#REVIEWS (0) Any Man Can Be A Father But It Takes Someone Special To Be A Farmer Dad Vintage shirt It should go without saying that I don’t

[raexxbb]

Critic of Cartoons (SPOILERS!)

KyI figured I would begin doing on here what I do in my life. Rate a cartoon 10 out of 0 (-10 being highest/best and zero being the worst of the worst nonsense-) while telling my thoughts as to why. The third one is older and full of adventure with tales beyond what’s expected. Now on Netflix:

9 -Avatar: the Last Airbender

This may get a bit long ‘cause I want to bring each character justice. I love this show so much. I only deducted one point for the smallest of reasons otherwise it probably would have gotten a ten.

There’s a strong love-hate relationship with this show. All of the characters are incredible in there own unique way. My only issue is with the fact that the ‘hero gets the girl’ and does so by being whiny. It’s such a cliche and literally the only reason this show has a nine. The romantic element has a strong scale to hold but this show does a poor job of holding it up. Aang is fine, and I love Katara just not them romantically. Aang’s crush on her right away just rubbed me weird. I guess, it’s fine to crush on a pretty girl but to push the crush so much until she feels the same way... Katara had multiple boyfriends along the show and didn’t show much interest in Aang other then as a friend. So, them romantically together I never saw it being as Aang also pushes the chemistry. That’s it, my only issue is there in that relationship. Alone every character is very well thought out and placed in such a particular situation it makes them each perfect.

This forced kiss is the most disgusting moment in the entire show. He pushes this on her right after she says she’s confused and doesn’t know her feelings towards anyone. He’s just being childish (yes, I register he’s twelve) but if you want an adult relationship this is the wrong way to go about it. I don’t see why Katara would ever consider moving into a romantic relationship after this. Pushy is such a red-flag for me. Maybe I’m the only one that feels this way but it just outright infuriates me. Just look at how uncomfortable she looks during this moment.

Another thing I’d like to bring to light is the fact that Aang maybe a bit sexiest. I state this lightly ‘cause of the play episode in the third season. The thought came to be while reviewing Korra. Katara fights against sexism and to empower women. However, Aang became overly insulted when a woman was acting as him in the Ember Island play. Toph loved the idea of a guy playing her, but Aang just couldn’t get over his part being played by a female cast member. It is rude. Yes, everyone knows he still isn’t a girl but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t doing a decent job representing him. The fact that Katara still enters into a relationship just makes me feel like she’s going against something she stood so strongly for. 

People may believe it’s because I favor Zuko and Katara but it isn’t that. Honestly, I’m no longer sure I like them as a couple anymore either. They have cute moments. There are just so many issues among all of the romantic relationships. Somehow, I found myself wishing it revolved more around friendship ‘cause the romance in this show wasn’t handled well at all.

The only reason I’d ever argue for Katara and Zuko to be a couple is because of the ending where he saves her life from Azula. I mean, yes, he put her in danger quite a few times but he was slowly redeeming himself throughout all of that. This wasn’t the only time he saved her and tried to give his life for hers. Throughout the third season of him trying to redeem himself, he tried the hardest with Katara because he had already betrayed her trust once. 

Although, I’m still not saying they would’ve been the best couple either. Let’s not forget: they’re young -teenagers and children. If someone has found their soulmate already, good for them. It’s just abnormal and I’m trying to look at these relationships with a bit of a more realistic thought process. 

There are a few times this show has been about friendship:

Toph was once worried about their friendships, however, one line from Roku gave her confidence and soothed her completely.

“Some friendships are so strong, they can even transcend lifetimes.” -Avatar Roku

Really love this quote from Roku~ 

Zuko’s redemption ark was beyond the best point in the show and had me balling the entire time, every time I’ve watched it gets my heart throbbing for this boy! What if his mother had taken him with her? His life would’ve been so different and probably a lot better! The scar would be gone. No father abuse for him! Of course, without him the Fire Nation would be even worse then it ever was.

“It was to teach you respect!” -Ozai

“It was cruel! And it was wrong!” -Zuko

“Then you’ve learned nothing!” -Ozai

“NO! I’ve learned everything! And, I’ve had to do it on my own.” -Zuko

That conversation with his father, where he finally stands up to such a horrible man was beyond astonishing. Especially seeing as it seemed like something Zuko would never do. 

Although, Iroh new all along that Zuko is great.

“Then would you come and take your rightful place on the throne?” -Zuko

“No. Someone new much take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Zuko.” -Iroh

Uncle has always believed in his nephew. That he would be the one to take the Fire Nation and bring balance to the world. They’re the best relationship in this show once Zuko stops being so angry.

Of course, there’s also the Mai of it all. 

They’re occasionally good for each other. Their relationship is highly problematic. Mai is an awesome character alone, standing up to Azula when she’s terrified of her is great! However, Zuko and her argue nonstop and have an on-off dating history. It can be tiresome to watch. There just wasn’t any chemistry between them that I felt.

The only thing that I love about them is the prison scene. (Which could’ve been a friendship scene.)

Even when Zuko locks her away she chooses him. That is when I thought perhaps their relationship isn’t terrible. She still chooses him afterwards. Their behavior before is erratic and not that of a good relationship. Mai alone wouldn’t have been a trouble thing. Honestly, I relate to Mai as a gayer character then straight.

Although, that leads me to think about Azula, the girl of evil.

“My own mother, thought I was a monster...” -Azula

She’s only fourteen and she’s been raised by an abusive mad man. The entire background just makes me wish someone had tried to love her instead of shown her hatred. Her mother feared her, didn’t even say good-bye. Her brother had to fight her in order to save her from herself and father. 

The thing that made her truly snap was her friends (only ‘cause they fear her) betray her. The last people she had on her side! She just needed love as Zuko did. It would probably take her years to recover from the madness just as it took Zuko. She needs love and help. Who was going to give it to her after the third season? 

In the graphic novels, it’s revealed Zuko has her in a special insane asylum trying to give her the mental help she needs. But, she still seems tense and full of rage. It would’ve been nice to see further into that department of the Fire Nation.

These two are both extremely important. Their bond throughout the entire story is amazing. Him becoming his teacher was his true redemption, true honor came from that act. Of course, he learned so much from hunting Aang and trying to kill him as well.

Above all else, Uncle Iroh (-Zuko’s true father-) is definitely my favorite of all the characters. He’s just so warm and always does the right thing. He waited for Zuko when he went down the wrong path continuously knowing Zuko would realize his mistakes.

The White Lotus is one of the greatest things about this show.

“Don’t you know? All old people know each other?” -King Bumi

He’s just so hilarious and random. All of the great masters together in a secret society despite their nation’s differences is the most grandest thing.

