Category Archives: Political Correctness

As Ive stated in this column many times before, stand up comedy, for many reasons, is a much different breed of cat than other art forms. Unlike film, music and visual art, comedy especially stand up comedy doesnt often get the same pretension of subjectivity that these forms do. For one, people tend to think of themselves as intuitively good judges of comedy because its the one art form they participate in every day by telling jokes, even when theyre not that funny.

However, there is another equally important factor for why stand up comedy can be so difficult as both a performer and consumer. The work of comedians is almost entirely judged by the audiences immediate, in-the-moment reaction to it. Audiences are the ultimate judge of whether or not a joke works because theyre who its meant for.

Sure, sometimes a comic might get a bad crowd that seems more inclined to judge than enjoy a performance, but for the most part, the consumer is always right. Its why the notion of political correctness has been such a hot-button issue in comedy its a perceived battle between the audience and the performer.

Still, as Ive discussed in earlier columns, the concept of political correctness means many different things to many different people. Why shouldnt comedians joke about marginalized communities? Why is it that some comedians are able to talk about certain things but others arent?

One of the most obvious, if sometimes unfortunate, rules in stand up comedy is that half of a jokes success depends upon who is telling it. Reputation plays a pivotal role in how well an audience receives a joke from a comedian in the moment. A live audience is much more predisposed to laugh hard at a half-baked joke from Whitney Cummings than a meticulously conceived joke from Joe Schmoe.

Theres no way some of Dave Chappelles material from his recent specials would be lauded as brilliant if he wasnt already grandfathered in as an all-time talent. Some of his jokes especially those about alleged rape victims and the LGBTQ+ community have received a fair amount of backlash from critics and viewers. Yet, audiences were overwhelmingly pleased with what Chappelle put out. Hell, he even won a couple of Grammys for it.

Would these jokes get the same kind of reception coming out of Shane Gillis mouth? Almost assuredly not. We know Chappelle; thats just the kind of humor hes always done and we continue to praise him for it. Audiences and critics obviously love him enough for him to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2019.

Are these jokes bad? Is someone a bad person for laughing at them? Thats certainly up for debate. Whats not debatable, at least to me, is that they definitely sound a lot funnier coming from Chappelle than they do from many other people.

In addition to reputation, context also matters in why we laugh at some jokes versus others. Its always been my belief that certain, darker types of comedy operate on a suspension of belief. When Anthony Jeselnik jokes about dropping a baby, the audience laughs because of their fundamental understanding that hes not being serious.

Its for this reason why I believe Louis C.K.s attempt to come back to stand up has been an ill-conceived dumpster fire to watch as a consumer. Some Louis C.K. diehards might claim that, no matter how he went about it, there was no avenue for him to convince certain audiences to forgive him and allow him to continue performing comedy, and theyre probably right. Many people would not forgive him after he admitted to sexual misconduct.

However, there was a large number of fans and nonfans willing to let the disgraced comic at least try to demonstrate that he had truly learned from his mistakes through his material, which is as dark and self-reflective as one can get.

Unfortunately, his comic response, which is included in his new special titled Sincerely Louis C.K., was so tonedeaf and irresponsible to not only his career but the notion of dark comedy in general.

Again, dark comedy thrives on the suspension of belief you know that the people joking about these subjects arent actually bad people. You wouldnt be laughing at Jeselniks dead baby jokes if he had a history of clumsiness around infants. Its the same reason why Louis C.K.s once-brilliant darkness seemed rebellious, groundbreaking and strangely comforting when he didnt have the reputation of being a real-life scumbag. Its strange that the man whose whole stage persona once revolved around his fragile self-esteem now seems so eager to protect it.

In the special, C.K. does pull out some classic Louis-isms, including one bit about how he understands how one could be attracted to teenage boys, but these jokes that once seemed unbelievably dark and hilarious now seem strange and sinister. His act used to be so effective because it seemed to be him talking earnestly about his worst demons, the ones you never act on and are scared to talk about.

The jokes hit differently when you know hes the type of person to actually act on some of the disturbing things he talks about. Add the fact that he wont apologize for the horrible things hes actually done, and it becomes difficult to still find his material all that funny.

These situations are obviously all very different, and I am not the ultimate judge of comedys moral line. If I was then Id be killing the open mics (in 2021). Though, if there was any purpose in writing this column, it was to spread one gospel that comedy is an incredibly nuanced and legitimate art form, and it must be treated as such. Its not just the jolt of haha that you get from consuming a funny TikTok (although it can definitely be that as well). Its an art form built upon analyzing the missteps of life and finding truth within them. When it is done well, comedy is as important of a reflection of our culture as any creative interpretation. When it is watered down and weaponized, it only corrodes the medium for everyone who wants to participate in and enjoy it. Its not that serious, but take it seriously ya know?

Matthew Philips is a senior writing about comedy. He is also the wellness & outreach director for the Daily Trojan. His column, Waiting for the Punchline, ran every other Thursday.

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Waiting for the Punchline: There is nuance in who gets the power to tell what jokes - Daily Trojan Online

Even if coronavirus concerns are keeping us at home, we can still explore the beauty of the Oregon landscape, revisit jaw-droppingly strange-but-true history, and remember when locals got their noses out of joint over a comedy series that spoofed politically correct Portlanders. Whether you crave a virtual trip to the outdoors or are feeling nostalgic, streaming services provide a binge-worthy batch of Oregon-related movies and TV shows.

So, sit back, keep up your social distancing, and bring a little Oregon to your living room with our list of notable comedies, dramas, documentaries and animated features.

