TITANS, AVATAR: RECENT ENLIGHTENING FILMS

Prof. Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Magandang hapon! Good afternoon!

I just watched the recent showing of the new version of Clash of the Titans. The movie was as mind-boggling and enchanting as another film shown some couples of months back: Avatar. It is indubitably worth my watch.

Let me share some notes about both films, with the beginning words that they are among those few movies that are truly enlightening. By enlightening, I mean they transport us almost instantly to the realm of the transcendent, there to immerse a bit with our Higher Mind and the environs of the higher dimensions.

Needless to say, the film enables us to engage in deeper reflections about the meanings of the archetypal symbols shown before us. Our Higher Mind knows, for instance, that Zeus signifies the creative or ideational element in life, a meaning that our lower mind could only feebly comprehend.

The film industry is part of the culture industry, and as our noblesse thinkers of the day have shared to us—note Foucault, Habermas, Adorno, Marcuse, Said, for instance—the same industry has been instrumental as social control mechanism. Movies are not meant to enlighten, but rather intended to entertain and keep us glued within the world that is owned and controlled by few oligarchic families.

Hollywood films, being the prototype industry block, are particularly aimed at gaining profits for the film makers. They are so commercialized that they suffer content-wise. Horror movies are particularly fear-inducing and fragmentary of the psyche, intensify paranoia, and instantly add grey dense energies to our chakras or energy centers.

Enlightening films are indeed few, such as Avatar and Clash of the Titans or simply Titans. Not only do they entertain and educate, they also elevate. That effect makes them altogether contributory to the grand project of human evolutionary ascent.

For a social reformer, Avatar and Titans depict the epochal desire of marginal classes and sectors to demolish asymmetry in relationships and liberate the same groups from oppression.

The planetary natives in Avatar could be viewed as today’s indigenous peoples whose struggle against oppression by mainstream, urban, industrial populations was justly depicted in the film. The same natives could also mean 3^rd World peoples who have been struggling against imperialism, colonialism, and fascistic domination by industrial powers.

The Titans could be viewed as oligarchic overlords, both landlords and capitalists, who have been subordinating middle and lower classes into their power enclaves. Mankind’s clash with the Titans symbolizes the epical drama of the age-old struggle of mankind against these overlords who are in power economically, culturally, and politically till these days.

To a mystic, the Titans film depicts the birthing of the universes—father universe first, son universes next, human universes last—and the breeding of humans by the creator beings (Titans). The Fall of Man, symbolized by the clash of men against gods, is likewise depicted.

Titans also subtly depicts the birthing of many worlds—collectively signified by ‘humans’—across the universe. Some worlds evolved faster (i.e. symbolized by Perseus, Io, and Andromeda evolved ahead) than others (e.g. Earthlings/Terrans, Maldekians) that lagged behind, while within a world some humans evolved faster than others.

Zeus (root word: Dyaus Pitar or sky fathers) signifies the creative element.  Hades signifies the Anti-Universe that incidentally physicists are beginning to discover. Any community that immerses in the creative element (Zeus) will live prosperity and harmony, while a community that immerses in Anti-Universe (Hades) will be transmogrified to demonic monstrosity (Karkens that signifies  Draconians or reptilian humanoids of Draco).

Perseus signifies the liberating warrior force of Plaeades civilization, while Pegasus signifies the hyper-space technology then evolving. Io signifies the priests of the interplanetary Order of Melchizedek, whose counsels are as precious as God’s words. Warriors and Priests work in synergy, as signified by the mutual esteem and love between Perseus and Io.

Princess Andromeda signifies the Andromeda galaxy civilization, which could have been invaded by Draco in antiquity—symbolized by Andromeda being sacrificed before the Karkens. Plaeadians were actually bred by the Andromedans, so Perseus’ saving of Andromeda is a sublime expression of filial love and debt of gratitude of the Plaeadians to their parent race (Andromedans).

Medusa signifies a high knowledge related to life science that could neutralize or thwart a superior yet gross force of humanoid Reptilians. The death of Hades in Perseus’ hands signifies the neutralization of the Anti-Universe at a particular juncture in antiquity, thus saving many human worlds (planets) from infection and transmogrification into demonic monstrosities.

The death of Hades is also prophetic in that it signifies a future state where the influence of the Anti-Universe on Earth and the Milky Way sector where we belong, will finally be ended. This happens as the universe ascends by a dimension higher comes 2012 A.D.

