The Hole

The Hole is a really good movie, it has that grungy science fiction look, (like Brazil, 2046, Minority Report); a virus has reduced the population of Taiwan and a man and a woman are sort of getting together. As opposed to Brazil, Minority Report, Stephen King and Bladerunner, this world lacks some pressure. Buddhism, I guess. To be serious, the lack of cinamatic pressure is more than made up for by the unavoidable concept of the permanence of the world and its sustaining power, no matter what happens. There are 3 bn people living happily in the Sapporo-Bombay-Indonesia area and logic says that there must be something pretty good about Buddhism and Hinduism, am I right? Perhaps one has some electronics or automotive from there, maybe some toys or decorations from Walmart, maybe one has called about one's computer dozens of times. I don't know.

At times people express worries about the balance of trade; hey, I'm doing my part by translating out records like All Rise by Naked Raygun (see below). Naked Raygun - that's a quality good. There's a lot of mildly irritated people who need to complain, to release what in Asia might be known as "Medical Heat", but it really takes someone who knows the language(s) to create a nice economic world to live in. Of course there is some amount of alienation involved in working for the "Joint Asian and American Economic Cultural Forum", but then again, there is a some alienation involved in leaving one's teenage years behind and going to vocational school and then owning one's own auto repair shop. Isn't there? Isn't it difficult? It is, as a matter of fact. Difficult, and very much worth it to do so. I am not sure what religions say, but I have heard it said that the universe was created by work. So read a book or something.

Of course, it is logical to ask "What's the problem (over there); I'm not a jerk....?" In reading the Taipei Times English pages, there seems to be a problem with what the police call "Black Gold", which consists of urban hillbillies living in a national Yuppie economy in Asia, like Taiwan, who don't seem to be the least bit interested in the "Joint Asian and American Economic Cultural Forum"; I suppose if one looks closer it's not really true about not being interested, but that's the problem, or so I have read.

It's like sports; one needs a coach to be good at something. In my experience of Asia, I have had nothing but Bill Belichick, and for my part, what you give is what you get. Or what I get is what I give. Whatever. Fans in New Orleans and New England know, the coach is an important person in the organization. This movie is available at Netflix, made in 1998. Wikilink.