Movie Night at the Educational Center: Transamerica

A Review: Transamerica, 2005

"One is not born a woman, but rather becomes one."

Judith Butler Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, 1990

The mark of a good story is that it keeps your attention, urging on your interest in the characters. The plot entrances you. Turning each page in anticipation or inching towards the edge of your seat. A great story allows unlimited access to your own story. The movie Transamerica (directed by Duncan Tucker, 2005) is such a story. Ostensibly a tale of a transsexual woman on the brink of her final physical conversion into her idealized concept of the Female, the plot soon shifts abruptly and sets the stage for a multi-faceted quest after a completed self. The movie begins with Bree Osbourne (played with amazing nuance by Golden Globe winner Felicity Huffman) molding and shaping….literally sculpting herself into an identity she cherishes.

Her very foundation is garmented. She practices modulating her voice. She tucks the remaining vestiges of the Stanly Shupak that she was and has despised between her legs. She is transformed, but still lacking. In the same way that we do not know when tragedy, joy, love, or an act of volatile Nature may instantly alter the path of our life, so the phone rings. Answering, Bree finds out that she has a son. A seventeen-year old son in a New York City Jail. It is just one week until to her vangioplasty. When Bree offhandedly mentions the fact that she ‘may’ have a son, Bree’s therapist, Margaret (Elizabeth Pena) withholds the envelope that contains permission for the surgery. In this act, she challenges Bree to face this potential for maintaining a divided self. She offers Bree an opportunity to unite her Feminine and Masculine selves. In one fascinating scene, Bree (a study in pink) makes arrangements to go see her son Toby (a haunting performance by Kevin Zegers). Resigned to making the journey, she sits adrift beneath an M. Tamplough print entitled “Crepuscule en Egypt”.

Crepuscular speaks of twilight – that transitional period of each day that holds both the light and the dark. It is that time of change. This is the moment that signifies Bree’s empowerment – evidenced in her (often tentative) involvement with her self-quest. All of the characters in this movie have secrets. Many of them from the underbelly of being. Secrets kept from others. And secrets kept from one’s self in the form of a fabricated and highly edited personal narrative. And certainly as Bree and Toby traverse the continent, the standard of what is normal becomes a strategic point of supposition. The essential question becomes: do we as individuals possess a core sense of self, or are we each an entire society of authentic selves? Are we born predisposed to a particular and genetically scripted way of being, or are we hammered and annealed into shape by our environment? And is a well-performed authenticity a significantly creative strategy of participating fully in the active and constant creation of self?

It is written that “Transsexual adults often request hormone and surgical treatments to suppress their biological sex characteristics and acquire those of the opposite sex. A team of health professionals, including the treating psychologist or psychiatrist, medical doctors, and several surgical specialists, oversee this transitioning process. Because of the irreversible nature of the surgery, candidates for sex-change surgery are evaluated extensively and are often required to spend a period of time integrating themselves into the cross-gender role before the procedure begins. Counseling and peer support are also invaluable to transsexual individuals.” http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Gender+Dysphoric

Theodore Adorno said that we may only know ourselves through knowing our fractured self. Trasamerica asks to consider that we may only know ourselves by embracing our integrated self.

"What had reached me, so powerfully cast from a human body, was Beauty: there was a face with all the mystery prescribed and preserved on it; I was before it, I sensed that there was a beyond, to which I did not have access, an unlimited place ... a desire was seeking its home."