From a social reformer’s view, Hades’ death signifies the end of oligarchism and oppression of men by fellow men. This view converges with the mystical view, in that planetary ascension will in fact put an end to ancient systems based on polarity principle and Anti-Universe influence, thus ending oligarchism and the money economy.

So, Fellows on Earth, you can choose to perceive the enlightening films through the prism of whatever perspective or paradigm you’d want to view them. I’m gladdened at least that you watched these films, found time for reflections and enchantment.

[Philippines, 10 April 2010. See also: http://erlefraynebrightworld.wordpress.com, https://unladtau.wordpress.com, http://erleargonza.blogspot.com.]

DON’T COUNT OUT NEPAL’S ROYALISTS, THEY’LL COUNTER-ATTACK!

Erle Frayne  Argonza

Good morning from Manila!

The recent turn of events that saw the catastrophic devastation of the old order in Nepal should not be equated to the complete eradication of kingship. Any adroit observer of political dynamics knows that, in the founding of any modern nation-state, the forces of the deposed ancien regime will counter-attack sooner or later, with the option of a royal revival or equivalent being the top agenda.

Nation-building takes so much time to galvanize, more so for a new nation with a diversity of ethnic communities. Look at Canada, after so many decades of existence as a sovereign nation-state, there are still forces within it that want to separate from the republic. The Canadian nation is still being constructed till these days, this is the clear message of the Quebec separatist movement.

A century may not even suffice a time to build a new nation from out of formerly diverse ethnic communities, or after gaining independence from a colonial master. In the case of the USA, the southern landlords-slave owners represented the ancien regime that refused to go by the wave of the north’s modernist, anti-slavery, pro-industrialization path. The landlords opted to make war against the Union, and had they won, they could have gone back to the old days of bondage to the British Empire.

Till these days, the clash between the Unionists (nationalists) and Confederates (pro-British Empire & oligarchy) continues in the USA. Amid the galvanization there of a federation-wide American identity, the clash continues in the terrains of public policy and foreign affairs. Fact is, the victory of the neo-conservatives and realists in America—who kowtow to the whims of the Anglo-Dutch oligarchy—point out to a subtle victory of the Confederate forces right inside Washington DC.  

In my own country, the landlord-clergy classes comprise the representatives of the ancien regime .Even before America left Manila in 1946, the landlords-clergy already pre-positioned themselves in society. The landlords eventually controlled both the Establishment political parties, thus effectively undercutting the possibility of a revolutionary agrarian program that could have jettisoned the country to mature industrialization as early as the late 1970s.

Till these days, patron-client relations remain strong in all spheres of Philippine life. Not even if the post-industrial society had already made inroads into Manila’s cultural and economic domains. The landlords are themselves the big capitalists, while the Church remains the biggest landlord oligarch of all, praise the Lords of the oligarchic houses!

Thus, in the Philippine case, the nationalists who represent the modernizing, Enlightenment-inspired trend remain in the margins. During the Cold War, the nationalists were demonized as Soviet agents and were chased out of state organs, chased in the hills as insurgents, locked up behind bars, tortured and killed. Till these days nationalists are marginalized here, this is the real situation in Manila.

So, fellows, please don’t count out the royalists of Nepal just yet. Even long after the present monarch (Gyanendra) is gone, pro-royalist fanatics will raise up arms against the prevailing regime, expect this to happen. It’s like the recycle of the Stuart revival in England, Bourbon revival in France, and the long struggle for a Bonapartist revival in the whole of Europe.

The modernists of Nepal (Congress, Marxists, Maoists) look like the Atuturk prototypes of Turkey of the nationalist halcyon days of post-Ottoman era. The problem for Nepal is that it has too many nationalist voices with nary  clear consensus on the compass of nationhood, while Ataturk forces were homogenous in mindset, vision, and agenda of economic development and governance for Turkey.

So no matter what overthrow plots the Caliphate’s loyalists want to mount in Turkey, they will fail. They have to ride by the modernist rules there, abide by the ‘rule of law’ of the Atuturk mindset. It’s been a century hence since the Caliphate’s overthrow,  so the chances for the Caliph’s fundamentalists to return Turkey to the superstitious ancien regime is too late a dream.

Again, to re-echo, please don’t count out Nepal’s royalists. They are watching closely the fractiousness of the Enlightenment parties (secular, modernist, socialistic) in Nepal. They will bide their time. They will regroup, silently organize and expand, build their logistical bases both within and outside of Nepal.

And then they will strike with sweeping zeal, like thousands of angry Himalayan tigers coming down upon their enemies. Whether they win or not is another question. They will come back for sure.

[Writ 02 June 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]