The Anti-Commercial Commercial

This semester is wrapping up, so I'll finally start posting some of the video work I've done thus far in film school.  

For this one, the assignment was to produce a commercial. Being the conscious consumer that I am, of course I had to make a statement. 

It was inspired by a Caps game I caught on TV earlier this spring. All the commercials were for Coors and cars - all white male oriented. The friend I was watching the game with mentioned that the Coors family & company had a dirty past, so I did my research. 

Ray Cyste Beer Commercial from Matthew Lucas on Vimeo.

And while this commercial is a play on all I learned from a single hockey game, my intention is not to call out any specific corporation.

There's plenty of companies that have shoddy business practices, abuse human rights, shun worker's rights, etc. And it's going to take quality policy makers along with talented, thoughtful business people & shareholders to right all that. But that's turning around the Titanic. 

It's easier to change us, the consumer. I believe the most important vote an American makes is not at the ballot box every four years, but how we spend our money on a daily basis. 

Counting Your Blessings (and Christmas Cards)

Among the many grown-up tasks I've been unsuccessful at getting a jumpstart on in my ever-increasing years is sending out holiday cards. As one of the few remaining letter writers left in this country, it's not a total stretch for me so I'm not sure why it's such a challenge.

I sure love getting them (even if I feel guilty and undeserving). They come from new friends, old friends, my husband's colleagues, my own mother, and unexpected and far away places.

But I guess that's the spirit of Christmas - giving love without expectation.

As the clock ticks closer, I found myself at the Hallmark store downtown this afternoon poring over pretty cards and imagining what I'd write in them. Despite my anti-consumer bent, I purchased a few and sent them right off.

'Tis the season to not hide your love away.

It's Not a Small World After All

Less than 20 years ago just a few (relatively speaking) people thought about where the stuff they bought came from, mostly because of political reasons. I was introduced to the Boycott Made in China movement in the early '00's when I lived in protest-ready Seattle.

Still, I was on the fence with this issue. The Chinese people, like anyone, were happy to have jobs to bring them out of poverty. But I'd also heard about terrible working conditions and 12 year-olds making iPods.

However I was becoming more and more annoyed by American's belief that cheaper is better. Until recently it seemed that the majority of Americans didn't care about who made what, that is, until our own country started doing badly.

But the main reason I couldn't take a stance was because it was hard for me to see a real face on the issue. (Though my own personal solution was to shop less and almost exclusively at thrift stores.)

A few more details were filled in for me when I came across Leslie T. Chang's Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China. The author chronicles the lives of two young Chinese women who traded in their rural youths for the excitement of the unknown in huge, anonymous factory cities on the southern coast of China. The book weaves the migrants' stories together with Chang's own Chinese family background.

I interviewed Leslie last week as part of my author interview special that will air on the WMNF Evening News on Monday, December 27th from 6-7 p.m. You can listen to an excerpt of the interview that played on last night's newscast.

My conclusion is that globalization is tricky, especially when it seems as if the success of one country is based on the downfall of another. But this is where education is key, and learning as much as possible makes the clean up of whatever mess we're in easier on us all.

Conscious Consumption

Yogani Studios is hosting its 2nd Annual Conscious Consumption on December 5th from 2 - 4 p.m. It's a clothing & accessories swap with the an awesome mantra:

"I don't want it but somebody will."

There will also be a screening of the must-see video The Story of Stuff. Admission is a non-perishable food item or jar of peanut butter for a local food bank. Left over items will be donated to Metropolitan Ministries.