Americans smuggling weapons into Uganda isn’t cute when Michele Bachmann’s campaign aides get busted for it, and however much the presence of adorable, vulnerable orphans ups the ante, the idea that non-state actors should take on hunting down violent warlords themselves, um, merits scrutiny. It does not seem likely that Machine Gun Preacher will provide that analysis, despite the presence of Jessica Chastain making fairly reasonable statements about weapons trafficking:

This isn’t an explicitly evangelical production, though one of the production companies involved, Mpower Pictures, once put together a movie that purported to use science to prove the truth of the gospels. But this strikes me, unfortunately, as the kind of movie that could fairly effectively sell audiences that aren’t inherently receptive on Christianity without requiring the message to be so hidden that it eliminates the picture’s efficacy. Along the way, it looks like it might also sell some really dubious approaches to horrible conflicts that demand, but don’t have, emotionally satisfying responses that also do justice.

I’ve been enjoying all of Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s allusions to science fiction, particularly Star Wars, whether it’s the Tatooine-like stint in the desert or the unnerving ghosts the characters encounter in a Degobah-like swamp. But the show isn’t necessarily directly political — until we get to Ba Sing Se.

When I went to China, I was there on a tourist’s visa, not a journalist’s one, so I didn’t have a minder assigned to me to both facilitate my trip and make sure I didn’t wander anywhere my hosts would prefer I didn’t. But from what I did see of our less formal guides on trips to places like the Great Wall, Ba Sing Se is a pretty hilarious parody of the minder system. Whether it’s the utterly fake names guides and minders adopt — Joo Dee in Avatar or Connie, which seemed to be the Westernized name of choice for women at the time — or the relentless cheerfulness that’s meant to deter you from seeing things your guides would rather not see or doing things they’d rather you not do, be it noticing a major conspiracy to dupe the government or order the spicy pork on the menu, Avatar has it dead to rights.

China obviously has a higher level of expressed discontent than the Earth Kingdom does, and many, many more people to administer. But this is a nice little poke at the idea that you can keep people oblivious whether they’re your own citizens or visitors. What matters is both what people see — and what they decide it means.

This rather generic description of the plot of Zack Snyder’s Superman has some folks in the Internet perturbed that we’re going to get Smallville rather than an original story:

In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as “Superman,” not only to shine as the world’s last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.

If I have one wish for the movie that is unlikely to be fulfilled, it’s that Clark Kent’s journalism career be something other than background noise, an excuse to be in and out of the office. One assumes that Lois Lane’s Pulitzer in Superman Returns was for commentary, rather than investigative journalism, given that she’s writing about why Superman’s unnecessary, but who knows? If this is a story about Superman’s journey from neutrality to partisanship, from working as a mild-mannered journalist to joining forces with the U.S. Army against the forces of General Zod, journalism might actually be a decent way for Clark to work through who he wants to be.

The idea that journalism is, or should be, a purely neutral exercise is a silly one, and overemphasized in our current discourse. Reporting out a story generally leads you to a conclusion, and good journalism doesn’t just mean presenting both sides in equal measure—it means explaining why that conclusion is true, and hopefully, to action by the people who can take it. It’d be nice to see Clark’s reporting lead him to a conclusion that triggers his decision to put on the cape and tights, to see an actual interaction between the alter-ego and the superhero.

Seeing that Barack Obama snapped up Daniel Woodrell’s Bayou Trilogy, Brave New World, and Room for himself and Frost for his daughter, here are four alternative recommendations for what the First Family might consider reading on their summer vacation — and what it might mean for the rest of the country.

1. Killing Mister Watson, Peter Matthiessen. Need motivation to defend the idea that government should enforce labor laws, and that the rich and powerful shouldn’t be allowed to run amok, particularly at the expense of their communities? But still want some good, old-fashioned Spanish Moss-draped intrigue? Matthiessen’s brutal, beautiful story about a Florida planter who terrorizes his community in the state’s frontier years and the people who team up to kill him when his abuses go too far is a haunting reminder of the lawlessness of the American past.

2. Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson. So the administration might not have funded that paper about possible first contact — or have much interest in space exploration period. But if you’re going to read slightly dated science fiction, and want to think about the implications of growing corporate power and an aging population that’s going to consume resources a younger generation initially thought would be available to them (see: entitlement reform), you could do worse than to start Kim Stanley Robinson’s seminal trilogy.

3. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood. If you’re looking for creepy domestic tales and could use a little motivation to push back against the conservative war on women (thanks for the free birth control though, we appreciate it!), this dystopian classic hits up all sorts of issues, from sexual freedom to the dangers of a stratified class system.

4. Trickster’s Choice, Tamora Pierce. Want to talk insurgencies and your decision-making process in Afghanistan over the vacation dinner table with Sasha? Hook her up with the first of Tamora Pierce’s duology about what it takes to build a movement that can defeat an established government — she won’t need much of a reminder that there’s a difference between feminist spymasters and the Taliban. And at least she won’t be reading Flowers in the Attic.

This post contains spoilers through the Aug. 21 episode of True Blood.

After a season spent cavorting through convoluted mythologies, True Blood finally returned to politics tonight, with unimpressive results. One of my friends suggested earlier in the weekend that he wished the show would get down to politics instead of going off into snow-drifted fantasies, and while I agree with that in principal, that would require the show to have a coherent political vision, which True Blood lacks. Wherever the show turns this season lies shallowness, and worst, offense.

In that latter category lay the resolution to Lafayette and Mikey’s storylines. Lafayette, having been possessed of the spirit of a black woman, murdered along with her child by her white lover, storms into Hoyt’s house wielding both Mikey and a gun and orders Hoyt out of his house, prompting a standoff. He refuses to let Andy into the house on the grounds that “You sound like a white man,” prompting Andy to holler at Jason that “this situation became pretty damn un-defused by the time that she-male broke into my house.” It’s clumsy and entirely predictable to have an effeminate gay man imbued with the spirit of a woman. And it’s even more predictable that, despite a storyline that’s ostensibly about the deep wounds of Southern racism and how they stretch across generations, the entire thing’s resolved with a bit of magical mumbo-jumbo (and I mean literal mumbo-jumbo), a backyard excavation, and the nice white family getting their formerly haunted baby back. Getting reunited with your bones is one way of settling a spirit. But an actual engagement with the institutionalized racism that let Mavis get murdered and forgotten would be just a tad more meaningful.

In second-place for racial clumsiness was a moment at the beginning of the Tolerance Festival (the vampires need some marketing people on payroll) when Bill protested that the whole thing felt like “having a civil rights protest without any black people,” only to have his boss lady remind him, “They’re called African-Americans,” as if she’s telling him something profound and meaningful. I actually thought this scene was reasonably well put together, complete with a testimonial from a vampire ally. But it’s much more interesting to look at what happens when members of a minority group behave in a way that some members of that group think isn’t conducive to assimilation when those people are acting of their own free will, rather than under suggestion from evil wishes. This is a boring way at getting at a fascinating issue, and Marnie/Antonia’s quest has become just another predictable way to torture Tara.

The one part of the episode that I thought worked on a political level was Sam and Luna’s camping trip with Luna’s daughter, which turned into a nice illustration of the perils of sensitive parenting. “I hope I turn out to be a shifter instead of a werewolf,” Luna’s daughter chirps at one point. “Whatever you wind up being is what you’re supposed to be,” her worried mother tells her, worried that she’s caught the scent of some incipient self-hate. “Why are you being all serious when I just want to pet a bunny?” her daughter complains to Luna. Sometimes, wanting to be a shifter is a sign of incipient anti-werewolf prejudice. And sometimes, it’s just about the fluffy bunnies.

The bridge is yours.

-PETA arrives at the logical destination of the journey it’s been on all these years.

