Comments on: A Very Special FtY Retread: The Neocon Country

By: bob

bob — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:13:47 +0000

Yup!

By: Jason Bellamy

Jason Bellamy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:23:36 +0000

In fact, when McKay is asked if he’s ever seen anything so big, he replies that he has: a couple of oceans. The answer is not an understanding nod but barely concealed anger. How dare he suggest that anything is bigger than the valley just because something out there actually is bigger? These ranchers create their own new realities on the ground.

Good points by Hokahey. And I loved the comment above. Wow, if that doesn’t sound like the Bush Administration. ‘We say Iraq has WMDs, so they do!’ ‘We say there’s a link to 9/11, so there is!’ ‘We say the guys we got locked up in Gitmo are dangerous, so they are!’ Etc.

Yes, art reflects the times. But the times have an ugly habit of repeating themselves.

By: bob

bob — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:19:52 +0000

Thanks for stopping by, Hokahey.

My point is that, knowing the politics of the people involved, and knowing the politics of the time, it might as well have been made in 2003 starring and produced by George Clooney. The arguments there were similar to the arguments today and, though the term “neocon” hadn’t been coined, that movement was already in its infancy. If you’ve seen “Fail Safe” and remember Walter Mathhau’s character, that’s a neocon through and through.

By: Hokahey

Hokahey — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:13:12 +0000

It’s fun interpreting allegories in films – and it’s interesting that it’s easier to find allegories during times of political crisis: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (Cold War paranoia); “The Ox-Bow Incident” (the rise of fascism); “High Noon” (the abandonment of the accused during the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings). As for your interpretation of “The Big Country,” it’s an interesting thought experiment – and I suppose what it suggests is that in the same way that there are recurrent themes in literature and films, there are recurrent themes in history: power, the abuse of power, violence.

I haven’t seen “The Big Country” for a long time – long enough ago that I remember that I didn’t like the fact that Charlton Heston was kind of a bad guy and Heston was my hero at that time because of “Ben-Hur.” What I do remember is its similarities with : “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” Gregory Peck/ Jimmy Stewart – actors often cast more often as non-violent souls – are ridiculed for not being violent – and the whole issue of the use of violence is brought into question.

Obviously, since “The Big Country” came out long ago, it was not intended as an allegory for our present situation – but as I tell my students in A.P. English – the elements are there – the language is there – and you are free to interpret these elements supported by persuasively argued evidence. As for recent allegories “of our time” – my favorite has been the very visceral “Bug” with Ashley Judd.