MOVIES FOR FAMILIES

The Goonies: Viewers who were kids when they first saw this 1985 adventure have shared it with their own children, which is why the Goonies nostalgia train just keeps running. As Josh Gads recent YouTube reunion of the original cast demonstrates, theres truth to the catchphrase, Goonies never say die. The story of Oregon Coast kids who use a treasure map to search for riches that may save their family homes keeps viewers coming back, and draws tourists each year to Astoria, where much of the movie filmed. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Stand By Me: Stephen Kings novella, The Body, inspired this 1986 classic, about four boys who come from different backgrounds, but form a bond as they search for a missing teen in the Willamette Valley. Stars Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry OConnell will make you laugh, make you cry, then make you laugh again. Locations include Brownsville. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made: Adapted from the bestselling book by Stephan Pastis, this Disney Plus movie tells the whimsical story of an 11-year-old boy whose imagination sends him around Portland investigating cases for his supposed detective agency, with his polar bear partner in tow. The Portland locations are down-to-earth glimpses of the city, and the cast, including Winslow Fegley as Timmy, is sympathetic and likable. (Stream on Disney Plus)

Free Willy: A 1993 family film about a boy (Jason James Richter) who makes friends with a captive orca whale, and hatches a plot to let the whale escape. Keiko, the real orca in the movie, was a crowd-pleasing attraction at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, in Newport for a few years. Locations include Portland, Astoria and the Hammond Marina, where, in the film, Willy jumps to his freedom. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu)

Twilight: It seems like 100 years ago that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson starred in the first chapter of the saga about romance between a human high school student, Bella Swan, and the much older, but young-looking vampire, Edward Cullen. While the Twilight movies got sillier the longer the saga went on, this 2008 effort had the benefit of Northwest flavor. Stephenie Meyers novel was set in Forks, Washington, but Oregon was used for many of the movie locations, with scenes filmed in St. Helens, Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, and more. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Kindergarten Cop: Another movie not exactly made to dazzle critics, this 1990 comedy stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Los Angeles Police Detective who, on the trail of a drug dealer, goes to Astoria, where he winds up working undercover as a kindergarten teacher. Sounds plausible, right? Locations include Astoria, the movie star of the Oregon Coast. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu)

Mr. Hollands Opus: This 1995 tearjerker is a salute to Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss), an aspiring composer who winds up teaching music at a fictional Portland high school. Its corny, but the movie was filmed on location in Northeast Portlands Grant High School, so students can get a virtual campus feeling even if they cant physically attend school. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu)

MOVIES FOR ADULTS

Wild: Portland-based writer Cheryl Strayeds bestselling memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail amid personal turmoil remains a perpetual favorite with readers. The 2014 movie adaptation of Strayeds book is well-made and heartfelt, with fine performances by Reese Witherspoon as Strayed, and Laura Dern as the authors late mother. Locations include Bend, Ashland, Cascade Locks and Portland. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Leave No Trace: After The Oregonian reported on the case of a teenage girl and her father, who were found living in Forest Park, writer Peter Rock wrote My Abandonment, a novel inspired by the true story. This tale of a father and daughter living off the grid was adapted into a touching 2018 movie, directed by Debra Granik (Winters Bone), and starring Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Foster. Locations include the Portland area, Estacada and Newberg. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Lean On Pete: British filmmaker Andrew Haigh (Looking) wrote and directed this 2018 adaptation of Oregon writer and musician Willy Vlautins novel. Charlie Plummer stars as Charley, a 15-year-old who comes to Portland with his father, Ray (Travis Fimmel). When trouble arises at home, Charley spends time at a racetrack, where he helps cares for an aging horse named Lean On Pete. Locations include the old Portland Meadows in North Portland, and Harney County. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Wendy and Lucy: Portland-based writer Jonathan Raymond and director Kelly Reichardt have collaborated on a number of projects, most recently the quiet, but deeply affecting First Cow. The 2008 movie, Wendy and Lucy, is a characteristically minimalistic work, but one that becomes increasingly poignant as it goes on. Michelle Williams stars. Locations include Portland, Salem and Woodburn. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Related: Director Kelly Reichardt on First Cow, and why she makes films in Oregon

Night Moves: Another low-key, tense collaboration from writer Jonathan Raymond and director Kelly Reichardt. The 2013 movie tells the story of a trio of environmental activists who plan to blow up a dam. Its subtle, but gripping, and features striking work by Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard. Locations include Roseburg, Medford and Ashland. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Meeks Cutoff: Kelly Reichardt and writer Jonathan Raymond again worked together on this 2011 Western loosely inspired by a historic event, in 1845. The film features a guide named Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), whos leading a group of settlers across the Oregon high desert. But the settlers begin to suspect Meek isnt all he claims to be. Michelle Williams stars. Locations include Burns and other Harney County areas. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers; stream on Hulu)

I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore: Melanie Lynskey stars as Ruth, a nursing assistant whos already feeling down, and then finds out that her house has been burglarized. When the police dont seem interested in doing anything about the crime, Ruth, along with an unstable-looking neighbor (Elijah Wood), set out on a quest to find the thieves. Macon Blair wrote and directed the 2017 dark comedy-thriller. Locations include Portland, Wilsonville and Lake Oswego. (Stream on Netflix)

Drugstore Cowboy: Director Gus Van Sant lived for several years in Portland, and this 1989 movie is, among its other qualities, a postcard of the way the Rose City used to look. Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch star in a 70s-set story about drug addicts who rob pharmacies to pay for their habit. Van Sant made other features in Portland, including My Own Private Idaho, Elephant and Paranoid Park, but Drugstore Cowboy remains one of his best. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

The Shining: You could get all technical about it, and point out that the 1980 thriller, starring Jack Nicholson, did very little filming in Oregon. Yes, the exterior shots of Timberline Lodge are supposed to be the Overlook Hotel, where lots of bad things happen. But since were likely not getting to Mount Hood anytime soon, well take what we can get. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest: The late Ken Kesey wrote the novel that inspired the multi-Oscar-winning movie, starring Jack Nicholson in one of his best roles. Set in a mental hospital, the film focuses on the rebellious Randle McMurphy (Nicholson), and his clashes with authoritarian Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). The 1975 movie has elements that may feel offensive to todays viewers, but there are classic moments. Locations include the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, and the central Oregon Coast. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Animal House: For nostalgic Oregonians, this 1978 rowdy comedy (sometimes known by its full name, National Lampoons Animal House) summons memories of toga parties, the outrageous antics of John Belushis Bluto Blutarsky, food fights, and blow-out blasts at the fictional Faber College and Delta house fraternity. More sensitive souls may find the 70s humor has dated, but its a kick to see circa-70s locations in Eugene, Cottage Grove, the University of Oregon, and more. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu, with the addition of Starz)

Paint Your Wagon: If youre truly desperate for something to watch, this 1969 musical Western offers more Oregon scenery. Thats the good part. Less great is the fact that Lee Marvin sings -- or tries to. Costar Clint Eastwood also lends his pipes to the tune, I Talk to the Trees. Critics mostly blew raspberries at this supposed blockbuster. The stories about what went on during the filming near Baker City, in Eastern Oregon, makes things sound pretty wild (hippie extras!). As for the movie, its hokey (sample song title: Hand Me Down That Can o Beans), but harmless. And did we mention the gorgeous Oregon scenery? (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Related: Paint Your Wagon, The Goonies, Grimm and more: The Oregon film and TV office turns 50

ANIMATED MOVIES

Laika features: The Hillsboro animation studio is known for the painstaking care lavished on its stop-motion animated features. Examples include the Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated Missing Link (2019), about a Sasquatch living in a Pacific Northwest forest who joins forces with an explorer for globe-trotting adventures in the 1800s. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu.)

