tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post116423234726911937..comments2024-03-06T03:15:58.539-05:00Comments on <b>THE NEW REFORM CLUB</b>: Deja Vu and Time Travel FictionHunter Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961831404331998743noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-69837052565447529982007-07-16T18:06:00.000-04:002007-07-16T18:06:00.000-04:00the main reason this movie has Christian imagery a...the main reason this movie has Christian imagery and thematic material is because the screenwriter is a ChristianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1169917015460190412007-01-27T11:56:00.000-05:002007-01-27T11:56:00.000-05:00It's a nice article, and Andrew Klavan is a solid ...It's a nice article, and Andrew Klavan is a solid guy and an excellent writer. Klavan confirms the point we both agreed on earlier, that Hollywood theatrical films do not directly reflect the important concerns of our time, and he ackknowledges the point I made earlier, that TV programming is much better in this regard.<BR/><BR/>I have some thoughts on why theatrical films today don't reflect present realities, and will offer them soon.S. T. Karnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971214612730402709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1169880940992724112007-01-27T01:55:00.000-05:002007-01-27T01:55:00.000-05:00Sam,It is now three months later. There was a piec...Sam,<BR/><BR/>It is now three months later. There was a piece in the LA Times today by Andrew Klavin <A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-klavan26jan26,0,7411366.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail" REL="nofollow"> <B><I>Is Hollywood too timid for the war on terror?</I></B></A> revealing the depth of the problem I identified. <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/01/silver-screen.html" REL="nofollow"><B>Hat tip</B></A> again to Wretchard at the Belmont club. <BR/><BR/>Since your beat addresses cultural concerns, I thought you might want to know.Pascalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00303025432356543062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1164673842327209422006-11-27T19:30:00.000-05:002006-11-27T19:30:00.000-05:00Thanks for the clarification, Pascal. I fully agre...Thanks for the clarification, Pascal. I fully agree with the substance of your remarks on this issue. It's important to recognize that not every movie has to reflect our national concerns, you are quite correct to point out that is is very strange and sad if almost none do so. And you are correct to observe that in theatrical films today that is very much the case.S. T. Karnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971214612730402709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1164673557320724042006-11-27T19:25:00.000-05:002006-11-27T19:25:00.000-05:00[missing closing paragraph to the last post:]Can y...[missing closing paragraph to the last post:]<BR/><BR/>Can you think of what Hollywood classics wouldn't be? <BR/><BR/>Imagine “Casablanca” without the Gestapo and Vichy France spelled out as the bad guys. Were Hollywood as confused and fearful as today, but in that day and age, it would have then felt it safer – my own irony here – to have cast the mujahiden as the bad guys.Pascalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00303025432356543062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1164673154422972372006-11-27T19:19:00.000-05:002006-11-27T19:19:00.000-05:00I am sorry too Mr. Karnick. I permitted my reacti...I am sorry too Mr. Karnick. I permitted my reaction to a series of events rub off on you.<BR/><BR/>My response to your review coincided with <A HREF="http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2006/11/shadow-lengthens_24.html" REL="nofollow">having just read at the Belmont Club of the latest Western exhibition of cowardice</A>. This was the fresh accounting of the Australian publisher pulling a novel -- naming a terrorist as Muslim -- due to fear. That same report that did not make it to MSM in Los Angeles until today, three days late.<BR/><BR/>In that link above, Wretchard first noted the strengths that have inherently been vested in the West: "Counterterrorism doesn't necessarily involve matching fear with fear, it can use other methods: the selective and precision destruction of enemy leaders; the systematic delegitimization of the enemy ideology; the ruthless application of technological and operational superiority to offset raw enemy intimidation. But most importantly, counterterrorism must send the message that <I>it will prevail</I> and that resistance is futile." <BR/><BR/>And what do you know? The story-line of this movie, being chocked full of the Western dazzle of modern technological advancement, certainly demonstrated that without missing a beat. <BR/><BR/>So why was I annoyed? What was missing, both in the storyline and in the production, was <I>confidence</I>. <BR/><BR/>As a critic, I would hope you'd be struck by the irony of the movie makers demonstrating regret for our sins while committing new ones in the reel production. <BR/><BR/>Fran Porretto only yesterday pointed out how we show ourselves to be fools: <A HREF="”" REL="nofollow" HTTP://WWW.ETERNITYROAD.INFO/INDEX.PHP/WEBLOG/SINGLE/FRANS_SUNDAY_RUMINATIONS_THE_CHALICE_AND_THE_SWORD/”>”A fool is one who knows better but does worse. “</A><BR/><BR/>Beyond irony, our cultural dispensers seem to be afflicted with a mad blend of stupidity and cowardice. On one hand Hollywood displays an impunity by acting as if they have no care for the consequences how their output is viewed. If Muslims consider their smutty effluent to be both proof of our decadence and an attempt to corrupt them, “so what?” But on the other hand, they can’t fail to miss some consequences, “look what happened to Theo Van Gogh.” Okay, <I>now</I> that it’s their gut that may be knifed, they think twice. <BR/><BR/>And in that sudden concern for how they portray the clearest threat to our way of life is revealed the cowardice of which Wretchard warns: “Indeed, it is the enemy which has succeeded in portraying itself as the ‘good guys’; they cannot even be mentioned as ‘bad guys’ even in works of fiction.<BR/>And so disarming ourselves, even the capitals of the West become haunted by fear. The radioactive pellet; fatwa, CAIR lawsuit, knife in the stomach; academic blacklisting. Fear. And fear is the first symptom of civilizational death; the slow forgetfulness; the pathological uncertainty; the creeping paralysis. Franklin Roosevelt once said that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. Hear, hear.”Pascalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00303025432356543062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1164656300822945032006-11-27T14:38:00.000-05:002006-11-27T14:38:00.000-05:00Sorry, Pascal, but I really don't think that's an ...Sorry, Pascal, but I really don't think that's an interesting observation. OK, you wanted the terrorist to be a Muslim, and you're disappointed, but I don't fault the producers for not going there. It would have added to the film something I think it really doesn't need and would simply be a distraction from the more important thematic issues of our regret for our sins and our often-sinful desire to control our destiny. But if you think it's important for all film villains to be something other than caucasian Americans, you're free to bring it up whenever you like. However, please don't accuse me of irresponsibility for not sharing your obsession.<BR/><BR/>Tom, Christian imagery and the theme of self-sacrifice are particularly important and evident in Washington's 2004 film Man on Fire; the 2003 film Out of Time is driven by themes of sin, guilt, and redemption; temptation and the danger of seeing things in shades of gray are the central idea of Training Day; the value of every human life suffuses The Bone Collector; and such ideas and motifs are common in other films he has done in recent years.S. T. Karnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971214612730402709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1164437055190816862006-11-25T01:44:00.000-05:002006-11-25T01:44:00.000-05:00And, of course, this being out of our postmodernis...And, of course, this being out of our postmodernist, PC Hollywood, the "terrorist" is a morally conflicted white guy (Jim Caviezel). Another predictable propagandic plot cliché is somehow unsuitable for you to warn us of?Pascalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00303025432356543062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-1164260698904747582006-11-23T00:44:00.000-05:002006-11-23T00:44:00.000-05:00... but this being a Denzel Washington film, there...<I>... but this being a Denzel Washington film, there is a good deal of Christian imagery and thematic material... </I><BR/><BR/>You tease. Tell us more.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com