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Friday, January 28, 2011

Black Eagle

I just got home from seeing Black Swan. It was intense and hard to watch, but better than I'd expected; I think Natalie Portman should win the Oscar for her performance.

But the truth is, I no longer feel like elaborating about the movie. I read Professor Macek's post about the latest news in Egypt, and suddenly a film critique seems shallow. A different sort of Black Swan--a darker side to technology, to human nature--has been let out of its Pandora's Box and is dancing across the world stage, turned loose by a US company.

Actually, the events presently transpiring in Egypt make me think of another movie: Iron Man.
I'm not being facetious. Tony Stark has cool technology (and weapons), which he naively thinks are manufactured and used for the greater good--for the protection of human lives and freedom. To his shock Tony learns his technologies are instead being used to strip people of their basic rights.

With any technology there is the risk: in the wrong hands it can be used to perform harmful acts. Greed plus technology seem to often set the stage for immoral actions.

Where is Iron Man when we need him?

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