Daniel Heydon

Popular Culture 2011:The Outer Planets & Entertainment Trends

by Daniel Heydon

(published in Dell Horoscope 2011 Yearbook)

Pluto in Capricorn 2008 - 2024

   These financial crises have provoked an outpouring of articles and books.on the subject, including NYT 2010 bestsellers such as Crisis Economics, by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm (“How the global financial system broke down in 2008, and what may happen if new regulations are not embraced” [NYT] );  13 Bankers, by Simon Johnson and James Kwak. (“A call for the restructuring of the banking industry.” [NYT] ): and The End of Wall Street, by Roger Lowenstein. (“ A journalist’s account of the financial collapse, from origins to bailout”., [NYT]. Perhaps, the definitive history of the banking crisis is Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves – soon to be an HBO TV movie sometime in 2011.

Neptune’s entrance into Capricorn, the sign that rules corporations, in 1984, was accompanied by giant mergers in big business, with 1985 setting a record for corporate takeovers. Uranus in Capricorn (1988 –1996) brought us downsizing. With Neptune in Capricorn, the corporation was idealized, e.g. In Search ofExcellence: Lessons from the Well-runCorporation which was #1 on the NYT Bestseller List the first day Neptune entered Capricorn in 1984. By the time Uranus entered Capricorn, disillusionment with the decade of greed and corruption had set in with such books as Liar’s Poker, Barbarians at the Gate, etc. being published. Pluto, the planet of death and rebirth in the sign of governments and corporations since 2008 has brought us the Wall Street financial crisis, including the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, the government bailout of other major investment banks and AIG, a worldwide economic recession, and large-scale corporate and government financial misconduct and mismanagement (e.g. Goldman Sachs).

These financial crises have provoked an outpouring of articles and books.on the subject, including NYT 2010 bestsellers such as Crisis Economics, by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm (“How the global financial system broke down in 2008, and what may happen if new regulations are not embraced” [NYT] );  13 Bankers, by Simon Johnson and James Kwak. (“A call for the restructuring of the banking industry.” [NYT] ): and The End of Wall Street, by Roger Lowenstein. (“ A journalist’s account of the financial collapse, from origins to bailout”., [NYT]. Perhaps, the definitive history of the banking crisis is Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves – soon to be an HBO TV movie sometime in 2011.

 Hollywood, too, has responded to the financial crisis that shook the world at the end of 2008 with Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn with several films on tap for 2011 and beyond.  Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleepshit the big screen in September 2009. A film adaptation of the 2010 Broadway play “Enron”is in the works, and 2011 will bring us the film Margin Call, a picture that follows eight people at a financial firm during the first 24 hours of the crisis, with a great cast, including Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, and Kevin Spacey.In development is The Wolf of Wall Street, a memoir by Jordan Belfort to be produced as a film by Ridley Scott with Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role.

Apocalyptic Themes – An ongoing Pluto in Capricorn trend

 Capricorn is the sign of the world and Pluto is the planet of apocalypse, which is the reason why 2011 and beyond is bringing us a raft of novels, movies, and TV shows about humanity tottering on the edge of extinction.

1.  Alien Invasions

·       Battle: Los Angeles is a science fiction action film, showcasing the United States Marines attempting to defeat an alien invasion of planet Earth. (Release date 3/11/ 2011).

·         Cowboys & Aliens is an upcoming science fiction western film, co-produced by Stephen Spielberg and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Paul Dano, and Sam Rockwell. The film is about an extraterrestrial species that lands in Arizona in the mid-1800s. The aliens plan to squash the Wild West and enslave humanity, but the cowboys and native Apache have other ideas. The projected release date is July 29, 2011.

·         Stephen Spielberg’s upcoming post-apocalypic TV show Fallen Skies starring Noah Wylie will premiere in mid-2011 on TNT. The storyline will follow human resistance fighters led by Wylie as they hide out in the mountains and strike back at the invaders in the aftermath of a successful alien invasion that nearly wipes out the human race.

    Noted physicist Stephen Hawking for one thinks so. Shortly before Pluto entered Capricorn, Hawking said: “ I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, or other dangers. I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space” ” ("Physicist Hawking experiences zero gravity". CNN. 2007-04-26)  Later, however, in April 2010, in a series for the Discovery Channel, Hawking warned against making contact with aliens from out of space, as they may not be friendly. So perhaps, we indeed have something to learn from the parallel universe of the entertainment world about viruses and space invaders that will in time prove useful to us in the real world. Let’s hope, though, that what is fiction now won’t be fact at some future date.   

