Posts from — October 2008

A while ago I went to see “W” at Silver City and then, the same evening, watched the CBC documentary by Terence McKenna called “The Bush Years.” Yep, I am a bit of a political junkie.
Oliver Stone directed the movies “Nixon” and “JFK” so it was a natural for him to do the George W. Bush movie “W” as well. I was disappointed. It may be because I had read a lot of pretty positive reviews beforehand (funny how that happens) but I really think it is more because the story didn’t address the consequences of the Bush years as well as I would have liked.
McKenna’s documentary was far better. Stone’s film focused on the personality of George while McKenna’s looked at the impact and to a certain degree the consequences of Bushes years in office.
That’s not to say that “W” wasn’t factual or at times punchy. The scene where the Presidents inner cabinet was debating about going to war with Iraq was probably the most poignant. When Rumsfeld stepped to the Middle Eastern wall map and stated something to the effect that the USA uses 25% of the world’s oil and that Iraq had 30 % of the world’s oil it became pretty clear what the result was going to be. The debate was over. The majority of the people around the table believed that their country came first and that their job was to look after their country and that the opportunity provided by 9/11 was too good to pass up. They would secure the oil the USA needed by force under the pretense of looking for terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. They had no intentions of ever giving up occupation of Iraq.
What we have learned is that might doesn’t cut it anymore. The US may be the lone super power but it doesn’t mean they can dictate and through force, successfully have their way. Over 4000 American soldiers and 30,000 Iraq citizens have lost their lives in this unjust war. American has alienated much of the world. And still they haven’t done what they set out to do.
In fact the American people are much worse off as a result of this war. They no longer have the basic rules of law that protect an individual’s privacy. The average American has been led to believe that the threat of terrorism is so great that they need to give up their basic rights in order to be protected. They can be tortured, held without trial, eavesdropped on and wiretapped without recourse. I would not be surprised if historians look back at the Bush years as years when America was in fact a police state. Too extreme! I’m not so sure.
It is a tough lesson for the American people to learn and a real insight into what can happen even in a democratic country. George W Bush believed that he was doing the right thing. So did his advisors. He wasn’t. Neither were they.

I just finished reading Sara Gruen’s book “Water for Elephants” What a read. I couldn’t put it down. It was my book club’s next read so I picked it up without any great expectations. I have never been a great lover of circuses and approached with an open but skeptical mind.

If you want to get lost for a few days pick it up. It is about a 93 year old man who lives in nursing home and the life he lived in the circus. The nursing home stories are so real (a very small part of the book) that I can only believe that the circus story has to be pretty accurate as well. And I love the ending.

Give it a go.

It’s not often film directors do a very good job of depicting the real lives of others. When they do (without a lot of embellishing or hollywoodizing) I really enjoy and learn from the film. Thomas McCarthy writer and director of “The Visitor” has done a marvelous job with this film.
The film is about a bored and pretty lost university professor who goes to New York only to find a young Syrian man and his girlfriend have taken up residence in his apartment.
The young man is a musician. He plays the African drum for a living and his girlfriend, who is from Senegal, sells her homemade jewelry in the market. Both have been living illegally in the States for many years. The young man had come over with his mother after his father had died as a result of being in a Syrian prison.
Before 9/11 the American government was pretty lax in pursuing illegal immigrants and many people enjoyed life in the States without legal status. (The conservative estimates are that 12 million illegal immigrants live in the States) After 9/11 it was a different story, especially if you were from the Middle East.
The professor invites the young couple to stay in his apartment and he finds himself drawn to New York and the young couple. 
One day the young man is picked up in the subway by police in a clear case of racial profiling. He‘s held in detention for a week or so and then deported to Syria.
What was so compelling about the movie is the way the story is told. It is so believable. I left feeling I had experienced the vulnerability of the illegal immigrant. Someone who obeyed the law, valued life in America and at the same time lived in fear of deportation.
What made the story even more dramatic was knowing there are some 12 million illegal immigrants in the States. I am truly grateful to be a Canadian. One in thirty three Americans are in prison. The young man’s mother’s comment about her son’s incarceration, “This is just like being in Syria,” has a ring of truth to it.
“The Visitor” was brought in by the North of Superior Film Association.