Other Laika features include 2016s Kubo and the Two Strings(YouTube Movies); 2014s The Boxtrolls (YouTube Movies); 2012s ParaNorman (iTunes); and 2009s Coraline (stream on Hulu).

TV

Portlandia: Remember the good old days, when locals worried about what message a comedy sketch show was sending, instead of panicking about a pandemic and economic catastrophe? Return with us now to the balmy past, when the IFC series co-created by and costarring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein made Portland look like the world capital of political correctness. Even if youre sick to death of hearing about the feminist bookstore, and Colin the chicken, watching Portlandia -- which aired from 2011 to 2018 -- feels like a trip back to another, less stressed-out era. (Streaming on Netflix; and fuboTV)

Related: Saying goodbye to Portlandia, and the citys love/hate relationship with the show

Grimm: The premise was far-fetched, but the NBC drama about a Portland Police homicide detective who had the power to see the supernatural creatures lurking below the surface of seemingly ordinary folks developed a devoted following. In its 2011-2017 run, Grimm made Portland look like the scene of a dark fantasy you know, like Grimms fairy tales. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Related: Grimm may be ending, but its impact on Portland remains

Shrill: In its first two seasons of the Portland-filmed comedy, weve watched as Annie (played by Aidy Bryant, of Saturday Night Live fame) has struggled to deal with her own ambitions to be a writer, her lack of confidence, her messy relationships and a few other neuroses. Bryant is a fine lead, and shes joined by a terrific supporting cast. Catch up now, because the series has been renewed for a third season. (Stream on Hulu)

Leverage: The 2008-2012 series about a group of reformed crooks who took on jobs where they could stick it to fat cats and win justice for everyday people moved its production to the Portland area for Season 2. A rebooted revival is in the works for IMDb TV, with Noah Wyle starring (in place of Timothy Hutton) and other original cast members returning. (Stream previous seasons on the IMDb TV channel, which is available to Amazon Prime Video customers)

The Librarians: A spinoff of a series of TV movies made for TNT, the fantasy-adventure followed a group of gifted eccentrics who used their skills to solve mysteries and, sometimes, save the world. Like Leverage, the series filmed in and around the Portland area. It aired from 2014 to 2018. (Stream on Hulu)

Everything Sucks!: The series about a group of high school kids in Boring, Oregon in the 1990s had a good heart, and cast a compassionate eye on the travails and triumphs of the mostly misfit characters. Unfortunately, it only lasted one season. (Stream on Netflix)

Trinkets: Another moody/sensitive series about high school students struggling to find themselves, Trinkets tells the story of Elodie (Brianna Hildebrand), an unwilling transplant to Portland, who forms surprising friendships with schoolmates, Moe (Kiana Madeira), and Tabitha (Quintessa Swindell). The series will return for a second season, but that will be the last one. (Stream on Netflix)

DOCUMENTARIES

Wild Wild Country: Oregonians who have lived here for a while already know about the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Ma Anand Sheela, and the followers who descended on Central Oregon in the early 1980s. But everyone else apparently first learned about this bizarre-but-true saga thanks to Chapman Way and Maclain Ways six-part 2018 documentary series. (Stream on Netflix)

Related: Netflix documentary on Rajneeshees in Oregon revisits an amazing, enraging true story

The Battered Bastards of Baseball: Before they dug into Oregon Rajneeshee history, filmmakers Chapman Way and Maclain Way made this entertaining 2014 documentary about the Portland Mavericks baseball team. (Stream on Netflix)

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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29 Oregon-filmed movies and TV shows to watch when youre home because of coronavirus - OregonLive

This book adaption is set ablaze. (Spoilers ahead)

In Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng earnestly presents issues of race, class, and gender in a novel about motherhood. Everyone and their mother loves this book and everyone seems to have an opinion on it. Ng crafts these beautifully honest dialogues into small interwoven plot lines that set her writing apart from that of its book club genre. On March 18th, Hulu dropped Ngs brainchild as a TV mini-series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington as the matriarch leads.

A quick synopsis for you if you havent read the novel: set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Elena Richardson and her perfect family remain the towns starlet do-gooders-with the exception of her black sheep of a daughter, Izzy. Izzy is Elenas wild child whose rebelling and anarchist ways drive her crazy. New in town, Mia Warren, a reticent artist and her daughter Pearl, rent out the Richardsons spare duplex and begin to share life with the Richardsons. Mias and Pearls unconventional ways of living begin to infiltrate Elenas ever-planned lifestyle. Meanwhile in Shaker, a controversial adoption of a Chinese baby girl reveals Mias past, Elenas values, and the foils of both of their families.

Hulu over-dramatizes everything. Comparatively, the show features way more slamming doors, yelling matches, and crying hysteria than in the book, but personally I eat that stuff up for breakfast. I find that the show is very separate from the book. In the book, the real little fires are the tense conversations between the characters. These conversations are uncomfortable and make you sweat, but also make you turn the page. In the show, theres no real balance of the drama. At the end of each episode the picture sequences move too fast to comprehend with no incline of tension over the series. Every episode feels like the climax. As a viewer, I never really felt like I could come up for air.

Acting does not fall short in this series; the producers stacked the cast. Washingtons steely facial expressions and slow responses capture Mia perfectly. Although, the book differs heavily in character decisions. A scene worth mentioning is how Mia handled Lexis despair over her abortion. Lexi wanted Mias opinion and solace about her choice and instead of giving her sage advice Mia angrily tells off Lexi for acting entitled. Of course, Lexi did put down Pearls name at the clinicstill, there was supposed to be a certain kind of acceptance Lexi finds in Mia. In the shows finale, Mia smugly exposes Lexis secret to Elena. I find this out of character for Mia, I thought she would respect Lexis privacy despite her dislike for Elena.

Opposite to Mia, Witherspoon as Elena is an excellent choice. I was worried her role would be too similar to her character in Big Little Lies. But Witherspoon doesnt disappoint and changes up Elenas mannerisms giving her an uncertain awkwardness. In the book, I think Elena is more put together and unapologetically self-righteous. The show shares more of Elenas backstory and ultimately her cowardness of not going against the grain of a suburban bored lifestyleleaving her to help others to make her life bearable. To no surprise, the show writers let Elena expose the truth about Pearls parents to Pearl (in the book Mia tells Pearl in a calm manner). Pearl lashes out at Mia, sending Mia into a breakdown. In the book, I think Pearl shows more respect to Mia. In the show, she fits in way too perfectly right away with the Richardsons and ends up acting bratty. I size Pearl up pretty quickly because she seems to have more maturity in the books.

