Great Moments in Snuggie History

Review: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



When I saw the advertised premise of this book—that many world leaders are actually psychopaths—I went “Yeah! Politicians suck! Rich CEOs suck!” It would be a book for the 99-percenter in all of us.

(I was reminded of a speech that the CEO gave in the office at a previous job. Bizarrely, the employees were crammed into the elevator lobby because we had no meeting rooms large enough to hold us all. The CEO was giving his inspirational forecast for the company:

“In five years, we’ll be the market leader. And our competitors... they’ll be working at Dunkin’ Donuts! BWAHAHAHA!!”

A handful of high-ranking execs managed some forced laughter, but most of us had no response except to look around at each other in shock. I thought to myself, “Yeah, this guy’s a psychopath.”)

When I started reading the book, I was expecting a direct, focussed attack on the rich and powerful, which by the end would have me marching into my CEO’s office, with an outraged mob rallying behind me.

To my surprise, Ronson pretty much abandons his thesis halfway, after interviewing Al Dunlap, a disgraced CEO. The evidence wasn’t strong enough to declare Dunlap a psychopath. At this point, I could see that Ronson was struggling to keep his book on track. The point that he was trying to make had basically fallen apart.

To his credit, Ronson manages to recover. He changes gears, and looks into how our culture is fascinated by madness. A reality show producer that he interviews says that there’s a certain type of crazy that we enjoy watching, because it makes us feel happy to be normal. (If only there was a word to express the feeling of taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune...)

I think some readers will call this a cop-out, but I liked how he rebounds from his failed quest by questioning his motives for undertaking the quest in the first place. The fact that he wanted to uncover hidden psychopaths means that he’s part of the madness industry.

Entertainment, such as reality shows and books about psychopathic world leaders, is one side of the madness industry, but Ronson also covers a more serious side: overdiagnosis of mental illness and overprescription of drugs.

By ending on that note, I think Ronson is making a profound point: that the true madness in the world is seeing madness where it doesn’t exist.



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Review: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Joshua Foer writes a compelling account of his experiences in memory competition. The memory techniques that he describes are so simple that “anyone can do it,” but it takes a certain type of personality to commit that much effort and time to practicing those techniques. And indeed, the other competitors that he meets along the way are a little bit eccentric.

I enjoyed the variety of topics that Foer weaves into his story. It felt like reading a mashup of non-fiction genres: science, history, psychology, biography. Particularly interesting to me was the chapter on how the modern education system has shunned memorization. The common opinion is that rote memorization as a learning method is rigid and soul-sucking and that broader understanding is more important that knowing the facts themselves. Foer introduces an inner-city teacher who does teach his students to memorize facts, because in his view, understanding can’t occur without knowing the facts in the first place. I always enjoy opinions that are counter to the norm, so this was a high point of the book for me.




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Review: Reamde

Reamde by Neal Stephenson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Reamde represents the first time that I have been disappointed with a Neal Stephenson book.

Before I get into it, I’ll start by saying that Stephenson is my favourite author. Snow Crash became one of my favourite books as soon as I read it, and remains a novel that I feel like reading once every couple years. His essay “In the Beginning...was the Command Line” (which has now been published as a book), influenced my own personal computing habits, and encouraged me to learn Linux. Even though current technology has made the essay obsolete, the ideas contained within it still inform my views on computers.

The common thread that runs through my love of Stephenson’s work is his presentation of new ideas. He likes to spit out long infodumps on nerdy details that connect tangentially to the plot (Sumerian history and mythology in Snow Crash, the mathematics of encryption in Cryptonomicon) and every time he does, I eat it up. I basically feel like I’m learning something, and as deluded as I may be for thinking that I can get an education by reading fiction, it’s very satisfying for me.

At first, Reamde gave me what I wanted: it takes the familiar MMORPG concept and adds some neat ideas. There’s also some geeky humour about the placement of apostrophes in the nomenclature of the game’s fantasy setting.

The problems start about a quarter of the way in, when the book turns into an action thriller. Aside from a couple of scenes where some characters meet up and communicate in the online game world, the cool ideas that got me hooked at the beginning are mostly abandoned. The plot revolves around a terrorist plot, and the secret and not-so-secret agents who try to stop the terrorists. In other words, it’s like a really long season of 24 (not my favourite show in the world).

When the action ramped up, I assumed that it was just a small scene that would bridge into the second part of the novel. Instead, the action pretty much continues for the rest of the way. It’s like the climax starts a quarter of the way in, and encompasses three-quarters of the book.