Of course, another favorite is Appa.

The episode portraying animal abuse is heartwrenching. Him being taken from the ones that love and protect him only to be beaten and abused. This show goes beyond any other show in displaying all the different types of abuse in the world- emotional, physical... And it covers even more than this.

Another piece of me would’ve been interested in seeing if Aang had died and a water Avatar born to be the last Airbender. *Cough, cough* Maybe Katara? She is the most powerful bender in the show after all.

“I will never ever turn my back on people who need me!” -Katara

Perhaps instead of killing Aang off, just have them be wrong that he’s the Avatar and so whoever was actually got killed during the air temple raid. Causing the line to move on to water. Aang could’ve been trapped in an iceberg to be able to teach Katara air. Of course, that may not work if he weren’t able to waterbend and freeze a bubble around him. But, there’s definitely an air pocket in there. 

It is one of the most beautiful cartoons ever created. Besides the fact I never really enjoyed Aang as the main character. All of the others are just so much more interesting then him, in my opinion.

Toph is one of the many characters I didn’t discuss. That fact just is that Toph is beyond incredible. She is the character that is ahead of her time. She proves that being disabled doesn’t mean she a person that’ll stop trying.That’s all, her blindness doesn’t work against her. Instead it works for her giving her a stronger way to see the world.

I’ll be doing Avatar: Legend of Korra at a later time. Trying to make sure I go back and re-watch everything to properly review it.

I really wish they would go back and create a show called Avatars about all of the past lives. Maybe 2/3 episodes to display each of them. There are hundreds and I’m curious to know more about them. I’d love to see Kyoshi as a badass teenager.

#NetFlix #Avatar: The Last Airbender #Critic of Cartoons #Zuko #Uncle Iroh is Zuko's true father #Katara #Sokka #Painted Lady #Appa #Animal Abuse #Uncle Iroh #Azula #Azula is a hurt baby that needs help #Mai alone #Shared Past #Avatar the Last Airbender should've been a friend show not a romantic one

[surfinghorror]

TOP 10 OF THE BIGGEST DISASTERS OF SITGES

Horror is the real, the realization, it´s the killer before you, the Nazis in power.

Horror has been with us from the beginning, since man is man. Not only some of us have learned to live whit it, but we like it when is with us.

We know we are not the only ones and yes, maybe, you are right, another digital magazine focused on horror cinema is not necessary but for us, horror is not just a cinematographic genre, we really believe in horror as part of our culture and terror as art.

In Surfing Horror you will find reviews but also curiosities, specials, tops and much more stuff related to horror. 

And we are born today in the best way possible, making the opening post about the biggest disasters of Sitges Film Festival.

Let´s do it!

𝟏𝟎. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆

Revenge thriller in rural america. The silencing is not exactly a disappointment, we just don't understand why it has been selected for the official section of the sitges festival.

Unfortunately, this does not mean that we have liked it, it´s a product that we do not think can completely satisfy anyone, it doesn´t add anything that we have not seen before, it´s a very insipid thriller and the main plot doesn´t end up being of interest at any time. 

Also, it has a slow and heavy rhythm that makes you look at the clock several times.

🔪🔪 / 5

𝟗. 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐒!

A hipster couple in their thirties decide to disconnect from everything and spend a few days outside the city without knowing that the world is suffering an alien invasion.

Once again we are faced with a very promising idea, but that's all it takes, a promise of a product that could have given a much more interesting result. At "save yourselves", we have science-fiction only as context, it is a mere excuse to present us with a comedy not very funny, dialogs without grace and some supposed middle-age problems that if you are not from the upper-class, you will not understand.

The film, maybe in another festival, would have been seen as a light comedy but sitges is not its place.

It's like if you go to a Metallica show and the opening act is Britney Spears.

🔪 / 5

𝟖. 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄

Failed attempt of the "man vs machine" debate. We can see the love for science fiction behind this film but we cannot feel it.

The pic looks wonderful, all the visual aspect of the film is very well taken care of and the atmosphere is very achieved but this is precisely the big problem, it seems that Gavin Rothery (director-screenwriter) has forgotten to tell us a good story. The script is not in the same level, there are too many unnecessary script turns (above all, the last one) and there are some characters out of place.

In "archive" everything is left to the end but it's too late for us to be interested.

🔪🔪 / 5

𝟕. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑

In surfing horror, we also have a place in our heart for western, in fact, we love this genre but is not easy to mix it with horror and have a satisfactory result.

“The pale door” is not an exception, in the first hour we have a very little interesting western with empty characters and sets worthy of Ed Wood himself and in the last thirty minutes we have a witch film not more interesting than the western one. Genres are not touched at any time and the balance is non-existent.

Very ocassionaly, this explosive mix works, as on the case of the brilliant "Bone Tomahawk", however, this time, we have not had the same luck.

🔪 / 5

𝟔. 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐘

A father and his daughter decide to spend a weekend on the lake, meanwhile, a group of prisoners escape from jail.

We think that in cinema, especially in horror, it doesn´t really matter what you want to tell us, the thing is "how" you want to tell us.

When you see the short description of "Becky", you can imagine what you are going to find, and indeed, it will not blow your head off, but anyway, you want to have a good time and you are ready to have a good time. Half an hour has already passed since the film started, there is nothing you dislike but you feel that you could be watching something better, for example, the news.

We don´t think that "becky" is a bad movie, it´s just that it has nothing important to say or anything special to add to the genre. In the characters section we have a Lulu Wilson (Becky) that does what she can taken into account that her character does not make much sense. She plays a rebel teen that if things go wrong, she will not hesitate to become a mercIless killer. On other hand, we have Kevin James, who plays a very crazy Nazi but not enough to remember him as a first level villain. 

Anyway, we believe that it would have worked much better as a comedy and we would have liked that the script would have been more taken advantage off.

🔪 / 5

𝟓. 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑: 𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒𝐒

“Black Water: Abyss” is not a disappointment, it's just a movie that we have already seen a thousand times.

A group of friends decide to explore a cave and ... Surprise! There is a very hungry crocodile.

From the beginning, we can see that the film has many limitations; the tension is poorly maintained, the violence comes and goes in a very confusing way and it seems that there is no person directing behind the cameras.

If you really want to see a horror movie about dangerous animals, please, don´t watch this one.

🔪 / 5

𝟒. 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐒

A family decides to invite their neighbors to dinner at Christmas, what they don´t know is that they are carriers of an evil identity.

Again, we have an interesting premise, a good start and a promise that what we are going to see next is going to make us have a good time but this never comes. Despite having some very well gore moments, the rest of "hosts" is empty, none of the characters contributes anything and you are waiting and waiting for the turn but again, this never comes and when you got it, the movie is over.

