David Lynch

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Sat Mar 2 12:03:40 PST 2002



>Okay, yeah, there are some good poems with a Direct Political Message.
>But there does seem to be something about an earnest interest to
>include a political message in art that increases the probability of
>including tired cliches.

An earnest interest to include a political message sometimes overwhelms all other elements in some artists' works. Perhaps a good example is Tim Robbins. _Cradle Will Rock_ (with its promising topic) could have been a great movie, if directed by someone with a cooler head and sharper eyes for visual composition. John Sayles's _Lone Star_ and _Men With Guns_ also fall into this category of art defeated by a surfeit of good will. He did better with _Brother from Another Planet_ and _City of Hope_.

I think, though, that as far as today's American movies are concerned, we are not exactly inundated by a flood of an earnest interest to include a _left-wing_ political message in art. Instead, we are being bombarded by war propaganda movies (e.g., _Behind Enemy Lines_, _Black Hawk Down_, _Collateral Damage_); and clever and technically expert films with little to say about anything (e.g., _Memento_, _Being John Malkovich_). -- Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>



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