Castles of Glass – Linkin Park

There are many mediums to promote causes. When I recently spoke to a group about Unwanted Heroes – a novel that highlights the plight of war veterans and homelessness – a gray-haired man came up to me, patted my arm and said: “It is a story that must be told.”

He doesn’t read fiction, only non-fiction, but I appreciated his support. He probably isn’t a fan of Linkin Park – a rock band that incorporates a fair amount of rap – but I hope he would appreciate this beautiful song and video.

If you are not into loud music, turn the volume down so you can just hear it while it accompanies the video.

Not the happiest way to enter the weekend, but as the old man said about Unwanted Heroes: It is a story that must be told.

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Alon Shalev is the author of three social justice-themed novels: Unwanted Heroes, The Accidental Activist and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Jewish Student Center, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at http://www.alonshalev.com and on Twitter (@alonshalevsf).

 

Powerful Three Minute Video

I was so moved when I saw this short video by Jesus Colon while prepping to facilitate a social justice seminar. It is as relevant today as when the scene, so beautifully described, took place in 1955. Let me know what you think.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at http://www.alonshalev.com/ and on Twitter (@alonshalevsf).

Movies That Matter – The Social Network

Facebook – love it or hate, but it is here to stay (or at least until the next great innovation), and it is a central part of our lives. The fastest growing age group used to be students (no surprises), now it is the 40-60’s. When someone under 120 tells me that they are not on Facebook (usually followed by a tirade against social media), my immediate reaction is that they are simply not connected. I have, however, learned from experience to keep that thought to myself.

Authors actually seem to complain a lot, but this is, I think, a symptom of the I-want-to-be-writing-not-marketing syndrome. Truth is, while you need to be on Facebook, you are in control of how many times you check it and how long you stay on. Kind of like flossing.

But this post is about The Social Network, the movie about how Facebook came about. I read The Accidental Billionaires (the book about…) and really enjoyed it. I would enjoy this movie even if I wasn’t into Facebook. I have a small library of ‘brilliant students at school’ movies (Dead Poet’s Society, Finding Forrester, Good Will Hunting – you get the idea).

The Social Network fits into this theme. The portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and Person of the Year 2010 for Time, is amazing (I have no idea if it’s true), but this is a brilliant mind who can’t fathom the everyday realities of dress (he goes to a business meeting in a hoodie – with the hood on his head), with little social talents, and yet his brilliance is a magnet for other brilliant minds.

It is for us too. As the movie continues, you begin to root for Zuckerberg, hoping he will win through. This happens, I think, without the writers compromising on the harshness or incompatabliity of the protagonist.

Tamim Ansary, a brilliant SF author, shares his recollection of a favorite scene. This is the most memorable scene for me too. It is written in Tamim’s words according to memory, but it is just great. In this scene, Justin Timberlake wakes up in the morning in the bed of a Stanford student that he has clearly only just met. He is lying in her bed and she is just getting dressed.

“What do you do?”
“I’m an Internet entrepreneur.”
“Oh,” she sneers, “In other words, you’re unemployed.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way.”
“Well how would you ‘put it’?”
“I’d say I’m an Internet entrepreneur.”
“All right. What have you entrepreneured?”
“I founded a company that lets people share music online.”
“Uh huh. Kind of like Napster.”
“Exactly like Napster.”
“What do you mean?”
“I founded Napster.”
“No you didn’t! Sean Parker founded Napster.”
“Yes. It’s good to meet you too.”

I’m going to leave the last word to Mr. Ansary, primarily because it never occurred to me until I read his review.

“Even more fascinating is the understated way the movie conveys that all these plaintiffs are wrong: none of them invented Facebook, and neither did Zuckerberg. Facebook already existed in the world in potentia: the trick was to see it out there, know what it was, and then create the apparatus that allowed it to actualize itself, to materialize.  Facebook invented itself.”

Maybe this is the definition of brilliance. How many times have I read a great novel and thought: “Gosh, I wish I had thought of that plot/character.”

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at http://www.alonshalev.com/ and on Twitter (#alonshalevsf).

Movies that Matter: Finding Forrester

I’m thinking a lot about mentorship these days and might dedicate a posting or two to the theme. There are plenty of movies that seem to touch on this and many figure in my favorites.

Finding Forrester is one such movie. A 16-year-old African-American (Rob Brown) from the South Bronx is on track to use his basketball skills to leverage a scholarship that will take him through a fancy school and then college. But this student’s intellect is as good as his ball handling but there doesn’t seem to be anyone interested in this side of him.

On a dare, he breaks into the house of a strange old man who lives near the basketball court only to discover that crazy man is a famous but reclusive author. Sean Connery plays William Forrester who four decades earlier wrote a Pulitzer-winning novel, and then abruptly disappeared a.k.a. J.D. Salinger. Fortunately, the author’s depressive and scathing attitude has not diminished his passion for writing.

