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cannabisrefugee-esq · 6 years

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Diana, Hunter of Bus Drivers

~By Yuri Herrera ~https://www.thisamericanlife.org/diana-hunter-of-bus-drivers/

The first murder happened at 7:45 am, on August 28th, on bus route 4A. That morning, a woman hailed bus 718, climbed the steps, pulled a gun and shot the driver. The driver jumped out of the bus trying to escape but died on the sidewalk. The killer, witnesses said, was a middle-aged woman with dyed blonde hair -- or maybe it was a wig -- wearing a cap, plaid shirt and jeans. Nobody saw how she escaped. Or at least nobody would say.

The second murder happened twenty-four hours later, on the same route. A woman boarded the bus downtown and a few blocks later requested a stop. She walked towards the exit and motioned as if she were looking for the bus fare, but instead drew her gun, spat words into the driver's ear and shot him twice in the head -- then fled the scene.

One day later, a news website from El Paso called La Polaka, which specializes in covering the political gossip of Juárez, received an email:

You think that because we are women we are weak, and that may be true but only up to a point, because even though we have nobody to defend us and we have to work long hours until late into the night to earn a living for our families we can no longer be silent in the face of these acts that enrage us. We were victims of sexual violence from bus drivers working the maquila night shifts here in Juárez, and although a lot of people know about the things we've suffered, nobody defends us nor does anything to protect us. That's why I am an instrument that will take revenge for many women. For we are seen as weak, but in reality we are not. We are brave. And if we don't get respect, we will earn that respect with our own hands. We the women of Juárez are strong.

The email was signed by someone calling herself "Diana, Hunter of Bus Drivers."

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the first disappearances of young women in Juárez. Or, at least, when people started recording these disappearances, and considering them as being related, after a 13-year-old girl was kidnapped and then found dead with signs of rape and strangulation. After that, the number of women who were killed just kept growing. It went from dozens of reported murders in a year, to hundreds. So many women it was hard to count accurately. In 2010, the number peaked: at least 304 women were murdered that year.

The circumstances of the crimes were eerily similar. One day, a girl would disappear on the way to work or on the way home, and if there was any news about her, it would be when her body was found in the desert or an abandoned lot, often with traces of rape and torture. Sometimes they were found together in mass graves.

Oscar Maynez, who worked some of these cases as a criminologist, explained to me the way the authorities became complicit in the murders: "First they denied the problem," he said. "Then they played it down, and finally, they blamed the victims' lifestyle and their families." The criminologist resigned, he says, after realizing his superiors were more interested in covering up investigations and tampering with evidence than in finding justice.

So when I heard about the case of this woman -- this Diana -- who supposedly was trying to do something by herself, I wondered, after all these years without justice, if women in Juárez would look at Diana and say, "It's about time." So I went down there, to ask them.

As you can imagine, most of the women I approached to get their opinions were reluctant to speak to a stranger about the woman who'd murdered bus drivers. "I know nothing about it," said a woman with a small child on the bus, only to fix her eyes on the back of the seat afterwards and not glance in my direction again. "I have no opinion about that," another one said before quickly entering a mall.

But also, one day, I got this answer:

"When I heard about what she did, I said, ‘How great that someone's doing what many of us should have done.'"

This was Laura, 25 years old, pregnant with her second child. When I asked her, "If you were to run into Diana on the street, what would you say to her, if you knew it was her?", she said, without a doubt, "I would congratulate her."

There is a sense among the general population that buses are a bad place to be by yourself. Just this week, a bus driver was arrested for allegedly raping a girl on her way to school.

About this, Laura said:

"I remember when I was in high school I would hear a lot about it. My friends would say to me if you're going on the route, and no one's there, take a pen with you with the point facing outward, because you never know. That's been happening for years, years. And it's the same for the ladies working in the maquilas."

There's no evidence that the bus drivers who were killed by the blonde woman had actually committed a crime at all. But Laura didn't seem concerned about that. In a city where justice rarely brings results, maybe, at some point, you settle to get the justice available to you.

Just a couple of weeks before the Diana the Hunter case, Laura's younger sister, María Alejandra, 20 years old, suffered a home invasion: a man slipped through her bedroom window in the night armed with a gun and tried to rape her. She recognized him; he lived in the neighborhood. After the man left her house, María Alejandra told her sister what happened and that she was going to report it to the police. Laura told her not to do that. What for? They knew how the police work.

"I told her not to go, not to expose herself," Laura told me. "Because they would ask questions and check her. I think between the police they've created a sort of code. So you basically are putting yourself out there to suffer one humiliation after another."

"My father was with us. He wanted to go kill him. And my husband too. And me too. I said I'll kill him. I said I'll go. And I'll kill him. Since we know who it is, we're gonna go and do it with our own hands."

But despite Laura's pleading, María Alejandra, after talking to her friends, decided to go to the police anyway. And things went down exactly as Laura predicted. Even though the doctors had said that there was evidence of sexual assault, she says the police questioned her as if she was making it all up. Why didn't she have bruises? What took her so long to report the intrusion? "I would have to almost be dying for them to investigate," María Alejandra says they told her.

Laura was angry. Now the opportunity for revenge was gone. "I said to her I told you we should have done something before. Because now if we took action, they would know who did it. Because that's how justice works here. The victims are the ones that are in jail."