Hélène Cixous Coming to Writing and Other Essays, 1991

Tomschulzartist

Movie Night, March 18th at The Educational Center
http://educationalcenter.org/

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Sixteen.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, not knowing what is next and not concerned with what was or what may be next, a new mind is operating that is not connected with the conditioned past and yet perceives and understands the whole mechanism of conditioning. It is the unmasking of the self that is nothing but masks — images, memories of past experiences, fears, hopes, and the ceaseless demand to be something or become somebody. This new mind that is no-mind is
free of duality — there is no doer in it and nothing to be done.
Toni Packer


"I-77, Exit 30 / Dust Landscapes"© (detail) 2010
Watercolor on Paper
Autumn Missed Subset

FROM THE EDITOR

14.) And finally: Use all your oil. This of course refers to the parable of ‘The Wise and Foolish Maidens. The idea is that the maidens that burned their oil in preparation for the coming of the Prince were perhaps optimistic, but should not be used as a foible for the other maidens (as if waiting around and shining no light would be the better action). We thought it might be just right somehow to ‘use all your oil’. Since then Tom has been thinking about the idea of the ‘fool’. And thinks that this level of foolishness –this enthusiasm if you will - may be illustrating not an opposite but an equal and perhaps viable ‘way’. After all it is the wise AND the foolish. The and here may be seen as an equivalency. After all, if we are exhorted to fully participate in life why sit around in the dark. Also, did not the wise maidens allow themselves the free illumination in the light of others?"

from "THE PORCH TRANSCRIPTS - CONVERSATIONS IN THE DARK WITH MY BABY" Compiled 10/23/03. Note: these recordings were originally written on a Harper’s Magazine in ballpoint pen. Conversants include Sheila Ennis in her current position of Goddess, and her adoring husband (Tom Schulz) working in his capacity of SAA (Supreme Administrative Assistant).

"Serenade" (detail). From "The Mockingbird Triptych"© 2011
watercolor and gouache on paper

“Appetition”

“In terms of an Entities personal life-history, where does Desire become a motivating initiative?” asked The Universe of God. “Is Desire an aspect of the Creative Process?”
“Oh”, that’s tricky for an Entity - desire”, responded God. “An Entity can be consumed by a Desire to create and fall under the thrall of the Desire. Maybe it would better serve if the Entity were to discover the underlying novelty of a situation or set of circumstances and match the novelty of the surrounding environment.”

“Like that Autumn thing we got going on the planet Earth!” declared an enthusiastic The Universe.

“Process and Reality - The Interview”©
Video Sketch 2010

Both God and The Universe liked this:

“It is easy to overlook this thought that life just is. As humans we are inclined to feel that life must have a point. We have plans and aspirations and desires. We want to take constant advantage of the intoxicating existence we’ve been endowed with.

But what’s life to a lichen? Yet its impulse to exist, to be, is every bit as strong as ours-arguably even stronger. If I were told that I had to spend decades being a furry growth on a rock in the woods, I believe I would lose the will to go on. Lichens don’t. Like virtually all living things, they will suffer any hardship, endure any insult, for a moment’s additions existence. Life, in short just wants to be.”
Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Black Swan, 2003

In a Stolen Boat,
push off what seemed safe: The fishing dock,
pitch pines, children glazed to sheen
by ruthless summers. Past

the jetty, past the past, to open sea—
all violet and green, that choppy path between doom and luck—
Put your back into it, and row.
April Bernard, "Romanticism" 2009

This concludes Week Sixteen of

"The God and The Universe Conversations".

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own."The God and The Universe Conversations" are based on Tom's protracted reading of Process and Reality, by Alfred North Whitehead.

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Fifteen.

We need to get out of our heads to understand ourselves.
For we are not brains in vats of skull, we are animals, dynamically entangled with the world around us. Where do you stop
and where does the world around you begin?
Not at the skull, and not even at the limits of the body.”
ALVA NOË

"Spider Labyrinth - 1 / Dust Landscapes"© (detail) 2010
Watercolor on Paper
Autumn Missed Subset

From the Editor:
Fairly fresh out of High School and oddly reticent to continue attending college, I left Academia with the intention of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail with two chums. We were heading South to Springer Mountain and hitched a ride in the family Circus Wagon that was conveniently going in the same direction. Arriving at our destination, I piled out with my pack and high spirits: ready (yet ill prepared) for Adventure. We all said our brave goodbyes. I stole a glance back and saw the most abject look of loss, pain and worry on my Mother's face. I had never seen that look before. As I turned and headed into the Draw, I swore that if I had kids, I would never let them see that face on me. So much for plans and intentions. I walked the entire Trail alright. But not the one I planned. And not the one I intended. No. It has been ever more marvelous and mysterious than anything I could have Imagined.

