Mission Impossible 7 - Paula Dean - Jason Aldean - AI and The Harbinger Effect

I just saw Mission Impossible 7 last night. Most likely, the last of the series. Packed, and I mean packed full of action. However, that is not why I am writing this review. 

This film as in past films can sneak in a theme without the audience realizing it which can be quite relevant and timely. In this case, it is the dangers of Artificial Intelligence and where it can take us. The question is posed: what if a program could understand human emotional intelligence and predict your next move or moves through an algorithm? 

I say this is timely because of the recent controversy regarding Jason Aldean. Could this be an example

of an already existing algorithm to manipulate distraction and division to control the masses? (I will explain later in the review) Here is my theory. And, it is very similar to the plot of dead reckoning. What if AI could look into our past and find emotional events that distract the populous from reality? This is not anything new. It is called the Harbinger Effect. It is intentionally planted events to distract the common population from events we do not want them to particularly pay attention to via social media. 

I discovered the harbinger effect through course studies in the 1990s. If you were a history major, you would learn that governments can lie to the masses through sabotage to encourage the masses to rally behind war or political goals. There is strong evidence that our government sabotaged or created a false event and made it appear that it came from our political enemies. It would then combine with media (Newspapers or TV News) to broadcast an event that would change people to support a war effort or political point of view. For reference, the Gulf of Tonkin incident is one that many felt rallied us to get more in Vietnam.

The next advent of manipulation that was a gold mine for our government and governments around the world was the internet. I remember when the internet was developed, we were told it was an open platform that would rid us of the harbinger effect. This is why it was originally called the world wide web. It was supposed to be an open platform for learning which is dangerous. 

Conveniently, as platforms improved, the advent of social media would change the intentions from a free and open platform to one of manipulation. I truly believe this is when algorithms were developed to manipulate the masses. This might be a bit controversial, this includes not only war, it includes policies that impact the masses along with voter manipulation. 

Social Media can be taken advantage of by foreign adversaries which is the subplot of Mission Impossible 7. All the major countries around the world want the key to an algorithm that makes them the most powerful country in the world. 

The key is quite simple that we currently have in place for an algorithm. When the country needs a distraction, something is put out on social media to distract us from the current state of affairs. One could say that Jason Aldean was put out there to distract Trump supporters while the government rapidly speeds up his indictments to prevent him from running again. Again, just a theory, but it follows an all too familiar formula.

Back in June of 2013, a pattern began to develop that is similar to what we are experiencing today.

Paula Dean was a very popular person due to her cooking talents. She created an empire. Someone looked into her past and found some incriminating information about her Southern upbringing and the use of the N-Word from her past. She even had to do a deposition in court in which she was quite honest that she used the word many years ago. Without context, her entire empire crumbled overnight. The timeliness of this happening was interesting as some suggested it was a distraction from the public's interest in what happened in Libya which was the Benghazi Incident that could take down future presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's chances of getting elected. At the time of Paula Dean, the Obama administration and Clinton were feeling the pressure for misleading the public regarding leaving our US ambassador behind for a terrorist attack in Libya. 

What further complicated this event was Reuters and other emerging news organizations that reported the timeline as being correct while our government initially gave out misinformation. Republicans wanted to of course look into it and along came Paula Dean as a distraction. Coincidence or not, it is an all too familiar pattern. 

The movie magic of Mission Impossible 7 is that it not only validates this could be a plausible theory, it can also be taken further. What if Artificial Intelligence could take down governments through pinpointed espionage? The theory is very plausible, There is currently enough data mining of our personal data from birth to death that sophisticated software could predict the future by studying our emotional intelligence. 

Dead Reckoning is a great title. While intentional or not, it continues the practice of the harbinger theory of the sacrificial lamb. This is why we have sealed documents of such events. The truth is sealed long enough for the current generation of outrage to long forget such incidents. It is left to Historians to discover and by that time, the damage is done. Some sacrificial lambs do not recover from pinpointed social media attacks such as Paula Dean. This is the real danger of Artificial Intelligence. It can destroy a person and structures without emotion. After all, it is just following an algorithm. 