2. Viral Plagues

Apocalypse comes in many forms with Pluto in Capricorn. In addition to entertainment fare involving space invaders, there will be upcoming films, books, TV shows, etc. about the possibility of humankind being wiped out by a viral plague. All this perhaps sounds like science fiction – which it is – but is it more   than that?

 Noted physicist Stephen Hawking for one thinks so. Shortly before Pluto entered Capricorn, Hawking said: “ I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, or other dangers. I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space” ” ("Physicist Hawking experiences zero gravity". CNN. 2007-04-26)  Later, however, in April 2010, in a series for the Discovery Channel, Hawking warned against making contact with aliens from out of space, as they may not be friendly. So perhaps, we indeed have something to learn from the parallel universe of the entertainment world about viruses and space invaders that will in time prove useful to us in the real world. Let’s hope, though, that what is fiction now won’t be fact at some future date.   

·        You may have to wait a while for the film versions of the Passages trilogy, but you won’t have to wait too long for Stephen Soderbergh’s deadly global virus outbreak thriller, Contagion, a film that will hit the theatres on 10/21/2011. This is not a story about a sci-fi super-plague, as the disease only causes death in a certain percentage of those who come in contact with it, but is enough to cause worldwide panic and fear once the word gets out.  With an A-list cast including Gweneth Paltrow, Matt Damon,  Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, and John Hawkes, it’s likely to be one of the super hits of 2011.

•  A post-apocalyptic world would indeed be very grim if it is anything like the world envisioned by author Justin Cronin in his novel Passages, which was published on June 9, 2010 and debutedat #3 on the New York Times hardcover fiction best seller list.  The novel begins in 2018. A government experimental vaccine gone wrong leads to the world being overrun by vampire-like humans who are infected with the virus. A small group of humans unaffected by the virus attempt to survive in a world where zombie-like creatures have literally gone viral. Passages is the first novel in the trilogy, with the others to be published in 2011 and 2013.  Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions paid $1.75 million for the film rights, and John Logan, who wrote the screenplay for “Gladiator,” is currently at work on a movie script.           
• You may have to wait a while for the film versions of the Passages trilogy, but you won’t have to wait too long for Stephen Soderbergh’s deadly global virus outbreak thriller, Contagion, a film that will hit the theatres on 10/21/2011. This is not a story about a sci-fi super-plague, as the disease only causes death in a certain percentage of those who come in contact with it, but is enough to cause worldwide panic and fear once the word gets out.  With an A-list cast including Gweneth Paltrow, Matt Damon,  Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, and John Hawkes, it’s likely to be one of the super hits of 2011.

Pluto in Capricorn and Fatherhood 

   Neptune, the planet of idealism was in Capricorn, the sign of the father from 1984 – 1998. During that period of time, Bill Cosby was America’s ideal (Neptune) dad (Capricorn).  His The Cosby Show was the #1 show on TV for six straight years (1984 – 1989) and his book Fatherhood reached #1`on the New York Times Bestseller List and became the top selling book of 1986. With Uranus in Capricorn (1988 –1996) America was introduced to the Uranian Dad – fathers without spouses raising kids on their own. The Fall TV season of 1988 – 1989 featured single dads on the following TV shows, Empty Nest, Coach, Close to Home, First Impressions, Full House, and My Two Dads.  Dysfunctional families such as the Simpsons, Roseanne, and Married…with Children were also big with Uranus in Capricorn.  Now with Pluto in Capricorn since 2008 we have the Plutonian Dad – stories about fathers (and their relatives) whose lives were in some way touched by the influence of Pluto.

For example, the 2009 memoir This Family of Mine: What It Was Like Growing Up Gotit, by Victoria Gotti, daughter of the late former boss of the New York City Gambino crime family, John Gotti. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of 13 murders, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, obstruction of justice,  illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion, and loansharking. Certainly, the aforementioned list of crimes qualifies John Gotti as a Pluto type. 

