(Display Name not set)March 2006 Archives

The Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu is everywhere these days--Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, record store displays, iTunes most-downloaded lists--but the phenomenal, and surprising, success he's found doesn't seem to be enough for him. The New York Times reports that, on the eve of the release of his new album, "Youth," Matisyahu called his longtime managers--and fired them.

Aaron Bisman and Jacob Harris, the young men who founded the nonprofit music label JDub, had the foresight and creativity to look at a bearded, black-hatted Hasid and see his star potential. They nurtured Matisyahu's career and shared the glory of his rise to fame--only to be dumped as his career began to really take off. "He said, 'I don't know if you guys are old enough or have enough experience,'" Bisman told the Times regarding Matisyahu's reasoning.

Being the hip but squeaky-clean Orthodox Jew singing about God, the messiah, and values is a major part of Matisyahu's appeal. Along with catchy tunes, his personae is his appeal. It's hard to reconcile the idea that this Hasid would fail to show the basic Jewish value of gratitude by sticking with the managers who were responsible for his success.

Not surprisingly, some of his most strident supporters are shocked at the betrayal. One of the bloggers at jewschool.com describes his own longstanding efforts at pushing Matisyahu's career forward in every way possible, and then comments on this week's news:

The last three years for Matisyahu have been nothing less than miraculous. He has gone from playing half-empty nightclubs in New York City to playing for sold-out crowds at Madison Square Garden, and headlining with his own musical heroes like Phish’s Trey Anastasio and Bob Marley’s backup band, The Wailers....

While I marvel at his success, and wish to be proud that I had some part in making it happen, I can only watch in horror and disappointment as he presses a knife firmly into the back of the man squarely responsible for his stardom — the man under whose chuppah I once watched him sing: Aaron Bisman. What should be a time of simcha [happiness] and pure joy is now overcast by the shadow of gut-wrenching heartbreak.

That same blog posting quotes a Rolling Stone profile in which Matisyahu makes his naked ambition clear:

[W]hile the 26-year-old artist is devoutly religious, he is not letting that stand in the way of getting his music heard. “Who doesn’t want success?” he asks. “There’s some artists that say they don’t, and they’re not looking for it, but I’m not one of those artists.”

In the end, I guess it shows that even the most pious among us are suceptible to the seductions of fame and fortune. I am not one of those people who holds someone to a higher moral standard because he wears a yarmulke and only eats kosher food, but putting profit before people and money before ethics is not kosher in anybody's religion.

It's been blamed for sparking aggression and contributing to American kids' obesity, but now the beleagured videogame is being given a higher purpose: Toppling dictatorships and spreading human rights through nonviolent struggle. No, "Doom" has not suddenly gone soft. This game is called "A Force More Powerful," and you will not find it at your neighborhood arcade. AFMP is intended to help those on the frontlines of nonviolent political and social movements to hone their skills at planning strategy and pulling off effective actions that further their cause.

I got a glimpse of the game at a demonstration for representatives of the press and NGOs. Among those showing it off was Ivan Marovic, a leader of the Serbian resistance that toppled Slobodan Milosavic. These days he's working with the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, which produced the game.

Though AFMP seemed amazingly complicated, its worth at simulating real-life scenarios was obvious. The game offers several scenarios to choose from--such as "Corruption Is Stealing," "Bringing Down a Dictator," and "Eternal Vigilance" (preventing a democracy from sliding into dictatorship). Each takes place in a fictional country for which you are given all sorts of information, such as economic indicators, unemployment rates, and political realities. And if you've got a lot of data--and time and patience--you can set up your own scenario that more exactly reflects your own situation.

You, the player, control people (only "the good guys," no choosing to be a villain here), groups, and an alliance of groups that makes up your movement. The game offers more than 65 actions you can take, from raising money and publishing a website to mass protests and civil disobedience. For each person and group you control, the game tells you at every point what their core competencies are, how high their enthusiasm for your cause is, and how high their fear level is. You can see maps of the country showing where your support is the highest and of each major city showing the street grid and major buildings.

