Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Munich: Spielberg Proves His Worth – Weighed in the Balances and Found Wanting

Munich:  Spielberg Proves His Worth – Weighed in the Balance and Found Wanting

I will confess for starters that I am not much of one to watch movies – no, not even the porn movies that seem to be so popular these days.  Okay.  I watch a movie now and then:  But if I never see another movie, it will be just fine with me.

In sum, I am rather poorly positioned to pose as a movie critic.   Thus, I will rely on the views of a movie critic whom I much admire – Jack Cashill – to set forth the egregious flaws in Spielberg’s recent disaster, Munich.   (Cashill’s column is wryly entitled, “Brokeback Munich.”)

Spielberg – who has been almost universally lauded for his work on Schindler’s List (a film I own, but have yet to view) – has, in Cashill’s view, missed the mark when it comes to portraying the ongoing battle against Islamofascism on the part of Israel.

In an apparent bid to be politically correct (and, possibly, to make more money?), Spielberg frames the Israelis and their Palestinian foes as moral equals.  Even worse, Spielberg goes out of his way to make the Palestinians to appear “human.”  This is something, as Cashill points out, that Spielberg apparently (and, rightly) never felt necessary in his treatment of the Nazis in Schindler’s List.

Most telling of all, Cashill points out that – in his preparation for Munich – Spielberg curiously placed his script in the hands of one Tony Kushner, whose character and work Cashill paints as follows:

. . . a hard-core leftist, homosexual activist, self-hating Jew, and avowed enemy of Israel. Kushner's wildly over-esteemed AIDS play, "Angels in America," poked a nasty little thumb in America's eye. In "Munich," although he takes a few cheap shots at America, his obvious target is Israel – "a historical, moral, political calamity," as he has claimed elsewhere.

So, there you have it:  Two “critically-acclaimed” US Hollywood Jews have collaborated to make Israel look bad and the Palestinian terrorists look human.  Seems like these days Israel cannot even look to liberal American Jews for moral support in her struggle against those sworn to destroy her.

To paraphrase a biblical phrase, “Can anything good come out of Hollywood (anymore)?”

Or:  To paraphrase another biblical phrase: Spielberg has been weighed in the balance and found wanting.

21 Comments:

Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

Palestinian terrorists are human. You don't want to believe this because you are frightened by the possiblity that people who do violence are from the same species as yourself.

Israel deserves to look bad for its idiotic, illegal and immoral tactic of revenge killing.

Wed Dec 28, 03:35:00 PM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, elizabeth! I think that, just maybe, it is YOU who are afraid to admit what murderous, vengeful, hate-filled thugs the Palestinians are. If you cannot see a moral DIVIDE between the House of Israel and the Palestinians, then we are not even close to being on the same page. I am happy to let the Palestinians prove to me that they are human, but they choose not to -- every time. That is not fear on my part: It is, rather, enslavement to hatred on theirs. Your liberal guilt-trip attempt will never work with me. Too many innocent Jews' guts have been deliberately splattered by vicious Palestinian killers (remember Mike's Pizzeria?) to even begin to feel badly over what i have written. I will say that there are some evangelical Christian Arabs who love Israel and do not buy into the Islamic jihad-hate approach to life: I have no beef with them. No, elizabeth: It IS a Muslim thing, an Arab thing, and an ersatz "Palestinian" thing. Go pawn your guilt trips elsewhere: I am a realist, and I have sided with Israel in this battle. But I can say this calmly -- without any rancor toward you. I feel that you are, simply, deceived. ;-)

Wed Dec 28, 08:24:00 PM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

I see people as individuals. In reality there are no "Palestinians" or "Israelis."

Thu Dec 29, 07:06:00 AM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, elizabeth! thank you for your comment! On an individual basis, perhaps, your comment may have some merit. However, at times, one is forced to take sides between groups, tribes, or nations. I have chosen the Israelis, and I believe that you have chosen the Palestinians. -- gunjam

Fri Dec 30, 06:46:00 PM PST  
Blogger BostonMaggie said...

Spielberg makes good movies and I do love movies, so I will go to see this. However, I don't need this to be a history lesson for me. I know there are going to be lots of viewers who will have no other frame of reference for this incident. That's why I am encouraging those people to first watch "One Day In September". It's a documentary that lays out the facts about Munich. Then see the Spielberg fiction and view it as it should be viewed. These things are only bad when people take the Hollywood version for fact.