In 2001, police did apprehend a bus driver: Victor Garcia Uribe. He was arrested with a colleague and accused of murdering eight women who were left in an old cotton field. He denied any involvement in the killings, but the police kept questioning him. Finally, after long hours of interrogation, he confessed to taking part in those murders and in the murders of three other women. Yes, he said, he enjoyed killing them; yes, he said, they did it under the influence of marijuana, cocaine and alcohol; yes, they loved to rape them, and kill them, and then they would throw them afterwards in an empty field.

But two days later, in court, Garcia Uribe did a complete 180. Again, he denied that he was involved in the murders. He said he only confessed because officers had kidnapped him, taken him to a police academy, and tortured him until he did. He said they'd beaten him and burned him with cigarettes. Still, the judge convicted him and sentenced him to 50 years. In 2005, Garcia Uribe was freed, after it was proven that the authorities had tortured him into confessing.

"What makes me laugh," Laura told me, "Is how the bus drivers are so scared. That's what really makes me laugh."

I didn't see this myself, but María Alejandra says she's seen bus drivers who've posted a sketch of Diana near their dashboards, and when a woman who looks like her tries to board the bus, they don't let her in. She says they close the doors quickly now, and she's heard that some are carrying knives on them.

"You know what it is?" Laura said. In this country, "People don't have balls. That's what my dad has always said," Laura told me. "We don't have balls, he says, because if we had a little bit more balls many things wouldn't be happening. We don't express what we think. We don't express how we feel. And we don't act in accordance with what we think. And that's our problem. That's what we're lacking."

So I asked her: But wait, weren't you on the verge of taking things into your own hands, with your sister?

"Yeah...but...I'm not the kind of person who would do it. Sure, in the moment I reacted and I thought about it. But I would never do it. I would never try to kill anyone. It's not how I was brought up. I'm not like that."

While I was in Juárez, I spent more time riding the buses on route 4 than doing anything else. These buses -- the Juárez public transportation buses -- are old school buses imported from the U.S. They are noisy, old buses, reasonably clean but in a state of decay that everyone accepts. I rode in the back of the bus and in the front of the bus, I rode it at the time of the killings, in the morning, and late at night, when the last bus was about to finish the route.

Sitting there, I wondered if the guy driving my bus was scared at all. Nervous. I wondered if in moments on his route he was thinking about Diana the Hunter and the words she said to that second bus driver on the morning of August the 29th:

"¡Ustedes se creen muy chingones!" (You all think you are so tough!),

right before shooting the driver twice in the head, and running away.

She hasn't been spotted since. And there's no proof that the email signed by Diana actually came from the woman who did the shootings.

Whoever chose Diana's name, chose well. Diana the Hunter is the goddess of women and childbirth who, like many other Roman gods, acts out of basic human feelings: like rage and revenge. There is, on one of Mexico City's most famous streets, a statue of Diana the Hunter. And there's a replica of it outside a restaurant in Juárez. She's muscular, strong, holding a bow with her arm stretched back, about to shoot.

Maybe that image was in this one driver's mind on a bus I was riding, when he opened the door and a woman came in and he said: "What, are you Diana the Hunter?"

"No, of course not," she replied. "What, are you afraid of me now?"

"Well yeah," he replied. "Shouldn't I be?"

#holding rapists accountable #no more male courts and cops that support rapist males #no more wasting time on rape culture soaked society

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thatdamnokie · 6 years

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today, i watched rocknrolla for the first time and kept a running tab of live commentary which can be found below the cut and is a stupid amount of ridiculous and will not make ANY sense unless you’ve also seen rocknrolla and like--have some vague memory of how the movie happens because this was all pretty much stream-of-consciousness or whatever.

yoooo i dig the opening song. okay. off to a good start.

for real thought the dark castle logo was hogwarts fml

is that… mark’s voice?

who is this muscular motherfucker?

LOOK AT THAT FUCKING BONG PIPE THING

that’s as tall as a toddler what the fuck

look at all these people in this movie!

THAT WAS MARK

mr. strong ladies and gentleman

… wait lenny looks super familiar, what else have i seen him in.

this all seems very complicated.

idris and gerard!

counselor’s cute too

why is everyone in this movie so fucking cute

WHERE ELSE HAVE I SEEN THIS GUY

every time mark speaks i jump

wait is that—gerard’s actual accent?

lenny, you are a terrifying dude.

and mark i want to ruffle your hair.

archie, that profile, sweet gracious.

… fuck he’s in the background and i just can’t stop looking at him.

this all sounds very, very complicated.

he calls him “len” omg

“do i look like a fucking immigrant” u h m

okay so pretty sure i don’t like lenny, they should just let archie be the leader

enter the russiannnsss

your sweater is dumb russian guy

i like his accent though

guys i don’t know enough about real estate hustling to be able to explain this to another person

aw sweet russian sweater man giving him his painting

… wait no camera man show me the painting

“whiskey is the new vodka” sure yuri whatever you say

lenny i can shoot whiskey better than you can you fucking bitch

dude you can’t hold your sauce can you?

archie

archie help him

fuck he is so handsome

that jawline

“famous archie smile” I WANNA SEE

dude you need to be nicer to people when whiskey makes you that sweaty?

