Sitting

17. “The Education of Shelby Knox”
Yet another Netflix inspired viewing. I seem to enjoy documentaries after 2am.

This film reminds me of why I started a zine. Beliefs held at 16 and 17 are seem obvious then and 10 years later, they still seem obvious. Of coarse sex ed is a good idea, only morons would object. Of coarse GLBTQ groups should exist in every school, only people insecure about their own sexuality would object. Of coarse the people that protest outside of gay and lesbian funerals should be dismissed, only dumb Texans would listen (I realize that I shouldn’t call Texans dumb, but come on, this shit is absurd).

The documentary is good and heartbreaking and follows a lot of stereotypes but the filmmakers don’t try to use them (For example, Shelby’s parents are Republicans but support their daughter and her causes and say wonderful things about acceptance and education and more, but for most of the film and on the film poster, Mr. Knox is wearing an American flag polo shirt).

This film made me want to listen to Bad Religion and “try to make a difference” like I did at 17.


16. “Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall”
I’ll count this one because it has an IMDB page.

I listen to the Eels more than any other band. I put off buying or renting this film because I own the soundtrack and figured that was enough. I was kind of right. The feature does have some behind the scenes stuff for the string tour and the segments with just E are quite pleasant. I probably won’t watch this again but I did have a few songs from “Blinking Lights” in my head for a few days.