"Trouble in Space"© 2008
Acrylic Gouache, Metallic Spray Paint on Paper
From the "Spidey Hole Series"

“Trouble in Space ”

“Let The Universe just suppose”, supposed The Universe, “that a Structured Society, You know, Society like a group of Entities, has reached a State of Satisfaction. Then is it complete? If it isn’t complete, then what does that Society do - get more complex? Where is the stability?”
“God considers that the Satisfaction of a Society, especially a Diverse and therefore Healthy Society, can only be as Satisfied on the whole as the Smallest subset is satisfied”, replied God. This allows for the Process of Complexity to avoid the Extremes of Complication.”

“Yeah, cause there’d sure be trouble in space, then. Wouldn’t there, God?”

"Angel Oak Study #11" © 2011
Polymer Stains on Canvas
From the "Revisiting My Nature Series"

“Extensive Connections ”

“OK, let’s see if The Universe has this straight”, erupted The Universe. “Physicality is a type of relatedness that is at once measurable and discernible, given certain properties and assumptions regarding extensive connections. So, taking a family of straight lines, we can express a system of congruent society. Presto! Order!” Oh, The Universe was pleased to the point of smugness.
“Lovely logic, The Universe”, said God. “But what of competing families of loci with equal claim to a societal system? One set of realities tumbling into another set of possibilities?”

“Well, The Universe will spend some time considering that likelihood”, grunted a disgruntled The Universe.

"The Wind Whispered My Name"© 2011
Video Sketch

Talk as much philosophy as you like,
worship as many gods as you please,
observe ceremonies and sing devotional hymns,
but liberation will never come,
even after a hundred aeons,
without realizing the Oneness.
Sankara, from "The Wisdom of the Hindu Gurus", edited by Timothy Freke

This concludes Week Fifteen of

"The God and The Universe Conversations".

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own."The God and The Universe Conversations" are based on Tom's protracted reading of Process and Reality, by Alfred North Whitehead.

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Fourteen.

"Come to the edge," he said.
"No, we will fall," they replied.
They came to the edge.
He pushed them . . . and they flew.

Apollinaire

"The Mechanics of Crepe Myrtle"© (detail) 2011
From the "Revisiting My Nature" Series

From the Editor:
What holds us back? What stops us from moving, caring not the direction (or even the dimension for the adventurous)? Many of us might cite fear as a primary barricade impeding us from living into some perceived freedom. But fear of what? The unknown? Try making a list of what is known to you and what is unknown to you and get back to us on that. We must not let our dreams calcify. As Flannery O'Connor wrote in her 1953 short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find", "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." Whose hand is holding the gun to your head, Friend?

"Societies of Entities"© 2011
Digital Photograph
From the "Revisiting My Nature" Series

“Our Cosmic Epoch”

“The Universe hates to be obtuse," began The Universe, “but The Universe is still tripping on this idea of Disorder. If there are intertwining Societies of Entities, like planetary systems or galaxies, then wouldn’t their most effective form of existence require only Order? Wouldn’t that be the Prevailing nature of that Order?”
“Well.” God said, “Well, a prevailing Order can create Chaos through Dominance. But Dominance is not a creative action, except only in the sense that it can create Disorder by not respecting Harmony.”
“Oh, and that is Dissonance?” asked The Universe.

“No”, replied God slowly, “Dissonance is part of the balance. Dominance just shows a lack of key understanding.”

