JD Salinger Is My Tap Water (but I still love a Hollywood ending in 4 part harmony ) From Ramrod To Eve N’ God This Female Is Not Yet Rated “©️

The Ironies & Ecstasies of Escalating Risk in Film, Art, Life or How I Spent International Women’s Day & Memorial Day 2024 while John Roberts’ So Called ‘Supreme’ Court Revoked Democracy “

Cali Lili

May 28, 2024

JD Salinger Is My Tap Water (but I still love a Hollywood ending in 4 part harmony )

From Ramrod To Eve N’ God This Female Is Not Yet Rated ;

The Ironies & Ecstasies of Escalating Risk in Film, Art, Life

How I Spent International Women’s Day & Memorial Day 2024 while

John Roberts’

So Called ‘Supreme’ Court Revoked

Women’s Rights “

©️

cali lili

reflections

from the cali lili indies ™️

currents leaps n’ landingZ ™️

This Memorial Day as we approach pride month I’m thinking about a specific type of war veteran and war crime. I’m thinking about victims of gender violence, rape and violence against LGBTQIA communities, all of which are war crimes.

This kind of violence occurs not only during times officially designated as “wartime” but we might forget that wartime is every day for women and LGBTQ+ communities in too many parts of the planet.

For my sisters & brothers with memory & honor, I humbly contribute some excerpts :

“ Part 1

How I spent International Women’s Day & Memorial Day 2024 while John Robert’s’ so-called ‘Supreme’ Court revoked Women’s Rights

On March 8, International Women’s Day 2024, the producers of the upcoming documentary “Wings Hauser Working Class Actor, “ Matt Verbois, Dan Mckeon & Cyrus Voris invited me to join the guys in a post screening Q & A with movie icon Wings Hauser and Top Acting coach Gary Swanson, who co-starred in the 1982 cult movie classic “Vice Squad.” That screening & discussion took place in front of a - sold out - standing room only - live audience at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, sponsored by American Cinematheque and La-La Land Records.

Of course Wings Hauser is also known for a variety of eclectic, powerful and even comedic roles in films & television over the course of his legendary 50 plus year career, including roles in films advocating for diversity in Hollywood. He’s known for his role as “Lieutenant Byrd” in the Oscar nominated movie “A Soldier’s Story,” as well roles in movies by two important African American artists, “Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling” by the genius, Richard Pryor and “Tales From The Hood” by innovative actor/writer/ director Rusty Cundieff, who, in my opinion started his own genre.

I’m SO honored that my feminist interracial LGBTQIA musical fantasy “love is love story,” “Eve N’ God This Female Is Not Yet Rated' ' was featured in a panel next to those amazing films.

On Memorial Day Weekend 2024, I was invited to participate in a similar Q & A live stream broadcast to the audience

at The Plaza Theater in Atlanta sponsored by Videodrome Atlanta (“the last video store”).

My role at these events included a discussion about my partnership with Wings Hauser, my own work as a 21st century actress, director and singer-songwriter and founder of my hand-built up-cycled “sustainable studio” floating in the Venice Beach Canals where we make signature movies, music & books that we describe with mottos & logos relating to either hydroponic farming / aquaculture / organic cuisine or other inspirations from sister arts such as “sustainable fashion” or visual arts.

As we are authentically indie, it’s difficult to pigeonhole my projects, which is part of the purpose for our existence. We aim “to contribute toward a nourishing culture through my pictures, words, music in motion ™️. “ That’s why we often include terms like “organics,” “sustainable,” “farm to table films, ""small batch,” and “single source.”

We Are :

“handmade

make a difference ™️ ”

2022 Movie Review

NYC Times Square Chronicles

Cali Lili’s Eve N’ God This Female is Not Yet Rated

with

Original Soundtrack

https://t2conline.com/cali-lilis-eve-n-god-this-female-is-not-yet-rated-with-original-soundtrack/

Film Clip : Wings Hauser & Cali Lili in a scene from “ Eve N’ God This Female is Not Yet Rated “

As both live discussions Q & A took place after the screening of a film, which depicts unusually graphic misogynistic scenes of violence against women …

… what you are about to read, stems from the notes I took before my participation in these discussions and of course, reflects my perspective on all these issues.

For the memorial day weekend event, I began my comments by quoting Matt Owensby, (of Videodrome Atlanta)

who described my movie “Eve N God This Female Is Not Yet Rated” as :

“subverting, traditional narrative expectations,”

an apt description on many levels!

For example my film evolves towards a love scene at the very end of the film, instead of the middle, which is due to the fact that the structure was intended to mirror a female orgasm.

Also, I cast movie icon Wings Hauser, as my flawed but redeemable “Dr God.” My film’s meditation on the complexities of “good versus evil” was heightened by the fact that in 1982 Wings Hauser’s acting performance immortalized a character named “Ramrod,” a vicious sado-misogynistic pimp whose violence way surpasses the power of the also iconic Edward G. Robinson in the original “Vice Squad,” and the loathsome bestial braying of Marlon Brando’s Stanley Kowalski (in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire”) whose misogyny tears down the “beautiful dream” of the beautiful Blanche Dubois, a character representing our romance with liberal democracy, an educated civilization, and our endeavors “toward a more perfect union,” stunningly portrayed by Vivien Leigh.

