|
|
Thunberg believes the 'gift' of Aspergers affords her moral clarity. PHOTO: PA
|
|
-
Measles cases multiplied in the U.S. two decades after 'eradication'
- Microsoft briefly joined the club of trillion dollar companies
- Spain prepared for its fourth general election is as many years
-
Cyclone Kenneth struck Mozambique just weeks after Itai did
- A mud-slide claimed the lives of 50 jade-miners in Myanmar
- Indian Chief Justice Gogoi was accused of sexual harassment
- Swedish teen Thunberg slammed British MPs over climate inaction
- Saudi Arabia beheaded 37 Shia on opaque terror charges
- America's highest court pondered a question that could break its census
- Britain acceded to using Huawei in limited areas of its 5G network
|
|
|
|
The cast to end all casts. PHOTO: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Disney
|
|
|
The most hotly anticipated super-hero film in history is upon us. Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of a narrative some 22 films and 11 years in the making. It's a cultural phenomenon, an exercise in low-brow auteurism and of course, a money-printing machine. And it all started with Robert Downey, Jr.
The end of an era
In 2008 Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, released the action film Iron Man. It starred a wolfish Robert Downey, Jr. reprising the role of an industrialist-turned-super-hero made famous by Marvel's comic of the same name. The measure of a film's success (at least one favoured by its financiers) is whether or not it grosses three times its budget. In that regard Iron Man performed rather well – making nearly $600m on a budget of $140m. And so Iron Man marked the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), an ambitious gambit considering that most super-hero films preceding it had distinct narratives.
It is doubtful that anyone could have comprehended just what their project would go on to do, nor the fabulous riches it would make. The MCU has become a behemoth that has defined a generation of popular culture. Marvel Studios has pumped out super-hero films at a clip of two-per-year for over a decade. Some astute heads at Disney recognised the potential early on, and in 2009 bought Marvel's parent company for a whopping $4b. At the time it seemed a king's ransom; it turned out to be a bargain. Much to Disney's delight the MCU has gone on to make $18b in films alone. Its stars have become icons that young people (and an alarming number of adults) have grown up alongside.
Avengers: Endgame has the task of tying up all those disparate films, character arcs and expectations. It will feature the full pantheon of MCU super-heroes and its most effective super-villain - Thanos. Fittingly, it will be over three hours long. Even if none of this sparks your interest, please understand that the occasion carries significant emotional weight for millions of people. One woman in China was hospitalised after howling to the point of hyperventilation at an early-screening. It takes a special kind of connection for people on the internet (read: people at their worst) to not ruin the ending of a film or leak it online. But the #dontspoiltheendgame movement has done just that. People genuinely want to protect those who haven't seen it from spoilers.
There is every chance that this film will earn $1b on its opening weekend (and you would hope it would, considering they've spent $200m marketing it). But to describe Marvel's creation as a mere film or media product feels inadequate: it's quite clearly in a league of its own.
Safety in sterility
The directorial duo of Anthony and Joe Russo were given the responsibility (and millions of dollars) to direct the final two films of the Captain America arc as well as the penultimate and ultimate MCU Avengers films. The pair had a sketchy history as film directors (their standout performance prior to joining Marvel Studios was the catastrophically unwatchable comedy You, Me and Dupree). And yet, by the time all of this is over their four MCU films alone may end up grossing over $5b.
This weekend the Russos will have their names up in lights alongside (deep breath); Chris Evans, Brie Larson, Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle, Josh Brolin, Vin Diesel, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danai Gurira, Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bradley Cooper, Michelle Pfeiffer, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Paul Rudd... you get the point. That's a lot of star power to be sure, but the real power in Hollywood has shifted (back again) to the producers. At Disney Kathleen Kennedy is the hard-headed producer that rules the Star Wars franchise like a Sith Lord. At Marvel its Kevin Feige, the man who has helmed the production team of every MCU film. Largely unsung outside film circles, Feige (the President of Marvel Studios since 2007) is truly the cornerstone on which the studio's success has been built.
Feige's films have won mass appeal through their expansive universe, visually spectacular palates and easy-to-understand formula. But there is another reason why they will sell out in cinemas all over the world this weekend: the films are safe. They are sterile narrative vehicles, intentionally cauterised of material that could sacrifice audience share. They studiously avoid any moral questioning deeper than a fable and they eschew controversy wherever possible. For example, Avengers: Endgame features the first openly gay character in the MCU. Joe Russo (who coincidentally play the character in question) said that, "representation is really important". This is quite clearly just lip service – a single scene amongst 45 hours of MCU films is a laughable attempt at representation.
Adieu, for now
Regardless, the films are cultural touchstones. With a disarming mixture of schlock, schmaltz and competent writing they've won over tens of millions of ardent fans. Legions of whom live and breathe Marvel canon and are more than willing to savage the films that make even the slightest attempt to update or retool narratives that are generally half a century old.
But regardless of their devotion, it's time for them to say goodbye. At least, to this plot-line. There are more Black Panther, Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy sequels in the pipelines. And a rebooted X-Men series. If there is one thing in life as certain as the fact that the super-heroes are going to win; it's that Disney is going to continue making super-hero films (and fortunes off them) ad nauseam.
|
|
|
|
Sri Lanka buries its dead. PHOTO: Washington Post / Getty
|
|
The smart, successful bombers
On the 9th of April Sri Lanka's intelligence apparatus flagged concern to the national police over a Muslim cleric named Zahran Hashim. The preacher had earned the attention of Colombo's security establishment for his fiery sermons and dalliance with Salafi fundamentalism. Then, two days later, India's spies passed on "unusually specific" information about possibly imminent attacks, courtesy of an Islamic State fighter in their custody. That intelligence never made it to the upper-echelons of the government. As is often the case with systemic security failures, hindsight casts clarifying lines through the dotted quagmire of intelligence gathering.