Netflx's Dahmer - The Biggest Injustice Was Given a Pass - Dahmer's MIlitary Timeline

Netflix recently released a series on Jeffrey Dahmer that thoroughly examined what makes someone like Jeffrey commit acts of violence as he did for many years. I thought the story was excellent. It was very thorough including the following topic that impacts human development:

• Prenatal Care 
• Mental Health of the Mother
• Genetics
• Early Childhood Development
• Impact of Alcohol/Addiction

The series also shined a light on social justice. (Spoiler Alert) One can not but help to wonder how many lives could have been saved if the police responded to the numerous calls to Jeffrey's apartment responsibly.  The performances were excellent. I would recommend the story as a window to horrific events that happen to our society. 

One cannot help to want to learn more about Jeffrey Dahmer. There are amazing first-hand accounts on YouTube that chronicle his life and the story on Netflix. The story does an injustice in some ways to the victims by not sharing one key component that could have saved more lives than any other event. It was Jeffrey's enrollment in the Army that was considerably more important. Episode 4 for some reason gave this part of his story a pass. A significant one at that. A far greater injustice regarding impact than the Milwaukie police department. 

On military.com, it does confirm that Dahmer served as a military medic. The movie hints that he experimented while learning about prescription drugs. You see a scene where he invites a soldier to have a drink and practices his craft by drugging the drink. It only suggests that he drugged the soldier and had a small fantasy with him while he was unconscious. No graphic harm was shown in the movie which leads us to believe there were issues in the army at that point.  

In all actuality, a complaint was filed by Preston Davis for 2 sexual assaults in October of 1979, Preston was left alone and isolated with Dahmer and he penetrated him while unconscious. Another account while in the military came from Billy Capshaw. He was tortured by Jeffrey during drunken binges. Dahmer would assault him with an iron bar. Worse yet, this was brought to the attention of superiors and it went on for 18 months. Superiors choose to ignore the complaints. The larger irony is their experiences impacted their own evaluations from the military according to accounts that can be found on survivingjeffreydahmer.org. 

The incident was so serious that when Dahmer was convicted in 1991, Germany (West Germany at the time of military service) opened up cold cases of missing men during the time he served in Germany. Dahmer was given an honorable discharge due to his drinking. There is no mention of the crimes that were brought to anyone's attention. 

There are a lot of missed opportunities to explore what impacted Dahmer during this time period. One has to remember that in 1981, boot camp was brutal in the military. Imagined a traumatized young male with tendencies to kill as his first victim died prior to enlisting. Dahmer was most like triggered by the experience. Some evidence that might prove this theory to be true is that he shared and bragged to his fellow enlisted soldiers that he killed a man prior to enlisting in Ohio. Sound familiar? Similar to the police, people in power dismissed the warning signs. Lastly, consistent with Dahmer's story, the two people he raped and attached reported he was racist and when drunk committed very bizarre acts. 

The timeline of these events was considerable when you think about it. The focus on the Milwaukie police would happen much later. If something was done during his time in the military, it could have avoided the deaths before his apartment in Milwaukie. It would have also potentially saved the lives of individuals that were committed at his grandmother's house.

The lesson here is to be careful with bias and learn the facts about cause and effect. By leaving out this crucial detail of Dahmer's life, it is almost like the crimes committed by the Milwaukie Police Department. Silence is what led to tragedy. That's the lesson of Dahmer that could have been dealt with in a responsible manner that was missed in its entirety.
. 

Untold - The Girfiend Who Didn't Exist

Untold - The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist is the kind of documentary that makes the hair on your skin stand. Most who watch it will feel uncomfortable at some point in the 2-Part Series. It is an intriguing tale of misfortune that is unimaginable, even by today's standards. 

This is the story of Manti Te'o. A Polynesian football player at Notre Dame. He came from a small Hawaiian island. A bit naive, he was catfished online at a time when catfishing was not as frequent as it is today. The deception lasted over 2 years before he was told it was a hoax. 

There is a lot of depth crammed into this 2-hour miniseries. This documentary will leave little doubt that journalistic integrity went out the window many years ago.

Without going into too much detail, this is a story about how easy it is to judge a situation before we have all the facts. It also gives rare insight into how easily we can be manipulated by social and conventional media. I remember this event that happened many years ago, and I honestly was mad at myself as I most likely allowed the media's reporting to impact my own opinion about what really happened.

Overall, this documentary is a warning about where we were, where we are, and where we are heading as a society regarding fact-finding and media manipulation. The old phrase, "Never judge a book by its cover certainly applies to this short series. 