The best: a few very well gore moments.

The worst: there is nothing especially enjoyable other than a few good moments.

🔪 / 5

𝟑. 𝟏𝟐 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐅𝐓

In 12 hour shift we have an idea, that´s it. There's no more. You can feel during the whole long hour and a half that there is nothing else.

The characters and the situations are written with the intention of making us laugh and achieve just the opposite. We are left saturated and tired of eccentric unfunny characters and so many failed jokes. The worst of all is that it starts with an interesting premise but as we said, there is nothing else comes after that, a real pity.

The best: the starting point.

The worst: the rest of the movie.

0 / 5

𝟐. 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖

Take a concept, extend it until it has a feature film duration, insert absurd dialogues with tedious images full of neon lights and focus it on the indie public. The next step is to sell the product as it if were a surrealist and hilarious comedy.

The problem is that the joke is as funny as going to your grandma´s funeral and someone shits on her grave.

This is "she dies tomorrow"

The best: nothing

The worst: everything

0 / 5

𝟏. 𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐀

Without any doubt, the crown jewel of disappointments of this edition.

We love zombies movies, the merrier the better, if the movie goes straight to the point, much better, if there are not too many sub-frames or too many secondary characters so that we don't get distracted with things that do not interest, much much better, and if in addition, it mixes the action genre with zombies to the perfection, we have one of our favourite movies of the last years.

All that is “Train to Busan”. That's why "peninsula" is so painful. It is not the worst of this top, it is not even considered a bad movie, in fact, you can get to enjoy (a lot) but we highly recommend that if you really want to watch it, please don´t do it thinking that this is a sequel of “train to Busan, because it isn't. It's an action movie with zombies, it's direct, entertaining and there's not too much time for sentimentalism.

The best: do you think that you can enjoy a hybrid between mad max and day of the dead? This is your movie.

The worst: it has nothing, but nothing to do with train to Busan.

🔪🔪 / 5

[thatyanderecritic]

Yandere Simulator

Title: Yandere Simulator

Media: Game, created by Yandere Dev

Yandere(s): Yandere-Chan (Ayano Aishi)/ Yandere-Kun

Yandere Scale: 0/5

Criticism written by: Kai

Editor: Julie

The Review:

(Warning! This is one of our most highly opinionated critic piece on our blog so far. Be wary and come to your own judgement in the end. m(_ _)m )

It was only a matter of time till we finally reviewed Yandere Simulator… With both the game and the main protagonist sharing the name “Yandere”, it made sense for the Yandere Critics to swoop in and see if this game truly lives up to its name (spoiler alert: it doesn’t). What horrors will our two critics discover in their pursuit of the truth?

This time on ThatYandereCritic…

Hello everyone, Kai here! It’s no secret that Julie and I absolutely hate Yandere Simulator and how the Yandere Dev is handling everything (from how he’s creating this game to the sort of person he is). We would state time and time again how we think that Yandere Simulator is pretty much hot garbage and is a bad representation of yanderes in general. Good concept but awful in execution. Now it is time to give a proper critic to the game that’s became the “face” of our community.

I would like to clarify that we’ll only be looking at the story and the main character (Yandere-Chan/Yandere-Kun). We will not be discussing about the Yandere Dev and his drama. If you want that, there’s plenty of “Yandere Dev rants” videos on youtube that goes in depth about the things he done and currently doing. If you’re curious, I recommend watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY-aqqCFjnc With this being said, now for the proper review!

Let’s kick things off by talking about the story… The game starts with our protagonist, Yandere-Chan, accidentally running into her Senpai on her way to school. It was love at first sight when she first saw him. But Yandere-Chan soon found out that a girl named Osana plans to confess to Senpai under the school’s cherry blossom tree. This is like, totally bad! Everyone knows that confessions under that specific cherry blossom tree is guaranteed to be accepted! It was at this moment, Yandere-Chan knew what she needed to do… she must eliminate everything that stands between her and her Senpai.

First, can I just start off by saying how laughably lazy this story is? It’s one thing if this game was just some sort of parody or comedy. A game that is self aware that it’s just a joke and nothing more. But with how much the Yandere Dev hypes about the story and give it a “deep lore”, we can’t give the excuse: “It’s not that deep. It’s just a joke.” No. This game doesn’t have that shield anymore. The story is half assed and it can’t give a well developed yandere character a proper chance to shine. But… let’s ignore the story for now. We have seen examples of an awful story but a fantastic yandere (Example: Joe from the TV show, You). Let’s look at Yandere-Chan.

Thanks to Yandere Dev’s channel, we got a plethora of lore and background about the characters from the game. The office website is also a gold mine of information that we can analyze as well. So… thank god that Yandere Dev is more invested in those two things than his game. Can you imagine if we had to actually play his buggy game to get this information? Lol.

Let’s get on the same page here about Yandere-Chan’s backstory: Yandere-Chan had an odd childhood. Throughout her childhood, she was inflicted with an incurable condition that made her have no emotions. Growing up, she was bullied at school (because she couldn’t feel I guess). But Yandere-Chan learned how to fake having emotions and live the easy life. Oddly enough, Yandere-Chan’s mom had the same condition as well when she was growing up. Yandere mom reassured Yandere-Chan that “When she finds that special boy, [she’ll] be able to feel.” But Yandere-Chan’s dad went “Nah, bitch. I’ll make Yandere-Chan have feelings.” Of course, that didn’t work. In the end, Yandere-Chan lived her life as an empty shell till she finally met Senpai. Yada yada yada…. Start of the game.

So… what the fuck?

This is the literal definition of a psychopath, dude. Why are we skirting around what Yandere-Chan has?! “Incurable condition” my ass. It’s psychopathy (maybe sociopathy but the evidence leans more towards psychopathy). Next, in the video, why would a general practitioner know that Yandere-Chan is a psychopath?! At most, the doctor would notice something is odd about her before recommending a child psychiatrist to examine Yandere-Chan. Mr. Yandere Dev, you make it sound like Yandere-Chan has a cold; not a mental illness. It was also mention in the video that Yandere-Chan felt pity for her father who was struggling with her mental illness. If she can’t feel any emotions, as you said, then please explain how she felt pity for her father? Can I also point out that Yandere-Chan started faking her emotions for her father’s sake AND THEN started getting bullied because she wasn’t normal. But wait a minute… Yandere-Chan learned how to fake emotions because of the bullying. So how does this logic work? Did she take two steps forward but ten steps back? Why did we have the whole doctor fiasco if Yandere Mom already knew all this about her daughter? WHY DOES YANDERE-CHAN’S BACKSTORY HAVE MORE HOLES THAN A SLICE OF SWISS CHEESE?!