   A post-apocalytpic wasteland is the Plutonic setting for the 2009 hit film The Road baed on Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitizer Prize novel. Technically, this film with its horrific trappings belongs in my section “Apocalyptic trends – An ongoing Pluto in Capricorn trend”, but since it is a moving story about a father-son relationship, it also belongs here.  While it would be incorrect to say that a majority of stories about father-child relationships during this Pluto in Capricorn period will reflect the combined symbolism of Pluto and Capricorn, there seems to be an ongoing trend in films, etc. to depict an increased number of fathers who are authoritation, criminal.sadistic, ruthless, vengeful, anti-social, screwed-up, psychopathic or who in some other way either express the dark side of Pluto or are exposed to it.  Keep in mind, not all fathers are that way, but while Pluto is in Capricorn we will gain a better understanding of  the minority who are.

Pluto in Capricorn and Mountain Climbing

lWe all glory in the acchievements of those mountaineers who make it to the top of once unscaleable peaks like Mount Everest and K2, but seldom do we hear the stories of those climbers who didn’t make it to the summit. Now, with Pluto in Capricorn, their stories are being told.  No Way Down: Life andDeath on K2 (Published: June 29, 2010) by Graham Bowley is such a story.K2: LifeandDeath on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain (Published, October 13, 2009) by Ed Viestura and David Roberts, One Mountain Thousand Summits:The UntoldStoryTragedy and True Heroism on K2. (Published July 6, 2010) by Freddie Wilkinson are others. March 2009 brought us the TV show, Disaster at K2, a documentary that follows the climbers that reached the summit of K2 on August 2, 2008 and then the disaster that followed. Inevitably, there will be more films, books, and TV programs about mountain climbing with its triumphs and tragedies before Pluto leaves Capricorn in 2025.

Uranus in Aries 2010 – 2019

 Uranus entered Aries for a brief stay from May 28, 2010 to August 19, 2010. Then it revisits Pisces for a short while and will return to Aries on March 12, 2011 where it will remain until March 6, 2019.  Is there anything we can learn about upcoming trends in entertainment from the less than three-month stay of Uranus in Aries during 2010? Unfortunately, not very much. We are still in a period of transition, for 2011 will bring us cultural fare that reflects meanings of both Uranus in Pisces and Uranus in Aries. The prime time TV networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, are giving us traditional male-dominated series where the guy chases the girl, but these programs are so unoriginal they are not even worth discussing. Yes, Aries is the sign of the male, but remember Uranus is the planet of originality and there is nothing that smacks of innovation in what is being served to us on prime time TV. No wonder, people are flocking to Cable, for those formerly second tier networks, such as SyFy, USA, FX, STARZ, Comedy Central, etc. are now first tier and are more likely to be trendsetters than the traditional big three.  Meanwhile, HBO holds on to its position as yes, the very best, network on TV. It doesn’t take a change of planets from one sign to another for HBO to be truly innovative, for it is always at the forefront of what’s best on TV. More about this later, for before I discuss upcoming Uranus in Aries cultural trends, I want to take a look at what’s happening in Hollywood.

 It was a disappointing 2010 summer blockbuster season for Tinsel town. Though we have plenty of action/adventure movies (yes Aries is the generic action/adventure sign) these films rely more on special effects than the true Aries’ qualities of courage, individuality, and self-reliance.  If I personally had all those special effects at my disposal, I too could be brave, fearless, and intimidating. In other words, what we have here is counterfeit Aries. The next three years of Hollywood fare have for the most part been scheduled with sequels, and sequels of the sequels and loads of big bucks spent on a multitude of superheroes’ films (and sequels). Is superhero an Aries phenomenon?  If we think in terms of the philosophy of Nietzsche, who was born in 1844 with both Uranus and Pluto in Aries, it may very well be: But the concept of superhero as exploited by Marvel Comics is not. 

For the record,. the release of Warner Bros.' and DC Entertainment's Green Lantern in June 2011, along with several other Justice League characters; the release of Marvel's Thor, Captain America and The Avengers in 2011-12; and Sony's Spider-Man slated for 2012 will all garner global attention. There may be as many as a dozen superhero theatrical releases (plus TV series) over the next few years.