This movie works because it is not a typical condescending cliché where a homeboy rescued by wiser white mentor. It is an inspiring fusion of meeting of minds, where mutual respect and intelligence overcome the boundaries of culture and generation.

But it sends an important message. Mentoring must always be a two-way street. Humility is a major ingredient. We often hear teachers and professors say that they learn more from their students. We need more of these teachers in our schools rather than the egocentrics and those who just go through the motions.

To be fair, Finding Forrester also works because the wit is so sharp – see some quotes below.

Prof. Robert Crawford: [to Jamal] Perhaps your skills do reach farther than basketball.
Jamal: “Further”
Prof. Robert Crawford: What?
Claire Spence: [whispered to Jamal] Don’t…
Jamal: [to Crawford] You said that my skills reached “farther” than basketball. “Farther” relates to distance, “further” is a definition of degree. You should have said “further”.
Prof. Robert Crawford: Are you challenging me, Mr. Wallace?
Jamal: Not any more than you challenged Coleridge.

****

Jamal: We’ve been talking about your book at school.
Forrester: People have been talking about it for years. They just haven’t been saying anything.
Jamal: I think I got it down, though. I figure you were writing about how life never works out.
Forrester: Really? You had to read a book to figure that out?

****

Jamal: Did you ever enter a writin’ contest?
Forrester: Yeah, once.
Jamal: Did you win?
Forrester: Well of course I won!
Jamal: You win like money or somethin’?
Forrester: No.
Jamal: Well, whadchu win?
Forrester: The Pulitzer.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com

 

 

 

 

Movies That Matter – Gandhi – When A Message Never Gets Old

Not long ago I talked about my admiration for Nelson Mandela who was portrayed in the movie Invictus. He spent so many years incarcerated in a violent prison and regime, and who still chose a path of reconciliation when he took power instead of wreaking brutal revenge.

The Mahatma Gandhi taught a similar message and the movie, which I first saw some 20 years ago, has a message that is as relevant today as ever. It is possible to bring down an evil regime without force. It is possible to solve complex, age-old political solutions through dialog and understanding.

The movie is a timeless beauty. It shares a lot of the human side of this great man and the people who helped him. Having traveled around India for 6 months, India holds a special place in my heart. It is a country that sharpens the senses in every place that you go to.  The movie somehow manages to share this with us.

But the real value of the movie is far beyond the artistic. There are too many places in the world, where helpless people are being killed, abused, and incarcerated. There are too many leaders who need to stop for a moment and see the movie. They cannot meet with Gandhi, not in this world at least. But they should find some face-to-face time with Nelson Mandela, while this great man still walks upon the earth. ——————————————————————————————————-

Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com

 

 

 

Movies That Matter: MILK

I love everything connected to San Francisco. I never thought that I would fall in love with a city but I have. The reasons why are a matter for another post. MILK is about Harvey Milk and gay rights, but it is also about San Francisco.

When I went to see MILK, I was visiting with family in Southern California. Part of the ritual is that my in-laws kindly take our children out to the latest Pixar movie, allowing my wife and I a rare date – usually a meal and movie.

Being still new to the US, I knew nothing about Harvey Milk or the history of the Gay Rights struggle in San Francisco. But the combination of Sean Penn + San Francisco = our night out.

For a basic synopsis, please see the review from Kathleen C. Fennessy on the movie’s Amazon.com page. Here is the first paragraph.

In 1972, Milk (Sean Penn) and his boyfriend, Scott (James Franco), move from New York to San Francisco. Milk opens a camera shop on the Castro. Though considered a safe haven for victims of discrimination, Milk sees enough injustices decide to enter politics. With each race he runs, Harvey’s relationship with Scott unravels further. As he begins to accrue victories, Milk takes on Proposition 6, which denies equal rights to homosexuals.

What draws me to the character of Milk is the fact that he was not a polished politician, groomed from birth as seems to be the case in so many present day leaders. He can be both intense and funny. He makes mistakes, listens, and takes on the ideas of others.

Moreover, he had the ability to inspire people to get involved in grass-roots activism. We observe Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the ex-street hustler who created the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial. It is a different kind of leadership when you can empower others to take charge of their own lives and effect change.

It was particularly poignant that MILK was released during the struggle for Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay marriage amendment. As Ms. Fennessy concludes: “Milk is inspirational in the best way: one person can and did make a difference, but the struggle is far from over.“

My wife and I watched MILK in Ventura. The couple sitting next to me had been there, faces in the crowd. Usually I can’t stand when someone talks during a movie, but there was something magical hearing their reminiscing.

There is a section in the movie where they show a map of California and the gradual election results of Prop 6. When the results were shown for Ventura County, a huge cheer went up around the movie theater.

Very cool.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com

 

 

 

McLibel DVD

I can neither confirm nor deny that The Accidental Activist has any connection to the astonishing McLibel trial in England in the 1990’s, despite the almost identical time line and similar characters.`

In an earlier post I discussed the trial itself. I want to take the opportunity to promote the documentary which shows many behind-the-scenes exchanges.

