Posted on 10/15/2005 6:10:31 PM PDT by Hildy
Schlussel does have one good point about the Hassan character that I would be very interested in hearing Cuban's comments on, and that is the way he was "made".
She is correct in pointing out that the true terrorist are not produced by the USA, as the movie appears to show, but by a different means. A means of manipulation through religion and class envy.
If he wrote it, then why did he decide to create the character in the way he did? For it does appear disingenuous...
bttt
I can't stomach IMDB discussions...the majority of posters are under the age of 18.
The majority of movie-goers are under the age of 18.
well..maybe that's true..I just wish they didn't feel compelled to COMMENT on everything! It's so embarrassing. Have you ever read the boards over there?
Nope, I've just skimmed the surface. You have to register to go into the boards and, judging from the thread titles, it wouldn't repay the effort.
It sounds as if Debbie and Cuban saw 2 different films. It could be that Debbie did not see it, but was relying on advance word that turned out to be bogus (a similar thing happened with advance word on Disney's Alamo film of 2004. Joseph Farah, among others, described the film as revisionist, and anti-Texan/American, when it was no such thing.)
Or, perhaps the film Cuban produced got tweaked at the last minute by a director with an agenda, and maybe Cuban has not seen the final edited film, but maybe only saw some pre-release rushes? It'll be interesting to find out.
If it really shows what losers the terrorists are, and how they can be "the middle-eastern guy next door", then it could be an interesting and important movie.
"Yet he's a billionaire and I'm surely not. Goes to show you what's important and what's not when it comes to success!""
I don't know much about it but I know this. Like a lot of people, Cuban started a hi-tech company in the '90s that quickly soared to absurd evaluations. Most of them immediately assumed they were geniuses and the next Bill Gates. They held onto their companies and prepared to be powerful moguls for the rest of their lives. By 2001, most of them had nothing.
Cuban, on the other hand, realized that he had gotten lucky and the country was crazy. he sold out at or near the peak for pure cash. Which was over $1 billion.
Hildy, "you rock"! What little I knew about Mark Cuban made me think he was an interesting guy who indeed was independent-minded, and not one to easily fall into doctrinaire thinking of any kind. I have heard of THE WAR WITHIN but at this point know little about it. His lengthy response to you did in fact illuminate it for me, and makes me want to see it also. The maturity shown in the way he answered you indicates that he is a mensch, and your directness
in taking him to task (even though, as you acknowledged, you may have jumped the gun) raises the level of this forum several degrees: THIS is what Free Republic is supposed to be about and SHOULD be about.DIALOGUE!
KUDOS!
It sounds pretentious. I think I'd be bored rather than entertained, enlightened or educated.
And Debbie Schlussel and I seem to have similar tastes in movies judging by previous reviews (IIRC, she liked the Matrix, Buffy) so if she didn't like it/missed the point, I probably would too.
But that Cuban would engage in the debate makes me think he's not an rip-down-America whiner like Robert Redford.
And just because an artist misses the mark doesn't mean he shouldn't get points for trying.
And Debbie could be dead wrong. Word of mouth might be enough to make me give it a look. If it came on TV & I happened to catch it while channel surfing, I probably would.
On the movie plenty of people will wait. too bad that didn't happend with the SC nomination of HM. / republicans eat their own.
It sure seems as if people misjudged MarK Cuban badly.
I went to the website he mentioned:
http://www.fallenpatriotfund.org/
"The Fallen Patriot Fund of the Mark Cuban Foundation was established to help families of the US military personnel who were killed or seriously injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Thanks for taking the time for doing this and for posting it. And a thanks to Cuban for responding to your questions.
WHoops! Maybe it was me that jumped the gun. I returned to the top and read the original article by Schussel from Frontpagemag.com. It is obviously polemical, a la Ann Coulter, but she is persuasive in the points she makes, which include direct quotes as to the real message behind the film
Maybe Mark Cuban is being disingenuous and is pretending not "to get" the points Debbie is making; maybe his intellect is not subtle enough to see or appreciate the subtext to the film that Debbie sees; hard to say. I'll have to see it myself. But my instincts tell me that the film may be overly sympathetic to terrorists in the usual cowering and craven sense of "it's -really -as- much -our fault- as -anyone's " we've gotten used to hearing from Liberals in the last 4 years.
MARK CUBAN TO DONATE $1 MILLION TO FALLEN SOLDIERS
http://www.fallenpatriotfund.org/4_16_03.html
The Mark Cuban Foundation has announced the formation of the Fallen Patriot Fund, established to help families of U.S. military personnel who were killed or seriously injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Fallen Patriot Fund will be matched dollar for dollar from the general funds of the Mark Cuban Foundation, up to $1 million.
“Now is a good time to take steps to support our troops,” said Mark Cuban, President and Chairman, HDNet and Owner, Dallas Mavericks. “I am very excited to be working with Bank of America to accept donations to the Fallen Patriot Fund to provide support to the spouses and children of our service people who have sacrificed themselves in service of our country during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In support of the Fallen Patriot Fund, I will be matching up to $1 million in total contributions to the fund. I encourage everyone to support our fallen heroes and find their closest Bank of America banking center and truly show their support.”
Just wanted to add my two cents.
I know Mark Cuban. Not well, but have interviewed and corresponded with him over the years.The radio station where I was working at the time was the first station to stream via Mark's broadcast.com.
Mark Cuban is a great guy. I don't care if he was a pauper. He'd give you the shirt off his back. He just likes to live life to the fullest. He is always involved in new projects. He is a passionate guy. He would never create anything building up terrorists. Bizarre. My impression is politically Cuban is his own guy. Involved, but not ideological. I really like Mark Cuban. Period.
The above # 35 should have been posted to HILDY
BTT
Why would you believe someone "interpreting" the movie over the person who actually made the movie. Sometimes we just see what we want to see and God knows, we on the right are very, very touchy right now.
Schlussel wins.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.