… i’m sorry but i think i could outdrink arch’s boss???

bless whoever made mark narrator

yooooo stella!

i like her!

dude she looks boss as fuck

“i don’t feel like smiling”

dude a marriage of convenience where you don’t have regular sex sounds awful

“welcome to the—speeler?” did he say speeler?

tom!

some of the names in the opening credits didn’t look familiar but these faces do.

wait is gerard gay or was he making a joke?

that. accent. gracious.

just picture that growling in your ear. fuck, i want a british boyfriend guys. i mean it.

i like the color scheme of all this like everything’s—muted, but still classy?

okay i dig 1-2 and stella’s broship.

can you imagine just calling him twelve to save time

“just a black eye, nothing more.”

dude she has louboutins! or something like them! the ones with the red bottoms, i’m probably misspelling it.

hanging out at the country club. very classy.

arch, you’re all limbs.

… you’re also scary.

duuuuude he has a way of talking that just makes me nervous. like an undercurrent of a threat, things implied…

“in there like swimwear” i’m stealing that.

duuuuude lenny’s robe though?

i got office envy! look at that desk.

WHO FALLS BACKWARDS IN THEIR CHAIR

oh shit they took the painting

… that i still don’t know what it looks like, guys let me see it

len you are boned.

“and archie’s gonna have to go… to work.”

he is literally the tallest dude in every shot.

is he giving him slapping lessons rn.

… yes he is.

oh no

JESUS

ARCHIE

we do NOT HIT PEOPLE

gracious.

i’m torn because on one hand, that would probably really fucking hurt, his hands are probably as big as my fucking face

on the other hand—would i let mark strong slap me?

… maybe.

“but you keep the receipts because this ain’t the mafia”

idrisssss

fuck if he smiled at me like that i’d do whatever he said too

“everybody have fun tonight! <3” :D EVERYBODY WANG CHUNG TONIGHT

“now fuck off”

oh twelve

ugh all the style in this movie.

wardrobe goals.

i want that bag.

“… maybe.” bro you said that like you wanted the d, and i can’t say i blame you.

i like how yuri says london.

for a split second i thought that was tom holland???

ohhhhh what’s gonna happen now!

does everyone just like—drive mark around in these movies

OMG it’s the same money

this shit is hysterical

i want to mess his hair up. because if we were in public he’d probably hate it and tbh i’d be too scared to do it but maybe privately…

guys… i feel like i’d fit into the uk.

ohhhhh an INFORMANT

… oh that dude is cute!

oh that dude is CRAZY

oh, drugs, right. these are the drugs i do not do.

his name is TWELVE archie

see, he’s so good at being quietly threatening

his laugh is so… <3

i think ship stella and yuri—

oh FUCK i forgot she was married

he’s also gay as shit, yuri

dude she just got so sad…

“you devil”

oh duuuuuude

you want that v so bad and it is so obvious

they both have nice hands.

poor bob. :(

twelve you sweet scottish bastard.

UHM

OKAY

that’s a twist.

twelve noooo

dude be cool

DUDE

DUDE THIS IS NOT HOW YOU HANDLE THIS

CALM DOWN

oh my god

duuuuude, twelve.

dude.

bob. bob honey i am so sorry.

is he crying? T.T

TWELVE DO SOMETHING

“no I’M FUCKING SORRY”

YEAH WELL YOU SHOULD BE

a—a poof?

is ‘poof’ a bad word?

guys i don’t know anything about british slang.

bob honey relax…

ohhhhh i’m not sure if that was a smart question to ask right that second.

archie, you’re so classy and wonderful and probably wouldn’t freak out on people like that. probably.

this van gentleman is so delightful ( i am so bad at names rn )

so his nickname is van gentleman.

TANK

there we go.

i like this broship.

in which arch continues to be all. fucking. leg.

OH SHIT

i was NOT PREPARED

“like most things american they’ve eaten the natives” i mean…

i really like his comparison of the crayfish and greed, but like… i also really want bbq now… (have you HAD bbq crayfish? shit’s delicious.)

also HOLY SHIT was not expecting them to be stuck on him like leeches? that’s terrifying.

archie has like—this hidden mercy about him… like he got a weird look on his face and i couldn’t tell if it had to do with the quid dude or putting the other guy back in with the crayfish.

it’s his STEPSON?

ohhhhh an american!

oh he is handsome.

mickey. <3

what else have i seen this rocker dude in…

“ladies of the pole”

mickey’s hat ftw

oh this fedora guy is cute.

JUNE

i love that name AND her bangs!

this movie was a phenomenal soundtrack

aaannnddd definitely thought that dude was masturbating for a second

wait is that the guy from the beginning?

LENNY

... wwwooooowwww

lenny is an ASSHOLE

LENNY

johnny, johnny honey you do not deserve this

why is this movie full of people who deserve better than they got???

LENNY don’t you DARE

that is NOT OKAY

FUCK YOU

gosh, kid, bless your heart…

SHOW ME THIS FUCKING PAINTING

there are so many different accents in this movie and all it’s doing is confirming the fact that i never left my “i want a boyfriend with a nice voice” phase

“guns nuns and cowboys” idk what this bonanza thing is but i’m in

johnny you are very scary and i’m sorry that your stepdad made you like this.

dude stop touching june?