"Spiritus"© (detail) 2008
Latex Housepaint, Gesso, Silver Leaf on Paper
From the "Prayer Painting" Series

“Geometrical Order of Nature ”

“Abstractly speaking, God, does God require that The Universe believe in God in order for God to exist?” questioned The Universe.
“A belief system certainly has its intrinsic flaws”, opined God. “Suffice it to say that God is fulfilled by a considerate and involved relationship with The Universe as God currently exists in connection to The Universe.”
“That sounds like a lot of responsibility on the part of The Universe”, whined The Universe.

“Or just good livin’”, responded God

"Air on the Dirac Strings"

“There comes a time when the bubble of ego is popped and you can’t get the ground back for an extended period of time. Those times, when you absolutely cannot get it back together, are the most rich and powerful times in our lives.”
Pema Chödrön

Links:
On Rules
Context
Old/New

This concludes Week Fourteen of
"The God and The Universe Conversations".

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.
"The God and The Universe Conversations" are based on Tom's protracted reading of
Process and Reality, by Alfred North Whitehead.

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Thirteen.

“To be an abstraction does not mean that an entity is nothing.
It merely means that its existence is only a factor of
a more concrete element of nature.”
Alfred North Whitehead

"Abstract" 2006
Cast Concrete, Bottle Lid, Polymer Stain on Concrete

From the Editor: Boundaries establish a binary conundrum - one is either inside the demarcation or outside the demarcation. Which reminds me of my favorite joke when I was a kid. "Two horses. One is running the range, and one is in the corral. Which horse sings Don't Fence Me In? The Answer? Well neither, silly. Horses can't sing." But in the unimagined land, horses can sing, and fences can come down. Entire Sciences are embraced and renounced and then held dear. The forgotten are re-membered, borders are crossed and erased and reconfigured. In the unimagined land reside my thoughts and dreams and aspirations til they percolate through my permeable walls and are set free in action. As Ken Wilber says, "The boundary between self and not-self is the first one we draw and the last one we erase.”
Imagine that.

"Moments in History - The Fall of the Berlin Wall"
Carston Cumbrowski 2008

“Mereotopology”

“Would it be prudent for The Universe to recognize that as an Entity, The Universe is best defined by its boundaries?” wondered The Universe.
God chewed on this question for a bit, and responded thusly: “a boundary can exist as a matter of necessity as an extension beyond that which is not included within the boundary.”
“Once again, The Universe hears God speaking in circles”, replied a confused The Universe. “The Universe is regarding the interiority that is The Universe.”

“Yes”, answered God, “and God intuits that The Universe’s concerns are justified. And those concerns are the vectors discerning what is there and transforms it to what is here.”

"Angel Oak Study #10" 2011
Polymer Stains on Canvas
From the "Revisiting My Nature Series"

“Closure Operators”

“Back to order”, commenced The Universe, chuckling at the unintended double-entendre. “Isn’t there indeed an order in Nature? And if so, can it be formed?”
“There are sequential elements in the interactions of Entities that create societies of intertwining Orders. But these societies are not isolated. Take for example a language that is first acquired and takes an historic route in its developed usage. Over time, this language may come into disuse as overlapping societies of Entities implement new prevailing languages. This is a type of Natural Order”, intoned God.

“Sounds like Greek to me”, retorted The Universe.

“When traveling is made too easy and comfortable, its spiritual meaning is lost. This may be called sentimentalism, but a certain sense of loneliness engendered by traveling leads one to reflect upon
the meaning of life, for life is after all a traveling
from one unknown to another unknown.”
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki

Links:
On Restructuring Habit.
Context.
On The New Land.

This concludes Week Thirteen of
"The God and The Universe Conversations".

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own."The God and The Universe Conversations" are based on Tom's protracted reading of Process and Reality, by Alfred North Whitehead.

The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Twelve

"That's how you came here, like a star
without a name. Move across the night sky
with those anonymous lights."
Rumi

From the Editor: One of the first rules of navigation required that one keep in sight of familiar landmarks. Early seafarers kept to the shore. The Phoenicians and the Polynesians turned their gaze to the heavens and made the stars their fixed points. Currents, trade winds, Astrolabes and Sextants. The compass and its mystical attractions. Lodestone, maps and now, the GPS. All giving us greater points of focus. But as Helen Keller said, "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." As such we must let loose the moorings that tie us to the shores of our familiar lands. We must run the risk of sailing off the edge of our known worlds. In every moment.

