C.E.A.R.T.A 
Is cuma liom sa foc faoi aon gharda, 
Duidín lásta, tá mise ró-ghasta, 
Ní fheicfidh tú mise i mo sheasamh ró-fhada

That's a rap verse sung by a hip-hop band from West Belfast called Kneecap. If you watch the movie with the same title you will hear them singing the song. If you are an Irish speaker, you have no choice but to watch this film. It is an important and blunt film, with a crazy atmosphere and non-stop action.

The film gives us a heartwarming look at the generation from West Belfast known as "The Ceasefire Babies" who were born after the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although there has been no war in Northern Ireland since then, it seems that the remains of that horror can still be felt long after in various ways. You see those remnants clearly in the film as the band members and their compatriots still deal with issues of cultural equality. Although the war is long over, the struggle continues in a more peaceful way, including in the form of rap music in Irish.

It was a bold choice for the members of Kneecap to play themselves in the film. It’s no harm also having a few famous actors in the film - including Michael Fassbender.

The material for the film came while a national movement was taking place in the North of Ireland to preserve Irish and to obtain official status for it. Finally, an important act was passed in Westminster in 2022 - 'The Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022' - which gave official status to the language for the first time. It is only the first step towards cultural equality for those who have Irish as part of their culture in the North of Ireland. You see the struggle right before the Act through the lens of the band and their music.

The Main Plot

Liam and Naoise are drug dealers in West Belfast. Naoise's father (Fassbender) is a tough republican, who told them that every word of Irish spoken is a bullet on behalf of the freedom of Ireland. They learned that lesson, and now they use the language as a fighting tool against the authorities. When Liam is being questioned by the 'peelers' (police), he only speaks Irish. The police employ a music teacher named JJ Ó Dochartaigh as a translator. When JJ reads what Liam has written in his notebook, he immediately realizes that Liam has a lot of promise. That's how, by accident, the band starts. Liam and Naoise have written a song called 'C.E.A.R.T.A.', and JJ helps them record in a makeshift studio he has in his garage. They give themselves stage names, Mógálí Bap (Naoise), Mo Chara (Liam) and DJ Próvaí (JJ), they call the band Kneecap, and they start doing gigs. Small gigs at first in pubs full of owl lads drinking Guinness who don't know what the hell is going on. But after a while, the popularity of Kneecap increases. Naoise, Liam and JJ are snorting and doing all kinds of drugs and are always on the verge of going out of control, in line with their public image, as cultural rebels and outspoken spokesmen for their generation in the North.

Subplots

There are a few other stories that are quite complex and interwoven with the main story.

Naoise's father, Arlo, has been on the run for the past 10 years. He was a member of a paramilitary group and faked his own death to escape the authorities. It is difficult for Naoise and his mother to carry on in Arlo's absence. But he is secretly in touch with Naoise. Arlo plays an important role at the end, which I will not reveal here.

Due to their obscene anti-British lyrics, Kneecap becomes controversial with the police, and in particular with Detective Ellis. She is not happy to learn that Liam is in a relationship with her niece Georgia, who is a Protestant. A few strange things then happen with Ellis and Georgia, but I won't tell more here.

And then there is the pressure group called 'Radical Republicans Against Drugs'. They want to stop the backstreet drug dealing that is going on, so they come into conflict with Liam and Naoise. Again, I won't reveal the details here.

Conclusion

The film fictionalizes the history of Kneecap. I love the central concept, which is the members of the band trying to preserve and expand their cultural rights through the use of Irish - a central part of their culture. Not only that, but they use a genre of music that suits their endeavors – hip-hop. Hip-hop artists have a long history of using the medium to express social issues – N.W.A, Public Enemy, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino to name but a few. So, it's no surprise that the members of Kneecap live an extravagant lifestyle – goes with the job for such pop stars.

The band takes a fresh approach, a pioneering approach to promote the rights of the minority Irish language, and this shows that the language is alive, vibrant and important, especially in the North at the moment. Irish is part of their history and identity, regardless of their religion. As long as young people like Liam, Naoise and JJ are using the language in modern ways and preserving it, it is a cause of hope for us all. And in the South - where Irish has been the main official language of the country for a long time - we have to ask ourselves - can we do more to promote the Irish language here?

.