“it’s tasty and exotic—a bit like your june.” lenny you’re disgusting.

that’s an intense line of questioning, lenny.

this fucking painting.

ARCHIE

STOP FUCKING WITH THE MICROPHONE

oh my god

i literally just want him to never stop talking

omg bob.

dude twelve looks piiiiiiissed.

i think… i missed a part of the plot.

guys i want to be a part of this world but i’m only able to say that because no one’s very asked me to like… torture someone.

or sleep with someone gross.

victor you handsome bastard.

russian is such a guttural language i love it

FUCK YOU LENNY

at least you’re getting better at shooting your whiskey? fucking asshole.

like i like him less and less because he’s just GROSS you guys

jk could still outdrink him.

if you touch archie lenny i will reach through his screen and rip your face off.

i really wouldn’t be threatening someone who could snap you in half but okay

who the hell is cookie?

you look like a one-many party

omg where are your pants

cookie i love you you disaster of a man

omg i want to be invited to one of these parties

like just let me relax in a corner with an old fashioned and a cute boy

OHHH THEY FUCKED

OKAY

that explains a lot

dude bob that’s—okay but like they thought he was going to prison, that was just an accident

wait does archie know?

dude stella i want to be your friend so you can help me with my wardrobe

… twelve. twelve what are you doing.

stella looks so fucking unimpressed

YEAH BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING

dude, stella, girl, i’m sorry

at least one of you can dance

oh bertie you gay as shit

stella why did you marry this man

i like this closed captioning thing they’re doing.

who. is. the. informant.

“and remember—i *am* dangerous.” yes you are baby.

bertie you are so awkward

bob. bobby no. D:

BOB

oh bertie don’t act like you didn’t like getting bossed around i saw it in your face

y’all he is fucking ENAMORED

i’d go see this guy live.

that bouncer wasn’t fucking around. one hit knockouts.

… john. johnny. what are you doing

JOHNNY DO NOT STAB THE BOUNCER

HE IS MAKING ME SO NERVOUS

HOLY SHIT

JOHNNY

ALL RIGHT COOL LET’S JUST SHANK THE BOUNCER

johnny you are batshit crazy

“fucking mutt” wait, what does that mean?

mumbles is a handsome man.

ohhhh this is an awkward conversation.

“made a pass.” right.

ohhhh. oh he knows.

twelve, dude, i’m sorry.

he looks so uncomfortable.

but hey like this means they didn’t fuck so that’s a thing?

boooob, sweetheart. <3

they’re all such good mixes of good and evil.

except lenny. fuck lenny.

ooooo that lady has pretty hair.

oh wait THAT’S cookie?

then who was pantsless homie?

this movie has such a big cast and i can keep track of like four people.

this club lounge place looks cool though.

he helped him get off the rock? that’s pretty rad.

p.s. this movie has a great soundtrack tbh.

all the same kiddos maybe just stick to weed and the occasional hallucinogens

say no to cocaine and crack

oh, johnny. :(

buddy.

holy SHIT this guy’s scars though!

DUDE

how many scars do these russian guys HAVE

… ADJNSJANSOAPSLKKJADSM

TRAIN

OKAY

WAIT NO TRUCK

JESUS

… more scars i guess?

… wait i wonder if archie has scars like that?

ohhhhh noooo yuri.

yuri did your friends die?

LENNY you’re racist and i do not like you.

oooohhhh why do i feel like so many bad things are gonna happen in the last part of this movie.

twelve you’re limping my baby who hurt you

… oh

THAT is who hurt you

also i ship those two russian guys

i like how stella was apparently just watching the entire thing from a distance

and then has the audacity to critique him lmfao

holly shit right into a STOREFRONT

dude NONE of y’all are having a good day

this entire scene is fucking—something else

guns

knives

golf clubs

just

anything you can pick up and use as a weapon at all

WHAT THE FUCK

ARE THESE DUDES JUST INDESTRUCTIBLE

“ABANDON SHIP RUN FOR YOUR LIVES”

YEAH BITCH AGREED

OH SHIT COPS

BOB ARE YOU JUST GONNA WAVE LIKE THEY’RE YOUR BROS

THIS IS STRESSFUL

PARKOUR

bob you look like a puppy

and twelve looks like a zombie

and then there’s mumbles who just stole the coolest bike helmet i’ve ever seen

twelve, honey, you just can’t catch a break

dude russian guy is fucking RIPPED

kudos to who did the cinematography of this because it looks fucking cool

this is the slowest high-intensity chase i’ve ever seen

ripped and covered in blood. i dig it.

twelve you faker

oh hi ruskies

archie do you own any clothing that’s not black, grey or blue…?

fuck i love that jacket, but it’s so long it just makes him look even taller

LENNY

YOU NEED TO NOT BE SO FUCKING RACIST?

and get your hands off his testicles!

gracious.

everyone in this movie needs jesus.

johnny stop calling him pedro.

can…. can i see the painting please.

please.

guys.

this poor scottish guy.

yuri got cake.

johnny… sorta reminds me of freddie mercury in some of these shots? for like a few seconds at a time.

