I’m dedicating this to the folks at Kurzgesagt. A long time favorite of mine on YouTube. A lot of effort and a catalog of science content aimed at people with a capability of understanding the concepts that are talked about. Even the least viewed videos have several million views as there is a hunger for the smarter crowd for this content. And if you really want to be associated with the word smart you need to comprehend this instead of something like the participation award machine that is gematria.
But it’s not about the Kurzgesagt science channel itself. They do make opinions and predictions. Those are clearly separated and declared to be opinions. They stick to facts even if the topic is uncomfortable for those that hate their own brains for disregarding reality. Long time viewers of such a popular channel have built a bond of trust with them. And now they’ve launched a history oriented channel linked at the top of this post. And like a good action movie trailer they start you off right away with a teaser. The stories that keep us up at night, which I choose to interpret as how uncomfortable it is that we’re being slammed over the head to turn away from reality and ignore how history shows that things are never and have never been so simple. It’s almost like the timing is that it’s headed towards throwing in some content about a particularly repulsive strangely mustachioed man how ended up being responsible for a lot of people being unalived. And how a lot of people treat that as some strange work of fiction that never really happened.
And we’re not quite done with the lengthy intro, yet. Rapid Fire was a 1992 movie starring Brandon Lee. The evolution of the martial arts movie included a period of time in the 70’s when it was impossible to not find a low budget kung fu flick on Saturday TV. The setting was Qing Dynasty rural China. Some rich and wealthy villain would do something mean. Some chosen one would get the motivation to strike back. There would be a nice training montage after the kung fu Luke Skywalker meets his Yoda (that always looked like a 35 year old with fake facial hair to make him look like he’s 70). Then some lower level minions would meet their demise at the hands and feet of the champion’s newly polished skills. Then the final boss would show off some surprising kung fu skill of his own, although since the escapist entertainment demanded it he’d lose because good needed to triumph over evil. Roll the credits and don’t talk about the oppression that lead to the warlord being in power in the first place.
Fast forward to the John Woo urban kung fu movies made in Hong Kong. Now we have to address the guns conveniently missing from the Qing Dynasty settings, and we’re decades away from John Wick. Enter Brandon Lee and the movie Rapid Fire. Now the bad guys aren’t just throwing out cannon fodder henchmen with spears, now the existence of a far more lethal long range weapon has to be addressed for the modernization of the setting. The bad guys have paid for an upgrade. And now the sad news. Instead of a mythical evil empire the movie bad guys are competing drug dealers with a side dose of police corruption. And that’s not just randomly selected mythology, it’s because competing crime lords and political/law enforcement corruption are a real thing.
There’s a lot of magical superhero in Brandon’s character, Jake Lo. He’s thrust into an impossible situation where it just so happens that his desire for the resolution coincides with “doing the right thing.” There’s a grizzled and disillusioned Powers Booth cop character as a mentor. There’s a dirty cop who joins the forces of good, not by seeing the error of his ways and volunteering it. More like seeing the error of his ways and being forced into it by a literal kung fu kick to the face. And there’s two competing drug lords, both over the top in their own ways. Both deserving of justice being delivered on them with the only question being if you want to play the whataboutism game of who is the greater of two evils. The only tangible reward for the hero at the end is the pretty girl cop (Kate Hodge, the sexiest werewolf in cinema history). But as the final song plays over the credits, you got your couple of hours of feeling good that good triumphed over evil.
And the resolution of the movie does nothing to address the more global concept of the oppression that generated the systemic problems in the first place. Wait a second? From the Qing Dynasty up to the 1990’s, and nothing has really changed? Stories told through books and movies haven’t been able to escape this? Where’s the utopia I was promised? Exactly the point. Consumption of the media beyond the entertainment value is not recommended. Your cognitive biases may lead you to assume everything is black and white and simpler. Like a magical deity or single politician can fix the problems single-handedly.
Let’s round this out and finish with a couple of other Rapid Fire tidbits.
Jake Lo is lured to a party by a pretty but not a werewolf girl. Not to hang out and have a good time, but to be part of a political fundraiser since his father was killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest. Parents, if you watch this movie today with your kids, good luck explaining that to them in light of what’s happening in Minneapolis these days. Explain to them how 1989 proves China is evil, yet the current administration in the U.S. is just the bestest. And make it is convincing is possible, because when viewed in the future as history it’s pretty much a slam dunk.
The competing drug lords are complaining about market share for the drug money. Which includes breaking old alliances and use of force. Parents, good luck explaining to the kids how in 1992 criminals didn’t cooperate with each other and they still fight among themselves today.
The first victim in the drug money war is a guy who used his proceeds to buy knives because he’s a collector. Sure, lure an innocent bystander to your party for a political fundraiser because you like pretty artwork. After this goes viral Elon is gonna want to get in on the ancient knife collecting business. There’s only so many yachts you can buy before you get bored.
But my absolute favorite is how Jake is entered into the witness protection program so he will be safe to testify against a drug lord. During his police interview (snagged after he killed some bad guys) he’s trying to just move on and not be involved. He’s forced to stay involved by an out in the open admission - the legal system is rigged. Testify or get buried in jail. Parents, when do you want to explain that the judicial system is rigged? That it’s a real thing and always has been? How long do you shield them before they find it out on their own? Even that first Nightshift video addresses corruption in China. Maybe…Just wait until they find out about the opium that was deliberately flooded into China by the British. Because they’re a bad guy now, they used to be a good guy, they used to be bad before that, but before that they were good and China was the top nation and then they weren’t and now they’re working back towards it again and the U.S. has always been great except when they weren’t except now they’re working on it but they aren’t really but they will soon. Blah, blah, blah.
Rewriting history is tough.
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