I don’t mind action, and Stephenson writes it well, but it really feels like a slog when the book is a thousand pages long. Each chapter takes place in one day and are titled as such (e.g. Day 1, Day 15). The “Day 4” chapter lasts for 200+ pages on its own (about 20-25% of the total length). It took me almost a week to get through it and I eventually started thinking to myself, “These characters are still in pretty much the same situation that I was reading about three days ago!”

Let me contrast this with the way Stephenson treated action in his earlier work. This sentence ends a chapter in Snow Crash:

After that—after Hiro gets onto his motorcycle, and the New South Africans get into their all-terrain pickups, and The Enforcers get into their slick black Enforcer mobiles, and they all go screaming out onto the highway—after that it’s just a chase scene.

To me, this is a very clever way to jump forward in time. The narrator is breaking the fourth wall and telling the audience, “We all know what a chase scene is, so let’s not dwell on it.” Now, imagine replacing this line with 200+ pages of actually describing all the things that happen in the chase scene and you have Reamde.

To sum up, I still did enjoy Stephenson’s writing style and humour, but it went on way too long. Too much action and plot, not enough ideas. I’ve pretty much read all of his books more than once, but I don’t see myself coming back to Reamde anytime soon.



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Review: The Geography of Thought

The Geography of Thought by Richard E. Nisbett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I’ve spent most of my life at the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures. When I stumbled upon this book, it made me wonder where I stood. Would my way of thinking match up with one side or the other?

One of the book’s main points is that Eastern cultures value interdependence over independence; that is, people are seen as part of a group. Western cultures, on the other hand, are more individualistic; success is measured by personal achievement.

Coincidentally, not long after I finished the book, I had a conversation with my grandma that perfectly illustrates this point. We were talking about work, and I mentioned how my company might be moving offices soon. My Cantonese language skills aren’t the best, so sometimes there’s miscommunication when I speak to my grandma; she thought I had said that I was changing jobs. When I cleared up the misunderstanding, she seemed relieved.

She said that it’s not right to change jobs, because you’ve formed attachments to the people there and it would be hard to leave. This is not something that I’m used to hearing; often, I get advice that changing jobs will help you get ahead and will be good for your career. I might have been confused by my grandma’s words, but seen in the light of what I had just read in the book, it made perfect sense.

For her, work is about being part of a group, one that is not easy to separate yourself from. According to Nisbett, this is classic Eastern philosophy. The opposing viewpoint—that changing jobs is a positive move—is more in line with Western thought because it encourages individual growth.

I wasn’t aware that this was a cultural difference, but I know that whenever I imagine myself changing jobs, I always feel conflicted about the idea. On the one hand, there is a sense of guilt that I would be abandoning my team and letting them down. On the other hand, I tell myself that it’s a case of misplaced loyalty: it’s not personal, it’s just business.

I think these two parts of my thought process directly correspond to East and West. Having been exposed to both sides for most of my life, I’m not always aware of where that line is. Now that I’ve read this book, I think I’ll be better able to understand where my instincts come from, and be better able to choose from the best of both worlds.



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Review: Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts

Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Before reading this book, I had been aware of the ideas of cognitive dissonance and self-justification, having encountered them in some day-to-day personal interactions, mostly related to money. (“X is good, and I want it, but I don’t want to spend so much money on X… therefore, X is no good and I don’t want it!”)

This book studies dissonance in larger real-world situations where the stakes are much higher. Through examples about corrupt politicians, false memories, police interrogations, and others, we see how powerful a force cognitive dissonance can be. The more wrong you are about something, the harder you’ll try to convince yourself that you’re not wrong. This leads to decisions that can harm many people.

This was an enlightening read, but disturbing at the same time. I came away from it with a hopeless feeling. There don’t seem to be any solutions for the problem other than people realizing and admitting to their mistakes, but if self-justification is so ingrained in our minds, how would this actually happen? I don’t know.



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TIFF 2011: Part 4

5. ALPS

I was looking forward to ALPS because I enjoyed the director’s last film, Dogtooth, which I saw two years ago at TIFF. Where Dogtooth combined disturbing and uncomfortable content with some bizarre comedy in a stylistic way, ALPS tries to be more realistic and grounded. It still has some oddly funny moments, though; my biggest laugh was the “Prince and Bruce Lee” scene which comes out of nowhere.

I thought the ending of the film had depth. The main character’s actions come together to explain her earlier (often strange) behaviour, revealing something about her past in a subtle way. It’s hard to discuss without spoiling it, so I’ll leave it as a vague as that.