The United States Versus Billie Holliday

 The United States Versus Billie Holliday is a new entry for movies that chronicle historical injustices to African-Americans. What I notice immediately about this movie is the difference between an African-American directing the movie versus a caucasian director. The style and format for comprehending the African-American experience are different. It speaks to a different lens compared to past movies produced and influence by "white guilt." What I mean by that is most films like Freedom Writers weave a story around the White Hero, versus the emphasis being on the depth of the injustice itself. There are complexities to the time machine of injustice that rarely get captured. This movie goes deeper. It has more depth. 

A great example is this movie provides a fresh take on "Uncle Tom." There are nuances throughout the movie that African-Americans took advantage of Billie Holliday. One, in particular, is a government agent that shoots up with Billie and makes love to her as a way to befriend her for the benefit of the Federal Government. Think about the moral compass it takes to do this to a person or lack thereof should I say. There were complexities that existed during the segregated world of entertainment. This was a fresh and realistic take on history I have not seen in previous movies. 

The movie also tackles the issues of neglect, subjugation, physical and verbal abuse. Billie Holliday's pain from addiction comes from a very dark place and the ingredients were there since she was raped at age 10. Her mother was a prostitute. She could not love as she wanted to and provide for Billie the emotional support a child needs. Billie witnessed lynching as a child.  If you think addicts are evil or weak, try to understand the origins of addiction. Addicts self-medicate the wounds brought about by a life that is cursed by injustice.

The movie captures the roots of the Federal Government using the drug war to strategize how to keep African-Americans in suffrage. Harry Anslinger was the protagonist. He would use African-Americans to entrap Billie. Powerful scenes regarding how men conspire to punish and entrap Billie. She fights back because her fame allows her to fight back. One has to remember the victims that did not have the resources to fight back. A powerful testament to the power structures beginning to develop. The drug was a front for something greater than we realize. It's the new Jim Crow. It's important for people to understand as history repeats itself with the Crack epidemic in the '80s. 

The most haunting nuance is the government's rationale to go after Billie was due to her song, "Strange Fruit."Such a powerful song during a time when songs generally lacked depth. Music back then was meant to safely provide entertainment. Then this comes along:

Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees

The KKK after the Civil War raged war in the south against African-Americans by using lynching as a format for sending a message. Many political figures supported or looked the other way. Lynchings were public and oftentimes attended by adults and their children. Lynchings happened in the thousands at their prime. To this day, the United States has not introduced Federal Legislation outlawing lynching. Hopefully, this movie will provide the inspiration to end this dark chapter in American History.  

As an accompanying piece to this movie, watch the Oprah Winfrey special. Oprah provides insight into the actress that portrayed Billie Holliday. There are many aspects to her preparation for the movie that speaks to the American Experience today. Pay attention to Andra Day during the awards season this year. If she fails to win an Oscar for this performance, it would be another shining example of how Hollywood awards are an injustice the past 50 years regarding the lack of African-American representation. 

(Author's Note - This movie is timely. Please encourage friends and relatives that are deniers of history to watch this movie. The failure to understand history is the reason why people are so angry about the Black Lives Matter movement. When we learn about the history of intolerance, it allows for a conversation to happen that could not happen before.) 

Feast of the Seven Fishes

Period pieces in Cinema are important as they document a period in time. as long as the production team works diligently to get it right. I found this to be true for a movie I watched recently known as, Feast of the Seven Fishes. 

I watched this quite honestly because I grew up in Central New York in an Italian family celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes. I was thinking it would be a cute movie that would bring me back to my youth. It was all that and more. What surprised me about the movie was the director truly captured the dynamics of the Northeast during the early 1980s. It was surprisingly an accurate portrayal of the division among working-class Catholics and white-collar Protestants. Subtle, but it there for us to witness. 

The houses that the Catholics were living in were substandard. However, they managed to make them a home. Rich in traditions that their contemporaries did not have in the affluent neighborhoods. This is told through the eyes of the main character. He is smitten with a young lady from the rich part of town. She is enamored by the traditions of Christmas Eve. Her mother is very wary and concerned with this relationship. The setting is a coal mining town near Philadelphia. This could be any small community in the Northeast back in the early 80s. What struck me as very accurate was the imagery of the homes, and how the director caught a moment in time. I thought I was witnessing my own youth. This is how many small communities were divided 40 years ago.

The other thing that Italian-Americans will appreciate in this movie is the cultural references that have slowly disappeared over the years. The "nonny" is spot on how many grandmothers were that came over from Italy. They only want their kids and grandkids to marry Catholic girls, preferably Italian ones. The wooden spoon references will bring back many fond memories for sure. 

