It’s a girl! Or is it?!?

Hot news from the BBC - a US man has given birth to a healthy baby girl. Thirty-four year old Thomas Beattie was born female but subsequently underwent gender reassignment - whilst ensuring (cheeky chappie) that he also hung on to a full set of female reproductive organs. You can read the whole story here. It’s reminiscent of the wonderful scene in ‘Life Of Brian’ where the comrades discuss whether to support Stan’s right to have a baby.

Still, this report is tremendously encouraging. Not only does it mean that transgendered people can control their own fertility. It also means that very, very unlikely things really do happen from time to time. I mean, if a bloke can get pregnant and give birth, almost anything is possible. Maybe one day all the Popular Fronts and Peoples Fronts of the British Left might join together to form one big organisation. Or is that straying too far into the realms of fantasy?

A De-Braining Machine…

A poet once described war as a ‘de-braining machine’, but much the same could be said of television. One of the joys of Esteban Sapir’s film ‘La Antena’, currently showing at The Watershed, is that it manages to convey this message through the medium of a movie which is light, witty and strangely beguiling.

The film is set in a city where people have literally lost their voices. It’s ruled over by Mr TV, a capitalist despot who controls the only person left with a voice - a singer - and uses her to mesmerise the population. The singer’s son, a boy born without eyes, holds the key to the city’s future. And only a humble TV repair man and his family stand in the way of the boss’s dream of ultimate power…

In a film which lends a new meaning to the term ‘TV dinner’, Sapir pays homage to the greats of silent cinema, from Georges Méliès to Fritz Lang and beyond. It’s fun spotting the references, and Sapir enjoys himself enormously with the possibilities presented by the interplay between animated subtitles and sound. Character, plot and above all the visual presentation of the film are firmly grounded in the production values of German Expressionist cinema.

Highly original in conception and execution, ‘La Antena’ manages to make a serious political point without descending into cliche and pomposity. And I guess we could all learn something from that…

Smashing The Mirror

Thanks to Derek Wall for flagging up this video of Harold Pinter’s 2005 Nobel Lecture. The first ten minutes or so are devoted to aspects of Pinter’s writing. Then his quiet rage takes centre stage. He applies a scalpel to the iniquities of imperial foreign policy, and explains why any retreat into the bastions of ‘art’ represents a betrayal of our shared humanity. He quotes Pablo Neruda’s reply to those who would confine poetry to an apolitical ghetto: ‘Come and see the blood in the streets/Come and see the blood in the streets’. Click here to access the video.

Respect: Marxists Discuss Way Forward

This weekend saw an initial meeting of a number of revolutionary socialists inside Respect who are interested in developing a Marxist current within the broader party. The meeting included Respect members from a variety of backgrounds - ex members of the SWP, independent socialists, and representatives from the ISG and Socialist Resistance. A provisional statement was agreed (see below), as part of an ongoing process of discussion which will culminate in a conference towards the end of this year:

 

An invitation to participate in the creation of a new Revolutionary Socialist Organisation

This text was voted on and passed at a meeting in London on Sunday 29th June. A Steering Committee was also elected.

1. This is a proposal made by members of the International Socialist Group (ISG), Socialist Resistance (SR), a group of former members of the SWP and some independent Marxists not presently in any organisation. It is an invitation to everyone who would be interested in establishing a new revolutionary organisation based on an understanding of the need for Marxists to build a revolutionary organisation and to work for the widest unity of the working class on economic, social and political issues.

2. We propose a regroupment, based on our common traditions as active revolutionary socialists. This proposal emerges from practical collaboration over the recent period in building Respect. We also appeal to independent revolutionaries and new militants to join us.

3. We hope that a process of discussion throughout this year will culminate in a founding conference to be held towards the end of this year.

4. We have a shared analysis of the nature of class society and how it can be changed. Capitalism is an outmoded system which cannot satisfy even the most basic needs of billions of the world’s population. The further advance of humanity and the protection of the environment from catastrophe can only be achieved by the creation of a socialist society.

5. The capitalist state cannot be reformed but has to be overthrown and replaced by a workers’ state. This revolutionary act can only be carried out by the working class, the only agency that can transform society.

6. The emancipation of the working class is the task of the working class itself, acting as a class in its own interests. Socialism cannot be achieved from above by reformist politicians or trade union leaders. The struggle for socialism is international; the struggle of workers and the oppressed everywhere is one struggle.

7. We recognize that capitalism uses the oppression of certain social groups to divide the working class. The organisations of the working class must constantly strive to overcome any divisions by advancing the causes of these oppressed groups. We oppose all forms of oppression and defend the right of the oppressed to self-organization. We support, and will participate in, the struggles against national oppression, women’s oppression, racism and Islamophobia and against homophobia.

