linked to by Pirate’s Cove. Thank you!

Linked to by Da Tech Guy. Thank you!

Share

By

Is Venezuela dollarizing?

Officially, they won’t, but in practice, yes:

Venezuela Embraces the Dollar—Reluctantly
Increasing dollarization reflects doubt in President Maduro’s ability to boost a sclerotic economy and halt a plummeting currency

From real estate to cars to even some cheaper goods like health-care products, an increasing number of vendors demand dollars—or its black market equivalent in bolivars, now about 350, several times the official rate. That prices out most Venezuelans, who can’t get greenbacks because of complex currency controls the government uses to prevent capital flight.

Those controls have helped exacerbate class divisions between those who hold only bolivars and those with access to dollars, undermining Mr. Chávez’s so-called Bolivarian Revolution, the social movement embraced by his successor, President Nicolás Maduro, which aims to equitably distribute wealth.

Steve Hanke saw it coming.

Worthless bolivar, replaced by hard currency, ought to not surprise anyone, or, as Capt. Louie said, “I’m shocked, shocked, there’s gambling going on in here.”

I wonder what became of my former friend, the liberal, who told me that Chávez had improved the economy. She’ll blame Maduro for not getting Communism straight, unlike Hugo.

——————————–

Additionally, just because you have dollars doesn’t mean you can get necessities.

For example, buying car tires: A contrast between a command economy, and a consumer-oriented economy.

At the command economy: Where gasoline is almost free, but two months go by and you can’t get tires for your car.

Gustavo Hernandez Acevedo describes Chavismo on wheels,

In early April, a close relative of mine was looking everywhere for new tires. He hasn’t found anything yet.

. . .

The root of the problem is (as expected) the fall in domestic production and the lack of currency to either reactivate local factories or bring enough imports to satisfy demand. Representatives of three major tire brands have met with government representatives, but they didn’t get any specifics about when they will get the resources to keep working.

But another factor is affecting the vehicle tire market: Proveeduria (Procurement)

What’s that?

It’s a state-led initiative thought up the central government back in 2013 to directly provide spare parts and tires to public and cargo transportation drivers, under the control of the Transportation Ministry. At the beginning, those State procurement stores got their tires from illegal units that were seized by the authorities.

But in March of this year, Land Transportation Minister Haiman El Troudi published an administrative order in which tiremakers are forced to sell 20% of production to proveedurias in order to keep public transportation up and running.

At the consumer-oriented economy: Tires replaced, car serviced, in less than three hours.

The other day I needed tires. I drove to the local service station, talked to the gentleman at the desk, and dropped off my car.
About an hour later, they called me back, we discussed price and what was needed.
Two hours later, the car was ready, I went, paid, and happily drove off.

———————————–

According to this official website of the Venezuelan government (link in Spanish), the Tower of David has been evacuated and its squatters placed in government housing. The structure will be used as an Emergency Coordination Center – hopefully after a great deal of refurbishing.

Previous reports mentioned that the Bank of China would be using “La Torre de David” as its South American HQ.

Share

By

Venezuela: Lopez on trial, Tower of David evacuation

Leopoldo López‘s show trial has begun; while the defense has asked for an adjournment, we all know what the verdict will be: guilty.

Daniel Duquenal expands on this,

The first thing, oddly, is the timing.  Since Lopez arrest 5 months ago and the alleged clear evidence one wonders why did it take so long for the regime to start the trial. Waiting for the end of guarimbas? A trial can restart them at any time. Waiting for folks to go on vacation? There are no flights out!  Expecting for scarcity problems to soften? They are not and will not for the foreseeable future. The answer is elsewhere,with the PSUV congress about to open. Some red meat thrown to the radical wing. Period, IMHO.

Another thing to wonder comes by asking the reverse question: why bother trying Lopez anyway? International pressure plays a role here, but not necessarily the way you may think. Sure enough there has been plenty of publications, the Washington Post for one pushing up the subject of Lopez dismal jail conditions. But the real deal brokers may be the people trying to organize Venezuela’s financial rescue.

Without a doubt, this is a show trial: Daniel concludes his post,

In case you still do not get it, the trial starts with 138 “witnesses” for the prosecution and only 1, ONE, for the defense

In other Venezuelan news, the infamous Tower of David, Caracas’s high-rise to nowhere, is being evacuated. Caracas Chronicles says the Chinese are involved:

Thanks to Kepler, we can somehow confirm that our Chinese overlords are indeed taking the building. In this article from the website Archidead, looks like the Bank of China will turn “La Torre de David” as its South American HQ.

It’s going to be interesting to see what exactly the Chinese get from this, considering the ruinous state of Venezuela’s oil industry.

Maybe Homeland will do a follow-up episode on the “new”, Chinese, tower.


Share

By

Puerto Rico: Homeland location

Puerto Rico Makes Debut on “Homeland”

Puerto Rico subbed for Caracas, Venezuela on Sunday night, where the fictional version of the CIA was running an anti-terrorist operation on the first episode of the season, led by the character Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend).

The scenes from Sunday’s episodes were filmed in Old San Juan, although more Puerto Rico locations could be reportedly be on the table for future episodes.

The episode was titled Tower of David, after Caracas ‘s high-rise to nowhere.

Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government was displeased: “Torre de David” goes Hollywood

What’s the reaction from the communicational hegemon? Check out this article from Alba Ciudad 96.3. FM., where the writer doesn’t just criticize Homeland for its anti-Venezuela bias, but also calls the show “anti-Muslim” and accuses it of being embedded with the C.I.A.

The reasons behind his conclusion? First, Homeland is one of Barack Obama’s favorite TV shows. Second, the show’s cast recently made a visit to the agency’s headquarters. Ergo, Obama told the C.I.A. to use Homeland in order to trash Venezuela’s image.

But . . . but. . .




Share