… okay so i’m full of dread between this monologue and what’s happening on the golf course.

lenny. buddy. you really got like. not do that. stop calling everyone immigrants

OH SHIT

GET HIM

GET HIM VICTOR

YOU GO BABY

this is a weird juxtaposition in terms of scenes though?

lenny getting his legs beat

and johnny’s super sad speech about the cigs

dude i can’t bring myself to feel bad for len.

wait where’s archie?

“and that is also why i cannot give that painting back.”

this is a set up for something really really bad.

and then they have moments where they act like dudes i know and i warm up to pete and johnny.

bobby stop fucking with that poor man. you’re gonna make him fall in love with you.

“i’m going back to bed.” “can i come?”

*smack* okay, that shit was funny.

johnny you need some chicken.

oh these motherfuckers.

… guys i wanna be a rocknrolla

lmao a protest

that flat looks disgusting.

dude you need to treat your bro better

ASJANSJASN

THEY TOOK THE PAINTING

CAN I SEE IT

LET ME SEE THIS FUCKING PAINTING

OH MY GOD THIS IS GREAT

if this movie ends without me seeing this fucking painting i’m going to kill someone

good man cookie.

TANK’S WATCHING P&P

COOKIE YOU DA REAL MVP

gerard’s laugh though

… well then

like if she wasn’t so unhappy in her marriage i’d feel bad

THE INFORMANT YES TELL ME

… sydney shaw?

“where did he learn a word like pseudonym?”

awwww he likes her…

oh she likes him!

okay good because that sex didn’t look romantic at all.

“you’ve got very good taste mr. one-two.”

lenny fuck you.

you’re gonna be alive for like three more years, relax.

archie. <3 that protectiveness—even if it is for lenny.

aaannnnddd enter the russians.

what a clustfuck.

wait TWELVE

DAMNIT TWELVE

OPEN YOUR EYES

… oh you are FUCKED

ooosajdnaksdjnajsdna this is anxiety-inducing

y’all this is why drugs are bad

and then nice outside scene. birds chirping. looks like a lovely day.

oh shit ARCHIE WITH A GUN

there’s no way that twelve is still alive

what the FUCK

am i SEEING

dude archie, me too

omg ARCHIE HELP HIM

that SMILE

dude i’d laugh too

OH SHIT

welp.

okay, we all figured archie was gonna kill people

put your FUCKING TONGUE BACK IN YOUR MOUTH

wait he SHOT TWELVE?

omg everything is happening at once.

wait, stella, what’d you do?

OMG

dude she looked FREAKED OUT

yuri… dude, what are you doing…?

UHM

WHAT

WAIT

WHAT IS HAPPENING

STELLA YOU LITERALLY FUCKED TWELVE LIKE A SECOND AGO

ohhhhhhhhhh

ohhhhhhh noooooo

ohhhhh NOOOOO

oh stella, honey you in danger girl

archie looks a thousand percent done and he’s been around this kid thirty seconds

wait archie was in prison?

this sydney shaw person put arch in prison…

duuuuuude younger!archie ;-;

“uncle arch” T.T

WHAT the fuck, lmao

just whipping out his gun, nbd

archie stop that. they’re babies.

johnny man you’ve—been fucked up for a while.

dude archie you look miserable.

ohhhh nobody died.

THANK YOU ARCHIE

GET HIM

i hate this entire family.

who all is about to die in this weird basement silent hill place.

… dude. johnny’s face though.

like i’ve felt like NO sympathy for lenny this entire time but i feel bad for johnny. :/

“a hot bath and a cold razor”

… dude

“because you’re poison john.”

o u c h

but like he is CRAZY

help i don’t know who to feel for

i feel for everyone

… except lenny

OH SHIT

WHAT THE FUCK

LENNY

JESUS

DUDE

HE IS GOING TO KILL HIS OWN STEPSON

what the fuck is happening.

YES THE INFORMANT

wait.

WAIT.

IT’S FUCKING LENNY????

OH MY GOD

“you are a VERY dirty bastard sydney.”

WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT

THE

FUCK

STOP KILLING EVERYONE

I CANNOT DEAL WITH THIS

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

NO NO NO NO THIS ISN’T WHAT I WANTED

this is STRESSFUL

“put your hands up!”

*thud*

okay that was funny

THE BOYS!

oh, archie.

oooohhhhh… all this shit…

archie. fuck, you can hear the betrayal in his voice.

shit, this is sad.

“there is no spring without a winter. no life without death.”

… archie?

oh a time skip!

oh SHIT johnny got a GLO UP

“c’mon then give us a cuddle”

i’ll GLADLY you give you a cuddle

OH MY GOD THE PAINTING

SHOW ME

S H O W M E

… you literally put those russian guys in pieces, didn’t you archie.

you terrifying motherfucker.

GUYS I WANT TO BE IN THIS WORLD

FUCK YOU GO GET THEM JOHNNY

... wait was there supposed to be a sequel?

… WAIT

WAIT NO

YOU FUCKING SHOW ME THAT GOD DAMN PAINTING

oh my god.

fuck it.

fuck that.

nope.

like mid-credit scenes are the least y’all can do.

