Entertainment & Sports: November 2004 Archives
I may have to start watching Wheel of Fortune again, because so says Pat Sajak about Hollywood's silence over Theo van Gogh:
The presumed murderer, a Dutch-born dual Moroccan-Dutch citizen, attached a 5-page note to van Gogh's body with a knife. In it, he threatened jihad against the West in general, and specifically against five prominent Dutch political figures. Van Gogh’s crime? He created a short film highly critical of the treatment of women in Islamic societies. So, again I ask, where is the outrage from Hollywood’s creative community? I mean, talk about a violation of the right of free speech!Despite the Crushing of Dissent inPerhaps they are afraid that their protests would put them in danger. That, at least, is a defensible position. If I were Michael Moore, I would much rather rail against George W. Bush, who is much less likely to have me killed, than van Gogh’s murderer and the threat to creative freedom he brings. Besides, a man of Moore’s size would provide a great deal of “bulletin board” space.
Update:
Such a specimen recently appeared on the Tonight Show, supposedly shorn of its gorilla-hair and adorned in human clothes. It didn't address the murder of fellow-director Theo van Gogh, but it did say that the War on Terror makes for a good "story". Also a good story: being attacked by OJ, with a ton of bacon, on the Tonight Show.
I wasn't going to write about the NBA brawl, but now I kinda have to since no one else is making the obvious point: it was awesome. I mean, sure, in theory the audience shouldn't be throwing stuff at players and the players shouldn't be charging into the stands, but c'mon... don't sit there and tell me you didn't watch the video with bloodthirsty anticipation. So yeah, hand out suspensions and fines and press criminal charges -- those also make for great entertainment! -- but don't act so sanctimonious, as if the otherwise-snow-driven purity of NBA Basketball has been tragically besmirched.
Wow, an essay by James Earl Jones about "Dr. Strangelove" -- two great tastes that go great together!
Jean Jacques Rousseau said that God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh. In his film "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," Stanley Kubrick, to some a "god" in the pantheon of cinema, made us laugh out loud at thermonuclear war. I am a surviving member of the cast, and in this 40th anniversary year of the film, I am pleased to share some of my experiences in making "Strangelove."And what follows is an interesting retrospective.