8. What existed in the “communist bloc” was not socialism. It was a Stalinist perversion of socialism; a dictatorship that brutally oppressed all political opposition, suppressed workers’ rights and trampled on workers’ democracy. Socialism cannot exist except with the extension of democracy so that the working class collectively takes the decisions about the future of its new society.

9. The dominant ideas of the present society are those of the capitalist class. For the revolution to succeed the most militant workers and their allies have to be organised into a revolutionary organisation which challenges and confronts that ideology with one in the interests of the new socialist society.

10. The revolutionary organisation must be part of the working class and take part in the life and struggles of the working class and the oppressed. It seeks to absorb the lessons of working-class struggles from the past and from today. It must give guidance and perspective to its members in their activity in the workplace, communities and campaigns. Theoretical study and discussion serve as a guide to the practical work of the organisation. In this way we can test our ideas in practice and learn from our experience.

11. Any revolutionary organization must be democratic, including the right to organize around minority viewpoints, but must aim to act in a unified manner. Socialist democracy is the only way to develop a genuine political leadership of the working class and its allies.

12. We believe that the decline of the Labour Party and the disintegration of its mass base present the best opportunity for many decades to build a viable alternative to the left of Labour. The signatories of this appeal have been working together as revolutionaries and with others to build such a party. We believe that the building of a united party of the working class is one of the overarching strategic tasks for revolutionary socialists in this period. The role of revolutionary Marxists in helping to build Respect over the next period will be an important one.

13. We state clearly our commitment to building a revolutionary socialist organisation, which will locate itself in working-class struggle - in the workplace, in the community, amongst the oppressed and in the broad party.

14. We are internationalists, against imperialism and war; we stand for mass action from below in the interests of the working class; we do not set ourselves apart from the working class and its organisations but seek the broadest agreement with others, using the methods of the united-front. Our aim is both to advance the interests of the class and the ideas of revolutionary socialism. To these ends we will explore the possibility of links with other revolutionaries internationally.

15. This document is intended only as a preliminary text. We invite all those who are interested in the ideas outlined above to join us in a process of discussion.

The purpose of this document is to launch a regroupment process, which will culminate in a conference after a period of discussion. It registers the most important areas of agreement we have achieved at the beginning of this discussion. There are other areas, not included, which will have to be the subject of further discussion.

For more information or to become involved e-mail

revolutionaryregroupment@googlemail.com

or visit 

http://revolutionaryregroupment.wordpress.com

 

Mark Steel In Euro Shock

Brizblog can exclusively reveal that Mark Steel intends to resign as coach of the German national team after their defeat at the hands of Spain in Sunday’s European Cup Final. Steel, pictured above left, was contrite after his team’s defeat. Meanwhile rumours abound that lookalike comedian Joachim Low, shown above right, will step in to fill Steel’s shoes in time for the crucial World Cup qualifiers.

Puppet Power!

Bob’s Yer Uncle…

Zimbabwe - confusing, innit? Follow the coverage in the liberal media and you’d assume that it’s the worst human rights disaster since young Adolf developed a jackboot fetish. Go along to almost any political meeting in Bristol, on the other hand, and you’ll be treated to our friends from the Stalin Society* extolling the virtues of Uncle Bob’s firm but fair anti-imperialist regime. For a more balanced perspective, you might want to check out this excellent article on Splintered Sunrise.

* The Stalin Society, a.k.a. CPGB-ML. Awfully nice people - unless you happen to mention the word ‘Trotsky’ to them - but completely potty. You can spot them at meetings selling copies of their unreadable journals, ‘Proletarian’ and ‘Lalkar’. They’re the only organisation on the Left (as far as I know) which extols North Korea as a role model for the British revolution. They almost make me nostalgic for the Sparts…

Depraved and Corrupted!

Back in 1971 a wonderfully subversive book for kids was published in Britain - the ‘Little Red School Book’. I was fourteen when I bought myself a copy, and I have to admit it was one of the prime causes of my subsequent descent into moral and political degeneration. It will always have a special place in my heart!

The political and religious establishment of the time went ballistic when the book was brought to their attention, and it was eventually the subject of a well-reported trial. The state won, but the publicity only ensured greater sales of later, censored editions. Along with the Oz trial, it was one of the great free speech struggles of the period.

Of course reading the book now a lot of the advice it contains seems horribly outdated, and some of it is just plain silly. But its anti-authoritarian, pro-youth message was a breath of fresh air in the repressive atmosphere of the time.

BBC Radio has just produced an excellent thirty minute documentary on the subject. The interviews with the people responsible for banning the book are particularly entertaining. Yes kids, masturbation really is dangerous to your physical and moral health, so just cut it out! Wonderful stuff. You can listen to the programme online here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?radio4/inlivingmemory

Love Yurts

Sergei Bodrov’s recent film ‘Mongol’ has just completed a successful run at the Watershed in Bristol. The first instalment of a trilogy of films charting the life of Genghis Khan (or Temudgin, to use his given name), it has enjoyed considerable critical acclaim internationally, and has been both praised and pilloried for its openly avowed goal of redressing our view of Mongol history.