Sat Dec 31, 07:37:00 AM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

gunjam, did you see the movie?

I'm going to send you some photos and articles on the Palestinians who have had their "guts" deliberately "splattered" by Israel.

The only side I am on is the side of the truth.

Sat Dec 31, 10:15:00 AM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

p.s. Why do you find it necessary to take sides? It seems you have a kind of Manichean black and white, good v. evil view of the world. Isn't that a tad simplistic?

Sat Dec 31, 10:16:00 AM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, elizabeth! As always, thank you for your comments. We each work from different frameworks. In my framework: Eretz Yisrael belongs to the House of Israel by an unchangeable Divine Fiat -- even though many Jews have done many horrible things (some that I criticize here at jammedgun). The Palestinians, if you are truly honest, hate Israel and wish the Jews' extinction. That means war. That means sides must be chosen by those whose concerns extend any further than Monday Night Football, Budweiser, and porn flicks.

When Israel is struck: She is forced to strike back, as that is the only kind of "negotiation" terrorists either respect or understand. Israel's problem is not her instransigence vis-a-vis the Pali terrorists, it is her ludicrous efforts to be accommodating -- accommodating to corrupt UN bureaucrats, accommodating to clueless, Arab-friendly, US State-Department types (E.g., Condi Rice); and accommodating to murderers like Arafat and Abu Mazen. I'm sorry, am I being a bit too "black-and-white" again? ;-)

Sat Dec 31, 04:16:00 PM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, bostonmaggie! Thank you for the input! Some excellent points. Have not seen either the new one by Schpielberg or "One Day in September!"

Sat Dec 31, 04:17:00 PM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

elizabeth. And one more thing! This here God-fearin' Texan ain't NO daing heathen Manicheeyan! ;-)

Sat Dec 31, 04:21:00 PM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

No, you're a fundamentalist "religious" fanatic, just like Osama bin Laden.

Sat Dec 31, 05:34:00 PM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, elizabeth! once again, you succeed in bringing me laughter! I truly enjoy your posts.

Okay: let's see: Bin Laden believes in killing all unbelievers who refuse to "revert" to Islam or pay jizya. He follows the Qur'an; he prays to Mecca; he organizes terror. He also thinks all women should wear burkhas.

Oh, and he is worth millions!

Care to elaborate on how I am "just like" this remarkably unlikeable chap?

Okay: Perhaps we BOTH are male, over 40, and probably often have bad breath, but beyond that, I mean?

Why, after all, I don't even hate the Jews and Israel -- as he and his cronies do.

--gunjam

Sat Dec 31, 07:44:00 PM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

I'm not enjoying this conversation anymore. I don't enjoy listening to this hate. I have a number of good friends who are Palestinians. This is not an abstract discussion for me. It's not even possible to have a logical discussion if one person in the discussion has an absolutist viewpoint based on what they believe "God said." I am talking to the wall. I don't believe you are a Christian or a patriot. Nothing you believe accords with what Jesus said. You put Israel's interests ahead of U.S. interests. I don't even know why you are living here.

thanks for the card (although I couldn't open it).

goodbye.

Sun Jan 01, 06:13:00 AM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, elizabeth! thank you for your post and your comment. Let's see: You acuse me of hate, while you persistently defend those who danced in the streets when 9-11 occurred. You accuse me of religious-based absolutism while, yet again, defending the Muslim extremists who are running Christian Arabs out of "Palestine," and who wish to: a) impose a jizya tax on the Christian residents of Bethlehem; and (b) wipe Israel off the map; and who (c) summarily execute in the streets (without benefit of a trial) their fellow "Palestinians" accused of "collaborating" with the Israelis -- all in the name of George Bush's favorite (and yours, as well, apparently?) "Religion of Peace."

Should you be tempted to retort that you are not defending such people, you would be most disingenuous, for, to speak out regularly on behalf of the "Palestinians," as you do, WITHOUT making pointed and regular disclaimers about your non-support of such odious behavior by the Palestinians, amounts to silent condoning of such deeds. Sorry: You cannot escape the truth of that logic.

Actually, it seems as though you are backing off when encountering someone who (unlike the US State Department or the Carter, BushI, Clinton, Bush2 White Administrations) is willing to stand up and call the Pali terrorists, "Terrorists" and "enemies of the United States." I can well imagine your shock!

I hope you will continue to post on this site anytime you wish, however! -- gunjam

Wed Jan 04, 08:21:00 PM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

I notice you don't deny that you are a religious absolutist.