4. A Letter to Momo

Probably the funniest movie I saw this year. The story was like a combination of My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke. I fully acknowledge that it’s derivative and a little sappy, but I’m a sucker for silly anime comedy sometimes. Most of the laughs come from a trio of mythical creatures, who have a pretty cool and unique character design. The main character’s grief and guilt over her father’s death gives it some heart-warming moments between the comedy.

3. Violet & Daisy

I think one of the main hurdles for enjoying this film is accepting that the two title characters could exist. I don’t just mean in a practical sense; obviously, no one would actually hire two teenage girls to be assassins in real life. I think the suspension of disbelief has to go further than what would or wouldn’t happen in the real world; it has to go into the psychology of the characters as well. If you can accept that the girls can go from shooting multiple villains in one moment, and then giggling about getting a pretty new dress in the next, then there’s a lot to enjoy here.

Obviously, since I’m putting it this high on my list, I was able to suspend my disbelief. The biggest factor in my getting absorbed into the film was Saoirse Ronan’s performance. Between this film and Hanna, I’ve become a fan of hers. In both films, she’s a girl killer, but she combines innocence and menace in a different way; in Hanna, it’s almost like she’s autistic and has trouble processing her perception of the world, except when she’s killing people; in Violet & Daisy, she uses dark humour to bring out the conflicting sides of her character.

2. Martha Marcy May Marlene

I read a review of this film where the writer says that he would not want to watch it a second time, because of its unsettling nature. I partially agree with that assessment. It is an unsettling film, but the reason that I wouldn’t want to rewatch it is because it would lose its sense of mystery. Much of the enjoyment of watching this film was due to the suspense of not knowing what would happen next, and what happened before. Now that I know what happens, I don’t think a second viewing would be as satisfying.

What might bring me back is the lead performance by Elizabeth Olsen. She’s very quiet throughout, but there’s a feeling that she could explode and lash out at any moment.

1. Take Shelter

As I was watching, I kept changing my mind about what the theme of the movie was. Is it about a man dealing with mental illness? Is it about a man trying to convince an unbelieving community about an impending danger? The strength of the film is that even the main character doesn’t know any more than the audience does. He reacts to his visions as if they were true, but at the same time being aware that doing so is a sign of schizophrenia. This ambiguity is portrayed very well by Michael Shannon, and makes for a very moving climax.

This film also contained some of the most effective special effects I’ve seen. They’re subtle and come at unexpected moments between quieter scenes. It’s a relief from the heavy special effects that we often see in big blockbusters.

TIFF 2011: Part 3

10. From Up on Poppy Hill

There’s nothing too groundbreaking about this story. Girl meets boy, but something keeps them apart, until it doesn’t anymore. It wraps up a little too neatly, but I don’t mind a happy ending. The best thing about it was the backdrop of the high school clubhouse. It’s a visually interesting setting, filled with some entertaining secondary characters.

9. Take This Waltz

I liked the Toronto-ness of the movie, and the colourful cinematography. It has some funny moments, but ultimately, a story about relationship stuff is not my cup of tea. It was the best Q & A session of the festival for me, with Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman in attendance. They’re very funny. For example, and I paraphrase:

Question: “How do you comedic actors adjust to more dramatic roles?”

Sarah Silverman: “Well, I am capable of just saying words…”

8. The Awakening

This ghost movie has some good scares, especially one creepy scene involving a doll house. The supporting characters are a little one-dimensional, and for some reason, they each have a weird physical quirk; one guy is constantly coughing, one guy wears fake glasses, one guy has a limp and a stutter (Dominic “McNulty” West (man crush?)). I liked the lead character and performance by Rebecca Hall; she’s like a 1920’s version of Scully from The X-Files.

7. Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale

In some ways, it’s a typical war movie, with some spectacular big battle scenes, usually preceded by a dramatic speech. On the other hand, it inverts a common cliché: normally, we’re used to seeing WWII Japanese as fierce and brutal; here, they’re depicted as cold and strategic, and they’re the ones calling their Seediq opponents “savages.”

This was a rare occasion where I wanted a movie to be longer. I had trouble distinguishing between different characters because they’re not given much time to establish their personalities. As it turns out, the film was released in two parts in Taiwan, with a total runtime of four and half hours. They edited it down for the North American release, and I assume they kept more of the action scenes. I think it will be worth re-watching in its entirety.

