Rockin' Recreation
Patrick and I went to a real swinging party last night... the big welcome bash for my teaching gig, the Madison Senior Scholars program. When we got there, this Ruben Studdard-look-alike, an RA in the dorm, stopped us and said that we had to be at least 50 to enter. Maybe we should have taken that opportunity to slip out, but we ventured forward to wine, cheese, cake, and Lawrence Welk cds blaring from a boom-box. It actually turned out to be more fun than we initially feared, but we ended up sitting and talking to this couple who came to my Hollywood lecture last week. I knew I liked the man when he raised his hand and said, "I always thought that Hollywood movies were fluff, what about the Italian Neo-Realists, the French films from the 1940s?" Anyway, it was a lot to fun to talk to them. They read the New York Times religiously, and they asked us our professional opinion of
Fahrenheit 9/11. They were interesting to talk to, had lots of questions about Overture, the arts center I work for in the afternoon, and he just loves Kurasowa's
High and Low. They made the party pretty delightful, and we snuck out before the dancing really began, which was not a moment too late. My afternoon plan is to pull my lectures together for the upcoming week - this week I am doing a survey of prominent directors: Frank Capra, William Wyler, and Preston Sturges. Our film is
Bringing Up Baby and I'll lead a class about that / the main characteristics of screwball comedy too.
Since the Madison premier was sold out (a good sign), Patrick and I went to see
Fahrenheit 9/11 yesterday morning. It's definitely a good film and I think, solidly constructed. There aren't quite as many Michael Moore-ish stunts as the trailer suggests (like reading the text of the Patriot Act over a microphone of an ice cream truck) and honestly, I don't think that he's making too many implausible / stunning accusations. His argument is straightforward and he's basically arguing two main points, aiming for two different audiences - (1) that the Bush family is inherently compromised with foreign policy decisions in the Middle East because of a web of somewhat illicit business and personal relationships with prominent Saudis and the Bin Laden family; (2) that the United States Army is staffed by poor Americans who join the army because they have no other prospects and that they've been sent to fight in a war who's real motive is profit, kids are dying needlessly (or being horribly wounded) and the only real victor will be Hallburton. I think it's important that the ties to prominent Middle Eastern business people are important to air, but I also think it's very important to show soldiers, veterans, parents of veterans say that they've changed their opinion on the war - they don't want to be there, they don't want to go back, and they don't want others to have to go. One of the most poignant parts in the film is when a wounded soldier says, "Before I went to Iraq, I was a Republican... but when I get out of the VA hospital, I am going to become very active in the Democratic Party." At that point, the liberal-Madison theater erupted in applause. The music is the main source of humor in the film and it's well-edited to make some choice juxtaposition. One compliant is that a lot of the source material comes from live satellite feeds (what's going on when commercials are on) or television clips. As a result, the quality isn't as good as film, or even DV. But what can you do? Early prediction, he'll still probably get the Oscar... but he deserves it. The whole point of a documentary, I say, is to really illuminate and issue, and if it's relevant, spur a social movement - and this film has the kind of voice and message to do that.
Here's my latest beef with democratic sentiment around these parts, and probably nationally. Madison is a hotbed of liberal activity. On my daily walk downtown, I see lots of "anyone but Bush" crap and a fair amount of Kerry signs / stickers. Just the same, the brunt of the energy is fueled into the "Anyone but Bush" camp. This film clearly has that slant as well. Moore never mentions Kerry, or any other candidate, and offers no real strategy about what to do with the mess we've made for ourselves in Iraq. It's possible the film was done before Kerry was the frontrunner or that Moore feared splintering the party by putting forth his own policy, but it's notably absent in my mind.
My latest scheme is that Kerry should be putting his ad on before F 9/11. In the theater I have to sit through some Pepsi commercials and a few car ads, why not plug Kerry? It seems to make sense to me, not that I am a spin doctor, but I think F 9/11 might do more good if you present the clear option in more explicit terms - namely that in order to have the "Anyone but Bush" phenomenon hold water, you need to actually fill in a name other than Mickey Mouse.
posted by lmjasinski at 11:25 AM