Courage during wartime  - A Uranus in Aries theme

Individual bravery during wartime is always a popular topic when Uranus is in Aries. Restrepo, a 2010 documentary about the Afghanistan war, focuses on the daily lives of 15 soldiers during a grueling 14-month tour of duty in an especially dangerous part of Afghanistan. Afterward, when the tour was done, the filmmakers conducted interviews in which the soldiers tried to make sense of what they had experienced. One comes away with the impression that these soldiers are truly courageous and that each one of them is an individual in his own inimitable way. Yet at the same time we are made aware of the trauma of combat. OP (outpost) Restepro (named after a fallen comrade)  sits in a valley and  is always open to enemy fire. An ambush could come at any time, a fact of life that keeps the soldiers in an almost perpetual state of nervousness. Yes, war is hell, a truth that is brilliantly conveyed in this film which received the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

On tap for release in 2012 is a remake of the 1930 (Uranus was also in Aries in 1930) American classic film All Quiet on the Western Front based on the Erich Maria Remarque novel, starring Daniel (“Harry Potter”) Radcliffe. No matter what your nationality, the war experience is always the same hell. The film describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during World War I, and the difficulty experienced by these soldiers in returning to civilian life after having experienced extreme combat situations

Back to the future

 You don’t need a time machine to travel back to the last time Uranus was in Aries, i.e. 1927 – 1935, for there will be many films, books and TV shows in 2011- 12 and beyond about events that occurred then and people who were born during that time period.

• Two months after Uranus entered Aries in 1927, Charles Lindbergh stunned the world by making the first non-stop transatlantic flight and on July 21, 2010, with Uranus again in Aries, a new highly praised biography The Flight of the Century: Charles Lindbergh and the Rise of American Aviation was published.
• The Good Earth by writer Pearl Buck won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932. . That novel, an intimate account of the lives of poor, rural Chinese fieldworkers, was a best seller for two years. It changed the way Americans thought about the Chinese. June 9, 2010 brought us Hilary Spurling’s biography, Pearl Buck in China which quickly became a New York Times Bestseller with Uranus once more in Aries.
• A few days after Uranus entered Aries in April 1927 renowned photographer Ansel Adams wrote with great confidence, "My photographs have now reached a stage when they are worthy of the world's critical examination. I have suddenly come upon a new style which I believe will place my work equal to anything of its kind."(Alinder, Mary; Stillman, Andrea; Adams, Ansel; first portfolio, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras, in his new style,  taken with his Korona view camera using glass plates and a dark red filter (to heighten the tonal contrasts).  On July 27, 2010, it was announced that two boxes of glass plates bought at a garage sale a decade ago for $45 by commercial painter Rick Norsigian were in fact photographic negatives created more than 80 years ago by Ansel Adams.

Jane Eyre and The Three Musketeers: Uranus in Aries (1843 –1851)

 ‘Long lines wait impatiently outside book shops for the latest issue of the magazine Le Siecle. On the streets and in cafes Parisians talked excitedly about each new installment of the thrilling adventure story, The Three Musketeers.” The above quoted lines are excerpted from The Three Musketeers - Trident Press Imprint of 1879 Edition (Signature Classics Series) (Leather Bound) of this classic tale by Alexandre Dumas which was first published in serial form between March and July 1844 with Uranus in Aries. What is perhaps surprising is that this swashbuckling adventure novel of intrigue, romance and glory seeking remains popular today, in both print and film. It was even turned into a Broadway musical in 1928 with Uranus in Aries. On April 15, 2011 a new film version of the Three Musketeers will premiere with Luke Evans , Ray Stevens, and Matthew Macfadyen as the three musketeers and Logan Lerman  as aspiring musketeer D'Artagnan. Milla Jovovich plays Milady, the romantic interest and Orlando Bloom portrays the Duke of Buckingham.

To momentarily indulge in stereotypical thinking, one might say The Three Musketeers is for the guys, and that the March 11, 2011 remake of Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 classic novel Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender as Rochester, and Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax is for the ladies. Some feminists will nod in agreement when they hear or read these words from Jane’s lips (let’s hope these ideas aren’t screwed up in the film):

   Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex." (Chapter XII).

But to think of this novel/film solely as a feminist tract is to minimize its importance as a comment on the human condition, for its applicability to both men and women. Charlotte Bronte has a deep understanding of the Aries/Libra polarity. Men are not the villains here.  Rochester, the man whom she loves and subsequently marries has a deep respect for Jane’s individuality. That is why Jane marries him. Marriage in the eyes of Charlotte Bronte is a coming together of two equal partners, each secure in his or her own selfhood.  And now we get to the heart of the matter. To quote from Wikipedia; "Jane Eyre is not only a love story; it is also a plea for the recognition of the individual's worth. Throughout the book, Jane demands to be treated as an independent human being, a person with her own needs and talents. [ in other words, an Aries!] Early on, she is unjustly punished,  precisely for being herself — first by Mrs. Reed and John Reed, and subsequently by Mr. Brocklehurst. Her defiance of Mrs. Reed is her first active declaration of independence in the novel, but not her last."

