Yo…
Any plans this weekend? The movies are fun. Starting today for one week only, Tenet is back in cinemas. Oh, yo.
I’ve seen this movie twice now and I still don’t "Nolan" what’s going on...do you get it?! (The physics are not sound as a pound. Inception works the way Tenet’s physics doesn’t fully work.)
And…why not check out Kiss The Future?
“Witness the resilience of the people of Sarajevo through art and music and the tale of a post-war concert by U2.”
Directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain, produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, featuring Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton of U2, Christiane Amanpour and Bill Clinton this is an uplifting documentary about undaunted creativity.
I’m sharing the famous folks to draw you in. This is not a U2 documentary.
The compelling documentary debuts today at select U.S. AMC Theatres. (I’ve checked but there are no current Canadian screenings. Rude! Double check in case I am wrong or they’ve wisely added some.)
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Remember Sarajevo?
“Is there a time for keeping your distance?
A time to turn your eyes away?
Is there a time for keeping your head down
For getting on with your day?”
~ U2 “Miss Sarajevo”
Some key dates to provide context and background for Kiss The Future.
On December 30, 1989 U2 were playing in Dublin, Ireland. Bono told the audience that U2 has to “go away and dream it all up again.” The band began searching for a new sonic direction following their Rattle and Hum album. What dreams may come…
This pivotal Dublin concert just over a month after The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989.
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union accelerated the push for deeper European integration. This is when central European tenets like freedom of movement were formalized…you can now backpack throughout Europe to find yourself.
This plodding European evolution was seeded post-World War II. It’d been building to this. (Time is funny…the present moves so quickly yet history moves so slowly.)
However, the unraveling of Yugoslavia in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union resulted in a decade of grim conflict that prompted a reevaluation of national sovereignty and the responsibility of outside powers like America and NATO to stop atrocities.
The Cold War heats up as do debates about human rights above state sovereignty. This is the late ‘90s and yet today we’re still dealing with China and Saudi Arabia and other similar countries with human rights issues. It’s messy. How do you "Parent Trap" fractured states? Or can you…is that the better question?
“Is there a time to run for cover?
A time for kiss and tell?
Is there a time for different colours
Different names you find hard to spell?”
~ U2 “Miss Sarajevo”
Coverage of the first Gulf War (1990–1991) and other crises of the early 1990s (the Battle of Mogadishu, the rescue of Baby Jessica…an actual child who fell down a damn well!) prompted Pentagon officials to coin the term "the CNN effect." The CNN effect describes the perceived impact of real time, 24-hour news coverage on the decision-making processes of the American government.
Acknowledgment is not the same as knowledge; it’s debatable if 24 hours news…made us more informed. (We’re deeply ignorant now, blindly reacting to headlines, craving clickbait and willingly sharing uncorrected misinformation.)
On the last flight into East Berlin U2 arrived on October 3rd 1990 on the eve of German reunification to begin Berlin sessions recording Achtung Baby. Hoping for that David Bowie-Brian Eno magic. Turns out Bowie, like Elvis, has left the building.
On November 18, 1991 U2 released Achtung Baby to much acclaim. (It’s one of my all-time favourite albums.) And at the same time they’ve also released their earnest do-gooder public image.
Now, their new public image is lighthearted with a self-deprecating tone. Maybe they did find some of that Bowie magic after all because this reinvention has made them…finally for the first time…cool.
We didn’t use the word swagger in the ‘90s oh but we’ve always understood the concept.
Meanwhile, Yugoslavia’s leveling continues with a number of notable massacres lead by Slobodan Milošević (a Serbian–Yugoslav politician who was the president of Serbia from 1989 to 1997 and the president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 until his оverthrow in 2000. Milošević has the dubious honour of being the first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes for his actions in the Bosnian War.).
The Siege of Sarajevo which started on April 5th, 1992 ended on February 29, 1996; lasting for 1,425 days.
Shortages of food and water…constant snipers, bombed out schools…this was dark and ugly and violent and horrific. Thankfully, there no social media so we can turn off the TV following the Six O’Clock News and walk away.
A clip of Kiss The Future…
February 29, 1992 shortly before the Siege of Sarajevo U2 launched Zoo TV, a multimedia sensory overload spectacle that presented their fresh reinvention to massive audiences.
Fans come for the new music and they stay for the satire of news sold to viewers as entertainment.
The U2 concerts incorporated channel surfing, prank calls, video confessionals, a belly dancer, and eventually…as U2 were touring Europe in 1993: live satellite transmissions with Sarajevo.
Imagine interrupting a rock concert…20 to 40 thousand sweating people, some high, some horny, some happy…to beam in live perspectives direct from Sarajevo.