Tempted to go directly for the jugular and halt traffic throughout the capital city today? Not so fast. If people's fear level is too high, or their enthusiasm too low, no one will show up. Better to take actions to ease their fears or renew their commitment to the cause. Even if the masses do turn out, better hope they're well trained: You can't resort to violence, but the regime sure can. But if the plan does backfire, you can always send the organizer abroad to avoid arrest and publicize your cause there.

The demonstration I saw--like this description--only began to display all that AFMP had to offer. AFMP set up an online community area for players to share notes and learn from each other, and there are future improvements to the game planned. So if you know anyone looking to learn how to topple a dictator--or maybe you're looking to learn how to topple a dictator--check out "A Force More Powerful" to hone your skills.

I read with sadness about the death of Kirby Puckett, the charismatic former star of the Minnesota Twins baseball team. Dead after suffering a stroke Sunday, he was only 45. Hard working, charming, exhilarating, dedicated, Puckett was one of my favorite players during his too-brief, but highly successful, major league career. Like so many others, I loved him as much for his winning smile and casual charm as for his baseball heroics--which is what made what happened after his retirement so painful for us, his fans.

After breaking into the majors in 1984 and leading Minnesota to World Series championships in 1987 and 1991, Puckett lost sight in one eye and retired in 1996. He was then voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, in 2001--but later that same year, his trouble started, or rather, became public. His then-wife accused him of threatening to kill her and told police he had a history of physically abusing her. He denied the charges, but then was hit with another accusation, this time from a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her. He was acquitted of all criminal charges but largely stayed out of the public eye after that.

Though the two stories are entirely unconnected, I can't help but connect my feelings at Puckett's death with the bombshell Sports Illustrated dropped today about home-run king Barry Bonds, rumored for years to be a steroids user. SI.com writes about an excerpt from a new book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters who describe in excruciating detail Bonds's steroids regimen. Based on records seized by federal agents in a raid on the lab that administered the steroids, the book seems to leave little doubt that Bonds's storied career has been, indeed, too good to be true.

Lamenting the immoral behavior of athletes is a cliche by now--so trite, so last century. Yet I, forever an optimist, kept hoping the rumors about Bonds weren't true, that somehow he'd clear his name and erase any doubts about the legitimacy of his record 73 homers in one season in 2001. And today, I can't help feeling sad not just at Puckett's death--whatever his misbehavior was, he didn't deserve the lot life dealt him--but also at the fact that another champion failed miserably to live up to his public personae. I miss Puckett, but I've been missing him for five years now, ever since the Kirby Puckett I thought I knew was proven to be an illusion.

Now that the winners of the Beliefnet Film Awards have been announced (click here if you haven't seen them yet), we can finally turn our attention wholeheartedly those other awards, which are being given out Sunday night. Since there's not a lot of time between now and then, we thought it would be helpful to remind you of all that Idol Chatter--and Beliefnet generally--have had to say about the Academy Awards. (These links will all pop open a new window, so just close that page to return here.)

For starters, check out Kris's predictions of who will--and who should--take home the top honors on Sunday night, by clicking here.

Best Picture Nominees

• Kris heaped praise on "Crash" here.
  
  
• Doug gave props to "Good Night, and Good Luck" here.
  
  
• Donna generated lots of discussion with her thoughts on "Brokeback Mountain," which you can find here. (Paul and Kris also weighed in on "Brokeback)
  
  
• Saul Austerlitz and Shmuley Boteach debated "Munich" here. And Michael offered his proverbial two cents here.
  
  
• Nobody wrote about "Capote": Does that make it the least spiritual of the nominees? (Our sister Beliefnet blog Chattering Mind did discuss Truman Capote here.)
  

Best Foreign Film

• Michael wrote about one of the Best Foreign Film nominees, "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" here.
  
  
• Hala Shah interviewed the director of "Paradise Now" here.

Finally, Paul asked here whether the success of "The Passion" has had any noticeable effect on Hollywood. (And Kris responded to him here.)

Happy watching! And please let us know what you think by using the comments link below.