Posted on 06/24/2005 10:18:23 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
According to a reader over at Libertas, David Koepp, the writer of the film, had this to say in an interview with Rue Morgue Magazine, [not available online]:
And now, as we see American adventure abroad he (David Koepp} continues in my mind its certainly back to its original meaning, which is that the Martians in our movie represent American military forces invading the Iraqis, and the futility of the occupation of a faraway land is again the subtext
Koepp also told Newsweek:
"I think the whole war [in the movie] is about water," he says. "I figure their planet ran out. Wars tend to be fought over very elemental things: water, land, oil."
Now, this guy wrote the film. Wouldn't he know? We also have Spielberg refusing to allow any reviews until the day the film's released. Could this be a way to avoid the bad press that hurt Kingdom of Heaven and probably had something to with Sith losing pace to hit the $400 million mark, after those films were discovered to be loaded with lame partisan (poorly written) attacks?
Spielberg's being slyly "nuanced" about the whole thing:
I tried to make it as open for interpretation as possible, without having any body coming out with a huge political polemic in the second act of the movie. I think there are politics certainly underneath some of the scares and some of the adventure and some of the fear, but I really wanted to make it suggested and not that everybody could have their own opinion.
I smell a rat, and intend to take the screenwriter at his word that the evil imperialistic murderers of millions in the film represent "American military forces."
You too? We will fight the chicken demons together, brother.
Excellent. I move we should call ourselves the 303rd Poultry Farmers.
One small problem with the conceit that the Martians represent Americans invading Iraq is that the story was written by H.G. Wells in 1898.
The American invasion of Iraq wasn't a big issue then, since it was more than 100 years in the future...
http://classicreader.com/author.php/aut.10/
Pssst...
H.G. Wells was psychic...I heard it from a DUmmie. Don't tell the other FReepers.
Wells' original novel was a metaphor for anti colonialist attitudes. It was such a crackling good story that the message was overwhelmed. If this flick is as poorly done as Spielberg's Into the West series then all we'll have to talk about is the message. I think that's what they are afraid of. Unless you are Michael Moore, movies whose whole purpose is propaganda tank big time.
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