-Seriously, can we make the Revolutionary War movie where George Washington fights off British bioweapons?

-Are reality camera crews any different from news reporters when it comes to distracting a team?

-Of course there’s a West Memphis 3 feature film already in the works.

-American Horror story looks reasonably attractive:

Now that Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is running for president, I did what any self-respecting culture nerd (particular one with a fondness for satirical country country songs) would do: I called Kinky Friedman, the musician, mystery novelist, and Texas legend who ran as an Independent against Perry for governor in 2006. We discussed his disillusionment with President Obama — and with both major parties — the weaknesses of American governors, Texas’ record on the death penalty, and Perry’s direct line to God. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Unlike the other candidates in the Republican primary, you’ve actually debated Rick Perry before — and in 2006, you accused him of ducking debates. Do you think he’s ready to perform on the national stage? And what advice would you offer opponents who are looking to beat him?

Well, at this point, I’d probably support Charlie Sheen over Obama. Rick and I are also incapable of resisting each other’s charms. To beat Rick is going to be tough. He’s never lost an election, and that’s not just luck…I see the Democrats, their merciless mocking of the Tea Party, when they’re not busy mocking Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin…I haven’t seen this kind of intellectual snobbery come from the Republicans, just because they’re not very intellectual…It’s turned me off on the Democrats…These people are not racists. They shouldn’t be demonized. And they could’ve been Democrats…I understand [Democrats] are hanging on to Obama for dear life. ..But [Perry]’s more than a politician. He’s kind of a musician. He played drums once for ZZ Top, that’s something. When I lost the race in 2006, I was really mad at both the Crips and the Bloods [Friedman repeatedly compared the major parties to the infamous street gangs], still am. I drove off in a 1937 snit, I did not concede to Perry. And three days later he calls me, and he was very, very gracious, and very thoughtful, I thought. And I thought here’s a guy who’s not just a musician or a politician. This guy’s a mensch.

During the 2006 campaign, you criticized Perry on everything from his immigration policy to his record on energy. What do you think he’d do differently as president?

I think Rick, like all governors, has not done an inspirational job. But I’m trying to think of a governor who has. I’m trying to think of one who I really respect or admire. Sometimes in politics and in life, greatness comes where you don’t expect it. I have an intuition that Rick has more to offer us than he’s given so far. He’s on top of the jobs and the economy thing, which is what we need. He may not be the teachers’ friend. That’s as it may be…Obama’s candidacy, which was a brilliant one, [cast him] as a much ballyhooed person who was gong to do all of these things, or at least inspire us. Like JFK did, I remember that personally. That’s why I joined the Peace Corps. Whatever you say about JFK, he inspired millions of young people around the world…Why has Obama always been behind the curve, which is the safe spot for politicians? He’s a little Chicago political spirit, apparently. If there’s something else there, I don’t see it.
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A new paper positing some scenarios for first contact between humans and extraterrestrials, whether it’s Megyn Kelly erroneously saying that NASA funded it or Dan Foster mocking the authors for assuming that more advanced societies will naturally be progressive. Ignored in all this hoopla is that the paper’s chock-full of scenarios that would make for awesome alien movies that go beyond the derivative invasion scenarios that were so popular this year. Here are five of my favorites:

1. Some of us discover we’re being kept under alien observation, and we reach out to make first contact, with…interesting results. The Prime Directive has the Federation refraining from messing with new societies, but what if we’re the society someone else is trying not to interfere with? Contact was the last major movie to explore what would happen if other species are waiting for us to grew up, but stopped short of exploring the implications of humanity reaching out in the universe:

The intentional form of this solution is sometimes known as the Zoo Hypothesis because it implies that ETI are treating Earth like a wildlife preserve to be observed but not fully incorporated into the Galactic Club…The Zoo Hypothesis thus implies that ETI could make contact with humans at any time. Perhaps such stealthy ETI will reveal themselves once Earth civilization has reached certain milestones. They may be waiting until we have reached a sufficient level of sophistication as a society such as the start of a METI program or the discovery of light speed travel, or they could be applying a societal benchmark such as sustainable development or international unity.