Kai.exe stopped working… now resetting program… reset is now complete

Phew… sorry about that everyone. I was going insane after going through a bunch of videos by the Yandere Dev and the Yandere Simulator website.  

For a character called Yandere-Chan, she’s more like Psychopath-Chan. Like geez. If it isn’t obvious, everything about this character screams “psychopath”. Sure, she is portrayed to have “lovesickness” but Yandere-Chan breaks so many rules that her “lovesickness” can’t save her.

A couple of rules she broken:

1. The yandere shouldn’t go on a random killing spree as if she’s/he’s in an all you can eat buffet. Bottomline, a serial killer isn’t a yandere but a yandere could be a serial killer.

2. Shallow background, shallow person. Why were you even created man?

3. Instalove is a pretty cheap cop out for a female yandere to start liking someone. We noticed that sometimes they would fall in love for shallow reasons like: “Kyaa, he passed me the salt shaker, I think I’m in love!” This logic makes me cringe, honestly.

“But, Kai! This game is all about killing the rivals! It isn’t fair to Yandere-Chan to tick her off on that!”

Um… there are many different ways a yandere can get rid of a rival without killing them. Mr. Yandere Dev even suggested a mechanic where the player can hook up love rivals with other NPCs.  Yet the core “tactic” Yandere-Chan (and the player) would chose would be to kill the rivals. Not only that, it’s also encouraged to go on a killing spree for extra points for Info-Chan and the Yakuza (not yet implemented). So… this absolutely is a tick against her.

Moving on! I also find it incredibly hard to even call Yandere-Chan a proper “yandere” considering her creator doesn’t even know what a yandere is. On Yandere Dev's website, he defines a yandere as: “A Yandere girl is a girl who loves a boy so much that she is willing to threaten, harm, or kill any other girl who seems interested in him.”

Uh… W.H.A.T.

That’s literally the definition he puts on his website, people. And don’t even get me started on the definition he uses during videos (“A yandere is a person who is crazy for someone else”). Okay, let’s give Yandere Dev the benefit of the doubt and say: “He sort of right… if you squint hard enough”. But if we refer back to our Yandere Actions post, just using the “yandere snap” doesn’t make Yandere-Chan a yandere. In the end, Yandere-Chan is nothing more but a psychopath.

To those who are reading this: As individuals who are part of the yandere community, I am appealing to you right now. We may disagree on a lot of things. We may disagree on what is and isn’t a yandere. We may disagree on some characteristics of what makes a yandere. But I hope to agree with everyone that “Yandere Simulator” is not the thing we want to define our community.

I’ve heard people compare Yandere-Chan as the “New Yuno Gasai”. I’ve heard people call Yandere-Chan as “the perfect example of a yandere” or “the ideal yandere”. I’ve heard many misinformed comments about yanderes thanks to this game. It may have brought to light our community but this is a double edge sword. It’s one thing if there’s only a couple misinformed users out there. It’s expected and no offense to them. But what’s troubling is the popularity of this misinformed game and the spreading through popular youtubers (again, no offense to them since they don’t know). This game is basically our face to those outside of the community. I talked to several people who are quick to judge me as “one of those perverts” thanks to this game’s reputation (water off my back). You can still like the game or the characters. I know Yandere-Chan generates lots of yandere aesthetics and the fandom has done way better with her than her own creator. But can we all agree to denounce this game as a “yandere icon”. Use it as a conversation starter and use it to point out myths about yanderes… but don’t let this define us. I believe we’re better than that… we’re all better than that. “Romance turned Horror” and “Horror turned Romance” lovers… Aesthetic yanderes, Yandere Recommendations, and Yandere Analysis blogs… We’re all in this together. Let’s shake on this, friends.

Overall score: 0/10

(Post-edit: I forgot to mention Yandere-Kun; there is a bit of a difference between him and Yandere-Chan. He is the genderbend version for Yandere-Chan (for those who want to play as a guy) but Yandere Dev stated that Yandere-Kun’s reasoning for chasing Senpai is purely sadistic. So, regardless how you paint things, Yandere-Kun is just as psychopathic as his female counterpart)

#yandere simulator #yandere-chan #yandere-kun #yandere #male yandere #review #opinion #Yandere-chan? More like Psychopath-chan #yan sim #yandere sim #indie game

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

[Review] Exorcise your Demons with THE DEVIL AND FATHER AMORTH

Over 40 years ago, director William Friedkin and writer William Blatty brought demonic possession to the big screen with The Exorcist, which was based loosely on the true story of a possessed young man in Maryland, 1949.  To this day, it retains a loyal following of horror lovers that consider it the best in its class.  It changed the horror genre forever.  Directors today are still trying to capture what made the original movie so horrifying for moviegoers.  It has spurred several decades of Ouija-based possession movies both great and terrible.

If, like me, you watched from behind a blanket fortress as Regan’s head spun around and spewed green puke all over a priest, then you were likely hooked on demonic possession movies from a tender age.  The quality of this type of horror film over the last twenty or so years has been both high and low, but I have consumed them all with a greedy lust that a demon could get behind.  So, you can trust me when I say this is something different and new.

When considering what makes a great possession movie today, there are the common elements that the original Exorcist established.  A young victim messes around with the supernatural and gets demonic attention instead.  Over the course of the film, we see behaviors go from 0 to 100 in only a few days.  It starts slow and escalates quickly.  There is knocking in the night.  Things move around.  Suddenly, someone is speaking in tongues and crawling up the walls.

Demonic possession movies tout the classic horror trope of Good Vs. Evil.  In the case of The Exorcist, a Catholic priest has an ultimate showdown with an old demonic foe.  Same goes for The Exorcism of Emily Rose, where a faithful priest faces the legal consequences of exorcising a girl to death.  There is usually a grizzled holy man who must face the demons of his past and present, as is shown in The Rite with Anthony Hopkin.

    It is no different for The Devil and Father Amorth, a horror “documentary” that clocks in just over an hour run-time.  Father Amorth is an elderly priest, hunched with age and exuding a spiritual an occasionally ornery charm as he routinely faces off against the devil.  In fact, was the head exorcist for the Vatican for 31 years.  It is easy to see why Friedkin picked him to be the subject of his newest demonic possession film.

But things are different this time around.  Much different.

This time, the footage is real.

Father Amorth invited Friedkin to come to Rome and film the 9th exorcism of Christina, a 46-year-old woman who believes she is possessed by the devil.  Friedkin befriended Father Amorth after he wrote him a letter telling him how much he liked The Exorcist.  The priest chuckled at the special effects and admitted that they were exaggerated, but he appreciated that it got people talking about the dangers and truth of spiritual possession.