Introduction

I recently read a remarkable book called 'The Plot', written by Jean Hanff Korelitz and published in 2021. She has written seven other books, and one 'You should have Known' inspired the mini-series 'The Undoing' on HBO/ MAX (streaming platform). She is originally from New York, but has lived in other places, including Princeton New Jersey and the United Kingdom. She met Paul Muldoon for the first time in London. She met him again the following year in Yorkshire, when he attended a poetry course taught by Muldoon. Muldoon is a famous poet, originally from Co. Armagh. Muldoon is often compared to Séamus Heaney, a fellow poet from Northern Ireland, and Muldoon's friend and mentor.

The Plot

Jake was a writer whose first book was just a flash in the pan. He tried time after time to write another book that would be as successful as his first book, but he failed. Then he did the next thing he could think of – he taught a writing class.

One student in his class claimed that he had the best plot ever and that anyone could write a great book based on that plot. Once, that man – named Evan Parker – shared what he had in mind as a plot. Unfortunately, Evan didn't write that book. When Jake later researched Evan, he found out that he was dead.

So, Jake decided to write the book and he did. An incredible thing happened then – the book he wrote called 'The Crib' was in great demand. Steven Spielberg would be the director of the film based on the book. Then, Jake met a woman named Anna, they fell in love and after a while they got married. Undoubtedly, Jake was now on the pig's back with life giong his way. But the house of cards began to shake when Jake received an unknown e-mail saying: you are a thief! The e-mail worried Jake, and he feared that he would be branded a fraud who had stolen the plot of the book - one of the worst crimes an author could commit. What should Jake do? At first, he hoped he wouldn't get any more messages – but he was dreaming. The messages never stopped, and after a while things got worse and eventually Jake needed to get his publisher's lawyers involved.

There is another thread in this story in the form of chapters from the imaginary book written by Jake ('The Crib'), interwoven with chapters of 'The Plot'. There are two parallel realities moving forward together, with you getting more information from both all the time. That's a very effective literary device, which adds to the tension and the plot a lot. Anyway, Jake realized he had no other choice but to find out who sent him the messages, and why. It didn't take much time for Jake, working as a detective and going from place to place, to discover strange things. The strangest thing he discovered was that Evan had not imagined the plot at all. I won't reveal anything else for fear of spoiling the story, but I can say that there are still a few more twists and turns left for you in the story.

Recommendations

'The Plot' is not like a James Patterson or Lee Child book. The story moves more slowly and the chapters are longer. But there is more than a thriller involved here too. The author discusses themes that are important today. For example, is it possible to steal a plot at all – what are the rules for that? It is not easy to answer that question in the age of the internet and social media, let alone Artificial Intelligence.

It was very interesting how the author weaved passages from the imaginary book 'The Crib' through this book as well, sharing the plot that Evan had in the beginning.

I would recommend you read 'The Plot', not only as a thriller, although it is a good thriller, but also as a piece of literature, which goes deeper than a detective novel in terms of character development and deals with important themes of this time.

.

Long, long ago in the Stone Age, in the golden age of rock music, when the great guitarists were at their peak, there were many superhuman heroes. It is impossible to mention them all, but among them were: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Jimi Page, Rory Gallagher, Eric Bell, Gary Moore and Johnny Fean. Another guitarist named Peter Frampton, who is from England, was also doing well up to the mid-seventies, but he had not yet achieved international fame. Everything changed for him in 1975. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Early Days

Peter Frampton attended the same secondary school as David Bowie, and Bowie was three years his senior. They both had bands, and often played together between classes. In 1966 at the age of 16, Frampton started as guitarist and singer for the band 'The Herd', and three of their songs topped the charts in the UK. In 1969, he left 'The Herd' and joined another band called 'Humble Pie'. After a few years and four albums, he left that band to go out on his own.

Frampton Comes Alive!

His first efforts, with the albums 'Wind of Change', 'Frampton's Camel' and Somethin's Happening', had little success. His next album, 'Frampton', released in 1975, went up the charts to number 32. In June 1975, Frampton performed a concert at the 'Winterland Arena' in San Fransisco, and it was recorded. That was the basis for the double album 'Frampton Comes Alive', released in 1976. That album was in the 'Billboard 200' charts for two years, and then spent ten weeks at the top of the charts. Three songs from the album also did very well as singles - Show Me the Way', 'Baby, I Love Your Way' and 'Do You Feel Like We Do'.

Frampton released his next album 'I'm in You' in 1977, and although it did quite well, it was not on par with 'Frampton Comes Alive'. Just two years after the release of his 'Frampton Comes Alive' album, he was seriously injured in a car accident. After that, he struggled with drug abuse. Although Frampton continued to play music up to the present day, his era was over and he gradually fell into oblivion.