2. A two-sided story about two groups of people trying to get in touch with each other. Flip the perspective, and show both human and alien societies stumbling towards each other. Would require actual creative world-building to make the aliens, their society, and motivations feel as rich and compelling as our own, but those are good things to strive for:

Even if ETI exist in the nearby galactic vicinity, this does not necessarily imply that communication with them will be possible or straightforward. One major challenge is selecting the frequency at which to broadcast and listen. The electromagnetic spectrum consists of a continuum of wavelengths for communication that includes radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray bands. Searching this entire range is a monumental and nearly impossible task, so we choose particular wavelengths that seem more probable for interstellar communication.

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This post contains spoilers through the Aug. 21 episode of Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad is a show where exchanges of information or realizations are often as important as murders executed or trucks hijacked, and last night’s episode was very much about a core realization: Walt is no longer as invested in the well-being of his family as he is in his own self-image. We’ve known that for a while, I think, but it was still shocking to see Skylar’s shock over when Walt lashed out at her with a justification of his own significance, a violent reaction to the cover story she suggests if they ever need to go to the police, that he is being manipulated by Gus and his operation. “That is it exactly. You’re not exactly Dr. Joyce Brothers here,” Walt raves at her. “A tremendous weight lifted off me. I finally understand myself…Who is it you’re talking to right now? Who is it you think you see?…I am not in danger. I am the danger.”

The only real shock for us as an audience was the idea that Walt was going to be able to abide by a cover story written by his wife, that he clearly hated from the beginning, that cast him as weak, small, the kind of man he was before he started cooking meth, bullying kids who bullied his son, forcing his son to drink Tequila until he vomited, buying his son off with sports cars. We’ve never had much idea of who Walter Junior is, whether he has some rich interior life at school we know nothing about. But he’s the one undamaged person on the show (unless we count Baby Holly), and it’s fascinating to wonder how long his innocence can last, and who or what he’ll be when it’s destroyed by his father’s death, disgrace, or imprisonment.

As Walt sabotages his family, he’s trying to restore what he thinks is the natural order with Jesse, too. “Is there something about you that I don’t know? Are you a former Navy SEAL? Do you have to have your hands registered as lethal weapons?” he asks Jesse about his work with Mike. “Do you think you mean anything to these people?” Jesse snaps back at him, “I see they can’t outright kill me, but they don’t want me getting high. I see this thing probably started as Gus getting Mike to babysit me. But you know what? I saved Mike from getting robbed, from getting killed, maybe. So maybe I’m not such a loser after all.” But Walt has an answer for that too, sensing Gus’s setup and his play, telling Jesse, “This whole thing, it’s all about me.” Except that maybe it’s not. In an operation on a house full of methheads, Jesse proves his mettle and strategic thinking. “I hear you can handle yourself,” Gus tells him when they meet outside a diner. “I like to think I see things in people.”

Walt, in contrast to Gus, is making a serious management error. After he takes over the car wash from his old boss, committing the ultimate insult of taking the framed first dollar the guy made on the place on the grounds that the car wash is being sold to him “as is,” Walt feels like he’s above cleaning out the lab without Jesse’s help. So he bribes a bunch of Gus’ other employees to do the work for him — only to have Tyrus show up and send them back to Honduras (as a side note, it’s really nice for a show set in a border state to finally have an immigration subplot, however minor). “You tell Gus to blame me, not them,” Walt protests, realizing too late that he’s added staff to Gus’ tidy conspiracy. “He does,” Tyrus reassures him. Skylar’s right that “someone has to protect this family from the man who protects this family.” But someone needs to protect that man from himself, too, it seems. This episode is called “Cornered,” and Walt’s walked firmly and directly back into many of them.