| GREG-STRANGE.COM |
"If you haven't found something strange during the
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
PROVIDING SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTARY ON THE
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
The New McCarthyism . . . And Madonna In Fatigues
". . . borrowing a page from the dark era of Hollywood
blacklisting . . ." -- Sean Penn, commenting on movie producer
Steve Bing, whom Penn claims reneged on a role Bing had
offered him because he didn't like Penn's views on Iraq.
Emotionally volatile actor Sean Penn has recently claimed
that because of his antiwar stance on Iraq, he has been denied
a role in producer Steve Bing's movie "Why Men Shouldn't
Marry." Gee, is everybody as distraught about this as I am? As
British writer Tony Parsons lamentingly said about the
terrorists being detained at Guantanamo Bay without legal
representation, "Pass the Kleenex."
If this is the new McCarthyism, I love it. Sean Penn, tortured
soul in tow, goes to Baghdad, strolls through a children's
hospital, is appalled by what he sees, can't bear the thought of
war and jumps on the "blame America" bandwagon. Bing, on
the other hand, if we are to believe Penn's claim, believes that
Iraq and the world might conceivably be better off if the
mass-murdering, megalomaniacal dictator were gone. So,
because Bing is sick and tired of America-bashing Hollywood
brats like Penn, he tells the guy, "Not in MY movie!" It's a
beautiful thing.
The only thing wrong with this scenario is . . . a comet will
hit New York City before it happens. Think about it. If Bing
refuses to hire anyone who is opposed to a war with Iraq, how is
he ever going to make a movie? Talk about narrowing the
employment pool. There's what, three guys in the entire
entertainment firmament who aren't antiwar fanatics? You'd
have an easier time finding Bigfoot than a pro-war entertainer.
As much as some of us would like to believe that Bing is
somebody who would be willing to send people like Penn
packing, it's probably wishful thinking. Bing isn't exactly
anyone's paragon of acting out of moral conviction. He's the
guy who impregnated actress/model Elizabeth Hurley and then
fought her claim of his paternity like it was the plague. So
much for anything admirable coming out of Hollywood.
Anyway, Bing denies that they ever had an official agreement
and the whole thing has descended into a morass of dueling
lawsuits.
Speaking of "Why Men Shouldn't Marry," let's talk about
Madonna, Sean Penn's ex-wife and the latest to join the
entertainment multitudes in their revulsion for any and all
military action (except those that were initiated by Bill
Clinton).
It's been a long time since Madonna shocked the civilized
world with one of her controversial videos, but now that her
acting career is in free fall and America is set to go to war, it's
as good a time as any. Therefore, we will soon be assailed by a
new video from her forthcoming CD "American Life," which
some insiders have said may be the most shocking antiwar
statement yet to come out of the entertainment world.
Just to provide a bit of perspective here, Madonna, as you
may know, is not one of the world's leading geopolitical
thinkers. She is instead one of the world's leading
nymphomaniacs, and one who also happens to be able to sing
and dance. She's made a career out of simulating coitus to a
dazzlingly variegated agglomeration of dance/pop/techno
beats. Now all of a sudden we're supposed to take her seriously
on matters of war and peace?
According to sources, the video will feature Madonna in
commando fatigues throwing hand grenades, as well as
depictions of limbless men and women and bloody babies.
Towards the end, the video "escalates into a mad frenzy
depicting the catastrophic repercussion and horror of war."
Great, I can't wait. But will there be anything in this video
about any of Saddam's misdeeds, such as the rape, torture and
murder that are his most integral governing tools; or the
ill-conceived wars he has dragged his people into, resulting in
the deaths of more than a million; or his undeniable support of
terrorism, at the very least, against Israel; or his insatiable lust
for weapons of mass destruction? Or will this video just be
about Americans indiscriminately blowing up Iraqi children?
I'll go out on a limb and guess . . . the latter.
If there's a bright side to this, it could be her first video ever
that doesn't in some way promote or glorify loveless, sybaritic
sex. That may be of some comfort to beleaguered parents of
teenaged girls who are ever eager to emulate the actions of
their favorite slutty pop stars. On the other hand, it will
probably win an MTV award for best video doubling as an Iraqi
propaganda film set to a pounding techno-terror beat.
