gdp's Comments

Big Hollywood : Trailer Talk: 'Red Tails' Is a Story That's Already Been Told, Right?

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:32:20 +0000

Thanks for mentioning the 442nd. For several years in the late 90s and early 00s, I sent "thank you" letters to WW2 vets, and was honored to receive letters in return from dozens of them. Among my most prized possessions is a stack of letters and books sent to me by two men: Saburo Nishime (of the 100th Battalion - the "One Puka Puka"), and George Sakato (442nd RCT). Nishime served all throughout Europe, and was highly decorated. George Sakato was one of 22 Asian-American recipients of the CMH, and his story is remarkable. Both men volunteered to serve - Sakato from behind barbed wire. There is nothing "liberal" about celebrating that fact that - during a time when bigotry and prejudice were more common than they are today - men like those of the 442nd, the 100th, and the 332nd Fighter Group showed exceptional courage and resolve in fighting not only our nation's enemies, but also the bigotry of many of their countrymen. I'm conservative-to-libertarian, and I'm just as frustrated by our side's occasional unwillingness to confront the reality of our nation's past discrimination as I am by the constant drumbeat calls of "racism!" made by the Left at any sign of opposition to stateism. There's plenty of room for Red Tails; as was pointed out, Tuskeegee Airmen was a made-for-TV flick, not a major motion picture. And, for crying out loud, would someone tell the extraordinary tale of the 442nd/100th before these guys are gone? They deserve better than Go For Broke. Just my two cents.

Big Hollywood : What Shoulda' Won 1984's Best Picture? Who Cares?

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 02:21:29 +0000

No one has yet mentioned The Karate Kid, and, more specifically, Pat Morita's Oscar-nominated performance as 442nd RCT veteran (and CMH recipient) Mr. Miyagi. The fact that the guy pretty much ad-libbed the incredible "drunk" scene means that the guy deserved the win. The fact that he didn't get the little gold dude means that the Academy needs its collective legs swept. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy. Do you have a problem with that?

Big Hollywood : He Should Be Scared: 'Salon's' Andrew O'Hehir Freaks Out, Screams 'Master-Race' at 'Secretariat'

Thu, 7 Oct 2010 20:19:13 +0000

This, to me, is the money passage, where Dr. Hysteria manages to meld patronization, paranoia, and a degree of full-bore, bull-moose nutso twitchiness that would make Johnny Ringo pause for concern: "Now, the fact that director Randall Wallace and screenwriter Mike Rich locate this golden age between 1969 and 1973 might seem at first like a ludicrous joke, if you are old enough (as I am) to halfway remember those years. I'll say that again: The year Secretariat won the Triple Crown was the year the Vietnam War ended and the Watergate hearings began. You could hardly pick a period in post-Civil War American history more plagued by chaos and division and general insanity (well, OK -- you could pick right now)...One shouldn't impute too much diabolical intention to the filmmakers; for all I know, Penny Chenery really did live in an insulated, lily-white bubble of horsey exurban privilege, and took no notice of the country ripping itself apart. But today, in the real world, we find ourselves once again in an enraged and dangerously bifurcated society, and I can't help thinking that "Secretariat" is meant as a comforting allegory, like Glenn Beck's sentimental Christmas yarn: The real America has been here all along, and we can get it back. If we just believe in -- well, in something unspecified but probably pretty scary." I guess sweeping generalizations and gross oversimplifications are bad...except when they're not. Just so I'm clear, here, Mr. Ohehir (flag on the play for superfluous use of the letter "H", BTW), allow me to see if I understand the rules spelled out by this particular portion of your spleeny screed: Dare to suggest that the period spanning 1969 to 1973 was anything other than one big melange of ennui, nihilism, desperation, and seething ethnic hatred - all stirred with the swizzle stick of Travis Bickle's .44 for each and every soul in the US? This is a crime against humanity. Oh, and also racism. Probably indicative of a personality given to kitten-punching, too. Declare that a (mostly) comfortable suburban existence was never experienced by a single soul in the entire country? Why, you're a clear-eyed, non-racist student at the Rational School of North Realist University - Madison Campus. All this freaking out...over a gentle horsey movie. This O'Hehir fellow is a tightly-wound sort, isn't he?