Violent Movies - And War Movies.... 6 comments

4 Jul 2004 @ 09:55, by Paul Quintanilla For you students of human nature who may be attempting to reasonably comprehend the madness in Iraq here’s a thought provoking piece by David Mamet, the playwright. Here’s the piece: Bring It On Violent Movies - And War Movies - Give us the Thrill of Victory. But What Happens When War Becomes a Reality? by David Mamet Hunger, a study for the Love Peace Hate War murals by Luis Quintanilla And here, if you’re interested, are some comments: 1) I have never known anyone whose manner was as gentle as some of the professional boxers I have known. They exude gentleness from their bodies and the breath around them. It is something palpable in their presence. Though one, I once knew, who was a top three welterweight, was also high-strung and unstable. And in a late night barroom fight took more than thirty deep knife slashes on his right forearm as he continued to go at some lowlife who had made the mistake of provoking him. And then ran into the kitchen to retrieve the butcher knife he defended himself with. The sense of gentleness pro boxers can give off does indeed seem odd considering the violence of their profession. Though as Mamet explains it, this is probably due to their getting it all out of their systems in the ring. 2) Mamet makes sense of the O.J. Sympson verdict in this piece. And as a white man I have always felt uncomfortable believing O.J. is guilty since the issue has always been so racially charged, following racial lines. But no more. Mamet lays out what may be the reasons for this divide beautifully. 3) He nicely defines a “just” war. Or, rather, how no such thing as a “just war” actually exists. And reminds us that even if entering a war should become necessary (World War Two) war is always a terrible stain on the character and nature of the human race. That there is no such thing as a “good” war. 4) Mamet discusses war as television, Hollywood, imaginative fantasy, entertainment. Our culture here in the US is very much tied up to the electronic media. And that we have seen numerous wars as portrayed by Hollywood in which at least one or two Americans figure as the good guys may condition us to going off to war. But long before TV and Hollywood men joyously went to war believing they would soon return (by Christmas?) heaped in glory and valor. World War One, our own Civil War, the Crimean War come to mind. As well as many others. And let’s not forget the war in Iraq, we were told, would be a “cakewalk.” Mamet asks if there is a basic, fundamental human need to go to war. He also lays blame on those who have never engaged in it for starting the current war. Has the mass media defined the way Americans see the world? Does the electronic media define and unify our mass culture?

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