Christina has been exorcised 8 times before, and as Friedkin interviews more priests and specialists, finds that this is not uncommon.  Exorcising a demon is hard work and often takes the combined effort of many priests, family members, and prayer.  It is a community of belief that supports and bolsters the afflicted.  It would be almost heart-warming if it wasn’t followed up with a harrowing warning about getting too close to the demony details of a real possession.

  “The more you open yourself up to this, the more you open yourself up to demonic attack.”

  Christina lives in a small mountain village outside of Rome.  Concerned family members brought her to Father Amorth for an exorcism after she began exhibiting strange symptoms.  One day at church, she began screaming in pain and slithering on the floor.  Father Amorth is the priest who completed all of Christina’s prior 8 exorcisms.  And he is the man who invited Friedkin to come and film the 9th under specific circumstances.  There were to be no special lights or extra cameras.  Friedkin was allowed one small camera to capture the event.

On May 1st, 2016, Friedkin captured this real Vatican-sanctioned exorcism.  He holds his camera steady as friends and family members gather around Christina.  They clutch rosaries and pray fervently as Amorth begins.  Christina sits smiling at first.  But as soon as he anoints her forehead and begins praying, Christina starts bobbing her head incessantly, as if she can hear something that no one else can.  Her facial features furrow as if she is in pain.

It takes three people to hold Christina down as she attempts to leap off the chair with a guttural, “NO!”

It sounds like two voices talking at the same time.  And it certainly sounds freaky.  Any seasoned horror buff would be hard-pressed to believe that a guru like Friedkin didn’t alter the tape somehow, but he denies that he changed any of the original footage, including sound.  Father Amorth continues the exorcisms despite Christina’s screaming and continual attempts to break free.  Those holding her down are soon dripping sweat.  That is nothing compared to Christina, whose incessant nodding and demonic cries are soon at a fever pitch.

    Father Amorth is stalwart in his prayer and administration.  He wipes back her hair and commands the devil to leave her.  He asks how many demons are inside her.   The answer left me with more goosebumps than a seasoned horror buff like me prefers to admit.

“WE ARE LEGION,” the voices erupt out of Christina as her body continues to contort.  “We are armies!  Armies!”

Eventually Christina settles down and the exorcism is concluded.  She is tired but smiling as Father Amorth gives her a farewell blessing.  It is clear that she will need to return for a 10th exorcism.

Friedkin brings the footage to neurological and psychiatric experts to see what they can make of it.  They are baffled by Christina’s bizarre behaviors and deny that surgical or medicinal help could cure her symptoms.  They suggest that the context of her belief system, as well as the religious remedy of an exorcism, might be her best chance at a cure.

Demonic possession is recognized around the world and is treated very differently depending on the religion and culture.  The Devil and Father Amorth is the first look at what a modern exorcism looks like, and leaves the viewer with more questions than answers.  Friedkin maintains that witnessing this ritual has changed his mind about the possibility of demonic possession and true evil.  He says, “There is a far deeper dimension to the universe.  If there is good, there must be evil.  And if there are demons, there must be angels.”

The film has a ghoulish twist that I do not want to spoil for those who want to get their hands on this rare footage.  Suffice it to say, possession lovers won’t want to miss The Devil and Father Amorth now streaming online and in select theaters.

Watched the film?  Have thoughts or theories?  Chime in on our Facebook or Twitter.  Or join our new subreddit!

  The post [Review] Exorcise your Demons with THE DEVIL AND FATHER AMORTH appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: A Christmas Carol

Hi Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We're Continuing Duke's Yultide Reviews...

And I Have A Slight Problem...

On Today's Show I'm Doing Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, But Here's The Thing There Are So Many Adaptatons Of A Christmas Carol That If I Do All Of Them I Will Basically Be Doing The Same Review About A Billion Times So, Here's What I'm Going To Do I Am Going To Do What I Believe To Be The One True Christmas Carol Adaptation And Do That...

Sure, There Are Those Once In A Lifetime Adaptations That Do Something Completely Different With The Tale With Some Being Good And Others Being Different And Yes, I Will Be Talking About Some Of Those Another Time...

But What Christmas Carol Adaptation Do I Believe Is The Best? Well, Charles Dickens (Acting Like Patton) You Magnificent Bastard, I Read Your Book!

As Much As I Think That I Really Don't Have To Go Over The Plot For This Story As Everyone Basically Knows It I'll Go Over It Anyway For Those That Are Watching This Film For The First Time, George C. Scott Plays Ebenezer Scrooge, A Miserable Old Miser Who Is Visited By The Spirit Of His Former Partner, Jacob Marley Who Tells Him That He Will Be Haunted By 3 Spirits...

Just 3? I Was Hoping For 999...

Who Will Help Scrooge Repent His Evil Miserly Ways, Will They Succeed?

Let's Find Out As We Watch A Christmas Carol...

The Movie Starts Exactly Like The Novel Does With Jacob Marley Being Dead As A Doornail, Our Viewers Must Know This Or Nothing Wonderful Will Come From The Story That I Am Reviewing...

Our Story Starts In Scrooge's Counting House, As Bob Cratchit (Played By David Warner, Who Most People Know For His Role As Mr. Lovejoy In Titanic) Recounts For His Boss, Ebenezer Scrooge That 7 Years Ago That Day, Scrooge's Former Partner, Jacob Marley Passed Away...

Asking Cratchit To Get Back To Work, Bob Goes To Get Some Coal For The Fire Before Going Back To Work, Scrooge Tells Him No, Stating That Coal Is Too Costly And Therefore They Will Not Burn Any For The Rest Of The Day...

Being Visited By His Nephew, Fred Who Wishes Him Merry Christmas Scrooge Only Tells Him

I Realize That This Isn't From This Movie But It's The Only Scrooge Saying Humbug I Could Find So Bear With Me...

But With Fred Saying God Bless It, He Invites His Uncle To Dinner But Scrooge Declines Stating That He'd Rather See Himself In Hell First. Not Happy To See His Uncle So Resolute Fred Leaves Wishing Scrooge A Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year...

Going To The Exchange, Bob Hands Mr. Scrooge His Hat To Which Scrooge Realizes That Bob Will Want The Whole Of Christmas Day Off Tomorrow While Not Too Happy About It, Scrooge Tells Bob To Take The Day Off But To Be There Early The Next Morning...

Arriving At The Exchange, Where After He Talks With Some Businessmen About Corn, He Talks With 2 Gentlemen Collecting Money For The Poor (One Of Them Being Played By Alfred Pennyworth From Tim Burton's Batman) But Refusing Them, Scrooge Exits...

Leaving Work, Bob Meets His Son, Tiny Tim Outside Of Scrooge's Office As He Tells Him That He's To Have The Whole Day Off Tomorrow...