… wait is that tom and gerard just like fucking with each other, it might be, that’s sort of adorable.

dude that gay club looks like fun though.

i don’t dance because i’ll spill my drink but.

awwwww guys i could watch them dance forever, like, this shit is funny.

ohhhh i hope this means that archie becomes the new lenny. he’d be a much better lenny.

and now we sway to this groovy end credit music while i sit and seethe in hatred that i never saw the painting and i’m pissed about it. :))))))

… fuck.

welp, guess i’ll just have to write shit about how the fuck this dude falls in love with a cop then.

#rocknrolla #commentary #mark strong

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conflictcrafter · 4 years

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The Humanity of Lord of War

when you make an artwork, you have to figure out your role. being the maker of something is the surface role. and it is necessary. the next step is to pick a shovel and dig. or mine.

we do not determine roles for the heck of it. we do it because it is both the goal and the core. the goal, the core, and the means should align. and when things are in order, beauty emerges, organically, even when the surface looks chaotic.

Andrew Niccol knew what his roles are in Lord of War. one of them is to explore an inquiry: what does it mean to be human?

this question has been explored in many punk films. Ridley Scott and Philip K Dick's Blade Runner films comes to mind. George Miller has also examined the question specially well in the recent Mad Max: Fury Road. these films put humanity in future punks, in a certain point in post-humanity, to hammer the question down.

Lord of War doesnt play with punks (we can call it presentpunk though). the historical events and the political conditions depicted in the film still ring bells. theoretically, the question is easier to grasp since it's set categorically in the present. this film, again, is not a punk where this question of humanity is often explored. but this is why literature or film is so beautiful: narrative elements, in this case the setting, bare different ways to answer the same query. also, familiar settings may bring out the most outlandish of answers.

What does it mean to be human 1: Beware of The Dog

Yuri (Nick Cage), after making his first gun trade, approaches his younger brother Vitaly (Jared Leto) who cooks in their Jewish family restaurant. while Yuri convinces Vi to be his gun trade partner, Yuri notices a poster in the kitchen that says: Beware of The Dog. "We dont have a dog (also why you put that in the kitchen?)," said Yuri. to which Vi responded:

"To remind myself to beware of the dog in me. The dog in me who wants to fuck everything that moves, fight and kill weaker dogs. I guess it's a . . . to remind me to be more human."

halfway through the film, Vi succumbs into cocaine addiction due to Yuri's involvement in his life. it was as though the film was telling us that Vi is indeed a dog. running and fucking around.

but when Vi finally met "a girlfriend," he changes and leaves the cocaine. Yuri comes back into his life and convinces him again to be his partner. in a deal in Sierra Leone, Vi, now sober, witnessed the bloody effects of illegal gun trade to African civilians.

in an effort to sabotage the deal and potentially save innocent people, Vi is able to blow half of the arms and is consequently killed by the warlords.

Vi dies a martyr. loyal dogs die as martyrs. martyrs transcend humanity.

What does it mean to be human 2: I Won’t Fail as a Human Being

Yuri returns home to his wife Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan) who now knows about her husband's illegal gunrunning business.

Ava is informed by idealistic Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) of her husband's illegal arms activities. he reminds Ava that her parents were gunned by people who got their guns illegally from arms dealers like Yuri.

later that evening, Yuri comes home to a naked wife, unable to wear her silk sleeping dress, unable to lie on their bed, because to her, "Everything’s got blood on it."

she confronted Yuri and he finally confessed to his wife his real occupation. she tells Yuri to stop it since they have enough. but Yuri said he couldnt just quit because it isnt about the money. it is what he is good at.

Ava tells her husband that she "is a failed actress, a failed artist. But she doesnt fail to be human."

while Yuri feels that being human means getting one's dreams, having a lucrative lifestyle, proving to other humans that one is the best; for Ava though, humanity is as simple as not inflicting harm to other human beings.

What does it mean to be human 3: The Reptile Tail

after being confronted by Ava and Vi, Yuri finally decides to go legit. suddenly, he is not an arms dealer anymore, and he got agents confused.

this is the part of the film that youd wish the main character has truly changed, with all the things and relationships he has at stake, youd want the main character to change. Niccol teases us that, that narrative relief. but if you know how plot works, you know Yuri hasnt reached that ultimate fall.

so after going legit, he is pulled back into the arms dealing business by the self-proclaimed president of Liberia, Andre Baptise.

you would want to feel that Yuri would be doing it forcibly in fear for his family's safety. but no. when the scene with him and the Andre cuts, we hear Yuri:

"At four and a half months old, a human fetus has a reptile's tail—a remnant of our evolution. Maybe that is why I could't escape. You can fight a lot of enemies and survive. But if you fight your biology, you will always lose."

Yuri's biological mumbling here is based on the evolutionary development studies of Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) which theorizes that embryonic stages of development reflect the previous adult evolutionary forms of the specie (ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny).

Yuri is basically saying that since humans were previously non-humans, reflected by having actual tails while developing in the womb, humans will always go back in to behaving as animals. and that we can never fight it.