The audience don’t know what to expect, the band don’t know what to expect.
You’re in ravaged Sarajevo and you’ve been given this opportunity to talk to thousands of people…what do you say?
What do you share?
How do you help people who’ve gathered for a good time to understand what the war is like?
This is the backdrop of Kiss The Future. The fall of the Berlin wall, U2’s Achtung Baby, CNN, genocide, the Soviet Union’s collapse and the Siege of Sarajevo.
It sounds heavy. It’s not…this isn’t about death, it’s about life.
It sounds heartbreaking and it is…but this isn’t about darkness, it’s about light.
I said at the top: Kiss The Future is an uplifting documentary about undaunted creativity.
During the Siege of Sarajevo between 1992 and 1996 the Bosnians refused to surrender to the war.
Instead they hooked up generators and put on plays, arranged a beauty contest and in underground clubs played loud punk rock like The Clash and U2. They made punk rock music.
That’s how you fight the good fight…that’s how you fight back.
You sharpen stages,
You make comedy so black that it radiates light,
You distill your fury into a tight 3 minute punk song
using a device that kills fascists.
Not every war is won on the frontlines.
“Like the river…
Love will come
Love…
And I no longer pray
And I no longer hope for love
And love no longer waits”
~ U2 “Miss Sarajevo” (A sublime translation of the Luciano Pavarotti bridge)
Attached is a My Summer Lair conversation with the Kiss The Future director Nenad Cicin-Sain.
When the war in Israel-Hamas war commenced on October 7, 2023 I automatically muted and discarded most of what I was seeing…especially online.
For all the obvious and logical reasons: safety first.
One: I don’t know who you are. Being online means that everyone can freely comment on whatever is trending, but that doesn’t mean that a stranger is well-informed or well-read. Or even knowledgeable about complex historical subjects like Israel. So, my first and legitimate caution is literally Stanger Danger.
Two: another vital reason why I ignored the online white noise is because there’s a terrifying proliferation of misinformation. I’m not using “terrifying” as hyperbole.
I’m a child of the ‘80s: razor blades in Halloween candies, we only use 10% of our brains and if swallow gum it’ll digest in your stomach for 7 years proceeded the internet and gained prominent traction.
Our intellectuals wasted time debunking these widespread beliefs and yet they persist. Misinformation is terrifying because bad ideas stay forever. So, there’s precious little I can trust online.
Especially online where I can choose to click on whatever I want…I refuse to be misled. I don’t want to be ripped off and I don’t want to participate and benefit any sort of misinformation with my time, my attention and my traffic.
It’s much easier to cut everything off rather waste my time vetting and verifying. (The oddest aspect of shutting down social media during a massive event is it puzzles people. What…you don’t think people were informed during the ‘80s and ‘90s?! There’s still a wealth of podcasts, documentaries, TED Talks, books and more powerful resources. Gimme a well-research, well-written book any day over some clown making an unsourced TikTok video sitting in the front seat of his car.)
Lastly and just as important sharing is caring. I don’t need to read or consume emotional reactions to what is happening. It’s the same thing when I watch NBA games. If Steph Curry makes a great shot, I don’t need to have it reaffirmed by random strangers online. It’s still a great shot.
It’ll always be a great shot. Strangers make concerts great. Strangers don’t make cyberspace great, though.
Sharing is caring: I deeply discredit and doubt anyone who doesn’t actively promote podcasts, documentaries and especially books. Don’t just tell me what is happening today…share and tell me how we got here.
Israel’s been a mess since the ‘40s. This is a generational issue.
If you’re just going online on TikTok or on Twitter to deliver university lectures couched in emotional rants, I’m simply not interested. I don’t know what makes you qualify to do that. Nah, man. I ain’t participating in that.
When we were growing up we were constantly scolded by our math teachers to show your work. You can’t just say X = 23 and go nap it up. That’s what we do on social media (yell out or post X = 23) but don’t make it right. Show your work.
Share so other people can become well-informed and well-read. It takes a loooong time to be well-read. Be a curator.
The Israel conflict started on October 7, 2023. How many books have you seen that have been recommended since October 7, 2023? (Dare I ask how many books you’ve read since October 7, 2023? Or before then??)
How many lists of informative, well-researched podcasts have you consumed since October 7, 2023?
We don’t need influencers; they’re useless. What we should want are curators. They’re the bright streetlights on the unknown path.
Above I wrote about CNN…check out: Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News by Lisa Napoli.
I wrote about U2 and Zoo TV…check out U2: At the End of the World by Bill Flanagan.
Share so other people can become well-informed and well-read. It takes a loooong time to be well-read. Be a curator.
Holding onto the past like a toddler precariously holds a cup of juice…
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
“Fuck The Past: Kiss The Future”