California School Uses "Rhyming, the Alphabet" to Force Feed Elementary Kids Communism, Disney Cancels Oscar-Worthy Tom Hardy Movie, Big Little Lies Season 3...Why?! (The Five for 11/25/23)
Plus, most Americans now own a gun, Biden/Harris campaign drops instructions for starting Thanksgiving arguments. A Christmas song for people who hate Christmas music.
Hey, welcome to The Five…a day late, due to holiday travel.
Let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
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[one]
An elementary school in California is teaching Black Panther politics (the 60’s political party, not the Marvel movie) to VERY young kids.
California elementary schools are teaching students in the Bay Area to admire the Black Panthers, a militant Marxist organization that publicly called for the use of guerilla warfare tactics against the United States government.
Hayward Unified School District (HUSD), located in California’s Bay Area, published a lesson plan asking the question, “How have BIPOC resisted injustice?” Though the lesson plan’s stated goal was to promote “justice, liberation, and peace in our engagements with one another,” it directs teachers to a book titled “The ABC’s of the Black Panther Party.”
The book, published by Decolonizing Education Publishing, “uses the alphabet and rhyming to provide children with an introduction to the [Black Panther Party] from a decolonized or anti-oppressive viewpoint.” The lesson plan labels the book as the “elementary focal text,” indicating that it is intended to be used in lessons for young children.
OK, a bit of nuance here. It’s worth reading the Black Panther Party’s 10 Point Program for yourself, at the very least…to work through how people get to their viewpoints. There are parts of the document I generally agree with (particularly the party’s agreement with Declaration of Independence as a source of truth…which, oddly, doesn’t hold up with the Woke groups of today), and the point that an all white jury may not be the best test for the innocence or guilt of a minority defendant…especially in the middle of Civil Rights.
But then…there’s the Communism.
We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the White American businessmen will not give full employment, then the means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.
Local history should be taught in every school in America, including the ugly parts. But force feeding Communism to a group of kids who watch Paw Patrol is not education…it’s indoctrination of an ideology that caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century.
What’s not getting covered while this stuff is being taught? The basics of education, apparently. The majority of California’s public school students are below grade level in both reading and math.
[two]
What the heck? One of my most anticipated movies of 2023, The Bikeriders, was originally supposed to release next week, and was allegedly expected to create substantial Oscar buzz. Not suprising, considering that Tom Hardy (Warrior, Lawless), Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), and Jodi Comer (The Last Duel, Killing Eve) bring a boatload of talent to the project.
Set in 1960’s Chicago, the film tells a true story of an outlaw motorcycle gang. Originally, Disney pulled the movie off it’s December 1st release date due to the actors strike (since they’re not allowed to promote movies while on strike).
Then, out of the blue the House of Mouse pulled it completely and sold the movie to another distributor.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Focus Features has acquired worldwide rights to the [The Bikeriders], which was previously set up at Disney’s 20th Century.
Directed by Jeff Nichols, the movie about a motorcycle club in the 1950s stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy. It had been been scheduled to open in theaters Dec. 1 after making several stops on the fall festival circuit, including opening the Telluride Film Festival over Labor Day weekend.
However, Disney and New Regency subsequently announced that The Bikeriders was being taken off the release calendar. Behind the scenes, insiders say New Regency had been given the go-ahead to take the film elsewhere.
Plans are for Focus to release the film theatrically in 2024. Focus will handle the pic domestically, while Universal Pictures International will have overseas duties.
I’m…baffled. Selling off a hugely anticipated movie with awards season buzz to another studio, a week before the original release date, is something we’ve never seen before. At some point, I assume the rest of the story will come out.
Or, maybe it’s simpler than I realize…and Disney is just allergic to profits and wants to continue their streak of losing tens to hundreds of millions of dollars on their movie releases.
[three]
The Biden/Harris campaign dropped a Twitter thread on how Liberals could start fights with their Conservative-leaning relatives on Thanksgiving.