Megan Stott, who plays Izzy, has this pre-teen sass down to a T. What differs in the show is that the show plays up Izzys sexuality as a new story line. In the book, Izzy pulls pranks, mouths off to her teachers, and stands up to bullies. In the show, Izzys one-liners contradict her moms biased and patronizing rhetoric. When Elena condemns Izzy for wearing cut off shorts to her violin concert, Elena tells Izzy, If you follow the rules youll succeed. Izzy smartly replies, Succeed in what? Profiling?

Originally the book reveals that Izzy is the one who starts the fire and lights up the house, yet in the shows finale the writers decide to let all the Richardson kids in on some arsonary action.

Izzy starts spreading turpentine all over her unwanted clothes in a moment of panic. And after a blow up fight with Elena revealing that she never wanted Izzy, Izzy makes her grand exit by running out into the snow. Next, Lexie screams at her mom admitting to her abortion then desperately urges the boys to help light the house on fire so they dont become like their mother and lead a similar life to hers. I thought this was an awesome moment of sibling camaraderie. Queue the pyrotechnics!

In the final moments of the show, Elena stumbles upon Mias studio full of stranded art pieces which display Shaker from Mias perspective. The scene is full of close up shots of Elena looking at the photographs and art with a voiceover of Pearl reciting her poetry. The art and poem illustrate a bird in a cage analogy nodding at Richardsons internal realities. I do think the ending provides a dose of hope that the Richardson family can rise from the ashes of their burnt life and start over.

I could write so much more commentary about the show because theres so many other thematic details that were brought to life. From the marital problems between Elena and Bill, to the well-executed court scenes and problematic political-correctness of it all, Little Fires Everywhere achieves its purpose in igniting new, engrossing conversations.

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Little Fires Everywhere Review - Loma Beat

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a press conference. [Photo/Xinhua]

The claim that the Chinese mainland requires Hong Kong and Taiwan artists to "declare patriotism" and promise "political correctness" is totally fabricated, a mainland spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The island authority claimed that political factors should not influence art and film creation, after it was said that the mainland is demanding stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan promise to be "politically correct" for 10 years, or they will not be allowed to work in mainland companies.

"It's a complete fabrication," said Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, adding that the mainland has been actively supporting cross-Straits film and television exchanges and always welcomes Taiwan artists to the mainland.

"Meanwhile, we will not allow a few people who make money on the mainland while supporting 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities," she said.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party on the island and some "Taiwan independence" forces have been spreading fake news and lies in the field of cross-Straits film and television exchanges, Zhu said.

"Their aim is to undermine cross-Straits exchanges and deliberately create contradictions and estrangement between compatriots of the two sides," she added.

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'Politically correct' rumor relating to HK, Taiwan artists is a lie -

Ted Buss Published 12:00 a.m. CT May 3, 2020

Last week I mentioned 1950-60s radio talk host Paul Harvey and his noted, The rest of the story segment. A friend reminded me of a commentary he did that captured the imagination of the nation in 1965 called, If I were the prince of darkness.

Ted Buss(Photo: c)

You can watch it on you tube or read it online, and it hasnt aged a day. Noticeably, it stands out as a straightforward piece long before the political correctness run amok movement.

If I were the prince of darkness, Harvey said, I would engulf the whole world in darkness.

I would have a third of all real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldnt be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree . . . thee.

So I would set about, however necessary, to take over the United States.

I would subvert the churches first, and I would begin with a campaign of whispers.

With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: Do as you please.

To the young I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince children that man created God instead of the other way around.

And to the elderly I would teach to pray, Our father, who art in Washington . . .

If I were the devil, Id soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves and a nation at war with each other until each, in its turn, was consumed.

And with promises of higher ratings and circulation Id have a mesmerizing media fanning the flames.

If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellect but neglect to discipline emotions. Id tell administrators and teachers to let students run wild and before you knew it youd have metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.

I would have prisons overflowing and I would evict God from the courts, schools and the halls of Congress.

In churches I would substitute psychology for religion.

If I were the devil, Id take from those who have and give it to those who want until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.

Id convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that living together is more practical and what you see on television is the way to be.

I would lure you into a world of diseases for which there are no cures.

In other words, if I were the devil, Id just keep right on doing what hes doing.

When Harvey wrote this piece 55 years ago, newspapers reprinted it and television networks shared it in commentary. Despite our warts in this or ages past, thankfully we have not outgrown this kind of story.

Ted Buss is a former sports and business editor at the Times Record News.

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With the Covid-19 pandemic creating a Pearl Harbor moment in the West, a furious debate has popped up regarding how to deal with China.

Liberal media continue to imply that it is racist to criticize the Chinese Communist Party over its response, especially if one uses the terms Wuhan or Chinese to describe the pandemic. Some journalists have defended Chinas draconian Mao-era social control measures because they worked; they have even defended the World Health Organization, contending that withdrawing funding from the WHO was a crime against humanity.

This is hilarious, given the fact that they barely criticised President Xi Jinping despite his regime hiding the epidemic from his own people for more than a month.

One egregious example comes from a report of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on April 29. It reported that Canadians were upset after a racist and inflammatory publication was delivered to their doorstep which described the pandemic as a CCP Virus and suggested it might have come out of a Wuhan laboratory. (Experts worldwide have deemed this as misinformation, just for the record, but everyone from US senators to Trump himself continue to be suspicious.)

The CBC interviewed a grand total of one upset Canadian and featured a surreal interview with a single Canadian Post employee who almost decided to censor and not deliver the publication, only to be overruled at the last minute by more sensible superiors.

Besides the ridiculous fact that the CCP is not a race, but a political organization, and the publication itself, the Epoch Times, is owned and written by ethnic Chinese in North America, one has to ask, when will Western liberals wake up to reality and stop their political correctness lunacy?

This is not the first time North American media outlets have targeted the Epoch Times. In 2019, NBC host Rachel Maddow attacked it as one of Trumps most ardent supporters which had spent big on Facebook supporting his campaign.

What is the Epoch Times and who is funding it?