It took hundreds of deaths and hundreds more disfigurements on Easter Sunday to fully appreciate the threat that Hashim and his followers posed. The police have responded to their searing failure by snatching up suspects with gusto, some 78 of them to date. Blame has fallen on the small Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), although outsiders have suggested that Hashim's bombers constituted their own splinter cell. Despite the fact that Muslims make up just under 10% of the country's population, it seems NTJ or its discontents are pushing for religious war. The targeting of Christians marks a distinct turning point for a country that has been consumed by Buddhist-Muslim violence in the past.
That two sons of Sri Lanka's wealthiest spice traders committed acts of terror has clearly scandalised Colombo. After the attacks, when the police kicked down the door of Inshaf Ibrahim's sprawling white mansion, the bomber's pregnant wife detonated her own suicide vest. The blast not only killed her and three police officers, but also her two children. A grisly punctuation mark at the end of their family story.
Much has been made of the wealth and education of the eight identified suicide bombers. That several of them had studied law or completed post-graduate degrees at prestigious foreign universities should not surprise us. Two-thirds of the 9/11 hijackers also had degrees. Why educated people would turn themselves into human bombs is often too hard a question to answer for societies that believe wealth and comfort ameliorate spiritual or political anguish.
On a small but thankful note, Sri Lankan authorities have been able to revise the death toll downwards from 359 to 253.
|
|
|
|
The battle for Iran's oil. PHOTO: WSJ
|
|
Wavering waivers
Iran is still apparently enemy #1 in Washington. This week the Trump administration announced an end to waivers that allowed certain countries to buy oil from Iran. It was a stark ultimatum to the likes of China, South Korea, Japan, India and Turkey: choose between doing business with America, or Iran. But a strict embargo on Iranian oil exports is more of a hand-grenade than a targeted shot: it will no doubt punish the Iranian people who are already suffering under sanctions-driven austerity. It may also jeopardise key strategic relationships. And depending on how stubborn Beijing is feeling, it may not even work at all.
Turkish politicians have asked why they should pay the price of America's international diktats, especially when the promised offset from American fields would cover but a fraction of the demand for Iranian oil. Perhaps even more critically, one would be deluded to think that America has the leverage to dictate who China imports its oil from. Much depends on just how close to a trade deal the US and China are. Tellingly, the US State Department has announced that it will not inflict sanctions on countries that barter or trade for Iranian oil with other commodities. This loophole suggests that at least some people realise America doesn't have as strong a hand as it used to.
The price of Brent Crude has soared to near $75 a barrel and may even reach $80 on the back of the current crisis. If Tehran was to make good on its promise to block the Strait of Hormuz (the artery of oil running from the Gulf to the rest of the world) prices would soar over $100. Such a situation would be politically, economically and strategically volatile. While a punitive war in the Middle East might energise some segments of the American voter base; sky-rocketing gas prices would certainly undermine Trump's touted economic miracle in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
|
|
|
|
. PHOTO: AFP
|
|
Something to celebrate
History was made in Lilongwe, Malawi this week: children under the age of two began receiving the world's first licensed malaria vaccine. After three decades of research and nearly a billion dollars spent, we have a serviceable weapon in the fight against one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases. While insecticide-sprayed bed nets and other tools drastically reduced malaria rates around the world, stalled progress since the turn of the century has meant that the mosquito-borne infection still kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.
Brain decoders
A team of researchers at the University of California at San Francisco don't just read minds, they translate thoughts into speech. This week the scientists – led by Dr. Edward Chung – revealed a truly extraordinary device; a brain implant that translates brain signals into a synthesised voice. It works by intercepting the brain's instructions to the lips, jaw, larynx and tongue. These captured signals are fed through a computer network attached to a voice simulator. Another breakthrough in the effort to give voices back to those without them.
|
|
|
|
The emperor penguin. PHOTO: AFP
|
|
Crumbling empires
The second-largest colony of emperor penguins has all but disappeared after three consecutive years of "catastrophic" breeding failure. The Halley Bay colony has suffered grievously as warmer waters have broken up the sea ice on which they raise their hatchlings. While many of the birds have managed to migrate to more stable breeding grounds, it won't be long before that too is threatened. It's estimated that the total penguin population will decline by 70% before the end of the century.
Thawing landscapes
Staying focused on things that were once cold and will soon be warm, we now have a good ballpark figure of what thawing permafrost in the Arctic will cost. From Siberia to Greenland, warming soil will release vast amounts of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, further speeding up the warming process. It's expected to add $70t (that's Trillions with a T) to the climate change tab.
|
|
Quote of the week
"I cannot be satisfied by simply saying I'm sorry for what happened to you. I will be satisfied when I know there is real change and real accountability and real purpose."
– Anita Hill responds to third-time presidential hopeful Joe Biden's apology. For those wondering why Hill might be dissatisfied with the (third-time) presidential hopeful's telephone call, go back and watch how he handled his committee's questions of her during the Clarence Thomas nomination hearings.
Headline of the week
Second-Biggest Diamond in History Found, But It's Not That Great
– Bloomberg
Special mention
Goes to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). In the first three months of 2019 the United States-led NATO forces killed more civilians in Afghanistan than the Taliban and ISIS combined. We're keenly awaiting their spokespeople trying to explain why they are killing more innocent people than the bad guys.
Some choice long-reads
|
|
EDITOR'S NOTE: We really shouldn't have to tell you this but please don't buy a phone that features folding glass unless you know that it works.
Tom Wharton
@trwinwriting
|
|
|
|