I find you very similar to Bin Laden. You both believe you're on a mission from God, you both believe people who get in your way should be killed or removed as inconveniences, you both believe women are subjects of men, he hates the Jews and you hate the Palestinians...two peas in a pod.

I don't see why I should waste my time condemning things that are obviously wrong. Rather, I spend my time alerting people to things that they don't know about because of our biased and inadequate media...assuming they're interested in learning something new...

Fri Jan 06, 04:29:00 PM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, elizabeth: Thank you for your comments. However, I think you might have forgotten to take some important prescribed medication?

Or, would you perhaps care to retract this risible statement: "you both believe people who get in your way should be killed or removed as inconveniences."

Or, if you don't care to retract it, then could you at least make some effort to substantiate it?

Perhaps a small lesson in elementary logic is in order? Holding firmly to Scriptural principles (properly balanced) a terrorist/murderer doth not make, whereas holding firmly to Qur'anic principles a Jihadist doth make.

Now, if by "believe people should be killed" you mean that I think the US military should play for keeps in the ongoing worldwide war against the jihadists, ... you bet! (However, I regret to inform you that the US military has YET to consult me, take orders from me, ask me for a list of targets, or even issue me a satellite telephone!)

Two peas in a pod ... indeed!

You once mentioned in a comment that you are NOT a Liberal. With this comment of yours, I am beginning to have my doubts, elizabeth!

-- gunjam

Fri Jan 06, 07:13:00 PM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

"Holding firmly to Scriptural principles (properly balanced) a terrorist/murderer doth not make, whereas holding firmly to Qur'anic principles a Jihadist doth make"

That makes absolutely no sense. Murder is murder, whether you are supposedly doing it in the name of the Old Testament or in the name of the Koran.

You're a hypocrite. But like all religious fanatics, you are unable to see this because in the mindset of a religious fanatic, his doctrine is correct and all actions fantasized as being in accord with that doctrine are excusable no matter how hideous; whereas anything someone else does in the name of their doctrine is unspeakable.

Sat Jan 07, 11:16:00 AM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

I have an idea for you gunjam: Why don't you rob the local bank, and when the police come to arrest you say the following:

"God told me to do it. I'm God's chosen one. The ordinary rules don't apply to me. This money was granted to me by God. The people who claim the money belongs to them are interlopers and terrorists who are trying to deny me what's rightfully mine; they should be killed with missiles or deported to another country en masse."

We'll see who ends up on medication...and perhaps in a locked forensic unit...but this is the reasoning you are following, so why not give it a try?

Sat Jan 07, 11:30:00 AM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, elizabeth! your last two posts indicate that you are becoming unhinged. sorry. Unlike Bin Laden, I have yet to attempt to murder anyone, train anyone to murder anyone, supply anyone to murder anyone, pay anyone to murder anyone, etc, etc.

The fact that I believe that the US Military and the IDF should use force in their ongoing war with Islamofascists is hardly murder. It is called WAR. We put murderers/terrorists like bin Laden in prison (or to death). We honor warriors in the military with awards and decorations.

Unfortunately for your argument, I fall in neither category: I am neither a terrorist/criminal nor a member of our fighting forces. I am simply not in the killing business, you see.

Nor do I dance in the street when people die!

Apparently, such basic ethical distinctions are lost on you.

Oh, and as for your suggestion that I try robbing a bank sometime soon, ....

... Seems like I read something in the Good Book about "Thou shalt not steal."

Seriously, elizabeth, i think you need to realize that your sympathy for Pali terrorists has warped your moral sensibilities.

In order to justify them, you apparently need to paint everyone opposing them with false accusations. I pray that you will someday wake up.

And it is sad, because the VERY ones for whose cause you so eloquently plead would GLADLY make you into a burkha-wearing, jizya-paying dhimmi.

You are still a nice person, nonetheless. Confused, yes. But still nice.

--gunjam

Sat Jan 07, 12:41:00 PM PST  
Blogger Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

Bin Laden calls it war, too.

Sat Jan 07, 04:13:00 PM PST  
Blogger GunJam said...

hi, elizabeth. No. He actually calls it Jihad. (And HE is waging it personally.) I call it war. (And I am rooting on the US and Israeli militaries in that effort.) If you don't see a qualitative difference in that, then, we really cannot have an intelligent discussion, as you yourself suggested earlier. -- gunjam

Sun Jan 08, 12:36:00 PM PST  

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