Enter the Falun Gong, an unorthodox and eccentric new religious movement. It was founded by a Northeastern Chinese man named Li Hongzhi, who rode on the popularity wave of qigongan ancient Chinese spiritual exercise practice, which emerged in the 1990s following a renewed interest in traditional culture. Li combined tenets of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism and folk beliefs and created an entirely new belief system. Initially he had the backing of Chinas officials because they thought it was harmless politically. But things quickly soured after they realized Li had created a massive following, almost a personality cult, and had amazing ability to mobilise crowds.

The final straw came in 1999 when Falun Gong practitioners petitioned en masse outside Communist Chinas nerve center, Zhongnanhai in Beijing, after a derogatory news article had attacked their movement. Mass arrests and a crackdown followed, with persecution continuing to this day in China.

As a child growing up in China, I myself remember primary school campaigns and CCTV (Chinas state broadcaster) news clips denouncing the Falun Gong as an evil cult. This worked, as Chinese public opinion decisively turned against the movement by 2002, and Li moved his operations completely to North America.

But it is what happened afterwards that makes their story so fascinating.

In just 20 years, the Falun Gong has built up a vast media empire, spanning from the Epoch Times (which publishes in multiple languages besides Chinese and English), New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV, broadcasts in Mandarin, Cantonese, English), Sound of Hope radio and New Realm studios, a Canadian-based movie and TV studio which makes HD Chinese language drama for NTDTV.

Persecution failed to put an end to the Falun Gong. Instead it managed to get more followers amongst overseas Chinese people and even smuggled out some of its members to resettle in the West. Today, the Falun Gong runs, nurseries, schools and even a college for its believers. A complete parallel society has emerged.

None of this is more revealing than Dragon Springs, a massive 427-acre compound in upstate New York. This is a sprawling campus housing hundreds of Li Hongzhis closest followers (many of whom fled China) and Li himself, complete with an impressive Tang Dynasty style Buddhist pagoda and Fei Tian College. Some of its students graduate to the Shen Yun Art Troupe, specifically created to promote the Falun Gong.

Compare this to the headquarters of the Chinese Democratic Party, a political exile organization founded by students who fled China after the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. The CDP is based in a run-down building in Flushing, Americas largest Chinatown. It has no media outlet of its own and minimal influence even in Flushing.

Every year, American cities are awash with Shen Yun posters and giant billboards which claim that Shen Yun represents the 5000 years of traditional Chinese culture which has been ruined by Communism. Curious Westerners are impressed by the performance and surprised by a red tsunami carrying an image of Marx which lays waste the shores of China. Shen Yun apparently generates tens of millions of dollars in revenue and huge publicity.

Even more amazing is how successful Falun Gong has been online. Its NTDTV division is not a drab overseas Chinese TV channel that no one watches. Quite the contrary. Ben Hedges, a British Falun Gong practitioner who speaks impeccable Chinese, has his own YouTube channel. It is very popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong, with many subscribers (681,000 at last count) completely unaware of his background, despite the big NTDTV logo on his videos.

China Uncensored, another YouTube channel which posts daily exposs of Chinas authoritarian regime, is hosted by Chris Chappell, an American with dark sense of humour. It has 1.26 million subscribers and is also produced by NTDTV. NTDTV even hooked up with Steve Bannon and members of the Trump family, getting interviews with them. It produced a damning documentary in 2019 about Huaweis secrets and the threat it poses to America. Bannon was a producer.

But the most surprising aspect of Falun Gongs media reach is in the Sinosphere. In the past few decades, overseas Chinese media has increasingly come under the influence of Beijing, with little or no coverage of negative news being reported. Media outlets are quietly bought up by the CCP and its network of overseas supporters. Many people disgruntled with the situation increasingly only have Falun Gong media to turn to, because it has often become the only staunchly anti-Communist section of the overseas Chinese media jigsaw.

In December 2019, The Economist did a piece titled Party Poopers which described the curious world of Chinese-language anti-CCP YouTube channels. Wenzhao probably has the most followers, with 500,000 subscribers and 200 million views on YouTube. He operates independently from the official media empire, but he is a member of the Falun Gong as well, although that went unremarked by The Economist.

Other influential anti-CCP video bloggers on YouTube have Falun Gong backgrounds too, and reach vast number of people eager to circumvent censorship and hear the other side of the narrative.

All these arms of the Falun Gong empire have been active in reporting whenever the CCP is in crisis. They have been on the frontlines livestreaming the Hong Kong anti-extradition protests. They have also broadcast video footage produced by independent journalists inside Wuhan when it was locked down. They added some pro-Falun Gong propaganda, but their contribution was still valuable.

The Falun Gong has accomplished far more in 20 years than secular pro-democracy dissidents in exile. More importantly, they offer the only alternative in the overseas Chinese language media against the CCP, apart from a shrinking number of Hong Kong and Taiwan media outlets. And unlike them, Falun Gong media cannot be bought out by CCP money.

Naturally, the Falun Gong has problems. Its operations are not transparent. Li Hongzhi doesnt seem to have a succession plan and no one knows what will happen when he dies. Critics cite cult-like behaviour and rumours of weird beliefs. But after 20 years it seems clear that Falun Gong is not Aum Shinrikyo and Dragon Springs is not Jonestown.

The Falun Gong has alienated liberals in the West due to its conservative teachings regarding homosexuality and its support for Trump. This throwing all the eggs in one basket move might be a brilliant bet since the hyper-partisan Epoch Times English edition has increased its profile tremendously since its pro-Trump shift. But it could backfire if Biden is elected.

Elsewhere in the West, the Falun Gong is also backing the Right. The German edition is batting for the AfD Party and the French edition for Marine le Pen.

The Falun Gong is both fascinating and problematic. But in a world of PC madness and CCP money sloshing around, its media offer a much needed alternative viewpoint. In fact, its existence is the best antidote to anti-Chinese racism in the West clearly not every Chinese is a pro-Communist robot who toes the party line. Love them or hate them, these folks arent going anywhere.

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Senate Judiciary Committee ChairmanLindsey Graham,R-S.C., had a message for Democrats on Sunday saying, China is the problem, not Trump.

Graham made the comment during an exclusive interview on Sunday Morning Futures three days after President Trump said he has seen evidence suggesting that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in China.

The Democrats have empaneled a group tolook at Trump, not China, Graham said.

President Trump made very gooddecisions, very hard callsconsistently," he continued. "Not one Democrat has comeforward with any idea to holdChina accountable for killingover 60,000 Americans bywithholding information aboutthe virus and putting 30 millionAmericans out of work becausethats what we had to do to saveprobably 1 million lives.