6. Tahrir 2011: The Good, the Bad, and the Politician

Coincidentally, both documentaries I saw have a variation of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” as the subtitle. It makes more sense for this film than it does for I’m Carolyn Parker, because it’s actually divided into three segments, made by three directors. My favourite part was the second. “The Bad” refers to the officers who were responsible for policing the crowd during the protests in Egypt. Calling them “bad” is almost ironic, because it doesn’t pass judgement, and the segment ends on a morally ambiguous note.

The middle section is sandwiched by two parts which are polar opposites of each other, stylistically and emotionally. The first part uses raw footage and just shows what happened in the protests. It felt like being there, and it was quite stressful to watch. In contrast, the third part is a satirical portrait of Mubarak, played for laughs. It ends the film on a more “fun” note, and relieves the tension built up by the first two parts.

TIFF 2011: Part 2

15. Ten Year

It had some good laughs and an impressive cast, but the story is quite predictable, and it really strains believability that so many attractive people would be in the same high school class. Especially in a small town. No offense to people who live in small towns.

14. Trishna

The improvised dialogue was a little awkward at times. Also, the title character is too passive; she goes through most of the movie just saying “OK,” and “Yes, sir.” The director said that her passivity was intentional; be that as it may, it’s frustrating to watch. The cinematography is beautiful, and shows India in a very realistic way.

13. I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful

This documentary really makes you feel the effects of Hurricane Katrina, not just in the immediate aftermath, but for several years afterwards, all the way up to now. It might have made for a depressing film, but Carolyn Parker has a big personality and it’s just fun to watch and listen to her talk.

12. The Sword Identity

The key to enjoying this martial arts movie is suspension of disbelief. In this world, people can easily knocked unconscious by a single blow, and it’s possible to fight off waves of attackers by hiding behind a curtain. It’s not your typical kung fu movie in that it doesn’t focus on the fights and the choreography. The fight scenes are over in a flash and some of them even happen off-screen. It’s really about what the fights mean to the characters; all of them have strong ideals about honour and justice, and that’s what lifts the film above the ridiculousness of the action.

11. Machine Gun Preacher

As a non-religious person, I had a bit of trouble getting excited about the main character’s initial transformation from ex-con to preacher. I can’t fault the film for that if it’s true to the real-life story; it’s just not something I can identify with. It’s not a problem once he starts fighting for African orphans because religion is pretty much out of the picture in those situations. Gerard “Tonight We Dine in Hell” Butler gives an intense performance, but I wish he had done it all in his native Scottish accent, authenticity be damned.

TIFF 2011: Part 1

TIFF is over and I’m only now starting to process all the films I saw. Over the next week or so, I’ll count down the movies that I saw, and give a short review of each one.

So, let’s start at the bottom of the list. Except for the two worst entries, even this lowest stratum of films held my interest and gave me something to think about. I’m just open-minded that way.

—. The Story of Film: An Odyssey

I’m not including this in the ranking because I didn’t see the whole thing, and it’s not really a movie. It’s a 15-hour documentary, more like a miniseries than a feature. They were showing it in segments, and it was free, so I decided to pop in on the last day. It’s not hard to describe: imagine watching short scenes from many films, while a guy with a cool Irish accent describes what’s interesting about each one, and why it’s significant in the history of cinema. I got so hooked that I skipped another film, and stayed until the end of this one. I might watch the rest of it on DVD one day.

19. The Moth Diaries

Just because the word “Diaries” is in the title, doesn’t mean you can constantly rely on diary voiceovers to advance the plot. At one point, the main character writes in her diary, “That girl is weird, she must be a vampire!” and we’re supposed to go along with it completely. It would have been far more effective to leave some doubt for the audience, and drop some hints along the way instead of telling us outright what the main character is thinking.

18. Mr. Tree

My biggest problem with this film is that the title character’s quirky stupidity is inconsistent. In some moments, he seems to be mentally disabled, and in others, he’s writing extremely poetic text messages. On top of that, the main conflict of the story doesn’t really kick in until 15-20 minutes before the end, so it really drags on in the middle.

17. Among Us

I think this is a film that tries to replace drama with structure. It shows the story three times from the perspective of different characters, and it keeps you guessing because each viewpoint is incomplete. However, while watching it, my mind started to mentally re-edit the film in chronological order. If seen in that order, I think it would be clear that nothing really compelling actually happens.

16. The Loneliest Planet

I liked the idea behind this film, which is basically about how one event can change a relationship. The event occurs near the half-way point, which divides the movie into “before” and “after” halves. The crucial moment is depicted really well. However, the film is two hours long; I think a 90-minute runtime have sufficed to tell the story. Also, Gael Garcia Bernal (man crush?) doesn’t get to do much except for walking and looking sad.