"Just One Particle" (detail) 2008
From "The Spidey-Hole Series"

“Interferometer”

“Oh, does God remember back in the day when God was the Judgmental God, but still liked a good joke and would be all like, “Order in The Universe!” and “Tighten that Asteroid Belt there, Mister”, reminisced The Universe. “Good times. But really, God. There must be Order in The Universe or The Universe would implode into Chaos, right?”
“God recalls when a young The Universe feared even the concept of Chaos”, said God. “But Order is a generic term. Vague. A specific order aspires to a full Ideal, which then, must include Disorder. The attainment of a generic Order that does not include Disorder is, of course, only partial and there we are galaxy deep in Disorder.”

“God is Out of Order!” bellowed The Universe. Then laughed timidly and said, “Yeah, good times.

"Angel Oak Study #5" 2010
Digital Photograph

“The Essence of Concrescence”

“The Universe is curious if God is satisfied”, said The Universe, fishing. "The Universe means this is a spectacular circumstance in which to be an Entity!”
“God comprehends the question”, answered God. “But in this moment, God is aware that if an Entity is aware of the Entity’s own satisfaction, then the satisfaction would become a component in the process of being satisfied, thus altering the satisfaction.”

“WOWZA!’ exclaimed The Universe. “That’s some crazy data embedded in God’s proclamation!”

"Things to Forget" (Detail) 2008
From "The Spidey-Hole Series"

“Ontological Mapping - for Joe Spencer”

“So, The Universe”, queried God, “The Universe stated a belief that movement was a type of progress - heading ever forward. Is that still the case?”
“Oh yeah, totally”, responded The Universe quickly. “Isn’t that the way of things? A trajectory of understandable causal events.”
“But doesn’t that leave out the ebb and flow of Becoming and Collapsing?” asked God, politely.
“Got it, God. Events transpire like a sine curve - regarding not an overarching mediating agency……..right?” replied an immediately tentative The Universe.

“More like a sign curve, to God”, laughed God.

Sly & the Family Stone Public Rehearsal 1973
"Everybody is a Star"


“Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt degeneration:
it is inherent in the very texture of human life.”
Alfred North Whitehead



Source: Hubblesite.org



This concludes Week Twelve of
"The God and The Universe Conversations".


All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.

"The God and The Universe Conversations" Movie Series

Empathinc. and the Educational Center are partnering to conduct a five movie film series. The winter/spring theme is "Living Authentically. We will be exploring the spiritual costs and promises of living what Parker Palmer calls the "undivided life".

The series starts January 21st. We will begin at 6:30. Discussion after viewing. Snacks provided. Suggested donation of ten dollars per person. Reservations suggested. Call Mellisa Thomas Meyer @ 704-375-1171

Our first film is:

