Heartbreak Ridge (1986) *
James Carabatsos wrote a handful of mostly forgotten 1980s war films, the most pretentious of which was 1987's Hamburger Hill, one of a long line of Hollywood revisionist films about Vietnam. Carabatsos teamed up with actor/ director Clint Eastwood in what has to be Eastwood's worst film.
Heartbreak Ridge is the story of Gunnery Sgt. Highway (Eastwood), a tough as nails relic of the Vietnam era. Highway is a regular Audie Murphy, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, and has row after row of combat decorations. He's also a hard ass- and in the 1980s Marine Corps this trait is apparently not in fashion.
What the film really is, is a polemical treatise against the perceived weakness of the Carter (read liberal) Administration. In the age of Reagan, everybody, including Hollywood seemed eager to drink the mighty American military resurgence Kool-Aid without giving it much thought.
What truly makes the film awful isn't the political message- even though it borders on propaganda. No, the film truly dates itself with the uppity black guy character of "Stitch" Jones agonizingly "acted" by Mario Van Peebles.
"Stitch" is always one misstep away from being lynched in the film. In fact, every time "Stitch" appears on screen, be it playing rock 'n roll at a biker bar, talking "jive" to roughnecks, or even wearing an earring in uniform (not allowed), the film seems to suggest that this type of person doesn't understand his place. It's off putting to say the least. Hispanics suffer the same level of derision, as Eastwood derides them for not Habla-ing English.
As an indictment on how ignorant mainstream America was in the 1980s when it came to depiction of race, Heartbreak Ridge serves its purpose. It's about as offensive as Birth of a Nation in that regard. Unfortunately, BoaN is an important film. Heartbreak Ridge? Not so much.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Social Network
The Social Network: ***1/2
When I was eight, nine, or ten years old I went fishing with my grandfather and my great uncle. We took position on a bridge that had been closed and turned into a fishing pier. This is somewhere in the Tidewater region, I don't know where- I didn't fish much before or after this trip, so forgive me if I'm scarce with the details. What's important is that my great uncle caught a fantastic flounder right before we were to pack it up and head home. I had spent most of the day reluctantly catching croaker and not wanting to touch the damn things to throw them back. Fish always seem gross to me- like spiked fin cousins of serpents. But something changed when I caught sight of that flat bodied flounder. At no time during the day had I seen one of them come up. There was a general excitement about it. I thought that a school of them had just swam through the area and that I had no time to waste- so I cast my rod into the water below... well, that was the intention. In reality, I threw the rod, reel, everything into the water. I watched it slowly descend into the waves and vanish.
Social Network reminds me of that moment. Of seeing something great and wanting so bad to be part of it. I got home and checked facebook and looked at the about us page- typically the last place on the world wide web anybody would go. It seemed cool. As if every word was hand crafted for coolness. It made me feel invigorated. I clicked on the career opportunities section. That too was cool. And then I began to deflate. Just as I did when I launched that rod and reel into the sea.
It's a great adventure, seeing something fantastic happen in front of your eyes. It's amazing what people can do. I'm tired and I'm going to go to bed. I had a good time with The Social Network.
When I was eight, nine, or ten years old I went fishing with my grandfather and my great uncle. We took position on a bridge that had been closed and turned into a fishing pier. This is somewhere in the Tidewater region, I don't know where- I didn't fish much before or after this trip, so forgive me if I'm scarce with the details. What's important is that my great uncle caught a fantastic flounder right before we were to pack it up and head home. I had spent most of the day reluctantly catching croaker and not wanting to touch the damn things to throw them back. Fish always seem gross to me- like spiked fin cousins of serpents. But something changed when I caught sight of that flat bodied flounder. At no time during the day had I seen one of them come up. There was a general excitement about it. I thought that a school of them had just swam through the area and that I had no time to waste- so I cast my rod into the water below... well, that was the intention. In reality, I threw the rod, reel, everything into the water. I watched it slowly descend into the waves and vanish.
Social Network reminds me of that moment. Of seeing something great and wanting so bad to be part of it. I got home and checked facebook and looked at the about us page- typically the last place on the world wide web anybody would go. It seemed cool. As if every word was hand crafted for coolness. It made me feel invigorated. I clicked on the career opportunities section. That too was cool. And then I began to deflate. Just as I did when I launched that rod and reel into the sea.
It's a great adventure, seeing something fantastic happen in front of your eyes. It's amazing what people can do. I'm tired and I'm going to go to bed. I had a good time with The Social Network.
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