Thursday, March 17, 2011

Why the Jokes about Japan's Tragedy

By Phil Rockstroh
March 17, 2011

A number of years back, Pauline Kael took Steven Spielberg to task for his depiction of rural Georgia circa 1909 in his movie, “The Color Purple,” averring that Spielberg's only field of reference seemed to be images culled from cinematic history, rendering his movie tone deaf regarding the rhythms and cadences of life during the era.

Read on.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Phil is right. The society we are living in will not survive without compassion and making an effort to care and help each other. In these times of humans without conscious taking all power to control the world with intent to reduce population, we must remember that Nature is really on the side of anyone who will reach out and help another human being. This kind of love and caring makes a person preservable. This is who we want to be. Focus with our minds to help Japan.

Alan G said...

Excellent essay! Although I disagreed with many points , the quality of writing and emotional imagery was some of the best I have ever read .

Perhaps the callous mocking of Japanese deaths and suffering by those mentioned ,is really just a overcompensation to counter their lack of self respect and fear of their own death . Their adherents may be motivated similarly ,in essence placing themselves over others - like some kind of tribal power trip .

M Lucky Gold said...

"Because it would be a mortifying sight to glimpse what is eating, from within, the putrefying remains of the carcass known as the U.S. political system."

Shudder.

This has been going on for so long.
Remember OJ?
For me, that story seemed to mark a height of land--before it there was a semblance of serious thought, at the top of the ridge was a mass abandonment of news coverage for celebrity trash coverage, and it's been downhill all way since.

I am particularly worried right now about how the Tea Party could be rigging up a violent revolution and how progressives are dropping Obama when there is no one else to replace him.

Anonymous said...

they are probably a reference to the "freedom of speech" ruling by the Supreme Court in the case of Westboro Baptist Church...

With that thought, thoughts for the people of Japan:

http://www.youtube.com/user/imenevazno2#p/a/u/1/kwqhd-b05Gg

Anonymous said...

Excellent piece. My thoughts exactly.