What this movie does very well is to create a time capsule. This movie captures the traditions and culture of a period of time that is unique to the Northeastern United States. Multiple generations of northeastern residents that have moved all over the United States will enjoy this movie, as it honors a time that no longer exists. This is so important as our society changes quickly. Whether you are from the Northeast or not, this is one heck of a film to learn about the Feast of the Seven Fishes, and why it was important so long ago. 

 

Criminal Justice Reform Double Feature - Who Killed Garrett Phillips - The Confession Killer

We are taught in schools that our country is a nation of justice for all. We look at other countries and demonize their lack of just laws and rules of governance. The world is a hostile place, and for many people, they do live under oppressive regimes. There are however many social-democratic societies that have better criminal justice systems.  

To understand the problems in our country, I am recommending two documentaries. The first one is Who Killed Garrett Phillips. This is a unique story set in the farthest region of Upstate New York. The second one is the Confession Killer which is set in Texas. The reason I like the choices are that each movie is set in a state that has different political spectrums, yet injustice can happen anywhere in our country. 

Injustice is built in our court system. The most common injustice discussed is the issue of race. Yes, this is a large part of the problem. However, there is so much more to injustice in our country. For example, the election of key positions causes political consequences for individuals caught in the crossfire of getting elected. (You will see this in both movies) 

Another problem in this country is the "thin blue line." An unspoken rule that mistakes cannot be challenged at all levels. Local law enforcement has rules. Cross that line, and you can be taken to task, attacked, and jailed. It is random, caused by the systems in place. 

The biggest problem is the lack of protection for people that are in the crosshairs of local law enforcement. Once you are sent to prison, injustices do not correct themselves. If they do, the victims could be long gone due to the length of time an investigation takes place. It is set up this way for a reason. People will forget the event over time, and the political consequences are not as severe. The system protects the oppressors of injustice.  

Both documentaries are a wake-up call. While watching them, think about the lessons taught in school. Truth and transparency are not characteristic of our current system. The burden of proof can quickly revert to the victim that is falsely prosecuted. The biggest problem is we think it is limited to certain individuals. It can happen to anyone of us. There are so many twists and turns in the documentaries, each one should shake the viewer to their core. Finally, here is the big question, after watching these documentaries, what will you do to increase awareness about the injustice caused by systems that fail to protect the very citizens it claims to protects? 

The Report - Morality - EIT's - Finding the Truth

Cerebral Cinema is a blog that is dedicated to cinematic experiences that encourage discussion and debate about our current reality. Each year, I have explored movies that challenge us to question the government and systems in our society. This year, Amazon pictures released the Report. The Report is a movie that explores our government's policy regarding Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. The movie explores well beyond basic questions about the morality of waterboarding. What I found interesting is the theme of systemic transparency, and how long it takes for the truth to prevail.

The movie explores the CIA and deep state operatives. It sheds light on bi-partisan misconceptions. The use of torture was kept a secret by the Bush and Obama administrations. For all of the accolades, President Obama has received for his sense of decency, this will be the first movie that provides an assertion that all Presidents make key mistakes in their administration. How history chooses to expose their mistakes is what can mislead our sense of justice. President Obama has been criticized for the ethics of his Drone warfare strategy. This movie sheds some light on his willingness to work with the CIA to ignore criticisms of torture. The movie goes so far as to suggest he avoided publicly releasing criticisms to gain the CIA's support for reelection.

This is the problem with the two-party system. Both sides are corrupted by the process. We are taught to vilify one party more than our own affiliations. The system currently in place is over two hundred years old. It is easy for corruption to manipulate the realities that exist. It takes years before the citizenry knows the truth.

The movie credits Feinstein and McCain for enacting legislation to help prevent such a strategy moving forward. There was a lost opportunity at the end of the film to further discussion of a key talking point. We already had laws to prevent torture. What assurance can we have that history will not repeat itself?

The Report is a reminder about the value of Civics classes. I have been a critic for 20 years about the dangers of standardized curriculums and testing. The lack of opportunities for our children to discuss and analyze transparency and truthfulness is a detriment to our society. Teaching critical thinking skills is the responsibility of parents and guardians of truthfulness. The Report provides the foundation for future discussions at the dinner table. Unfortunately, this movie will most likely not be shown and discussed in High Schools across the nation. A misstep in education that will hopefully change in the years to follow.