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Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Eddington' Is the Perfect Conspiracy Thriller for a Broken, Brainwashed Nation
Ari Aster would like you to go back in time. The writer-director of Hereditary and Midsommar doesn't need you to travel too far. Just five years. You probably remember a few of the details from May 2020: social distancing, social-media diatribes, swabs being thrust violently into nasal cavities, 'I Can't Breathe,' uprisings in the streets. It's crazy to think all of this took place half a decade ago. It's even crazier to ignore the creeping sensation that we're still trapped in the moment when social stress fractures became chasms, as if doomed to repeat it like some cursed variation of Groundhog's Day. Eddington is technically a period piece, given that it unfolds over several days in the aforementioned mensis horribilis. The movie doesn't particularly feel like one, however. Take away the Covid masks, and this mix of modern-day Western, political satire, and several other genres mashed into one manic panic attack could be set last week. Same divisiveness, same fingerpointing, same inability to agree on a consensual reality, same constantly present anxiety, same President. As they say in Cannes, where Aster — finally at the festival with a competition title — just premiered his latest waking nightmare: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. More from Rolling Stone Kristen Stewart's 'The Chronology of Water' Is One Hell of a Directorial Debut 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' Is One Long Tom Cruise Victory Lap Cannes Honors David Lynch in 'Emotional' Tribute With Visionary's Son in Attendance In the small New Mexico town that gives this fuse-set-to-slow-burn film its title, trouble's a-brewin'. The pandemic lockdowns are in full swing, but town sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix, channeling the same hapless mode he displayed in Aster's Beau Is Afraid) isn't keen on masks. Specifically, he's not down with the idea of enforcing a statewide mandate that folks wear them, because personal freedoms matter more than public safety, also the virus is a hoax, yadda yadda yadda. The mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), tries to be patient with this officer of the law, but the two men have a tempestuous history. Some of it has to do with a possible data center set to be built in Eddington. Some of it has to do with Cross's wife Lou (Emma Stone), who once dated Garcia. A lot of it has to do with diametrically opposed viewpoints made even worse by Covid and the culture wars. After a skirmish at the local supermarket, Cross senses an opportunity to capitalize on the frustrations of some citizens. He impulsively announces, via a Facebook livestream, that he's running for mayor against Garcia in an upcoming election. The smear campaigning begins immediately. Neither his wife nor his conspiracy theorist of a mother-in-law (The Penguin's Deidre O'Connell) approves of Joe's newfound obsession about politics. Especially since Lou has become curiously interested in an internet muckraker-slash-crackpot guru named Vernon Jefferson Peak (Austin Butler) and his ideas about vast rings of powerful pedophiles pulling all of the strings behind the scenes. Meanwhile, a teenager names Brian (Cameron Mann) becomes 'radicalized' by the Black Lives Matter slogans and George Floyd protests, mostly because a young woman named Sarah (Amélie Hoeferle) is reading a book by Angela Davis. Soon, he's leading protests on Main Street and going on about white privilege. Cue broken windows, outside agitators, flame-stoking viral videos, accusations of Antifa false-flag operations — you know the drill. Brian's best friend, Eric (Matt Gomez Hidaka), who's also the mayor's son, has eyes for Sarah as well. This rivalry would have repercussions. So will Joe's attempt to suggest that his fellow candidate is a sexual predator, a gambit that spectacularly backfires on him. He's soon pushed to the brink, which leads to… well, let's just say things fall apart and the center — what little was left of it — cannot hold. For the bulk of Eddington's first half, the primary mode is broad-swipe satirical, with Aster & Co. lashing out almost indiscriminately at a host of contemporary archetypes: the way-too-online truthers, the faux-spiritual scam artists, the zero-to-woke Gen Z activists, the politicos trading on personal tragedy and carefully calibrated empathy to goose voters. (One of the funniest moments is a throwaway gag in Garcia's campaign video featuring Pascal tenderly noodling on a piano in the middle of Eddington's downtown.) As for Cross, he's given the full swaggering, swinging-dick cowboy treatment, a reminder that some Great American Caricatures are timeless. He's also meant to invoke law-and-order blowhards like Arizona's Joe Arpaio and any number of current opportunistic parasites keen to ride the red-pill wave; that Phoenix juggles all of this and still makes the character feel organically wounded is a testament to his talent. The overall lack of subtlety suits the age Aster is taking to task, though it also makes everything feel slightly wobbly on its feet. The viewpoint is both-sides misanthropy. Jonathan Swift has some notes. Then a need for a cover-up causes a gear shift into Coen brothers territory, with Joe, his deputies (Michael Ward and Yellowstone's Luke Grimes) and a nosy detective (William Belleau) from the Native American sovereignty next door engaging in various shenanigans. Don't get too attached, however. It's a feint as well. There's still one more hand to be played, an unexpected narrative left turn that reveals what may be Eddington's true form: a conspiracy thriller for a nation too broken to be mended, too brainwashed to come back from the brink, and too far gone to avoid manifesting its worst wishes and fears. Just because you're paranoid, etc., etc. And now you're fully in an Ari Aster movie, and you suddenly realize that its clothing has been made of the finest sheepskin available and tailored for hiding the wolves already at the door. We're in nightmare territory again, with the filmmaker bringing out the formalist chops and ability to build upon one unexpected turn after another that's already made him a cult figure among cinema nerds. A coda reminds us that history repeats itself first as tragedy, then as podcast-celebrity fodder. Corruption is now Eddington's unavoidable currency, but let's not limit it to one small town in New Mexico. It's a horror story of much deeper, darker strain — a possession parable in which all of the demons are both civically linked and inner. Aster has given us another movie that chills you, unnerves you and makes you want to crawl out of your skin. You just wish this one didn't feel so close to being nonfiction. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Best 'Saturday Night Live' Characters of All Time Denzel Washington's Movies Ranked, From Worst to Best 70 Greatest Comedies of the 21st Century
