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April 21, 2006
Moral Issue Or Nothing?
A lot of writers have made high drama out of a card at the end of United 93 that said something to the effect of, "And The War On Terror Had Begun." The card has been removed in the hulabaloo, but even when I saw it, my take was that it was ironic that a comment so iconic was being juxtaposed against a movie that brought it all down to the personal.
Yesterday, I had a chat with a couple of the people who were upset about the card and they were actually in agreement with how I felt about it, but at least one of them expressed the idea that the great unwashed can’t be trusted not to see it as a positive comment about The War On Terror.
I hate that position on the public in a deep, unrestrained way. The patriarchal or matriarchal attitude of “I get it, but they might not get it, so we have to protect them from it,” pisses me off to no end. There is truth in it. “They” may not get it. But “We” are not “their” parents. Moreover, the attitude almost inevitably reflects, in subtext, the idea that “they” are wrong in their beliefs and “we” are right and anything we “let” them see that might support what they already believe should not be shown.
Anyway…
Today, in Defamer and an LA website called Franklin Avenue, an NBC Channel 4 LA website slideshow of Scientologists AND former Scientologiststurned up. I see no story that it’s connected to. And if you search Scientology on the KNBC website, it doesn’t come up as a link. Nor does it come up under the site’s slideshow page.
I don’t think that we should be chasing Scientologists. I do have real concerns about the organization. (I also have more than a few concerns about other organized religious groups.) But it all leads to “Are you now or have you ever been…?” Even if “we” think “they” are being tricked into their faith.
And this slideshow struck me as a Most Unwanted list, not unlike a child molester slide show. There is no Catholic Slideshow or Jew Slideshow, much less a Former Muslim slideshow. And coming from a news organization, I have to wonder… where is the news here?
Or am I making this into something greater than the sum of its parts?
Posted by poland at April 21, 2006 12:38 PM
Comments
The Channel 4 thing sounds very silly and hysterical and reflective of the lowered standards for news. In fact, it sounds like local news stations have zero standards anymore and just look for anything sensational to sell ad time with.
The United 93 thing is more complicated. The card sounded jingoistic and I'm glad to hear it has been removed (although they could have just reworded it). But that's an act of responsibility on the part of the filmmakers. Other audience members have nothing to do with it.
Posted by: jeffmcm
at April 21, 2006 01:47 PM
DP, in both cases you're suffering from one of the fundamental liberal problems: In your desire to be fair to all sides, to equivalue, you're losing sight of the fact that there might indeed be a right answer and a wrong answer to the questions at hand.
Sometimes the majority of the public is wrong about things. Am I elitist to say so? Probably. That doesn't make it wrong.
Sometimes a religion is also a scam. It's not real just because some people really do believe in it.
Not all viewpoints are correct. You have the best intentions in considering all viewpoints, but you can't allow the multitude of viewpoints to cripple your own faculty for reason.
Posted by: Eric
at April 21, 2006 01:54 PM
Some of the people listed as current Scientologists aren't...and some of them aren't even still alive!
Posted by: James Leer
at April 21, 2006 02:16 PM
Did Greta Van Susteren have another round of plastic surgery? That alleged photo of her doesn't look like her.
Posted by: jeffmcm
at April 21, 2006 02:26 PM
Thank god they dropped that title card from United 93. Seriously, it's not LOTR. That title card reads like something Gandalf would say. A film based of the events of United 93, should not have GANDALF PHRASING at the end of it. Dear lord, whomever thought of that, really lacks any sort of clue. If the people GET IT or NOT. Well, the PEOPLE, are a lot more DIVIDED and INTELLECTUAL then they are ever given credit for by the people on the right side of the country and the left.
That aside, nothing in Scientology can be as silly as original sin, denying the basic nature of humnaity to do something that a deity probably doesnt care about, the fact that a prophet never wrote anything down, and his backwards father-in-law crafted his son-in-law's preachings to HIS will. The list goes on. Sure. Thetans, a bit strange, but STRANGE has never stopped religion before. So, if the Scientologists, want their ladies to shut it during pregnancy. Well, that's their thing, and I could care less. Seriously, we should care about Scientologist? If those people can suffer through eight-hours of induction and get something out of it. Well HIP-HOP HOORAY for them, but I am past caring.
Posted by: TheManWho at April 21, 2006 02:59 PM
Brandy's a scientologist!!!? My fragile little world is falling apart!
Seriously, the list reads as a list of who is popular, and who isn't...so basically, if you suck, you no longer are a scientologist. If anyone ever figures out the true purpose of the religion, it'll probably cause the planet to implode.
Posted by: Aladdin Sane
at April 21, 2006 05:12 PM
There is a card at the very end of the print I saw in Chicago that seemed off, but I think the phrasing was different from this? You've seen two different cards in different screenings, D?