“Imitation of Life”
Directed by Douglas Sirk, 1959

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Strength to Love 1963

It may be considered the height of audacity to remark that Dr. King’s brilliant observation on the linearity of problem solving might be the ultimate template for a Soap Opera. But in watching Douglas Sirk’s 1959 movie, “Imitation of Life”, it seems incredibly appropriate. At its release, Sirk’s movie was critically panned as another weepy “woman’s movie”, even though it was wildly popular and garnished two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner. And yet, in a daring and timely turn, Sirk was able to reckon with powerful social maladies while still maintaining the interest of the mainstream audience. In part, what makes this movie so fascinating are the strategies and choices that Sirk employed to achieve this seamless connection of scathing critique and popular culture.
Essentially, this is a narrative concerning the ambiguous nature of being authentic in a world that is delineated in terms of black and white. Based in an American culture that is racially segregated, this tale dares to explore the very meanings of what it is to be Black and what it is to be White. While this conflict is depicted in grand sweepings of caricature, simplified dialogue and explosive color, Sirk still manages to capture a depth of anguish and turmoil as our characters struggle with issues of Being. Being clear and strong with their convictions. Being clear and strong within themselves and in their inter-personal relationships. And being clear and strong with their specific desires and life goals. It rarely goes well, these struggles.
Virtually everything we will later come to understand in depth is depicted in the first scene of the movie. Coney Island, 1947. A cacophony of sound and sight. Strategic reds create a composition of swirling passion – swimming trunks, umbrellas, signs. The frivolity of a holiday that sets the mood for the dichotomy of celebration as an Imitation of Reality – for reality is confined to the shadows. Our heroine, Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) has lost her child in the crowd. Within three minutes, Sirk sets up the theme of loss and narcissism that will weave throughout the plot. Bumping into strange men as she seeks assistance, Lora’s pattern of looking for and ignoring masculine guidance will reverberate time and again. A roving photographer (Steve Archer, played by John Gavin with cardboard good will and earnestness) records Lora’s panic in a series of still shots. Steve and the police escort Lora beneath the boardwalk where the errant daughter, Susie (played later as a teen by the doe-eyed Sandra Dee) is found enfolded in the nurturing care of Annie Johnson (Oscar nominee Juanita Moore). Susie has found a new friend in Annie’s daughter Sarah Jane (with Susan Kohner vamping through this part as a young adult). Sarah Jane is light skinned (like her Daddy – “He was practically White”). Her mother Annie is Black. Immediately assumptions are made about Annie’s relationship as Lora asks, “How long have you been taking care of her?” Annie blithely replies, “Why, all her life.”
Both women are single parents. Annie is homeless. Soon the two women enter into an arrangement, and Annie becomes the angelic helpmate that assists behind the scenes as the determined Lora doggedly pursues her goal of being a famous actress. Together they migrate over time and success from a cold-water flat to a series of ever more elegant homes.
But as Dr. King predicts, their progress is precarious. The patterns of Being so succinctly set up in the opening scene, collapse one problem into another, like errant Tinker Toys on a three-legged card table. We the viewer watch helplessly as any one problem solved yields no real solutions. And with no sustainable solutions, the string of linked problems then becomes maintained and even nurtured by habitual and rehearsed responses.
Sirk makes sure we “get it” with broad strokes. The orchestration cajoles and waltzes us into the proper emotions. Mirrors and glass reflect gestures so that we are sure to understand the duplicity and complexities of each character’s struggle with their identities. And the costumes! High couture defines sophistication. Capri pants and a perm signify maturity. Sequins and garters the uniform of the troubled harlot. And Mink becomes a bookend manifestation of temptation and successful frugality.
At movie’s end, it is the stalwart character of Annie that is rewarded with release from her exhausting burden. Beneath the cloak of her culturally imposed invisibility is not the visage of an angel, but rather, the authentically human compilation that is friend, benefactor and participating member of the larger community. Her model – but more significantly – her release, may be the one thing that may offer redemption to the damaged family that she had gathered around her.
Director Douglas Sirk was able provide this Holy, uncommon ground for his characters to potentially resolve the crippling divisions that tormented them. Perhaps, his vision as an artist may give us cause to consider our particular lineage of problem reaction. To ponder our stance on our own Holy, uncommon ground. And to remove our collective shoes, as is required.

First Scene of Movie: fascinating choreography!

The series continues on the 3rd Friday of the month with: Far From Heaven (February). TransAmerica (March), Batman Begins (April) and The Secret Life of Bees (May). Please join us! Out of town? Don't worry - we are creating a prototype to be shared on the World Wide Web! (WWW!). Talk to us, comment, eavesdrop, stop by, wave, honk, drop off intriguing packages!
Tom Schulz and Sheila Ennis

Links:
Intrigue
Context
ART

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.