Resurrection

When I recently heard that Frampton would be performing in San Diego, I immediately bought a couple of tickets. Although I remembered 'Frampton Comes Alive' well, like almost everyone else my age, I had no clue what happened to it in the interim. Then, my wife read an article about Frampton in the local newspaper. He was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease in 2019, which would gradually weaken the muscles in his hands. Although you'd imagine that would be the death knell for Frampton, you'd be wrong. He refused to succumb to that disease, and almost as an act of defiance, he announced some new dates for his world tour. He had to make changes in the way he used his fingers because they weren't as strong as they used to be, and he also had to do a lot of practice. After completing that tour, he organized another tour - 'Never Ever Say Never Tour', because his fingers were still pretty good.

Concert

My wife and I had great seats at the 'Rady Shell' in San Diego. The concert started at 7:30 p.m. and the music stopped until almost 10 p.m. All members of the band were seated, as Frampton had to be seated due to illness. But once we got used to that, we soon forgot about it – the music was that good. They played all the big songs, and they were great. Frampton still has a great voice, as the disease has not damaged his voice. His son, Julian Frampton, came on stage to sing 'Rebel Rebel', David Bowie's famous song, and he was outstanding as a singer. He praised his father saying that he is an inspiring man and a courageous fighter, of whom he is very proud. I completely agree with that point of view, and Peter Frampton is an indomitable spirit, who lifts up our hearts, not only as a great musician, but as a role model for us all!

.

.

.

The film 'American Fiction' received an Oscar award in the category of 'Best Adapted Screenplay.' It's a bit ironic, because the film itself is a film about a writer. The film's script is based on a novel published in 2001, entitled 'Erasure', written by Percival Everett. It is a scathing satire, describing the literary world's pressure on non-whites to conform to racial stereotypes that portray them unfavorably.

Erroll McDonald, vice president and executive editor, is one of the few prominent black editors in the publishing industry. He said many of the themes in Everett's book are just as fresh today as they were in 2001. He also said he was all too aware of the way white editors and publishers choose stories that reinforce stereotypes about black people, rather than stories which would show them as ordinary people, like everyone else.

The Plot

Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is an academic writer and Professor of Humanities. But he is not happy in the role and openly expresses his controversial views to his students, regardless of the consequences. Complaints are made to the University authorities about the ugly things Monk said in class, and his managers decide to give him an unpaid leave of absence. Monk goes home to Boston, and as he is a writer, he attends a book festival held there. A couple of things occur to Monk as he attends the festival. First of all, his writings are not in line with what the book market is looking for from black writers like him. And what is the book market looking for? Black people in stereotypical roles speaking vulgar street talk in their vernacular. This is evident from the novel 'We's Lives in Da Ghetto,' a novel written by superstar Sintara Golden (Issa Rae). When Sintara reads out an excerpt from her book, Monk sees the middle-aged white women in the audience nod in agreement.

Monk also understands that, despite his reluctance to contact his family, they are struggling in many ways and that it is important for him to be there and help them in their time of need - especially since his mother, Agnes (Leslie Uggams), has Alzheimer's disease.

To express his dissatisfaction and frustration, Monk sits down one night and begins to write a book. The title of the book is 'My Pafology', a story about gangs and guns, and bad black people. He writes the book under the pseudonym 'Stagg R. Leigh.'As Monk is unable to show his face as Stagg when dealing with various publishers, he pretends to be a criminal on the run from the law, who cannot there attend meetings in person. Then, something happens that he did not expect at all. When the manuscript is sent out, one of the major publishers makes him an offer that is hard to refuse - $750,000! Although he does not want to take it, he has no choice, as his mother needs medical care. Then his book is nominated for a major award and huge success follows for him.

Conclusion

The story works on two levels, firstly as an exposé of the pressures placed on black people working in the arts. At the same time, you see the life of Monk and his family clearly. He is a professor, his sister is a clinician and his brother is a plastic surgeon - defying the racial stereotypes spread by the media. Those two levels that are in opposition to each other create the great tension in the film. And it also clearly shows that the stereotypes that many people believe in are unfounded.

The acting in the film is superb, with Jeffrey Wright incredible in the role of Monk. You feel his frustration and pain all the time, even and perhaps especially, when he is very successful as an author.

I would recommend this movie without question. It shines a universal light on a serious topic, but the topic is discussed in a fun and entertaining way.

.

.

.