Posted by: prideray
at April 21, 2006 05:47 PM
I'll be up in arms if I see 'Git'R'Dun' slapped onto an ending card.
It sounded beyond lame in the first place. Glad they changed it.
Posted by: Tofu at April 21, 2006 07:15 PM
I'm glad they took the card away because the war on terror had been going on MUCH longer than since 2001 and I think everyone knows that. AND THEN THE WAR ON TERROR CONTINUED would be more apt, but still... no.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0
at April 22, 2006 01:20 AM
I was going to argue with KCamel about it, but then I looked it up on that most reputable source, Wikipedia, and saw that the War on Terrorism had started after the USS Cole Attack in Oct. 2000. So never mind.
Posted by: jeffmcm
at April 22, 2006 01:23 AM
well, "war on terror" the phrase may have only been around since then but surely you guys (lol, YOU the US government) have been trying to fight it for years. Surely after the original World Trade Center attack people weren't all "oh, let's not try to get who did this." ??? Hadn't they been trying to get Bin Laden for years. Not to mention the "war on terror" has been going on in other countries other than the US too. Northern Ireland, Middle East, etc...
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0
at April 22, 2006 07:05 AM
Maybe they meant "war on terror" and its current use as a marketing slogan, which has only been the case since 9/11.
Posted by: Eric
at April 22, 2006 08:50 AM
Greengrass seems to be a very noble filmmaker. He has said that he removed the slate because he did not want to divide people on either side of the political realm. Given his actions I give him a pass. He seems to want to find truth outside of politics.
Other Hollywood filmmakers (Clooney, The Washowskis, Moore) should take a lesson from people such as Greengrass or Bono. Greengrass shows he is a class act. I'll be there opening night.
As for the Scientology thing...it is a fad/trend. Nobody should be singled out for being a Scientologist and if that was the intent of this photospread than it is wrong. Having said that, I think scientology is more of a 'big deal' in Hollywood and the media than it is with the average person. Other than Tom Cruise or Travolta, it is off the radar for most.
I also however agree with the poster above who warned of the dangers of equivocation and relativism. That is a trap that sadly, too many people confuse with 'enlightenment' in the current era.
As for the phrase 'war on terror', it certainly is more common post 9/11 but did not begin with such. Terrorism has been a world wide phenomenon for decades in its current form. America is only dealing with it as a nation now because of 9/11 but certainly other cultures have dealt with it for much longer.
It is more complex than just 'oil' or 'Iraq' and will exist long after we are off the planet.
Posted by: Nicol D at April 22, 2006 10:04 AM
Hasn't Greengrass publicly stated that he is against the war? What exactly should Clooney learn from him? Moore is a different story.
Posted by: Stella's Boy
at April 22, 2006 10:17 AM
No issues at all with him being against the war. That is a totally respectable position if it comes from the right place.
What Clooney could learn from him is to not drink so much from the cup of arrogance and condescension.
Greengrass has conducted himself in such a way that his film is loved by both the left and the right. With such controversial subject matter, that is no small feat. Jeff Wells loved it and so did Rush Limbaugh.
Greengrass should be proud of himself. I'll be glad to be able to talk about this film more in depth after I see it.
Posted by: entropy266@hotamil.com at April 22, 2006 12:41 PM
No issues at all with him being against the war. That is a totally respectable position if it comes from the right place. Same with being for the war.
What Clooney could learn from him is to not drink so much from the cup of arrogance and condescension.
Greengrass has conducted himself in such a way that his film is loved by both the left and the right. With such controversial subject matter, that is no small feat. Jeff Wells loved it and so did Rush Limbaugh.
Greengrass should be proud of himself. I'll be glad to be able to talk about this film more in depth after I see it.
Posted by: Nicol D at April 22, 2006 12:42 PM
Jeff Wells loving a film is a flashing red light as far as I'm concerned.
What about Clooney as a filmmaker - a guy who's directed two films, as opposed to a movie star - is 'condescending' or 'arrogant'? I don't even think his speeches as movie star fit that category either, but I understand why you would think so.
Posted by: jeffmcm
at April 22, 2006 01:27 PM
TO be honest, if Greengrass had gone radically off the rails and had characters sprouting lines like "Oh, it's all Sadaam's fault!" then we'd have an issue. Clooney's films were deliberately left, for Clooney to not discuss the left would be against his character. If Greengrass was using the promotion of this movie to protest the war then there would be a problem.
And also, Nicol's gonna get spammed!
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0
at April 23, 2006 01:48 AM
Oh snap! Take that, entropy!
Posted by: jeffmcm
at April 23, 2006 02:56 AM
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