Wow, That Line Sounded Like The Kid Read It Off Of Cue Cards...

Walking Home, Scrooge Soon Hears A Voice Calling His Name, Eventually Arriving At His House, He Soon Sees The Knocker On His Door Change Into The Face Of His Former Partner, Jacob Marley...

Going Upstairs To His Room, Scrooge Puts On His Best Dressing Gown, Only To See The Face Of Jacob Marley Within The Fireplace As Bells Start Ringing Eratically And Chains Are Heard Throughout The Place As Scrooge's Bedroom Locks Are Unlocked So The Spirit Of Marley Can Appear Before Him...

Oops, Wrong Spirit...

I Meant To Say The Spirit Of Jacob Marley, Not Bob Marley...

(Start At 3:20, End At 8:46)

And Just As He Came, Marley's Ghost Leaves...

Not Buying It All For One Minute, Scrooge Goes To Sleep, Only To Wake Up At 1:00 To See Nothing At First However A Bright Light Soon Shines To Reveal The Ghost Of Christmas Past, Who Takes Scrooge Back To His Childhood At Boarding School...

Watching Himself Grow Older As The Years Pass By, Scrooge Watches As His Sister Fan...

Fan? I Know I'm Probably Asking A Moot Question Here But Who Names Their Daughter Fan? Fran, I Can Understand As That's A Name But Fan Just Is Not A Name A Fan Is A Way To Keep Yourself Cool When It's Hot But It's Not A Name...

But As I Was Saying, Scrooge Watches As His Sister, Fan, Takes Ebenezer Home In A Carriage With His Father (Who Looks Like That One Guy With The Weird Eye That Always Appears In Adam Sandler Movies) Who Has Gotten Him An Apprenticeship At Mr. Fezziwig's Establishment...

So, Going Forward In Time, We See Scrooge At Fezziwig's Establishment Where They Prepare For Their Christmas Eve Party...

And It's There That Scrooge Met Belle...

Not Her!

But As I Was Saying, This Is Where Scrooge Met Belle And Fell In Love With Her...

Going Forward In Time Once More We Watch As Belle Breaks Up With Scrooge, Believing That He Loves Money More Than He Loves Her...

Now, I Get Why Belle Does What She Does The Story I Get It, But In This Version It Seems Like Despite Loving Money He Still Has Feelings For Her And It's Like She's Trying To Make Him Choose Between Having Money Or Having Her Which Is Just Ridiculous...

It's Like Having To Choose Whether To Have A House Or Live On The Street And I'm Sorry But I Think Any Logical Person Would Choose Having A House...

Not Liking What The Spirit Is Showing Him, Scrooge Kills The Ghost? I Don't Know But He Winds Up Back In His Room, Only For The Second Ghost To Appear, The Ghost Of Christmas Present...

Taking A hold Of The Spirits Robe, They Go One Day Into The Future To Christmas Day As He Takes Him To Bob Cratchit's House As Him And His Family Sit Down For Christmas Day Dinner...

Quick 'll mFact: Cratchit's Wife Is Played By Susannah York, Who Played Marlon Brando's Wife Lara In Both Superman The Movie And The Original Richard Lester Cut Of Superman 2...

Asking About Tiny Tim, The Spirit Tells Scrooge That If These Shadows Remain Untouched, The Child Will Die...

Moving On, They Travel To The House Of Scrooge's Nephew, Fred Where Him, His Wife And Their Friends Play A Game...

Travelling To One More Place Before The Spirit's Time Is Up, He Takes Scrooge To The Poor Row...

(Start At 0:14)

With The Spirit's Time Up, He Abandons Scrooge Where He Is But Not For Long As The Final Ghost Appears Before Him, The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come...

Taking Scrooge Into The Future To The Exchange He Hears The Gentlemen Talk About Someone Who Has Died Yet They Never Mention Who...

Taking Scrooge Back To His Room To See The Man Who Has Died But He Does Not Wish To Do That Saying That He Understands However There Has To Feel Emotion Over This Man's Death And Asks The Ghost To Take Him To That Person....

The Spirit Takes Him To See His Maid Selling Some Stuff That Belonged To The Man In Question...

Upset That This Is Not Sadness But Greed And Advirice, Scrooge Asks The Spirit Again To Take Him To Someone Who Cares About This Man...

This Leads The Spirit To Take Scrooge To Bob Cratchit's House Where Scrooge Discovers That Tiny Tim Has Died...

Taking Scrooge To A Cemetery After Showing Him That, The Spirit Shows Him The Grave Of The Man That Died When Scrooge Asks Him Who Is The Man That Died?...

Discovering It To Be Himself, He Tells The Spirit That He Is Not The Man That He Was And That From This Day Forth He Will Honor Christmas...

Waking Up In His Bed, Scrooge Has Been Reborn...

(Start At 0:39, End At 1:38)

Getting Dressed, Scrooge Meets The Boy And The Poulturer And Tells Him To Take It To Bob Cratchit's, Saying That It's From A Friend...

Walking Through The Streets, Scrooge Runs Into The Gentlemen Collecting Money For The Poor, Apologizing To Them And Offering A Unique Sum Of Money...

With The Turkey Arriving At Bob Cratchit's, He At First Believes It To Be A Mistake, But Explaining Everything, They Decide To Cook It For Christmas Dinner. While Scrooge Goes To Fred's To Have Christmas Dinner With Him And His Wife...

(Start At 4:13, End At 7:23)

The Next Day, Scrooge Arrives At Office Before Bob Cratchit And Decides To Play A Little Prank On Bob, By Acting Like His Former Self For A Second Only Instead Of Firing Bob For Being Late, Scrooge Offers Bob A Raise And To Help His Family Anyway He Can..

And That's A Christmas Carol With George C. Scott And Despite One Or 2 Nitpicks I Absolutely Love This Adaptation....

What Say About It? The Way They Handled The Story Is Great, They Had A Good Cast, What Special Effects They Had Were Fantastic I Just Honestly Love This Movie And I Say See It...

Before We Go, I Would Like To Talk About Some Other Adaptations Of The Tale That I Believe Are Worth A Watch...

