Midnight Movie of the Week #97 - Escape From New York

I am tired.

Hell, I'm more than tired.  I'm broken.  I got this feeling that very little in the world I live in really matters right about now.  My superiors have made my life difficult, the people I come across on a daily basis do little but make things more difficult, and the news reports I see on TV and the internet make me sick to my stomach.  In fact, I seriously considered making this Midnight Movie of the Week post entirely about how much this Penn State child rape scandal that's fresh in society's eyes pisses me off (Seriously, it's the most sad and disgusting thing I've heard of in ages, and all the different sides of the story make me pretty sick to my stomach.), but that's not what y'all want to hear about at FMWL.  And I don't want to dwell on shit either.

The thing is, I know that what I'm trying to do in this world really means something.  I believe in the end result, which promises a better society and makes things better for everyone.  I want to stand up for that, but I have no faith in the people and systems around me.  Save a few kooky characters, I feel like I'm alone in my battle against apathy and two-facedness and, for lack of a better term, bullshit.

Though my body feels like it's about to explode and my mind is melted swiss cheese (is that even possible?), there are still things - much like my cause - that I do believe in.  God, the music of Neko Case, the restorative power of apple juice, and the Green Bay Packers all sit firmly as things I believe in.  But it's hard to find them when you're surrounded by rubble and chaos and your superiors bark at you from a tower telling you to fix everything or it's your ass.  You get cut off from the rest of the world, and you start to think that you're friends and family may have heard that you're dead.  And when you're surrounded by that stuff and as tired and broken down as I am - well, you start to feel a little like Snake Plissken.

Sure, I'm not as gruff or angry as the iconic anti-hero - I still don't get how he doesn't smile every time Ernest Borgnine's Cabbie is around, because I know I do - but I'm starting to feel a bit like a pawn in someone else's game of chess.  Sort of like how Snake is used to play Police Commander Hauk - played with trademark devilish-stare by Lee Van Cleef - game of find the President.  And I'm thankful that I don't end up in a ring with a giant fellow called Slag - played by Waterloo, Iowa's own, pro-wrestling superstar, Ox Baker - on a daily basis too.  Yes, it's safe to say that Snake Plissken's no-good very-bad day is a bit worse than my usual one....but my body doesn't really seem to know the difference right now.

Luckily, my body knows how much I friggin' love Escape from New York.  I swear, everything about this movie just makes me feel good.  It doesn't make me smile or laugh, but it gives me this sly bit of satisfaction.  Again, I lack better terms, because I want to describe this sense of satisfaction as a shit-eating grin or a desire to say "f*** the world".  Snake is the most bad mofo this side of Hell, a one-man wrecking crew who does dirty work for "The Man" and then spits in his face.  He doesn't compromise himself along the way, and at the end of the day he makes sure that everyone who thought they had control over him was sorely mistaken.

I know I can't be Snake Plissken today - I'm too tired, maybe later - but that doesn't mean I can't look to him in this time of need.  And you should look to him too.  When the man's got a virus in your neck and sends you out in a glider and threatens that you could be left with no way home, remember the man who stood up for everyone who's ever been fed up with the people who use them to get their way.  Remember the man who showed us all that we can fight to maintain our morals even when we're up against the wall.  Remember the man who stood up to people who were false and ignorant.

You should remember Snake Plissken.  If you don't, you'll probably end up with your head on a stick.