Posted on 07/14/2003 7:57:20 AM PDT by Wondervixen
"Here in the UK no one gets upset, but over there, where the President is fighting these military campaigns in the name of democracy, the first casualty seems to be freedom of speech, the cornerstone of any democracy."
- BUFFALO SOLDIERS Director Gregor Jordan
The WALT DISNEY CO. is set for maximum controversy when it releases a "warts-and-all" portrait of U.S. Army life with the fuss-film BUFFALO SOLDIERS.
s American men and women put their lives on the line in Iraq and other locations throughout the world, DISNEY and its subsidiary MIRAMAX have set a July 25 opening for the story of enlisted man running a profitable drugs and stolen goods business out of an Army base!
[A promo snap for the film -- "Steal all that you can steal," a riff on the US Army's own pseudo-empowering "Be all that you can be" slogan, while below actor Joaquin Phoenix stands before an American flag -- comes as TIME magazine alleged in a cover story that American troops looted and vandalized the Baghdad airport after it was secured.]
The film's director Gregor Jordan describes SOLDIERS as a robust satire illustrating the corruption, drug use and violence that goes on in US Army bases.
At the film's open, a painted US flag is on the ground and is stepped on by marching soldiers.
The film features an excessive amount of profanity by senior officers, suggestive sex [oral sex in bed, sex in a car, sex in a swimming pool], theft of government property, and rampant drug use by soldiers.
Actor Phoenix explains, "I don't know why anyone would be offended. It wasn't a movie that was intended to offend. And if we don't show things as they really happen, then what's that about? Censorship!"
That Joaquin Phoenix thinks this crap goes on all the time in our military isn't surprising either...I guess he thinks EVERYBODY'S older brother's die of drug overdoses outside trendy Hollyweird nightclubs too.
A good idea.
Walt's old WD produced animated traning films for the Army, Navy and Marines staring the premier cartoon characters. Walt Disney and Patriotism
Since when is the military exempt from unflattering portrayals?
One would think you all never saw or heard of "Hogan's Heroes", "MASH", "Stripes", "Hot Shots!", etc.
Hogan's Heroes never even attempted to be taken seriously, much less as an authentic portrayal of the military, as the very actors and spokesman for this movie do. Moreover, even though it was a ficticious comedy, it still depicted the Allies as the protagonists against Nazism.
MASH (the movie) was sold an an indictment of Vietnam (despite being portrayed in the Korean war)--so it is not surprising it was anti-military. The TV series was also anti-war in its themes, but, both the movie and the series never attacked the integrity of our soldiers or their spirit. They stopped short of that insideous assault, and instead focused on the inhumanity of war itself.
Stripes was a comedy, but by the end of the movie, it clearly lauded the troops and did not attack them, their values, nor their patriotism.
Hot Shots was simply outrageous and funny--again, not a clear attack on the military by portraying them (in a very realistic way) as thieves, drug dealers, con artists, liars, and corrupt.
This movie follows in the recent Disney tradition of attacking institutions its writers, directors, and staff hate and despise, namely: anything Christian, the military, and the family.
Can you see the distinction now?
Well, if comedies are not your thing how about "Apocalypse Now", "Platoon", "Three Kings", "The Deer Hunter", etc?
There are zillions of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Bridge on the River Kwai"-type movies out there to counter-balance any negative ones.
Somehow, I think we'll all be able to survive this with the republic intact.
There are no sacred cows when it comes to movies, books, etc nor should there be.
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