Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996
From: Joe Shea <•••@••.•••>
Subject: The American Reporter, No. 356
To: •••@••.•••
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ON FILM
+
Richard K. Moore
American Reporter Correspondent
Wexford, IrelaND
8/19/96
cinema
431/$4.31
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Richard K. Moore
American Reporter Correspondent
WEXFORD, Ireland -- We live in a world where the distinction between
screen and reality becomes more blurred every day. With surround sound
and super-real special effects, one can can almost confuse what's been
seen on film with what one's actually experienced. How much of our
"experience" of the world is really taken from film fiction?
I remember on the day the U.S. invaded Grenada, the movie "Red
Dawn" was running at my local cinema house. Perhaps the timing was
coincidence. In any case, I wonder how many people came away from the
film with the attitude "Well, if Latino commies from the Carribean are
going to invade us in a first-run movie, then fair enough -- we'll invade
them on the evening news."
And there was "Judge Dredd," released near the time that the U.S.
was taking over military leadership in Bosnia. On screen, we had a
paralyzed world government, with brave, strong and good Stallone smashing
the evildoers with his invincible jet sled. One can harldly imagine a
more direct and visceral symbolic characterization of American cruise
missiles smashing the Serb infrastructure following years of
well-publicized U.N. inaction in the region.
Thus I approached "Independence Day" with curiosity about what
lessons it might seek to convey -- helping us folks to accept upcoming
world events.
Perhaps most striking was the open appeal to people worldwide to
embrace and love a U.S.-led world system -- "You will all celebrate July
4th...!" How poignant it was to see Iraqis, Israelis, and Chinese all
rallying to a battle cry raised by the heroic U.S. president -- to
vanquish the common foe.
Led by an American president who had "found his strength", and
aided by American computer wizardry, the film shows us the world's ragtag,
multiracial millions becoming empowered to overcome all obstacles. U.S.
movies have enjoyed world audiences for decades, but seldom has that fact
been so deftly exploited in the explicit content of cinema.
Also carefully managed in the plot was the hesitant but necessary
escalation of armaments to the nuclear level. Could this be explicit
psychological preparation for the announced U.S. contingency plan to use
nukes against Libya's alleged chemical-warfare plant? It would be
difficult to imagine a more effective means of propagating such
preparation, nor could the timing have been arranged more precisely.
Some of the lads down at the local pub want to see lots more
behind the film -- that it is preparing us for a to-be-staged alien
invasion. But I've got no patience for crazy conspiracy theories...
-30-
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Posted by Richard K. Moore - •••@••.••• - Wexford, Ireland
Cyberlib: www | ftp --> ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/rkmoore/cyberlib
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