Associated Press
06-05-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Psychiatry's Legacy of Racism and Coercion Highlighted in Restraint Deaths
LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 5, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — With May being Mental Health Month, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) is spotlighting a disturbing new study published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, titled 'I Can't Breathe' – A Study of Civil Litigated Cases on Prone Restraint Deaths. The review analyzed 229 fatal police restraint cases from 2010 to 2019. Of those where race was reported, 38% of the victims were African American. In 58% of cases, death occurred within five minutes of restraint; more than 20% of victims were recorded gasping, 'I can't breathe'—a hallmark of lethal respiratory failure.[1] The mental health watchdog warns that such deaths are rooted in eugenic ideologies that historically promoted coercion under the guise of control. The disproportionate representation of African Americans in restraint-related deaths reflects entrenched psychiatric and psychological racism—pseudoscientific theories that falsely declared Black inferiority and continue to influence profiling today. This coercive culture is echoed in 'warrior-style' or 'killology' law enforcement training developed by a psychology professor 20 years ago that promotes a 'kill or be killed' mindset. It conditions officers to respond with deadly force. As Mother Jones reported, such training 'often runs the risk of the use of unnecessary, and sometimes, fatal force.'[2] Such force reflects a broader, systemic pattern: racial profiling and the use of physical and chemical restraints, disproportionately on African Americans. A 2017 New York Law School Journal report confirmed: 'Behavior by African-Americans is more often interpreted as 'dangerous' than identical behavior by whites,' and they are more likely to be labeled with psychiatric conduct disorders.[3] These injustices trace back to the slave era. Benjamin Rush, dubbed the 'father of American psychiatry,' claimed Blacks suffered from 'Negritude'—a disease curable only by whitening their skin. His protégé, Dr. Samuel Cartwright, fabricated the diagnosis 'Drapetomania' to explain why slaves tried to escape, advocating that 'whipping the devil out of them' was therapeutic.[4] Myths that Blacks were 'more durable to pain' persist today, known as Black hardiness,' stereotypes that influence restraint and drugging. CCHR highlights the enduring racism embedded in psychiatric practice: Further compounding harm, psychiatrists prescribe African Americans higher doses of antipsychotics, which can cause tardive dyskinesia (TD), a neurological disorder marked by uncontrollable movements.[9] African Americans are twice as likely to develop TD compared to whites.[10] Antipsychotics may cause suicidality, diabetes, brain shrinkage, compulsive behaviors, and are even linked to breast cancer, according to a recent study.[11] CCHR points to the tragic deaths of children under psychiatric restraint: Each case underscores a system not of healing, but of unchecked coercion. The United Nations and World Health Organization have repeatedly condemned coercive psychiatric practices, equating them with torture. Despite these clear international mandates, African Americans remain disproportionately subject to such practices in the U.S. CCHR, established 56 years ago by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Thomas Szasz, calls for a permanent end to coercive psychiatric practices: banning forced treatment, physical and chemical restraint, and psychological 'killology' law enforcement training. They also demand accountability for harm and deaths caused by such practices. To learn more, visit: Sources: [1] Alon Steinberg, et al., 'I can't breathe' – A study of civil litigated cases on prone restraint deaths ,' Journ. of Forensic and Legal Medicine, May 2025, [2] [3] Michael L. Perlin, et al., 'Tolling For the Aching Ones Whose Wounds Cannot Be Nursed,' Journal of Gender, Race, and Justice, Vol. 20, Issue 3 (Summer 2017), pp. 431-45, [4] Samuel A. Cartwright, M.D., 'Report on the Diseases and Physical Peculiarities of the Negro Race,' New Orleans & Surgical Journal, 1851; Thomas Szasz, Insanity, The Idea and Its Consequences, (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1990), p. 306, 307; -mental-health-month-may-spell-mental-health-slavery/ [5] [6] 'Racial disparities in the management of emergency department patients presenting with psychiatric disorders ,' Ann Epidemiology, May 2022 [7] [8] 'National Review of Restraint Related Deaths of Children and Adults with Disabilities: The Lethal Consequences of Restraint,' Equip for Equality, 2011, p. 30 [9] 'Best Practices: Racial and Ethnic Effects on Antipsychotic Prescribing Practices in a Community Mental Health Center,' Psychiatric Services, 1 Feb. 2003, [10] [11] 'J&J and Eli Lilly Concealed Breast Cancer Risks in Blockbuster Antipsychotics for Decades, Wisner Baum Lawsuit Alleges,' PR Newswire, 23 Apr. 2023 [12] 'Mental health and human rights,' Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 28 September 2018 [13] World Health Organization, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 'Guidance on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation,' 9 Oct. 2023 MULTIMEDIA: Image link for media: Image caption: CCHR calls for a permanent end to coercive psychiatric practices: banning forced treatment, physical and chemical restraint, and psychological 'killology' law enforcement training. They also demand accountability for harm and deaths caused by such practices. NEWS SOURCE: Citizens Commission on Human Rights Keywords: Religion and Churches, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, Mental Health Month, CCHR International, Study of Civil Litigated Cases on Prone Restraint Deaths, LOS ANGELES, Calif. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Citizens Commission on Human Rights) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P125954 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.
