(no subject)
Saw 'Secret Window' at the movies Friday night. Mr Depp is great at playing freaks, and best of all he has the ability to play a wide variety of freaks. I find it refreshing going to a movie with a 'big name star' actually acting, instead of just being their familiar archetype. In 'Secret Window' the familar obsessions of Stephen King, such as southern drawls and big old cars are immediately recognisable. Some rather unkind reviewers have claimed the plot was predictable, but I would not agree at all, especially as the plot twists in such a way that it has a very unhollywood ending (perhaps it is this factor the reviewers don't like).
While watching the film I could not help but think of a theme in US culture that the story of Secret Window shares with westerns, the inherant distrust of the ability of 'the law' to protect you. While Mort does ask for help from the police, the local sherif is portrayed as disinterested and 'local' in the worst sense of the word. Ditto in shows such as the X-files, where a threat is made real to the audience and the official law enforcement agencies (such as the rest of the FBI) just smile and nod. The moral: When faced with 'the wild west', take it into your own hands. Aim the constitution and fire the gun.
An interesting book I read once suggested that the myth of the 'wild west' could be seen to influence the policy of the US towards the 'Wild (Middle) East'. As it stands at the moment, the coaltion administration in Iraq are certainly not taking any notice of international law in the 'Wild East'.
Heard Ms C. Rice giving evidence to the 9-11 commission say the US had 'an allegery to domestic intelligence'. Its a good thing there are many people in the US that care about liberty, the principle of innocent until proven guilty and the right to a (mostly) private life. Does Ms Rice regard desiring these things as an illness? I mean, how much more Orwellian can you get? Would big brother now say 'liberty is illness'?
While watching the film I could not help but think of a theme in US culture that the story of Secret Window shares with westerns, the inherant distrust of the ability of 'the law' to protect you. While Mort does ask for help from the police, the local sherif is portrayed as disinterested and 'local' in the worst sense of the word. Ditto in shows such as the X-files, where a threat is made real to the audience and the official law enforcement agencies (such as the rest of the FBI) just smile and nod. The moral: When faced with 'the wild west', take it into your own hands. Aim the constitution and fire the gun.
An interesting book I read once suggested that the myth of the 'wild west' could be seen to influence the policy of the US towards the 'Wild (Middle) East'. As it stands at the moment, the coaltion administration in Iraq are certainly not taking any notice of international law in the 'Wild East'.
Heard Ms C. Rice giving evidence to the 9-11 commission say the US had 'an allegery to domestic intelligence'. Its a good thing there are many people in the US that care about liberty, the principle of innocent until proven guilty and the right to a (mostly) private life. Does Ms Rice regard desiring these things as an illness? I mean, how much more Orwellian can you get? Would big brother now say 'liberty is illness'?