WHERE ARE ALL THE NEW POSTS?
I haven’t updated my blog in over a week, due to some family issues that have, to put it mildly, been a distraction.
The family issue: My uncle Yan was sick all last week with the flu. It swelled his throat, and for a few days he could not even drink water. He put off seeing a doctor until Saturday, where he had to be rushed to the emergency room at NYU Downtown. My mom used to tell me Uncle Yan was a simple man, and perhaps that’s why he put off visiting a physician. Other members of my family, however, would substitute the word "stupid" for "simple," since Uncle Yan had blood in his stool for over a year, and never mentioned it to anyone.
After being admitted to the ICU, Uncle Yan’s internal bleeding was investigated. It should be noted that, by this time, he had a recurring nose bleed, and may have had blood dripping from the inside corner of one of his eyes. A platelet test was given, and the family, most of us gathered at the hospital either Saturday night or Sunday morning, waited for the results. We all expected something bad.
The news that he has leukemia came in around mid-day on Sunday. Uncle Yan doesn’t get medical insurance from his job, and there were real tangible fears that his family’s savings, which are modest, would be wiped out by a long stay in a hospital. Luckily, the administrators, whom Uncle Yan’s sons R. and J. met with Monday morning, seemed understanding. The bill will probably be passed on to the taxpayer. If anyone reading this doesn’t like it, go to Bellevue, where he was transferred last night, and drag him out of his sickbed. Members of my family will probably be there to beat you to death. If you visit on a weekend, there’s a good chance I’ll personally crack your skull with one of those metal step-stools every hospital room has two of.
posted by Phil at 10:59 AM
6 Comments:
You should use your review blog to write a review of The Fury. Because I very much didn't like it, and would like to know what you saw in it.
I guess it did have a good eusthenasia scene in it. Oops!
I already wrote a lengthy, in-depth review of "The Fury" when I saw it a year ago. I would be happy to transplant it from this blog to my other one. But you could also search the Spring 2004 entries to find it.
And "The Fury" is awesome!
-Phil
Having blood in your stool and doing nothing about for over a year is so awesome. I'm bound to end up like that when I'm older. (or rather, I'm bound to ignore serious medical problems in the same manner, I don't think I'm particurly predestined for rectal bleeding)
I will note that as far as I can tell:
1. Your uncle ignored a disease for a long time and let it get worse when it probably could have been stopped more easily.
2. Now that the problem has gotten worse, the government is forcing other people to subsidize his treatment.
3. You think anyone who disapproves of this is deserving of death.
Am I missing anything?
Also I disagree with your taste in movies.
Hey, that's weird. When you click "Post a reply," more comments show up than if when you click "Post a comment."
Anyway,
"Am I missing anything?"
Actually, my argument is, if you disapprove of subsidizing his hospital stay, you are more than welcome to physically toss him out of the hospital yourself. So I say his/my family will "probably" beat you to death. What do I know? Maybe you get beaten to death, maybe you don't. Being in a hospital, you might get medical care quickly enough that you'd survive the mauling.
Strangely enough, if you get mauled by my family and don't have medical insurance, I don't approve of subsidizing your hospital stay. Figure out the logic in that!
Hal, "The Fury" review is in the July 2004 posts. I re-read it, and it's not as in-depth as I remember. So here's what I still recall about that great movie.
In my opinion, it reconciles the two sides of Brian De Palma better than any of other movies. (Con.)
(Con.)
Personally, I love the movies of De Palma, but he has always gotten criticized for being too dark to be mainstream. Even "The Untouchables," which I have very fond memories of, got scathing reviews because of its lavish depiction of Al Capone's lifestyle. Imagine mob life being shown as more appealing than the honest cop's!
In "The Fury," I got sort of the same feeling. I mean, Kirk Douglas makes a very sympathetic hero, because he's trying to recover his son. But he has to crawl around fire escapes and hide in the backseat of station wagons, while the world of the Paragon Institute actually seems comfortable and hospitable. I mean, did it strike anyone else as kind of weird that the hero was constantly shown in an unheroic way? Breaking into old people's homes, accused of being a pervert, pleaded with not to perform sodomy?
The whole world of "The Fury" seems cynical and dark. But that fits okay here (And maybe it fits in "The Untouchables," too, and I have to see that movie again), because it emphasizes how tough a fight a single man with noble intentions (Douglas) has in store for him.
Also, the exploding dude was so cool!
-Phil
Okay, I took a few moments to think about "The Fury," a movie I haven't seen in over a year. In hindsight, I might have been misguided in calling it DePalma's best blend of art and mainstream, since it came out in '78, before he really started to make big, mainstream pictures.
I will say this about it, though: On a technical level, it is as visually-interesting as any DePalma flick, and I can appreciate it on those merits alone. However, "The Fury" is also a genuine tragedy. It is about a father who loses a son, as well as a young woman who loses an innocence of a different kind.
DePalma's films, which often explore the underbelly of our society, aren't exactly known for appealing to our sympathies. "Dressed to Kill:" Hookers and women committing extramarital affairs are being knocked-off. That's a big shame. "Scarface:" A cocaine kingpin takes two barrels to the back. No one really cries for Tony Montana.
But in "The Fury," like "Blow-Out," DePalma's best movie of the 80's, there is a human element, characters we like. We want to see them triumph over evil, and when they do not, we feel their loss.
A final note: Rick, in my reply to your comment, I use "you" throughout the fourth paragraph, the same way it was used in the original post, as a way of saying "anyone."
-Phil
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