But Mr. Clooney’s remarks were also part of the tinniness of the age, and of modern Hollywood. I don’t think he was being disingenuous in suggesting he was himself somewhat heroic. He doesn’t even know he’s not heroic. He thinks making a movie in 2005 that said McCarthyism was bad is heroic.
Oh, why oh why do political commentators write about art? I mean, how artistically inept must one be to think Good Night, and Good Luck was a movie about how "McCarthyism was bad"?
50 years ago, Peggy Noonan would have written:
But Mr. Arthur Miller’s remarks were also part of the tinniness of the age, and of modern Broadway. I don’t think he was being disingenuous in suggesting he was himself somewhat heroic. He doesn’t even know he’s not heroic. He thinks writing a play in 1952 that said the Salem witch trials were bad is heroic.
Dave - 07:03am on 03/09/2006
Oh, why oh why do political commentators write about art?
Because sometimes art is about politics and has political ramifications? Is that ok with you, Davey, or should we all line up to apply for the Davey School Of Snooty Art Snobs stamp of approval before we’re allowed to speak on the subject?
Rob - 07:03am on 03/09/2006
If people have some desire to write on subjects about which they have little knowledge, that’s their choice. I actually enjoy watching people like Krauthammer and Noonan fall flat on their face writing about movies--just that little bit of schadenfreude that lies in our hearts.
However, I would suggest that Noonan stop writing about cinema, for the same reason I shouldn’t write about quantum mechanics: She is absolutly clueless in that field.
Dave - 07:03am on 03/09/2006
Says you. I found her comments quite insightful. But then, I’m probably just some dumb rube in your eyes. Hardly qualified to pick out my own reading material, let alone comment on cinema.
Honestly, your arrogance is astounding.
Rob - 07:03am on 03/09/2006
Dave -
I like your analogy, but I think it is slightly off in two respects.
1) I don’t think Arthur Miller declared himself to be a hero (of course, I am willing to be corrected on this...)
2) Miller himself, or at least his friends, were under attack to a far greater extent than Clooney can ever claim to be. Clooney is certainly far from being persecuted for his beliefs. Ridiculed, perhaps, but not persecuted.
Mark - 07:03am on 03/09/2006
Lol. I just wanted to use as close to the exact same wording as possible.
The point is that claiming Good Night, and Good Luck was a movie just about how McCarthyism was bad is as ludicrous as saying The Crucible was just about how the witch trials were bad: you’ve just completely missed the boat.
Which isn’t that big of a problem. Noonan is a political commentator--her knowledge of cinema is as relevant to her column as her knowledge of water polo.
Dave - 08:03am on 03/09/2006
So Davey, enlighten us...what else was Goodnight, Good Luck about other than McCarthyism?
Rob - 08:03am on 03/09/2006
At the means of stating the obvious, suppression of dissent, now, then, whenever…
(Whether that argument is credible or not [as applied to now] has no bearing on the intentions of the film-makers...)
Mark - 08:03am on 03/09/2006
’Means’ should read ‘risk’.
Sorry…
Mark - 08:03am on 03/09/2006
Peggy had best hold on to the Boys of Pointe de Hoc. Them, she knows. She was in WW II, after all, scaled the cliffs, braved the mists, got acclaim, and to this day insists that the guns were really there.
But the movies?
Her blandishments charm only Gigot. She pounds the keyboard and the ground trembles below her, but the stars stay undimmed, Clooney refuses her acquiesce and won’t return her calls.
Oh, why oh why do political commentators write about art? I mean, how artistically inept must one be to think Good Night, and Good Luck was a movie about how "McCarthyism was bad"?
50 years ago, Peggy Noonan would have written:
Because sometimes art is about politics and has political ramifications? Is that ok with you, Davey, or should we all line up to apply for the Davey School Of Snooty Art Snobs stamp of approval before we’re allowed to speak on the subject?
If people have some desire to write on subjects about which they have little knowledge, that’s their choice. I actually enjoy watching people like Krauthammer and Noonan fall flat on their face writing about movies--just that little bit of schadenfreude that lies in our hearts.
However, I would suggest that Noonan stop writing about cinema, for the same reason I shouldn’t write about quantum mechanics: She is absolutly clueless in that field.
Says you. I found her comments quite insightful. But then, I’m probably just some dumb rube in your eyes. Hardly qualified to pick out my own reading material, let alone comment on cinema.
Honestly, your arrogance is astounding.
Dave -
I like your analogy, but I think it is slightly off in two respects.
1) I don’t think Arthur Miller declared himself to be a hero (of course, I am willing to be corrected on this...)
2) Miller himself, or at least his friends, were under attack to a far greater extent than Clooney can ever claim to be. Clooney is certainly far from being persecuted for his beliefs. Ridiculed, perhaps, but not persecuted.
Lol. I just wanted to use as close to the exact same wording as possible.
The point is that claiming Good Night, and Good Luck was a movie just about how McCarthyism was bad is as ludicrous as saying The Crucible was just about how the witch trials were bad: you’ve just completely missed the boat.
Which isn’t that big of a problem. Noonan is a political commentator--her knowledge of cinema is as relevant to her column as her knowledge of water polo.
So Davey, enlighten us...what else was Goodnight, Good Luck about other than McCarthyism?
At the means of stating the obvious, suppression of dissent, now, then, whenever…
(Whether that argument is credible or not [as applied to now] has no bearing on the intentions of the film-makers...)
’Means’ should read ‘risk’.
Sorry…
Peggy had best hold on to the Boys of Pointe de Hoc. Them, she knows. She was in WW II, after all, scaled the cliffs, braved the mists, got acclaim, and to this day insists that the guns were really there.
But the movies?
Her blandishments charm only Gigot. She pounds the keyboard and the ground trembles below her, but the stars stay undimmed, Clooney refuses her acquiesce and won’t return her calls.