And who knows, maybe even a Nobel Peace Prize?
". . . borrowing a page from the dark era of Hollywood
blacklisting . . ." -- Sean Penn, commenting on movie producer
Steve Bing, whom Penn claims reneged on a role Bing had
offered him because he didn't like Penn's views on Iraq.
Emotionally volatile actor Sean Penn has recently claimed
that because of his antiwar stance on Iraq, he has been denied
a role in producer Steve Bing's movie "Why Men Shouldn't
Marry." Gee, is everybody as distraught about this as I am? As
British writer Tony Parsons lamentingly said about the
terrorists being detained at Guantanamo Bay without legal
representation, "Pass the Kleenex."
If this is the new McCarthyism, I love it. Sean Penn, tortured
soul in tow, goes to Baghdad, strolls through a children's
hospital, is appalled by what he sees, can't bear the thought of
war and jumps on the "blame America" bandwagon. Bing, on
the other hand, if we are to believe Penn's claim, believes that
Iraq and the world might conceivably be better off if the
mass-murdering, megalomaniacal dictator were gone. So,
because Bing is sick and tired of America-bashing Hollywood
brats like Penn, he tells the guy, "Not in MY movie!" It's a
beautiful thing.
The only thing wrong with this scenario is . . . a comet will
hit New York City before it happens. Think about it. If Bing
refuses to hire anyone who is opposed to a war with Iraq, how is
he ever going to make a movie? Talk about narrowing the
employment pool. There's what, three guys in the entire
entertainment firmament who aren't antiwar fanatics? You'd
have an easier time finding Bigfoot than a pro-war entertainer.
As much as some of us would like to believe that Bing is
somebody who would be willing to send people like Penn
packing, it's probably wishful thinking. Bing isn't exactly
anyone's paragon of acting out of moral conviction. He's the
guy who impregnated actress/model Elizabeth Hurley and then
fought her claim of his paternity like it was the plague. So
much for anything admirable coming out of Hollywood.
Anyway, Bing denies that they ever had an official agreement
and the whole thing has descended into a morass of dueling
lawsuits.
Speaking of "Why Men Shouldn't Marry," let's talk about
Madonna, Sean Penn's ex-wife and the latest to join the
entertainment multitudes in their revulsion for any and all
military action (except those that were initiated by Bill
Clinton).
It's been a long time since Madonna shocked the civilized
world with one of her controversial videos, but now that her
acting career is in free fall and America is set to go to war, it's
as good a time as any. Therefore, we will soon be assailed by a
new video from her forthcoming CD "American Life," which
some insiders have said may be the most shocking antiwar
statement yet to come out of the entertainment world.
Just to provide a bit of perspective here, Madonna, as you
may know, is not one of the world's leading geopolitical
thinkers. She is instead one of the world's leading
nymphomaniacs, and one who also happens to be able to sing
and dance. She's made a career out of simulating coitus to a
dazzlingly variegated agglomeration of dance/pop/techno
beats. Now all of a sudden we're supposed to take her seriously
on matters of war and peace?
According to sources, the video will feature Madonna in
commando fatigues throwing hand grenades, as well as
depictions of limbless men and women and bloody babies.
Towards the end, the video "escalates into a mad frenzy
depicting the catastrophic repercussion and horror of war."
Great, I can't wait. But will there be anything in this video
about any of Saddam's misdeeds, such as the rape, torture and
murder that are his most integral governing tools; or the
ill-conceived wars he has dragged his people into, resulting in
the deaths of more than a million; or his undeniable support of
terrorism, at the very least, against Israel; or his insatiable lust
for weapons of mass destruction? Or will this video just be
about Americans indiscriminately blowing up Iraqi children?
I'll go out on a limb and guess . . . the latter.
If there's a bright side to this, it could be her first video ever
that doesn't in some way promote or glorify loveless, sybaritic
sex. That may be of some comfort to beleaguered parents of
teenaged girls who are ever eager to emulate the actions of
their favorite slutty pop stars. On the other hand, it will
probably win an MTV award for best video doubling as an Iraqi
propaganda film set to a pounding techno-terror beat.
And who knows, maybe even a Nobel Peace Prize?