Enjoy this 3 minute trailer:

The story of McLibel is also the story of the Internet evolving into a tool for social advocacy, something that a decade later we activists now take for granted. In The Accidental Activist, I focus on this aspect by making my protagonist the computer programmer who sets up the Oilspill website. I remember meeting the real person in the early ’90’s just after he had  put up McSpotlight.org and enjoying his unbridled enthusiasm for what was unfolding.

But the real heroes are Dave Morris and Helen Steel who were modern day Davids standing up to a daunting Goliath. The whole advocacy world owes them a debt. ——————————————————————————————————-

Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com

 

 

 

Movies That Matter – The Great Debaters

“The Great Debaters,” is a heavily fictionalized but true story of Professor Melvin Tolson, who in 1935-36 coached the debate team from an all-black college in Marshall Texas to a nearly undefeated season that sees the first debate between U.S. students from white and Negro colleges. Their impressive run leads to an invitation to face Harvard University’s national champions.

The movie apparently received a lot of criticism when it came out. There were a lot of big names attached – Denzel Washington directed the movie while Oprah Winfrey was one of the producers. There are apparently many changes (for example the national champions who invited the debate team at Wiley College, was USC and not Harvard).

But I think those critics miss the point – not least that this is a heavily fictionalized account and was never suggested as anything else. The movie has great acting performances, scenes that have you sweating with fear for the characters, or close to tears of joy or sadness.

If that doesn’t cut it for you, this movie highlights both the gross historical racism that this country was founded upon, and the transformative potential of education. It pitches David .v. Goliath, freedom .v. privilege, and inspires the notion of teamwork and perseverance.

For me, beyond the erudite display of the power and artistry of words, the character of the Wiley College team coach stands out. Melvin B. Tolson, the noted poet, social activist and educator, is not necessarily loveable. He is self-righteous, autocratic and fearless, Mr. Washington’s Tolson reminded me of the stern East London schoolteacher played by Sidney Poitier 40 years ago in “To Sir, With Love.” I almost pursued a career as a teacher after watching this movie.

There is a powerful scene where Tolson, driving home from a debate with his students, comes upon a lynching. The imagery of this hideous atrocity sear your mind, and you are sweating when the mob, still riled with blood lust, chase the car. Afterward, Henry’s shame and stifled fury drive him to a self-destructive spree. This is a powerful scene in its own right, and an aspect that Hollywood often ignores.

“The Great Debaters” still sends an important message. In these turbulent times, as our economy makes a seismic shift and people stand shakily on the edge of the chasm or even fall over the edge, we need more than ever and the transformative power of education and words.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com

 

 

 

 

 

Movies That Matter: The Deer Hunter Veterans Day 5

The Deer Hunter is one of the classics with regard to anti-war movies. But it is far more than just focusing on one guy and his inevitable downfall. It is a story of friendship and loyalty. Even when we don’t see the soldiers we served with for years, there is a link that will never be broken, a comfort that immediately takes hold even before the first bottle cap is released. It is also what makes it so hard when these same friends don’t make it.

The Deer Hunter won several Academy Awards, though to be honest this neither makes it a great movie, not does it denigrate other movies of the time. I was surprised to learn that one of the most memorable aspects of the movie, Russian-roulette gambling games, were not part of the Vietnam war, I learned that Director Michael Cimino used them as a metaphor for the futility of war. The connection between what happened in Vietnam and what happened to their families back in Pennsylvania, gives the movie a needed perspective that is so often ignored.

This might be the age of the Internet when news is old by the end of the day, but The Deer Hunter is 41 years old, and still as relevant as it was then. ——————————————————————————————————-

Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com

 

 

Movies That Matter: Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting is a guy movie, without the guns and superhero capes. It is an honest look at men striving to fulfill their own potential.

Matt Damon stars as a young janitor at an elite Boston university. At night he hangs out with his friends boozing and picking fights. But the young man is a genius and proves it by solving an impossible calculus problem scribbled on a hallway blackboard as a challenge from faculty to students. He reluctantly becomes the prodigy of an arrogant MIT professor and promptly gets into trouble with the law for fighting.

His only way to avoid charges and jail time is to see a psychologist (Robin Williams). What begins as cynical mocking by both doctor and patient evolves into a deep mutual respect as each discovers how they are trapped by their respective tragic pasts.

The story works because both men have their shortcomings, their inabilities to communicate and be totally honest, and their willingness to pick themselves up.

Our society is littered with men who are broken shells. They crumpled under the weight of expectation of their family or society, or they set themselves up against insurmountable odds laid down by fictional Hollywood mentors. When alienated from those who could help them rise, their only friends become drugs, alcohol, violence, or screens.

We need to find other solutions, redefine manhood and status. As the economy downsizes there will be even more men who find themselves sitting on the sidelines.  We all need to see this movie.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com