“Dr. God” is my metaphorical portrait of a status quo white-male-god-figure - with flaws. A “god” figure who eventually redeems himself by going toe to toe with a contemporary “Eve” character who’s dialogue was patterned after the filibuster scene in “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” where Jimmy Stewart pleads for the saving of our democracy.

My “Eve” speaks in filibusters as she petitions “Dr. God” for our freedoms. Her voice echoes Blanche Dubois (and other dismissed female cultural personas). Her voice is a cry, pleading for justice from the flawed deity she describes as :

“the most ‘supreme’ court.”

As I address fellow movie & music lovers, poetry lovers, book lovers & news nerds, it occurs to me that whether we consider ourselves highbrow or no brow, whether we love, horror genre movies, thrillers, romantic, comedies, dramas, animated , fantasies, or documentaries, whether we jam to Rap, or Bach, Doom or Classic rock, Blues, Ska, Smooth Jazz or Americana, what we have in common is not only the desire for a good story told well, but we also don’t want to be told “what to like. “

Our bond, in my humble opinion, lies in our desire for freedom (yeah democracy) our admiration & inspiration for independent thinking, our demand that individuals DO MATTER (in spite of the corporate-mind-pablum we are over fed) and we are genuine supporters of that oft-imitated, more often appropriated, rarely achieved “indie” status of the truly “independent” artist.

We bond over our disdain for injustice. We don’t want to be told what to read, what to watch, what to see, what to hear, what to think. Our “suspension of disbelief” allows us to engage no matter how briefly in a childlike innocence where we can redeem our hopes for freedom.

What is a child if a child is not free?

What is freedom without kindness, understanding and compassion?

What is freedom without cooperation as we work together toward common goals in spite of our differences? In fact working together in celebration of our differences.

I have written elsewhere that I believe the 21st-century is a time of useful consciousness where we must examine and quit our addictions to the speed of supremacy and dominance. We tell each other to “crush it” when we reach for excellence. We describe our sports teams as “dominating” each other when they win a game. Even when the game is an excellent match, both teams perform gracefully, graciously yet we still describe one team as “dominating” the other.

Please everyone, let's quit this addiction to supremacy because by definition we are incubating ever more efficient “dominators,” “crushers” of the human soul.

Let us please, redefine success.

At my studio even though my projects did break a few glass ceilings and sound barriers to give voice to my independent art, we prefer to “weave slow, heal things” instead of succumbing to the status quo command to “move fast, break things.”

I keep returning to the disturbing fact that distribution of cultural products such as movies, music and publishing remain in the so-called “supreme” hands of corporations, which is, by definition, a supremacist distribution model. I think we must demand better of our cultural distribution ecosystem.

I’m inspired by Senator John Tester of Montana who recently passed a bill disallowing monopolization in the distribution of beef in Montana and I wrote to the 117th Congress and executive branch, requesting that we adapt that beef bill for independent movies and music to protect the independent artist and the audience members that love independent art.

My comments are always focused on the idea that as independent human beings, independent artists and audiences who appreciate the ritual gathering of our “village” for the celebration of authentic independent art, together we take part in a tradition of taking risks for the good of our culture. Risks that are similar to what the great Congressman John Lewis described as “good trouble.”

I am positing that the reason we take risks is because we cherish freedoms and we bond, no matter what our tastes demand, whether we like “junk” food or fine dining, our bond is our craving for freedom.

As an independent actress / director / singer songwriter, who happens to be a female member of the LGBTQIA community, I’m asking my fellow movie and music lovers to join my movement which supports independent artists in an increasingly corporate ecosystem of art “markets.” My team and I ask you to please :

“SupporTheARTSustainTheARTiST ™️ ”

Independent art cannot continue in the face of corporations without your help. Of course the independent artist will always strive to survive to create because we have no choice, we were born this way and our work springs from within. But your support means the world to us. It means a chance for us to, not only survive but to modestly thrive. It might also literally “mean the world” to the very existence of human culture & civilization because if we attempt to nourish ourselves purely on empty calories the corporations feed us, I sincerely believe we can never find nourishment without a thriving ecosystem of independent artists.

In my film, our protagonist, Eve rediscovers her long lost lover, Lilith. Eve decides she must leave “Eden “ in order to join Lilith on Earth for a taste of paradise. In doing so, she saves not only herself, and Lilith, but she also saves “God” by redeeming Doctor God’s innocence. We all know he’s capable of veering off into devilish Ramrod territory on occasion.

My Eve seeks to restore our innocence by reminding us that misogyny, defined as :

“hatred for all things feminine, vulnerable, wild, and free,”

is in fact the original, “original sin.”

Part 2

“ JD Salinger is My Tap Water …”

So, it’s way too late on a school night and I’m way too young to be riding the New York City subway alone when some guy decides to make some stand against his own demons by opening up a zippo lighter very close to my face. He screams in that spine altering guttural octave, that I should “GET OFF HIS TRAIN.”