Neptune in Aquarius (1998 – 2011) & Neptune in Pisces (2011 – 2025

With Uranus in the sign of friendship (1995-2003), one show stood out above all the rest, and that was Friends. What set Friends apart from other sitcoms considered ensem­ble shows was that itdividual stars

With Neptune in Aquarius the past fourteen years, we had the heyday of reality TV which featured shows on which anyone could be a star. The prime time mover during this period was American Idol, a show in which the winner was determined by the number of votes cast by the world at large – in other words stardom via the democratic process. Whether American Idol continues to be a success remains to be seen, as Simon Cowell is leaving the show and Neptune is leaving the sign of Aquarius.

One thing is for sure, social networking is here to say. With Neptune in Aquarius the concept of “friendship” became a worldwide phenomenon. Friendship went viral with the arrival of Facebook in 2004, and  My Space and Twitter in 2006.  With over 500 million users on Facebook, it is theoretically possible to have that many people as your “friends”. (so why isn’t there peace in the world?)

 It is fitting that as we approach the end of Neptune’s stay in Aquarius that both a book and a film have been made about how two Harvard undergraduates created Facebook: The Accidental Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich was published on July 14th 2009 and still remains a New York Times bestseller. That book became the basis of the film The Social Network with Justin Timberlake among others which premiered October 1, 2010.

 Uranus is leaving Pisces on March 12, 2011, but Neptune enters Pisces on April 4, 2011. Basically, what this means is that there will be a continued interest in the paranormal, fantasy, elves, mythology – and yes, of course, vampires and werewolves. I said “continued”, but I should have said “increased” If you’ll allow me to fantasize for a moment, perhaps there will be a new reality TV show called something like Psychic Idol to take American Idol’s place, for I guarantee you that interest in psychic phenomena is going mainstream with Neptune in Pisces for the next fourteen years.

 TV’s Ghost Whisperer with Jennifer Love Hewitt began with Uranus in Pisces on September 23, 2005 and was cancelled by CBS on May 21, 2010.seven days before Uranus entered Aries on May 28, 2019. Does this signal the end of encounters with ghosts in the entertainment world?  No it does not. On tap for some time in 2011 is the film The Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role. The story is about a young lawyer who travels to a remote village to organize a recently deceased client's papers. There he discovers the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance.

Coming to your neighborhood theatre on September 9, 2011 is The Apparition, a story about a young couple Kelly (Ashley Greene) and Ben (Sebastian Stan) discover they are being haunted by a presence that was accidentally conjured during a university parapsychology experiment. Ghostbusters III is coming in 2012

Pisces is the sign of the ocean and it is apppropriate that Herman Mellville’s masterpiece Moby Dick  is once again coming to the big screen in 2011. Melville’s novel was first published in 1851 with Neptune in Pisces. The  primarily short story French writer Guy de Maupassant was born in 1850 with Neptune in Pisces and his novel Bel Ami is being adapted as a film for the big screen with Robert Pattinson in the leading role and Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci as co-stars.Bel Ami is the story of a  journalist Georges Duroy with questionable morals who gradually rises from rags to riches among the Paris elite thanks to his connections to various powerful and wealthy mistresses. This story really doesn’t relate to Piscean themes, but it’s author was born with Neptune in Pisces. As the hero is ruthless in his pursuit of power and place, I think it perhaps is more related to Pluto in Capricorn 

The nursing profession, however  is definitely related to Pisces. The first hospital ever for the training of nurses was founded in 1846 in Kaiserwerth, Germany with Neptune in Pisces. With Uranus in Virgo in the 1960s medical doctors, such as Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare were featured on prime time TV. With Uranus in the opposite sign of Pisces, Nurse Jackie with Edie Falco made its debut on Showtime on June 8 ,2009. Unfortuneately, Mercy. a show that focused on the lives of three nurses,  began September 23, 2009 on NBC  and ended on May 12, 2010. Hawthorne (sometimes rendered HawthoRNe) is an hour-long medical drama on the TNT television network starring Jada Pinkett Smith (as chief nursing officer)  and Michael Vartan. It premiered on June 16, 2009 and was renewed for 2010.  Though this is not exactly a trend, it is a start. If you google nurses and entertainment, you’ll find more porno movies listed than network TV shows. It’s about time that we took the nursing profession seriously and with respect. Perhaps, we will now do so, with Neptune in the sign associated with nursing.