The Jim Carrey Version, Which Is Probably The Second Most Accurate Adaptation Of Charles Dickens Story Despite People Hating It Because It's Jim Carrey, Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, Basically A Musical Version Of A Christmas Carol With Mr. Magoo In It, The Stingiest Man In Town, Another Musical Version Of The Tale Done By Rankin-Bass With Walter Matthau As Scrooge, Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol, A Version Of The Tale Which Has The Looney Tunes As All The Characters From The Book, A Flintstones Christmas Carol, The Flintstones Put On A Play Of The Novel While Hijinks Go On Backstage, The TNT Version With Patrick Stewart, Another One Of The Better Adapted Versions Of The Tale With An Amazing Performance From Patrick Stewart As Scrooge, A Christmas Carol: The Musical, A Musical Version Of The Tale That Aired On NBC That Starred Kelsey Grammar As Scrooge, Jason Alexander As Jacob Marley, Jane Krakowski As The Ghost Of Christmas Past, The Flash's Jessie L. Martin As The Ghost Of Christmas Present And Geraldine Chaplin As The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come With Lyrics By Little Mermaid And Beauty And The Beast's Alan Menken...

Now, I Know I Didn't Mention A Few Versions Including The Disney Version And The Muppet Version But Because I'm Going To Talk About Those And Ones That Are Different But Follow The Same Storyline Like Scrooged With Bill Murray Another Time...

So, Until Then, This Is Duke, Signing Off

#a christmas carol #charles dickens #ebenezer scrooge #merry christmas #Movie Reviews #movie #movies #christmas

[innerkingdomblaze]

The Princess of Beatrice of York

The Princess of Beatrice of York

Born: 23 March 1990 (age 28 years), Portland Hospital, London, United Kingdom

Full name: Eugenie Victoria Helena ( Princess Eugene )

Height: 1.65 m

Spouse: Jack Brooksbank (m. 2018)

Parents: Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York

Siblings: Princess Beatrice of York

For some countries, the monarch is a distant past. But there are many states where the monarchy has survived, they have a royal family of great blood. One of the most famous monarchies is Great Britain. In this country, a big royal family, and now we will be familiar with one of our members. This is Princess of Beatrice of York.

Childhood Beatrice

Her full name is Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Maria Hainu, York. He was born on August 8, 1988, and is the eldest daughter of Duke of York (this is Queen Elizabeth II’s second son) and Duchess of York. She has a younger sister – Eugene. In the year 1996, the princess’s parents divorced, when little Beatrice was eight years old. The princess is today considered to be the fifth place for the succession of the throne of the United Kingdom.

His first education girl, Thingie School, Utopian House (Upton House School) is rumored that despite the princess’s high background, among the peers, it was not very popular among the school, even the divorce of the parents, then that is not the best effect on that young princess Was there. However, as those who were interested in the life of the princess mentioned it was a modest and kind child, which was very sweet. The girl continued her studies and graduated from St. George’s School, which is located in Escott.

School year of princess

After school, Princess Beatrice goes to Goldsmith College at the University of London in 2008. There he studied Bachelor’s degree and history from school in 2011. During the training, he worked in the department store “Selfridges“, where compulsory work was organized for each member of the royal family. This incident took place when the girl was nineteen years old.

During his studies, Beatriz has often given press food for conversations with his work (although it can not be said that he was immoral, rather ridiculous). Her parents recommended that princess concentrates on her studies, but the children of the kings are not different from others, they also want to “get out” and have fun. To date, Princess Beatrice often visits London clubs, in various charitable and social shows appearing on fashion shows.

Role of a princess in politics in England

In politics, Princess Beatrice does not take part in it Only occasionally it can be seen in official ceremonies, where the entire royal family is present. However, monetary maintenance of princesses (Beatrice and his sisters Eugenia) come from the state treasures, as well as paying the guards. This causes all taxpayers to suffer harassment, causing dissatisfaction with the fact that no sister does any royal duties (special or official).

A film by British Princess Beatrice

In 2009, Princess Beatrice, whose photo can be seen in this article, her producer, starring in the film “Young Victoria“, was the mother of Princess – Sarah Ferguson is probably the reason why Bettridge participated. True, the relevant Beatrice has played the role of a woman, one of the wives of Queen Victoria, though she is actually her direct descendant

The princess herself says that she likes shushing, although there was some discomfort (cold and fatigue). However, the process was impressive. Perhaps, its roots are visible here, because Princess Sarah’s mother is a TV star. Despite the fact that when her parents divorced at the age of eight only, Beatrice has a very warm and intimate relationship with her mother. In many ways, the princess takes an example from her, for example, she also does charity work.

Two sisters – Evgenia and Beatrice

It should also be said of two sisters who are Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugene. Despite the fact that there are only two years between them, the older betrays, unlike Eugeneia, are more reasonable and quiet. Some paparazzi often compare sisters with their mother, who liked to have fun even before marriage.

Sometimes girls participate in official ceremonies together. In 2007, he gave a speech on behalf of his father in a concert which was dedicated to the 46th anniversary of the birth of Princess Diana. Many people missed him.

However, in contrast to Beatrice, Evgenia shocked, Brittish, and not only, the public with completely non-majestic antics. For example, after completing the final exam at the university, he arranged alcoholic drinks to one party and likewise arranged like “golden” youth. This party got villain fame, because the princess was naked on it, in which a lot of liquor was drunk

Eugene had never hesitated about it by placing a photograph of other parties, easily on your pages in the social network. In addition, unlike non-smoking Beatrice, Eugeneia was often seen with cigarettes. Although princesses often appear together in club parties and similar players, the biggest is not such scandalous fame.

Some facts from the private life of Princess

Princess Beatrice of York, whose personal life is interesting to almost every citizen of Britain, has also gained fame due to some curious events. For example, when the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton was celebrated in April 2011, Princess drew attention with an unusual hat. It was made in the form of a large bow, whose ribbon looked like the horns descending down. The hat was the creator Philip Tracy.

It is noteworthy that, despite serious, and shocking reviews about his presence, the princess responded with the humor, reacting to this fact. After a while, he decided to sell the famous hat in the eBay auction. In the bidding process, a ridiculous hat was sold for 81,100 pounds, and the income went to a charitable organization.

In addition to the extraordinary presence sometimes in clothing, Beatrice was a wonderful form recently, which was also discussed among the amateur to talk to someone else’s address. Perhaps, for this reason, the princess decided to change. In a short time, he dropped a pretty decent number of kilograms, and basically changed his wardrobe. For this, he also invited stylist Charlie Anderson, who works with many stars.

Conclusion

In essence, it is necessary to say: Regardless of the fact that Princess Beatrice is a lion of the royal family, she is primarily a person. One of the interviews saw in any way that he likes simplicity in communication and does not expect continuous courtesy and appeal for the title. She believes that this is everything she does not need. Perhaps, like every man, Beatrice just wants normal communication, friends, family. Let’s hope that someday their aspirations will come true.

Click here – # World’s Most Famous Women Biography

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The post The Princess of Beatrice of York: Biography, Personal Life appeared first on Women Knowledge Hub.