He then urged Democrats to step up.

Trump was speaking to reporters on Thursday about protecting America's senior citizens when Fox News and othersasked if he knew of anything that gave him confidence that the outbreak originated in theWuhan Institute of Virology.

"Yes, I have," he said, withoutfurther explanation. "And, I think that the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves because theyre like the public relations agency for China."

The president announced last month that the United States would immediately halt funding for the health organization, saying it had put political correctness over lifesaving measures, noting that the U.S. would undertake a 60- to 90-day investigation into why the China-centric WHO had caused so much death by severely mismanaging and covering up the coronavirus spread.

Trump had also speculated about whether China knew about the virus sooner than it has led on and withheld information about the outbreak.

"It's a terrible thing that happened. Whether they made a mistake or whether it started off as a mistake and then they made another one or did somebody do something on purpose, Trump said on Thursday.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

Intelligence officials confirmed Thursday that an investigation has been ongoing into whether the pandemic was the result of an accident at theWuhan lab, a contradiction from the broad consensusthat it originated at a wet market in the city.

On Sunday Graham said, Ive got a bill thatsays were going to putsanctions on Chinas economyuntil they cooperate with theinvestigation about how thevirus came out of the lab,if it came out of the lab at all, closing the wet marketsthat create these pandemics, anddealing with the abuse againstthe Hong Kong democracyadvocates.

He went on to say that it doesnt matter what he and other Republicans do unless Democrats join their efforts.

It doesnt matterwhat I do or what [Texas Republican Sen.] Ted Cruz doesor [Arkansas Republican Sen.] Tom Cotton or [Tennessee Republican Sen.] MarshaBlackburn or [Arizona Republican Sen.] Martha McSally.Where is [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [New York Democratic Sen. Chuck] Schumer? Graham asked.

Weve all got good ideas on theRepublican side.The president wants to be tough.Where is the Democratic Party? he continued.

He urged Democrats not to give China a pass.

Graham then had a direct message for Pelosi, D-Calif., and Schumer.

He asked,Why dont you work withme and others to hold China accountablefor killing over 60,000Americans, and having 30 millionpeople lose their jobs?

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Theyreabsolutely AWOL[Absent Without Leave] when it comes toChina accountability, he continued. So none of this matters unless you canget Democrats involved.

Fox News Louis Casiano and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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Sen. Graham's message to Dems: 'China is the problem, not Trump' - Fox News

To The Daily Sun,

As the Pandemic Pandemonium soon to be known as Virus Derangement Syndrome (VDS) recedes, a blessing is the exposure of the corrosive effect of the political correctness that has infringed our freedom of speech and our perception of political reality. A significant perception is Demolitioncrat and vampire media madness to denounce those of us who know beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Chinese Communist Party, if not intentionally, certainly in a criminally reckless manner manufactured a highly infectious virus; then intentionally allowed Wuhan residents to travel throughout the world, seeding Italy under its Belt & Road international strategy with thousands of Wuhan residents, while restricting travel in China. From Northern Italy, it spread to Western Europe and then the United States. The Chinese Communist Party weaponized this virus and targeted the United States. China lied, people died!

Has it occurred to anyone that the Pandemic Pandemonium occurred directly after the trade agreement President Trump negotiated with the Chinese criminals, not to mention the billions of dollars brought in by the Trump tariffs? Gordon Chang, an internationally recognized expert on the Chinese criminal conspiracy, reminds us that continental Europe repeatedly appeased criminally monstrous dictators, and failed to defend Western Civilization in the 20th century. The cowards of Europe are now kowtowing to China, Iran and Russia. China, according to Chang, has declared war on the U.S.

The above begs the question: what happened here? Rudy Giuliani reports that Dr. Doom and Gloom (Fauci) donated $3.7 million dollars to the Wuhan virus lab after Obama issued an order in 2014 prohibiting giving money to labs investigating viruses, including the United States. Doom and Gloom Fauci supported W.H.O., now known as the Wuhan Health Organization, in violation of the law. He really is Dr. Death.

After all else fails to get President Trump, including the FBI and DOJ planting spies in the White House, Dr. Death from the Deep State shows up with catastrophic fake epidemiological computer modeling predictions based on garbage in and garbage out information showing 1.2 million deaths to scare the country into an economic shutdown. In addition, our hospital system was forced to shut down elective surgery to treat the non-existent millions of Covid victims, causing near financial collapse, not to mention the near collapse of our food supply chain! Ladies and gentlemen, its the flu, as more and more doctors are telling us. The fatality rate will be less than 0.1 percent.

Dont believe me. Fine! Do you believe Senator Tom Scott, Senator Ted Cruz, Newt Gingrich, Joe DiGenova and Gordon Chang! Thank God Donald Trump is president of the United States.

As an aside, the dam is about to break on Spygate. Lt. General Mike Flynn will be exonerated soon because the Obama DOJ hid exculpatory evidence of his innocence. John Durham will indict Brennan and, probably, Comey and Clapper for the greatest crime in the history of our country. I know its hard to believe.

Nevertheless, it is time to STAND UP OR GET SHUT UP!

Charles H. Bradley III, JD

Laconia

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Charles H. Bradley III: Chinese Communists weaponized this virus and aimed it at us - The Laconia Daily Sun

Part 7 of 7 of a Series on Reconstruction 1865-1877

Mike Scruggs- The study of the causes and conduct of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era that followed from 1865 to 1877 is still governed by the partisan myths of the Union victors and modern political correctness. But Truth crushed to the earth (William Cullen Bryant) is still the truth and shall rise again.

In his second inauguration speech, President Lincoln had presented a generous vision for bringing the South back into the Union fold. His often quoted words, with malice toward none; with charity for allto bind up the nations wounds, were to set a new attitude and theme in the restoration of the South to the Union. Lincoln had instructed Grant in accepting Lees surrender at Appomattox to let him up easy.

Union General J. L. Chamberlain ordered his battle seasoned troops at Appomattox to give a salute of honor to Confederate troops as they passed in final review at that surrender. Robert E. Lee had advised his men to go home and be good American citizens.

Following the assassination of Lincoln, however, goaded by the press and Radical Republicans in Congress, the flames of regional mistrust, hatred, and a desire for vengeance on the South erupted with vehement passion.

Lincolns Vice President, now President Andrew Johnson, a relatively conservative Union military governor of Tennessee and former Democratic Congressman from East Tennessee, had planned to follow the Lincoln plan for restoring the South to the Union. In this he would be vigorously opposed by the Radical Republicans led by Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania in the House, Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in the Senate, and Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War.

