Best Film of 2000 B.C.E. - 2009 C.E.

Modern Depiction of the Tree of Life

Okay you culture snobs, I think it goes without saying that you have been purposely avoiding the inclusion of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on your "best of 2008" lists. Spielberg's long-anticipated magnum opus clearly operates on levels of esoteric beauty and significance what has slipped under the radar. It is the timeless, cross-cultural story of the messiah archetype's journey to an ultimate reality, the Hindu concept of moksha.

Jesus-Buddha-Muhammad

Prof. Henry Jones Senior, Dr. Henry Jones Junior, and the recently-introduced Henry "Mutt Williams" Jones the third are a characterisation of the Christian idea of the Holy Trinity, expressed as a dharmic henotheistic representation. Jones Sr. is the foundational father, Yaweh, Brahma, or otherwise considered: he has paved the foundational structure upon which our road to enlightenment will be built upon. He is followed by the Jesus-Buddha figure, Indiana, who is the messiah and martyr figure. Spielberg ingeniously harkens us back nearly three decades to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which Indiana is crucified for trying to protect the Ark of the Covenant.

Vanguards of the New Era of Enlightenment

The ark represents not only the four cardinal virtues of both Christian and Platonist philosophy in it's fourfold geometry and tenfold (remember that in the base ten number system, ten is the unit comprised of four even quarters) commandments, but also by it's super-mundane presence in the Jungian fact of collective consciousness. The ark is the sacred knowledge of law, which Yaweh (Henry Jones Sr.) had long sought to protect alongside the blessed knowledge of all, enlightenment: the holy grail, out of which Jesus (Indiana) drank ambrosia (the Holy Water) and was bestowed with the knowledge of good & evil (and thus cured His Father, at the expense of being banished from the Garden of Eden, thus resulting in the ultimate destruction of treasury of Petra). However, this is deviating from the original topic.

A combination of Jung's "Abusive Mother" archetype and Frudian facts of the Oedipus Complex, Spielberg has all the bases covered and watched vigilantly.

Following Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the ultimate successor of the Jones lineage is found by a supernatural search: the Dalai Lama, "Junior Junior", is revealed as the perfect completion of the Triple Goddess' form.

Vishnu the Destroyer & Jesus the Preserver

Try watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull again with these thoughts in mind, and see if you have a change of heart. Next week I will delve further into the symbolism as it applies to the movie's turning points and thematic developments.

The Newman-Os Tarot Spread

The positions are fourfold, existing in two divisions of two:

Demeanour. This is the analytical basis for the reading's subject. It represents the conclusion to which most people would rationalise.

Simulacra. The apparent, false reality of the reading subject. It is revealed by Jung's endopsych.

Objectivity. The true, factual circumstance regarding the reading subject. It is revealed by Jung's ectopsych.

Anima Mundi. This is the mystical basis for the reading's subject. It represents an overarching truth grounded outside of intellectualism.

Pattern. A uniting element which all aspects of the reading subject have in common.

Bráhman. Where the pattern only united the reading subject's multifarious facets, Bráhman is the ultimate fundament upon which all these are based.

The cards are positioned thus:

1. First, simulacra is placed in the low position. It is the most vulgar state of understanding, a mask worn upon a farce.
2. Second, objectivity is placed immediately about the simulacra, in the high position. This represents a "rising up" from a dissociation with reality.
3. Thirdly, pattern is placed immediately to the left of the seam created by the separation of the low and high positions, in the secondary position. It represents an encompassing of the demeanour cards, they exist only within patterns which define their composition.
4. Finally, Bráhman is placed opposition pattern, in the primary (or final) position. It represents a linear progression, both chronological and intellectual, from left to right; and a condensation of both demeanour and pattern. The completed arrangement is that of a cross, symbolising Christ.
   

Bráhman may be further explained by repeating this process, with simulacra representing an alternative misconception of its meaning.

Craig Thompson's Blankets

Here's something I can review: Craig Thompson's semi-autobiographical graphic novel Blankets. It's like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, except less magic realism, and more breasts. Blankets is essentially a romance/coming of age story, with themes of angst, fundamental Christianity, retardation, six hundred epilogues, and developing sexuality. However, anyone could smelt together these themes into a campy romance novel; Blankets' true virtue is in its near-perfect execution. This book reads like greased lightening. There is not a wordy page in the book, and it's full of pretty pictures, and I effectively read the thing in one session.

In other news, this reporter was recently awarded a golden speeding ticket. Hark! The herald angels sing.