Yuri is wrong. for starters, Haeckel's hypothesis, the Recapitulation Theory, is long defunct.

while embryos have "tails," this does not represent the evolutionary process of a specie.

we don't have embryonic tails because thats how we evolved. we just had tails. that's just it.

thus, we are not echoes of a long evolution of reptiles. and what Yuri is telling himself is merely a rationalization defense mechanism to justify his illegal arms dealing.

and it's completely human to rationalize immoral behavior.

in insisting biology and in exercising rationalization, Yuri has perfectly demonstrated the frailty of human beings: giving intellectual justifications to humans' animalistic tendencies. Yuri has satisfied the id in booming his ego.

but being human isnt only about rationalizing.

being human also means thinking about the welfare of other human beings.

Yuri has become, if not the best, one of the bests in illegal arms dealing. in essence, he has become a superpower in the trade. but Yuri, in Nietzsche's eyes is far from being an Ubermensch.

in Kant's eyes, Yuri has trampled the categorical imperative.

in our eyes, Yuri is not a hero.

and this is what makes him human: his acceptance of life's dramatic irony. he knows, he sees, he "appreciates" the negative implications of what he does, and what's coming. yet he still does it. he is helplessly and happily trapped like all of us.

II.

although we follow closely the life of Yuri, in a "story" perspective, it's Vitaly that ultimately follows the heroic arc. Vitaly is the proxy hero to Yuri, Yuri doesnt undergo metamorphosis. but Vitaly does.

hence the film is a character study of how a human being can become a monster: by allowing and being part of something that is systematically bad and irreversible.

Niccol illustrates the monstrosity of Yuri not by making the character violent. he ingeniously does it by portraying Yuri as a kind and generous person who often describes and treats the people who are really close to him well. he, in his monologues, talks a great deal about them in good terms. yet he never talks about himself in such way. in fact, he never talks about himself at all.

and this where NIccol's genius comes: he makes Yuri seamlessly not talk about himself because in truth, Yuri hates himself. and a monster is a monster is he hates himself.

in the end, nothing is solved. what wins is the human basal instinct to harm others and at the same time, be detached from it. more than a narrative work, the film is a challenge:

how much humanity are we willing to let go to feel human?

III.

the film has managed to be an artwork that also talks about important world issues. and if there is something that an artist should takeaway from the viewing, it should be seeing how art and function can go together neatly.

the only failure of the film, albeit minor, is despite the great research that the creative production team has gone through to parallel real events, it fell short in interpreting Interpol's function properly. Interpol doesnt at all conduct arrests.

aside from that, Lord of War is a solid 9/10 for its take on the question of humanity.

_____ non-film image sources in order of appearance: 1. https://image.slidesharecdn.com/defensemechanism-160520104849/95/defense-mechanism-40-638.jpg?cb=1463741864

2. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/30/22/3b/30223b65bc57c735199209472b57c0b3.jpg

3. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c0/16/e2/c016e21b69049ab2c7a02caa1bd9e24d.jpg

#Lord of War #Andrew NIccol #kant #nietzsche #ubermensch #categorical imperative #freud #rationalization #defense mechanism #human #humanity

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bishoujomichiko · 7 years

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YOI Mafia AU: Ch. 2

Ch. 1|Ch. 3

I still haven’t found a name for it yet! It’ll all come to me before I post it on ao3. Let me know what you guys think! WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE & MILD VIOLENCE

•••

Yuri took another swig of beer, and burped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. That fucking pig He slammed his fist on the bar’s countertop, resulting in stares from the people in the room. He was livid. Why the hell did he have to pair up with Minami? He had proved himself time and time again on every single damn job the pig boss had given him. What fucking more did he want? It completely grated Yuri that a Japanese man was the leader of the Russian gang in the first place. It was absolutely unheard of. Viktor was supposed to be the next in line. And then after, Yuri would have staked his claim. He had it all planned out since he was a kid. Yakov took Yuri in when his grandfather passed away. He and Nikolai had been friends for over thirty years. Yakov promised his old friend that he would make sure Yuri had a good life. He did not keep his promise that Yuri would not be entangled in Russia’s underground, though. Something that could not be blamed on Yakov, because Yuri had begged him to let him join. Yuri had no ties to anything, and after his grandfather passed, all the love had went with him. What was left was rage, and the only way to quell it was to kill. He didn’t know why it happened that way,or how, but it did. Every time he put his bullet through someone’s body, he felt the anger within him subside. As if taking away life was his only solace; what made him feel normal. Yuri still remembered his first kill. He had just turned sixteen, and was on a raid of a small rival gang in St. Petersburg. He had staked out with Viktor all night, waiting for the perfect moment to rush in. The person they tagged had entered the warehouse, wheeling in big crates of Colombian cocaine. “ Let’s give him a couple minutes-” but before Viktor could finish, Yuri was already at the warehouse doors. He couldn’t believe these morons didn’t have any security outside. He managed to slip in before the doors closed shut. Adrenaline flooded Yuri’s veins, and his Amgram gave him an outlet to channel it. He couldn’t even see where there were shooters in the warehouse, or even the target they were after; he just sprayed the sub machine gun everywhere. Bodies were dropping, and he still hadn’t taken a bullet himself. Suddenly a hand pulled at his waist and he was being dragged behind a stack of heavy crates. What the fuck is wrong with you? Viktor hissed. Now bullets were whizzing by their heads, from in front and from behind. ”Get the fuck off me!” Yuri pushed Viktor away, almost sending him out from behind their new found defense. Yuri wanted more. He wanted to see more bodies hitting the floor, he wanted more of his bullets embedded in someone’s brains, or stomach, or chest; just pumped full of lead. He wanted to hear them screaming, to hear their agony. He wanted to feel something again. There was so much hatred in his heart, he had to share it. Yuri never did get the chance to head back into the fire, because backup had came and made quick work of those remaining. The next thing he knew they were wheeling crates into a truck outside, hurrying before the cops showed up. Yuri was seething, the anger settling inside his stomach, turning and turning-Yuri heard and felt a loud crack across his face. The silver haired man was towering over him, that lax smile that usually spread across his face was replaced with a smaller one. A frightening one. ”You really want to die today, huh?” Yuri rubbed his cheek and was about to hit Viktor with a right hook when he was slapped again. “You motherfuck-” “Do you think your grandfather is proud of you?” The question seemed to silence the sounds around Yuri. What the fuck did he just say? “Yakov promised your grandfather he’d protect you. When he’s not around, that promise falls to me. I don’t think your grandfather would want to see you go through life with a death wish.”Viktor went to clap a hand on Yuri’s shoulder, but Yuri pulled back. “Don’t act like you fucking know my grandfather. I’ll fucking kill you.” Viktor sighed, the mannequin smile returning. Yuri hated that Viktor was right. He knew everything he said was true because he wasn’t fucking stupid. He knew his grandfather would have never wanted him to become a mafia member, nor try and go Rambo every chance he got. But this feeling that was within him, he couldn’t get rid of it. Everyday his temper got worse and worse, and the only thing that helped had tucked itself inside the ammunition in his guns.