Their objective was permanent Republican Party dominance of the nation. A humiliating and vengeful subjugation of Southern States was to be an important instrument of the Radical Republican plan for continued national dominance. Southern States would be remade into Republican States fashioned and tightly controlled by Radical Republicans. Although civil rights idealism played a part in Radical Republican thinking and a very great part in their talk, the main role of former slaves would be insuring Republican political dominance in the South and suppressing any rising political opposition. This would have the effect of opening the South to economic exploitation and dominance by enterprising Northern fortune and office seekers for twelve years.

There are two warring schools on Reconstruction today. Up until about 1960 the Dunning school prevailed. Dunning and his students viewed Reconstruction as the most corrupt, tyrannical, and disgraceful period in American history. After looking at the facts presented, most conservatives and moderates are appalled at the scandalous injustices inflicted on both white and black at the hands of Federal Military Government and its Freedmans Bureau and Union League agencies and swarms of corrupt opportunists.

However, it is now the Foner school that dominates. Eric Foner is a Neo-Marxist, Columbia University professor, who believes Reconstruction did not go far enough. Harsher methods should have been used to remake the South into a more liberal society. Many of the facts Foner presents are correct, but other important facts and context are missing. His analysis generally favors big government despotism with a liberal flavor. Yet many media conservatives have only read leftist revisionist Foners book, Reconstruction: Americas Unfinished Revolution, 1883-1877, published in 1988 and 2005.

One difficulty in writing about Reconstruction is the role of the Klan. The Dunning school was willing to look at the Klan in the context of Radical Republican and Union League violence against and suppression of white Southerners after the war, while the modern Foner school is unforgiving. It is also extremely important to realize that the KKK of 1865 to 1877 was originally a regulator organization completely different in principles and motives from the imitation KKK that was founded in 1915. The original early KKK was primarily organized to protect both white and black Southerners from the Radical Republican sponsored violence of the Union League.

In my book, The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths, pages 352-3, I have recommended 16 books and several tape series and other articles covering or partially covering Reconstruction Here in my opinion are the best seven for most readers. :Charles Adams; When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession, 2000John Chodes; The Union League: Washingtons Klan, 1999. Essential reading.Merton Coulter; The South During Reconstruction 1865-1877, 1947. In my opinion the best book on Reconstruction.Thomas J. DiLorenzo; The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, 2002.William A. Dunning; Reconstruction, Political and Economic 1865-1877, 1907.Ludwell H. Johnson; North Against South: The American Iliad 1848-1877, 1978, 1993, 2002 printing.Alfred B. Williams; Hampton & His Redshirts: South Carolinas Deliverance in 1876, 1935.

Unfortunately, once the Northern carpetbaggers and Radical Republicans had abandoned their black political constituency in 1877, Southern Democrats indiscriminately made second class citizens of all blacks, friend and foe, regardless of qualifications. The Southern experience with the widespread corruption, demagoguery, and oppression of Reconstruction caused in most whites a fear and revulsion of black participation in government that would take many decades to subside.

It took Alabama and South Carolina nearly one hundred years to pay off the wild and corrupt state spending of the Reconstruction era. Blacks were placed under the same type black laws that still relegated blacks to second class citizenship in most Northern states. Several Northern states, such as Indiana, Illinois, and Oregon had laws that prevented blacks or mulattos from even entering their states. Because of the Reconstruction experience and the larger black population in the South, the residual of these Jim Crowe laws lasted longer in Southern states.

The Union League and Freedmans Bureau had failed in their purpose, but succeeded in doing tremendous damage to race relations in the South. Thus they were a strong contributory cause in retarding rather than advancing black political and economic progress.

Union League militias in the South are estimated to have numbered nearly 280,000, far outnumbering regular Union Army troops. Except for mostly white Northern leadership, the Union League rank and file were former slaves and 100,000 blacks who had served in the Union Army. Numerous Union Army communications indicate that many of these were recruited into the Union Army at the point of bayonet. Yet at the wars end they were not welcome in the North and even excluded by law from entering many Northern states.

They had to return to the South where they were strongly resented by the white Confederate veterans, who they had fought against during the war. Most Union League militiamen, both Union veterans and ex-slaves, wore the Union Army uniform. They were essentially federal agency units of the War Department assigned to the military or carpetbagger governments for their political bidding and defense. Often the more resentful or vengeful Union League militiamen used their new and elevated status to insult and menace the now humiliated Confederate veterans and their families. The Union League militias were also notorious for their lack of discipline.

In addition to their assigned political violence and bullying, there was often wanton violence, destruction, confiscation, and thievery. They outnumbered regular Federal troops in most states. Despite their numbers, reputation for brutality, and connections to Federal power, the Union League was first intimidated and then defeated by the Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan. The severely damaged racial relations that were the work of the Union League and Reconstruction policies still lingers, but modern political correctness generally assigns the South as the sole scapegoat.

However, an enormous portion of the violence blamed on the KKK during Reconstruction was actually the work of the Union League. The League had found a way to disguise its violence and blame it on the KKK. The first two convictions under a Mississippi anti-Klan law in 1870 turned out to be two black Union League men who had been harassing a black Democrat. A U.S. Marshall in North Carolina also commented on the high number of Union League incidents using imitations of KKK disguise. In collusion with Radical Republican Congressmen in Washington, Radical Republican state governments in the South made a concentrated effort to report as many incidents of white violence against blacks and white Republicans as possible.

They went much further than honest reporting to keep Congress and Republican voters in the North stirred up against reputed Southern misdeeds. Much distortion and fabrication was involved and was readily passed on as fact by a biased and obedient Northern press. For example, in April 1866 in Memphis, there were more than forty blacks killed in a three day race riot. This turned out to be a conflict between a garrison of black federal soldiers and Irish police of recent Northern importation.

The bottom line is that Reconstruction further devastated the South and retarded its economic recovery by many decades. The primary economic beneficiary was the Northeast. The primary political effect of the War and Reconstruction was that we evolved from a philosophy of limited government to big, powerful, highly centralized unlimited government. The degree of corruption and despotism during Reconstruction may seem incredible, but they were the natural result of a collusion of big government and politically connected businesses unchecked by the consent of the governed.

Dr. Henry Bellows, a Unitarian minister and the founder of both the U.S. Sanitary Commission and the Union League, wrote a summary of Union League consequences in 1879. He was appalled that an organization of such good original intentions [exalting the power of consolidated Federal government over the Constitution] had such staggeringly negative consequences even in the North. The philosophies of vengeance, violence, and corruption that had been inflicted on the South came home to roost in the North.