Part of me wants to “both sides” this one and declare that Republican politicians have done the same…but, in the case of Thanksgiving, it’s just not true. Which isn’t to say that Republican politicians don’t engage in scare tactics and divisive rhetoric, but until now…both parties have more or less respected Thanksgiving as a day of gratefulness and harmony.
Also, if you’re going to argue with your family on behalf of the current President…these stats don’t hold up to even the most basic cross-examination.
[four]
Most American households now have a gun.
More than half of American voters -- 52% -- say they or someone in their household owns a gun, per the latest NBC News national poll.
That's the highest share of voters who say that they or someone in their household owns a gun in the history of the NBC News poll, on a question dating back to 1999.
In 2019, 46% of Americans said that they or someone in their household owned a gun, per an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. And in February 2013, that share was 42%.
"In the last ten years, we've grown [10 points] in gun ownership. That's a very stunning number," said Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm that co-conducted the poll with members of the Democratic polling firm Hart Research.
"By and large, things don't change that dramatically that quickly when it comes to something as fundamental as whether you own a gun," Roberts added.
Considering the spike in crime and fewer police officers and resources in many communities…the increase in gun ownership may be suprising, but it also makes sense.
I don’t think it’s much of a secret that I’m a gun guy, and I think you should own a gun (with some exceptions for households with mental illness, etc). However, I am concerned that many new gun owners haven’t been properly trained. EVERY gun I own is either on my person on in a locked container AT ALL TIMES.
If you’re a recent gun owner and have a pistol floating around in a nightstand drawer or shotgun leaning against the corner of your closet that unsecured weapon could kill a family member. I highly recommend StopBox as an affordable way to secure your firearms.*
Oh, and don’t think that owning a gun is going to save your life if you can’t use it accurately. Get yourself to a shooting course.
*NOT an affiliate link. I make no money here. I deeply believe in the quality and life-saving capability of this product to keep guns out of the hands of kids while also making them quickly accessible.
[five]
As always, let’s head into the weekend with a pop culture roundup.
Look, I get it. Taking the John Wick formula and making it Christmas themed is just a cash grab. And the local AMC will be grabbing my cash TONIGHT to see Joel Kinnamon (Suicide Squad, Hanna) star as a father who loses his voice (get it, “silent night”) and his son in a gang shooting, and then goes and kills the bad guys on Christmas Eve or something.
As far as teen comedies/rom coms go…Easy A ranks pretty high for me, so seeing the same director Rom Com it up with…whoever these people are (I think they’re both pretty famous at the moment, haven’t seen either in anything) in Anyone But You seems alight.
It’s in theaters 12/22, so apparently this is counter programming to the big action flicks (Rebel Moon, Aquaman 2), sob stories (Boys in the Boat) and Hallmark channel camp of the Christmas season.
Well, maybe somebody wants this. I was completely underwhelmed by the initial “miniseries” of Big Little Lies, based on a bestselling novel…aside from one heck of a a twist. I watch a bit of season 2 with Amanda, the plot of which seemed to be “hey, we made money off this thing so let’s do more” of season 2 (no source novel to draw from) and found it to be absolute garage.
But hey, if you liked season 2, I suppose this is good news. And Reese Witherspoon (Wild, Water for Elephants), Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge, The Others), Zoey Kravitz (The Batman, Mad Max: Fury Road) and Shailine Woodley (The Fault in Our Stars, Snowden) and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park, Star Wars The Last Jedi) is a heck of a cast.
NEW MUSIC
Wyatt Flores is a mostly unknown Oklahoma based Red Dirt/Americana singer/songwriter…but he may not be anonymous for long. Still spinning this one to make the final call on it, but Life Lessons is in the running for one of my top albums of 2023.
Flores might be branded as a Zach Bryan copycat in some circles…but ignore that. The Stillwater, OK native is blazing his own trail, and sound, here.
Josiah and the Bonnevilles have dropped a heck of a Christmas single with “Wintering,” releasing a song about being home for the holidays that doesn’t lean back on tropes or schlock.
It’s a Christmas song that doesn’t feel like a cash grab. A rare thing for holiday themed music, sadly. Even if you hate how cheesy and commercialized Christmas music has become…you should listen to this one!
Until the next one,
-sth