I don’t budge. I just give him the “green eyed burn” staring right back at him with the kind of steely resolve I should not possess at the tender age of 12. But I’m a New Yorker, JD Salinger is my tap water and Holden Caulfield could’ve been my brother.

Subway guy brings the lighter even closer to my face. I am a little blonde girl with a little mermaid backpack full of books tucked under my dance shoes and he is a wounded middle aged black man. Little did we both know, I’m not quite “white,” I’m just a rose gold shade of multiracial multi-continental coral-pink. And I’m already nursing a few wounds myself.

If I get off “his” subway car now I will be at a lonely subway station not even close to my final Jackson Heights destination in the middle of the night. There are very few people in the subway car and I’m the only girl.

But the violence I have been navigating in my childhood home has taught me to stand my ground. I’ve seen a man bully and beat a woman, I’ve stood in between them as an unfortunate referee only to fail in my efforts as he throws her out of her own home. I’ve helplessly seen her sleep in the park downstairs. I’ve tiptoed to the apartment door to let her back in when he’s asleep. I’ve even called the police to intervene between my parents. So no motherfucker on a train is gonna tell me what to do.

Little did I know, subway guy probably saw the movie “Vice Squad” on DVD and wanted to play out a Wings Hauser zippo scene with me. Something about me, triggered him into that retro zippo mood tonight. When I stared him down, he backed off. The look in his eye was a combination of shock, disbelief, determination, pain, and acquiescence. Finally another man on the train ushers the zippo wielding man away from me. But zippo man never takes his eyes off my eyes staring him back into his territory, telling him I know the jungle too. I would experience several other encounters like that in the big apple, but this was my first bite.

Part 3

“But I Still Love A Hollywood Ending … “

Just a few years after the NYC subway incident, I’m in Los Angeles, sharing the anecdote with my partner, Wings Hauser who is amazed. He tells me about the zippo lighter scene in “Vice Squad” when Ramrod the pimp confronts a woman on the street in exactly the same manner, suddenly holding up a zippo lighter to her face. Most on screen pimps were portrayed as black men and Wings was told black audiences appreciated seeing a ruthless white pimp on the screen. Subway zippo guy might have been emulating Ramrod years later when he encountered a vulnerable blonde kid with whom he could play out the scene.

My formative years were characterized by such hauntings, echoes in the NYC air not unlike that of almost any urban playground complete with sprinklers in the park and a lonely sandbox for those of us who wished we could go to the beach in summer like the “happy” kids do.

So what does all this have to do with movie icon Wings Hauser, who played the sado-misogynistic, coat-hanger wielding , castrating devil spawn character named “Ramrod” in the 1982 movie “Vice Squad,” along with an excellent cast, including the powerful Gary Swanson and beautiful Season Hubley ?

What does it have to do with me, casting Wings Hauser as my version of a flawed but ultimately redeemable metaphorical “God” in my sustainable, green, all female crew production of the 2020 Oscars Contender “Eve N’ God This Female is Not Yet Rated” an interracial feminist fantasy, LGBTQ love is love story & rock n’ roll epiphany?

Glad you asked.”

Part 4 ( “ In Four Part Harmony “ )

“ In choosing to unite in the healing of true “original sin” and restoring our innocence by embracing our feminine, our endangered vulnerabilities, our wildness and our freedoms, we too, can save ourselves by cherishing our siblings, including every species of wildlife and sealife life roaming, swimming, flying on our beautiful, blue planet, our sacred Eden, our paradise, our mother, Earth, spinning into infinity, swirling and surfing the multiverse on our interplanetary swimming pool.

As mentioned I have written to congress & the executive branch on behalf of independent artists and I will continue my efforts to secure human artist rights in an increasingly corporate monopolistic ecosystem.

I believe this effort to speak up for the independent human artist, yields dividends for the survival of every living being threatened by the indifference of corporate conglomerates & the greedy few who have hoarded humanity & comfort for themselves alone, to the detriment of the people and the planet.

My team and I make these projects with individuals, by individuals, for individuals and we make these projects for - you - because we love you.

I hope, my team hopes, you will consider supporting my efforts to bring awareness for independent artists by purchasing the movies, music & books we release direct from the Cali Lili Indies ™️ and by sharing them widely, adding more positive ratings & reviews wherever you see us speaking up, for every one-of-a-kind individual (you) with our handmade single source, sustainable indies ™️ “

Thank You from the heart, for all the support you have already shown us !

Let’s make up a better world,

Truli*Cali*Lili ™️“

©️Cali Lili ™️

Courtesy of Cali Lili @ Cali Lili Indies ™️

Excerpt from an essay & chapter from upcoming book by Cali Lili

Read the full essay :

http://calililiindies.com/2024/05/12/cali-lili-jd-salinger-is-my-tap-water-but-i-still-love-a-hollywood-ending-%ef%b8%8f-the-ironies-ecstasies-of-escalating-risk-in-film-art-life-or-ho/