There was something more hopeless and desperate in the political, social, and commercial demoralization that followed the war than the war itself. The old and pestilent doctrine of the spoils of war had changed from an acknowledged heresy into a dogma.Nothing less than a moral typhoid , the consequence of a general malaria in the public air, can account for the sinking tone of public sentiment during the decade following the close of the war; partly a reaction to the exalted patriotism that had sustained the war into victory, partly the dreadful result of the unsettling influence on values, standards, habits, by the creation of an artificial currency that did not carry its measure in itself, partly by the coming to the top of powerful men who had suddenly become rich without the aid of any moral habit or any refined or gentlemanly standards.

This decline in the public tone was not confined to the vulgar and ignorant. It affected all ranks and professions, perhaps most marked where it would naturally be least looked for, and most abhorrent, in the clerical calling. No doubt it affected injuriously many of the leaders of all parties and every school of politics, the Senate, the Bench, and the Bar.

Roberta F. Cason, writing in The Georgia Historical Quarterly, volume 20, in 1936 summarized with this:The Union League of Georgia did more to breed suspicion between the races, to create misunderstanding, to ignite often justifiably but none the less dangerous explosions of feeling and conduct, to estrange the black man from the people with whom he must live, to fan alive and kindle in new places fires of prejudice, than any other single influence.

There can be no doubt that if the races had not been set against each other, these situations pregnant with fearful implications for the future, would never have come aboutThe Union League distorted the blacks reaction to freedom, enslaved him politically for a time, and was a vital factor in creating the situations that have resulted in his economic slavery.

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If Jordan Wolfson is an edgelord, our culture doesnt have much of an edge. Spit Earth: Who Is Jordan Wolfson?, a new documentary directed by James Crump, nods at its start to the artists offensiveness and his lack of deference to political correctness and virtue signaling. But since the putatively offended parties are mostly absent from the 55-minute film, one can only imagine what sensitivities might be triggered by Wolfsons vulgarity, scatology, violence, lust, and direct or sideways invocations of ethnicity, race, and racism. Maybe tweakings of these taboos count as offensive today, but not too long ago they were common currency.

So outside a certain bubble, Wolfson comes across less as a provocateur than as a sophisticated and entertaining nostalgia act, repackaging familiar transgressions in novel trappings like animatronics and virtual-reality headsets. Plenty of precursors beyond the two that Wolfson names (David Lynch and Jeff Koons) are obvious: Norman Mailer, R. Crumb, Al Goldstein, the Beastie Boys, Howard Stern. His 2014 breakout work (Female figure), an animatronic blonde who dances while looking in a mirror, channels 50s-era pinups through pre-2001 robotics and the perverted masquerade of Kubricks Eyes Wide Shut. His VR installation from the 2017 Whitney Biennial, Real Violence, replays the street beatdown scene from A Clockwork Orange in black goggles with an anti-Semitic twist. As for the animated aging Jewish man in a yarmulke and beard talking dirty in in the artists voice in Animation, masks (2011), Woody Allen made the same joke in Annie Hall. Call Wolfson a transgressive traditionalistand watch him drag such manchild signifiers as Pinocchio and Looney Toons into the piss and shit of a muddled 21st-century adulthood to a familiar pop score of Lady Gaga and Percy Sledge.

One function of virtue signaling is money laundering, since money has no virtue on its own and more often than not is born of vice (or worse). But if virtuous art pays out these days in return for the cover it provides to capital, it stands to reason that some money will flow to its opposite, especially if it comes in an ironic wrapping. If Wolfson were truly offensive, hed be kicked out of polite society. But his irony affirms the status quo even as it points up its hypocrisies and general flimsiness. And so Spit Earth takes us to Wolfsons farm house in upstate New York, where he enjoys the company of a couple of large dogs and keeps a pair of rescue horses in a big red barn. Wolfson cops that hes always been fortunate, and we see childhood photos of his upper-middle-class family. But as usual, his checking of privilege comes across as a form of autofellatio thinly disguised as self-deprecation.

The best scenes of the film transpire in the living room: Wolfson putting his phone on the mantel and FaceTiming with an animator, acting out the scene he wants her to put on the screen for his next piece. Hes laughing, hes dancing, hes appreciative of his collaboratorall with the sense of childlike fun that enchants many of his works. Such scenes are more illuminating than anything the talking heads in the film say about himthough theyre all entranced by his charismaor any of the vague things Wolfson says about his boyhood. It was hard, he tells us of growing up. Jordan had a learning disability, his mother explains. Theres a whiff of therapy to the proceedings, the couch no doubt being the source of a good deal of Wolfsons inspiration. No artist is comfortable in his own skin, adds Wolfsons aunt, the novelist Erica Jong. Am I allowed to say that?

Asking permission to utter a bromide nicely captures the tone of Spit Earth, but the supposed scandalousness of the art doesnt quite eclipse the art itself. The drama at play is mostly of the messy-breakup variety. Wolfsons ex-girlfriend Emma Fernberger, who is pictured nude in his embrace in one of his paintings, recalls how the picture hurt another ex-boyfriends feelings. She and Wolfson have since patched things up, and when Fernberger wonders aloud whether all of Wolfsons work amounts to an elaborate psychic self-portrait, shes stating the obvious.

Wolfsons most striking transgression was a series of posters in which he called out the Venice Biennale for not selecting him for competition (nothing is more offensive than a careerism that dares to speak its own name) while also criticizing other artists for not making work you love. The image behind the text on them is something Wolfson surely loves: himself.

Its hard to blame him. Wolfson has wit and energy. He does a funny impression of Jeff Koons. Hes clever and shrewdmaybe even too shrewd within an art world thats allowed him to thrive more as jester than gadfly. The glibbest of Wolfsons works is the new Artists, Friends, Racists (2020) in which the three words flicker alternately in neon read signage. To hear him explain the logic behind the piecethat any white person born in America might not be personally racist but is complicit in structural racismonly makes it drearier, since its conventional wisdom.

Wolfson could clearly use some competition as a satirist. But turning 40 this fall, his days as an enfant terrible are behind him. Spit Earth serves as a capstone to that phase. The table is set for a long midlife crisis.

Spit Earth: Who Is Jordan Wolfson? is now available online on Vimeo.

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Is Artist Jordan Wolfson Really So Offensive? A New Documentary Considers the Artists Persona - ARTnews