(no subject)
i just watched fahrenheit 9/11 for the first time, and i must say, as i suspected would be the case, i was quite disappointed. it's not that i think m moore lies, i just think he appeals to emotion and a type of you-do-the-math logic that can be misleading. but he is brilliant at doing that. the man is a master at pulling at your emotional strings.
my favorite part in the film was when a lady comes to visit washington d.c. after having lost her son in the war. it's fun to watch because the individual human of several different people collides so perfectly.
how?
so there's this woman on the lawn, sitting under a shoddy plastic tarp as a tent, black and white pictures pasted poorly to cardboard, with yin-yang peace signs surrounding her. she's rambling with a heavy accent such that no one in the situation would be able to understand her. the lady who had just lost her son, as we humans do, sought a partner for co-misery. she glances at the lady, passes her, then does an about face, bends over and says
"yes, yes, i lost my son. he died in the war. my son..."
the lady starts rambling faster, as she too is seeking attention and empathy.
a lady enters from the side of the screen and says authoritatively
"excuse me, this is not a stage"
the visitor turns to her, stands straight up, points to herself and says
"My Son."
the heckler turns sheet white, understanding her grave error. she needs a way out. still half not believing that it wasn't all a sham, she says (expressing her profound understanding of many unspoken words):
"well... where did he die?"
"[Mosul, february 19th, 2003]" she says, interrupting her. the visitor hunkers down, attempting to curl into the fetal position and walk at the same time.
the heckler, still trying to save face, yells out
"you should blame the taliban!"
oh so beautiful. so many basic human instincts in such a modern, complex scenario. i can picture the whole scene with nothing but grunts, and it still making complete sense.
i think one of the things that was interesting to me was that it turns out it really was a stage. there were clear actors/roles and a strong sense of emotion. and it was on tv. regardless of the nonfiction status of the film, the crt and speaker combo failed to communicate a sense of reality.
plus, following the path of this meta-play idea, i can guarantee the lady who lost her son did practice those lines just as an actor would. people do that type of thing, just in case those types of situations arise.
i would say i've been there, but when my dad died, i didn't view it as an excuse for anything. i still couldn't tell you when he died, because i didn't take the time to rehearse it. not that i didn't know what power a death has when it comes to manipulating other people...
"My Son."
rich. that was truly all she said. it all happened so fast...
my favorite part in the film was when a lady comes to visit washington d.c. after having lost her son in the war. it's fun to watch because the individual human of several different people collides so perfectly.
how?
so there's this woman on the lawn, sitting under a shoddy plastic tarp as a tent, black and white pictures pasted poorly to cardboard, with yin-yang peace signs surrounding her. she's rambling with a heavy accent such that no one in the situation would be able to understand her. the lady who had just lost her son, as we humans do, sought a partner for co-misery. she glances at the lady, passes her, then does an about face, bends over and says
"yes, yes, i lost my son. he died in the war. my son..."
the lady starts rambling faster, as she too is seeking attention and empathy.
a lady enters from the side of the screen and says authoritatively
"excuse me, this is not a stage"
the visitor turns to her, stands straight up, points to herself and says
"My Son."
the heckler turns sheet white, understanding her grave error. she needs a way out. still half not believing that it wasn't all a sham, she says (expressing her profound understanding of many unspoken words):
"well... where did he die?"
"[Mosul, february 19th, 2003]" she says, interrupting her. the visitor hunkers down, attempting to curl into the fetal position and walk at the same time.
the heckler, still trying to save face, yells out
"you should blame the taliban!"
oh so beautiful. so many basic human instincts in such a modern, complex scenario. i can picture the whole scene with nothing but grunts, and it still making complete sense.
i think one of the things that was interesting to me was that it turns out it really was a stage. there were clear actors/roles and a strong sense of emotion. and it was on tv. regardless of the nonfiction status of the film, the crt and speaker combo failed to communicate a sense of reality.
plus, following the path of this meta-play idea, i can guarantee the lady who lost her son did practice those lines just as an actor would. people do that type of thing, just in case those types of situations arise.
i would say i've been there, but when my dad died, i didn't view it as an excuse for anything. i still couldn't tell you when he died, because i didn't take the time to rehearse it. not that i didn't know what power a death has when it comes to manipulating other people...
"My Son."
rich. that was truly all she said. it all happened so fast...