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[republicstandard]

London Pride? UK Government Kneels Before LGBT Agenda

People often complain that governments don’t listen. If the fallout from the UK government’s latest listening exercise is anything to go by, perhaps they be should be grateful. The Government Equalities Office, a shadowy cross-ministry executive agency, has just released an LGBT Action Plan on the basis of listening to an alleged 100,000-plus answers to a special survey. The result doesn’t take long to read, and you quickly see the noxious mixture of the silly, the misguided and the plain worrying. Perhaps this isn’t surprising, with Penny Mordaunt, the Minister for Women and Equalities, proud to style herself a “Stonewall LGBT Ally”, whatever that is. But some of the survey's choicer bits are still worth a word or two.

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Let’s begin with the silly, by which I mean empty gestures that cost peanuts, make for good soundbites and otherwise (apart from a minimal waste of public money) don’t do much else. An “LGBT Implementation Fund” will have £4.5 million pocket money to spend to “deliver projects to support LGBT people”. There will be a national LGBT Health Adviser, to “work with relevant statutory organizations and professional associations to embed LGBT issues into physical and mental health services” (read this carefully: it’s an excellent example of the gentle art of saying nothing in pretentious management-speak); regular government presence at Pride events, “allowing us to hear directly from LGBT people” (“Hiya, I’m the man from the Ministry: care to go clubbing?”); work to “challenge gender stereotypes” in the media (good luck) and steps to “develop the evidence on the cause and impact of gender norms” (second-rate sociology professors, please queue here).

Now for the misguided. What these proposals all have in common is that they’re very well-meant but, as anyone outside the public sector and the LGBT woke crowd knows, they will have unfortunate side-effects that no-one in their right mind wants. There is, for example, a proposal to prioritize the problem of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools. That’s all well and good: the result will be that, whereas schools ought to suppress all bullying ruthlessly without discrimination, some victims will now be privileged over others: if you’re bullied for the “wrong” reason, go to the back of the queue. Again, we need, it is said, to ”ensure healthcare professionals understand the benefits of asking patients about their sexual orientation and gender identity”. We don’t. If you go to your doctor with AIDS or hepatitis B he’ll ask anyway: if you go to him for varicose veins, the last thing you (and the NHS) need is time spent on a box-ticking question about whether you’re straight, gay, trans or two-spirit.

The litany continues. There are to be “regional hubs” to support LGBT teachers to “progress into leadership.” Translation: don’t appoint heads on a simple basis of how good they are likely to be at the job, but take into account irrelevant matters like whether they are gay (real non-discrimination is so twentieth-century, don’t you know). Hate crime awareness, and the police sensitivity to it, needs to be increased. Two results here. The first is more police diverted to the trawling of Twitter, to the detriment of their health and, more important, the clear-up rate of crimes that really affect the poor, such as assault, burglary and knife-crime. The other is more discrimination. If your child is beaten up because he’s gay, feel free and come in: if he’s beaten up because he likes classical music or doesn’t like soccer – sorry, we haven’t the resources.

We have 900+ specialist officers across London dedicated to investigating all hate crime. For more info visit https://t.co/VNyHq5vu5T #NHCAW pic.twitter.com/pp4XzyU5We

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) October 19, 2017

We pass to the plain bad.

Exhibit 1: “The Department for Health and Social Care will revise surrogacy legislation so single people (including LGBT individuals) can access legal parenthood after a surrogacy arrangement.”

Translation: we will positively encourage the proliferation of families missing either a father or a mother. It’s so important, you see, to make LGBT people seem wanted, and if they fancy taking over someone else’s child as a lifestyle accessory we have to let them. Pity about children brought up in this kind of environment, but – well, it is the twenty-first century, and even if they didn’t ask to be raised in this way, they’ll just have to lump it.

Exhibit 2: “We will continue to review the blood donation deferral period for men who have sex with men.”

One might have thought that, with blood transfusion of all things, aimed at vulnerable and often very ill recipients, safety first was what mattered: if experience shows that any group is likely to give contaminated blood, you screen it out. No longer, it seems, enough. We must now spend precious resources on letting as many gay men as possible give blood: not, as far as one can see, for patients’ benefit, but so as to allow an NHS management body to tick one more equality box. Nice one.

Exhibit 3: “We will update Sex and Relationships Education guidance to support the Government’s reforms to this subject.”

This is actually sinister. Remember that the government has said it wants to make this guidance mandatory for all schools, including independent schools, and also take away the rights UK parents have always had to opt out by withdrawing their children. Net result: the government can now insist by law that all children are fed its views on such matters as sexuality, transgenderism, and gay parenting, and that schools which disagree are brought back into line.

Exhibit 4: “We will bring forward proposals to end the practice of conversion therapy in the UK.”

Now, it is true that a lot of of conversion therapy is snake oil, and a good deal of it less than beneficial: that’s why all the professional medical bodies in the UK have for some time forbidden their members to have anything to do with it. The problem is that as regards legislation the cure is very likely to be worse than the disease. The model, no doubt, is current draft legislation in Ireland. This would prohibit outright “any practice or treatment by any person that seeks to change, suppress and/or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression”, gender identity meaning almost anything (“each person’s internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth, including the personal sense of the body (which may involve, if freely chosen, modification of bodily appearance and, or functions by medical, surgical or other means) and other expressions of gender, including name, dress, speech and mannerisms”).

In other words, it potentially criminalizes anyone who tries to persuade a man that his feeling he’s really a girl is nonsense; not to mention priests (and, for that matter, rabbis and imams) who try to dissuade people from desires they see as wrong and suggest they channel their energies elsewhere. This doesn’t seem to worry the UK government. They make it clear they seriously want to catch all activities, whether “in a medical, commercial or faith-based context”. They then say, condescendingly, “We are not trying to prevent LGBT people from seeking legitimate medical support or spiritual support from their faith leader in the exploration of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” In other words, religious leaders have permission to ply their superstitions provided they don’t get serious about them, act like the other caring professions and support, of course in a non-judgmental way, the government’s views about LGBT identity.

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Not that the process stops in Britain. A £5.6 million program, delivered through “civil society organizations”, will “advance the legal equality and rights of all Commonwealth citizens, regardless of gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity”; the Department for International Development will provide up to £12 million over four years for a “consortium of organizations to work together to promote LGBT inclusion”. What the benighted colonials, or the other misguided foreigners, think about the United Kingdom interfering in their democracy and pontificating about their internal affairs we’re seldom told: no doubt wisely.

Some people might wonder what happened to the old, well-tried view of LGBT equality: say what you like, advocate what you like, treat people on merit and let them get on with their lives.

Clearly that won’t do for the new, woke, identity-politics-oriented Conservative – yes, Conservative – Party in the UK.

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