Posted on 01/23/2006 3:18:42 PM PST by KingofZion
AT A RECENT family gathering, my cousin-in-law, Janice, asked me to respond to complaints she'd read over and over again about "Munich"...
***Why does the movie show Mossad agents having doubts and regrets about killing terrorists when apparently they never have doubts and regrets? Why did you make that up?
I've never killed anyone, but my instincts as a person and a playwright and the best books I've read about soldiers or cops or people whose jobs bring them into violent physical conflict suggest that people in general don't kill without feeling torn up about it.
***Janice asked a third question: Why do I, her cousin-in-law, apparently have a secret plan to destroy Israel?
I have indeed been critical of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza well, Janice knew that already. I'm an American and a proudly Diasporan Jew. I believe that the best hope for any oppressed minority is found in the Constitution's promise of equal protection under the law, in secular pluralist democracy.
***I think it's the refusal of the film to reduce the Mideast controversy, and the problematics of terrorism and counterterrorism, to sound bites and spin that has brought forth charges of "moral equivalence" from people whose politics are best served by simple morality tales. ***This is a great annoyance to the up-and-at-'em crowd, whose unshakable conviction is that the only sane and effective response to terrorism is savage violence commensurate with the original act. To justify this conviction they offer, as so many of the political critics of "Munich" have done, tautologies on the order of "evil deeds are done by evil people who do evil deeds because that's what evil people do." If that's helpful to you as a tool for understanding terrorism, you won't like "Munich."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Good assessment.
THAT settles it! We had no business intefering with Mr. Hitler's little plans! Wow, I am SO glad that this PACIFIST from the SOVIET REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA has shone some light on me, so that I can FINALLY understand that.
(I'm kidding, of course. Moral equivalence is always a crock. To equate Israel's quest to stamp out terrorism with the terrorists that've brought this about is something that ONLY a complete buffoon from the Left Coast [and/or old Europe] could possibly do.)
(By the way, did anyone see the Discovery channel's abomination of a followup to this movie?)
He's an idiot.
Just saw Munich. I thought it was pretty awesome. I'll probably go back and see it again.
Don't know what all the uproar on FR is about but I really enjoyed seeing the Mossad track down and kill those bastards one by one.
Hmmmm. Well, I've seen it. I came away with the impression that Arab terrorists are rabid animals that need to be relentlessly tracked down and killed.
All through the film, Spielberg returns to the scene at Munich with the athletes being killed in cold blood to remind people in the audience why the Mossad are doing what they're doing.
For me, it was a very powerful film. Could be Spielberg's best.
I've seen it. It doesn't but it also doesn't show them as mindless killing machines either. Suffice it to say- they are all absolutely committed to carrying out their mission.
Good comments and spot on. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and from what I could see others did as well. Several groups of people were still in the auditorium discussing what they had seen afterwards even after the credits had finished and the lights had come on.
Whatever Kushner's views on the Mideast, most of the Arabs in "Munich" are so violent and cold-blooded that most people who see it will leave even more unsympathetic to the Arabs. "Dead Man Walking" was an anti-death penalty movie, but most people who saw it probably wanted Sean Penn's character to die at the end.
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.