The old adage ‘history is written by the victors’ doesn’t hold true of course when we’re dealing with non-literate cultures. Original source material on the Vikings, for instance, gave them a wholly bad press - hardly surprising given that it was written by the priests whose lands they pillaged and burned. In recent years a whole industry has grown up devoted to rehabilitating them, albeit with mixed success. ‘Mongol’ is Sergei Bodrov’s contribution to a similar effort on behalf of ‘the Devil’s horsemen’.

The film charts the first phase of Temudgin’s life, during which he rose from relative obscurity to unite the warring tribes of the steppes. Visually it’s stunning, both in terms of the cinematography and the sweeping landscape itself. Dramatically the action centers on Temudgin’s relationship with the beautiful Borte, the great love of his life - a love that is constantly thwarted by kidnap and imprisonment. The two leads, Tadanobu Asano and Khulan Chuluun, are both excellent, and the action sequences are bloodily convincing.

The film also provides a fascinating insight into the Mongol way of life: pitching their yurts wherever they can find fresh pasture, living their lives in the saddle, herding livestock, raiding and kidnapping. It’s a world predicated on codes of honour and spasms of treachery, a brutal world ruled by brutal gods.

As an epic movie, and as a love story set against a backdrop of war and conquest, the film is faultless, and its two hours plus running time passes swiftly. But as history the film is problematic - to put it mildly.

Of course we need to cut Bodrov some slack. It simply wouldn’t have been possible to cram the whole story of the complex early tribal conflicts into the film. So the two big struggles waged by Temudgin that the director concentrates on - against the Merkits and against his sometime blood brother Jamukha - must be taken as emblematic of the broader history.

But we can’t make the same excuse for the film’s treatment of the Tangut state. Central to the dramatic action of the film is Bodrov’s apocryphal story of Temudgin’s enslavement and imprisonment in the Tangut capital. When the film ends with his annihilation of the Tanguts, conveyed in a brief footnote, the implication is that his enemies brought this fate on themselves. But the whole incident is an invention. And one cannot help wondering whether other instances of Mongol barbarity and wanton destructiveness will be given a similarly bogus justification in future instalments of the trilogy.

This tendency to play fast and loose with historical fact is of course a staple of the epic movie. ‘Gladiator’ was a great example of this, claiming some sort of historical veracity whilst actually being based on an earlier Hollywood epic, Anthony Mann’s 1964 ‘Fall Of The Roman Empire’. So we shouldn’t be too surprised when heavily armed Mongol cavalry, historically made up of the nobility, act as a sword-wielding Pythonesque suicide squad rather than providing the reserve of heavy lancers which was their actual military role. Bodrov is simply following the Hollywood tradition of sacrificing military accuracy to the demands of comic-book heroics.

This kind of historical sleight of hand becomes more significant when we address the ideological sub-text of the film. Bodrov’s version of Temudgin’s early career is heavy on mysticism. At two key points in his life our hero is saved and inspired by a transcendent encounter with the thunder god who rules the steppes; and it is the fortuitous outbreak of a lowering thunderstorm which allows Temudgin to triumph in the film’s climactic battle scene. Destiny rather than historical necessity is the moving force behind events, which seems strange given the care with which the film depicts the harsh social reality of the Mongol lifestyle. In this sense Bodrov’s perspective is profoundly reactionary.

Then again, it’s probably naive to expect anything else from a film which aims to underwrite the elevation of Ghengis Khan into a Mongol national hero. Bodrov’s approach is predicated on mysticism, the cult of the great leader, and the nationalistic values of blood and land. It is very much a product of the break-up of the old Soviet empire and the subsequent resurgence of regional nationalisms.

The reality of Mongol imperialism - the brutal annihilation of settled societies by hordes of mounted bandits - is likely to be given a similarly romantic gloss in future instalments. The second part of the trilogy, which covers Temudgin’s genocidal assault on the great Islamic states of the time, is likely to prove as big a hit in the West as the first instalment has proved to be in Central Asia.

Genghis Khan was greatly admired by Adolf Hitler, and one suspects that George Bush has a soft spot for him too. But hey, he had a tough childhood. And he was a good family man. 

Happiness Is A Plump Cock

Thank goodness for poultry! According to the BBC news website, scientists have taken a major step forward in unlocking the origins of human allergies with the help of our feathered friends. Their work raises the possibility of a real breakthrough in the treatment and prevention of asthma and other allergy-related illnesses in the future. As for the chickens, let’s just hope that they were experimented on humanely - not grilled, roasted, boiled or fried…