Yuri finished off his third beer, glancing at his watch. He had been living on the edge of insanity since his grandfather left him. Teeter-tottering between being a man mad, and a mad man. Yakov had tried his best to guide him, Viktor trying as well-but none of them made a damn difference. A hand tapped Yuri on his shoulder, and he almost went to grab it and snap a finger, but the owner to that hand eased into the bar stool next to him. ”Whatsup? Sorry I’m late!” It was Minami Kenjirou. He was about forty-five minutes late and sixty seconds away from getting the shit beat out of him. Yuri did not wait for any-goddamn-body. The man was fairly new to the Mafia, it was his third year with them. Yuri had only met him once in passing, but he heard rumors of the man’s kindness. Weakness. Yuri did not like pussy-ass deal makers like Minami. He thought they were nothing but a bunch of little bitches. All they did was talk, but when it came down to action, they hid behind people like Yuri. Yuri was a fucking killer not a protector, not a babysitter. ”So what are you drinking? I’ll get you another on me, an apology for making you wait!” Minami smiled brightly, Yuri wanted to punch his teeth in. ”How about this? I tell you how the fuck this job is gonna run, and you do everything I say? How about that, bitch?” Yuri said through clenched teeth. He snapped his fingers at the bartender, because he did want another brew, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Minami buy it for him. “Okay, grumpy! Cut it to me straight, lay down the law!” Minami laughed, which irritated Yuri even more. They could talk freely at the Union bar, because it was under the mafia’s jurisdiction. ”We’re leaving for China tomorrow morning. We’re going to Liuzhou city, or whatever the fuck it’s called. Our target is there. We find him, Get the information. And kill him.” Yuri chugged his beer, some of it dripping down his chin. “Kill him? Yuuri said that wasn’t necessary-” “Does it look like I give a fuck what that fucking pig said?” Yuri thought he saw a flash of something, he didn’t know what, pass through Minami’s eyes. But it was so fast that Yuri dismissed it. ”But the boss’s orders were to obtain the informant and bring him back to Russia. Then we get the information.” Minami took a sip of his green drink. Yuri knew he looked like the type to order some fucking fruity, feminine shit. ”Listen. Let me put this in a way you’ll understand. I,” Yuri pointed to himself, “Don’t. Give. A. Fuck. Was that clear enough for you? Or do I need to say it in your fucking language?” Not that Yuri knew Japanese. And the reminder that Minami was Japanese fueled his anger even more. Why the fuck were there so many damn foreigners in the Russian Mafia? Minami sighed. “Okay, got it. This is your mission, we do what you say.” Minami nodded to himself, finishing off his drink. He took the packet of information and plane tickets Yuri had placed in between them, rising from his seat. ”But, uh, if Mr. Katsuki questions us about why we didn’t follow his orders,” Minami gently pushed in the stool. ”Make sure you let him know that you ”don’t give a fuck”what he said.” And there it was, that quick glint in the man’s eyes that sent shivers down Yuri’s spine. As soon as he saw it, it was gone again. ”See you at the airport, sunshine!” Minami laughed and patted Yuri’s back. ”Don’t fucking touch me!” But Minami was already making his way through the tables out of the bar. There was no mistaking it, there was something there that Yuri saw. He still didn’t know what, but it felt like it could be cruel. Huh, interesting. Yuri wasn’t going to pay too much attention to it though, the guy still looked like a fucking pussy, either way.

#yuri on ice #yoi mafia au #yuri plisetsky #minami kenjiro #yuri on ice fanfic #you know I have to write about Plinami #sue me #smol angry tiger #smol happy lion

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