Who ordered NORAD to stand down on 9/11? Or, random musings on Oliver Stone's Nixon
Speaking on April 30, 2004, at the 29th anniversary of the fall of Saigon (now called Ho Chi Minh City), a frail but defiant 93-year old General Giap said, "Any forces that seek to impose their will on other nations will surely fail." While diplomatic niceties did not allow him to comment directly on the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the old warrior's reference to the new predicament of his former foes was unmistakable.
--CounterPunch, May 7
So, I did spend time on Friday trying to decide whether to note the fiftieth anniversary of the Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu. The mainstream press certainly ignored it. No surprise there. Strangely enough, this does tie in to one weekend activity that is worth noting. Watching Oliver Stone's Nixon. This is the first time I had seen the movie since its original run. There's no question that cinematically, Stone's bag of tricks works better in JFK (1 2 3). Nonetheless, there are some intriguing ideas here. I missed the first fifteen minutes of this broadcast, so I'm not sure about everything that is portrayed of Nixon's first encounter with the High Cabal. He comes away from that meeting somewhat bewildered, like, Who are these kooks? Later in the movie he faces them down: If you don't like me, take your money and put it on Wallace. This is the stuff that critics (not necessarily movie critics, but political critics) rip Stone apart over, but that's a great scene.
The real Nixon was indeed a mixed bag. There were things about him that a gathering of right-wingers would love, but just as much about him that they would hate. The scene is perfectly plausible. Even at my first viewing I noticed the great casting maneuver. I forget the actor's name, but J.R. Ewing at the head of the Cabal was brilliant imagery. We face similar questions today. Signs lead us to believe that the Powers Behind the Throne want Bush out and Kerry in. Are the signs right? Are we being tricked? We can never be certain.
We can know that there has been a carefully staged play over the last, say, fifteen years, portraying the Terrorist as the new Super Villain. The last Super Power needs a Super Nemesis, and that's what the Cabal has come up with. I guess it plays in Peoria, all right, but it is a weak plot. Will it last? I trust not. Stone should make a movie about that!
The greatest scene in the flick, which really did happen, was Nixon's meeting with the protestors at the Lincoln Memorial at four in the morning sometime around May 4 to May 7, or so (I forget the exact day), 1970. Okay, so the dialogue is speculation, but Stone keeps to the plot he is weaving. There's the gal that tells Nixon, What's the point of your power? You can't change anything. It's the system! Nixon leaves the scene muttering something along the lines of, A nineteen-year-old college kid understands what I've spent twenty-five years trying to learn about Wall Street, the Mafia, and the FBI!
There's a lot of Lincoln imagery in the movie. There's even the line, Mission Accomplished! Wasn't it the USS Lincoln where the line was recycled recently? Does Stone draw anything from the truly bizarre movie Gabriel Over the White House? I think I recommend Richard Current's The Lincoln Nobody Knows and Edmund Wilson's Eight Essays. I recommend them to myself, as I have yet to read them.
One thing I came away with on this second viewing. Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Nixon reminded me of how he played Hannibal Lecter! I don't think Hopkins drew from much else to create the character.
--CounterPunch, May 7
So, I did spend time on Friday trying to decide whether to note the fiftieth anniversary of the Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu. The mainstream press certainly ignored it. No surprise there. Strangely enough, this does tie in to one weekend activity that is worth noting. Watching Oliver Stone's Nixon. This is the first time I had seen the movie since its original run. There's no question that cinematically, Stone's bag of tricks works better in JFK (1 2 3). Nonetheless, there are some intriguing ideas here. I missed the first fifteen minutes of this broadcast, so I'm not sure about everything that is portrayed of Nixon's first encounter with the High Cabal. He comes away from that meeting somewhat bewildered, like, Who are these kooks? Later in the movie he faces them down: If you don't like me, take your money and put it on Wallace. This is the stuff that critics (not necessarily movie critics, but political critics) rip Stone apart over, but that's a great scene.
The real Nixon was indeed a mixed bag. There were things about him that a gathering of right-wingers would love, but just as much about him that they would hate. The scene is perfectly plausible. Even at my first viewing I noticed the great casting maneuver. I forget the actor's name, but J.R. Ewing at the head of the Cabal was brilliant imagery. We face similar questions today. Signs lead us to believe that the Powers Behind the Throne want Bush out and Kerry in. Are the signs right? Are we being tricked? We can never be certain.
We can know that there has been a carefully staged play over the last, say, fifteen years, portraying the Terrorist as the new Super Villain. The last Super Power needs a Super Nemesis, and that's what the Cabal has come up with. I guess it plays in Peoria, all right, but it is a weak plot. Will it last? I trust not. Stone should make a movie about that!
The greatest scene in the flick, which really did happen, was Nixon's meeting with the protestors at the Lincoln Memorial at four in the morning sometime around May 4 to May 7, or so (I forget the exact day), 1970. Okay, so the dialogue is speculation, but Stone keeps to the plot he is weaving. There's the gal that tells Nixon, What's the point of your power? You can't change anything. It's the system! Nixon leaves the scene muttering something along the lines of, A nineteen-year-old college kid understands what I've spent twenty-five years trying to learn about Wall Street, the Mafia, and the FBI!
There's a lot of Lincoln imagery in the movie. There's even the line, Mission Accomplished! Wasn't it the USS Lincoln where the line was recycled recently? Does Stone draw anything from the truly bizarre movie Gabriel Over the White House? I think I recommend Richard Current's The Lincoln Nobody Knows and Edmund Wilson's Eight Essays. I recommend them to myself, as I have yet to read them.
One thing I came away with on this second viewing. Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Nixon reminded me of how he played Hannibal Lecter! I don't think Hopkins drew from much else to create the character.