England’s War on Kids
Mar 22nd
The Police in Nottingham, England declared war on youth on Saturday night: anyone between 13-24 getting off a bus into town was sent through a metal-detector, and the streets were swarmed with drug-dogs that were set on young people.
Over 1,000 English cities and towns have a curfew for young people, giving police (and fake "citizen cops") the power to send kids home after dark for any reason, if, in their judgement, the kids are apt to be disturbing "real" people. Many stores and restaurants have signs on the door that say "no more than two kids at one time" (imagine if it said "No more than two Jews" or "No more than two blacks"). And there’s a kind of para-law called the Anti-Social Behaviour Order that gives courts the power to invent laws for people (mostly kids) who face complaints about their behaviour (the accused aren’t allowed to rebut the evidence against them). You have to wonder what kind of values about citizenship, fairness, privacy, and the social contract are being imparted to young people by these measures. Read more about the War on Kids in England and the USA. [Story via Boing Boing]
TAZ stands for Temporary Autonomous Zone | Photo by Andrea Giacobbe
Boy meets Boy
Mar 20th
Boy meets Boy (소년, 소년을 만나다) is a Korean short film released in November 2008. It’s unique in the sense that there is no dialogue at all involved, and relies on background music and body language to project the characters’ feelings. Produced by Korea Gay Men’s Human Rights Group Chiusai & Blue Films, the film is about Min-Soo (played by Kim Hye Seong) who gets his camera stolen from Suk-Yee (played by Hyun-Jin). They later meet again on a bus, which then sparks their love. the proceedings of the film are donated to the Gay support group “Between Friends”.
You might expect a slow piece of romantic dingle-dongle but it’s actually pretty funny. I couldn’t stop laughing when she appeared on the screen…
Periodical Political Post *48
Mar 19th
- US general says Srebrenica massacre was fault of Gay Dutch soldiers
- UK passes bill to cut off internet for thousands of households
- Most British schools break law to spy on their pupils
- US court says govt. can put non-sex-offenders on sex-offender-list
- Texas rewrites school books to fit Republican agenda
- In the US loud sex is a reason for cops to search your home
- US department of defence fights secret war on WikiLeaks
- Canadian government tries to censor press about climate change
- Viacom sued YouTube over videos uploaded by… Viacom
- MySpace sells user photos, blog posts, names, zip codes etc.
- French village went insane after CIA spiked its bread with LSD
A man in Cornwall, England was barred from hosting a gay disco at a community hall because of fears a party full of homosexuals could offend the local Christians in the town of St Agnes.
Tainted Tuesday *30
Mar 16th
Loveless
Mar 15th
Twelve-year old Aoyagi Ritsuka is left with his insane mother as his only family when his brother, Seimei, is killed suddenly. After moving to a new school, he meets Agatsuma Soubi, who claims to have known his brother. Ritsuka eventually discovers that Soubi and Seimei used to be a fighting pair, whereby Soubi was the "Fighter" and Seimei was the "Sacrifice". Now that Seimei is gone, Ritsuka has inherited Soubi, who will become his "Fighter". After learning that Seimei was killed by an organisation known as the "Seven Moons", Ritsuka decides to investigate into his brother’s death, with the sometimes useless help of Soubi, along the way.
Loveless has been called a “boylove anime” and by Western standards it is, of course. What else can a series that circles around the love affair between a 12-yearold and a 20-yearold be called? If in doubt, the series itself will provide you with the necessary clues. Like for example when Soubi’s jealous ex-boyfriend accuses him of having a “Lolita complex” because of his obsession with Ritsuka.
At the same time it should not be called a “boylove anime”. This anime is made for TV by a big production company. The aim is to earn money. And how do you earn money? By attracting a lot of people. And a lot of people are apparently attracted to the love between Ritsuka and Soubi. In the West, we call that boylove. In Japan, they call it sweet.
This text is a short excerpt from an article about Loveless in the first issue of the Destroyer Journal. You can order it at I Love Mags if you want to read the full story. A review can be also found here.
Godly Boyish
Mar 14th
Cam Archer is an independent filmmaker who, at the same age of most recent college graduates, has written and directed a vast amount of his critically acclaimed and award winning films. His debut feature film Wild Tigers I Have Known, which was executively produced by veteran indie filmmaker Gus Van Sant, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to become a landmark in new-queer cinema.
While dealing with the sensitive and taboo subject of adolescents coming to terms with their homosexuality, Archer creates images that are fresh, beautiful, and undoubtedly original. His films blend formal narrative structure with extreme and abrasive experimental imagery to help tie the symbolic knots together, and create a better understanding of the state of mind in which his main subject is trapped inside. His work, which could be compared to many Van Sant films, (Elephant comes to mind) are able to hold up on their own through their breathtaking cinematography, subtle background scores, and of course an innovative take on a subject that has been dealt with thousands of times in the history of cinema. Archer is a controversial artist, who makes films on his own terms, and through his collection of work, has created a style in which no film buff could deny.
In the short film Goodly Boyish, Cam Archer’s moody, elliptical exploration of the interior lives of teenagers, two boys (Jasper Bel and Cassidy Field) dream of a life together in heaven…
Cute Caturday *3
Mar 13th
He might also be a candidate for the Too Much Photoshop Tuesday but you have to admit, the kitten is a natural beauty ;) Thanks for finding this Declan. Be sure to send us your cat boys too, kthxbye!
Husbands & Husbands
Mar 12th
An interesting exchange with a small boy who meets a gay couple at a family function
For this boy it was a simple step of logic. First, he admits he knew about husbands and wives but had never seen a husband and husband before. He says: "This is the very first time I’ve seen husbands and husbands." And then he draws his conclusion: "So that means you love each other." A logical conclusion, but one so many people seem to miss.
