In a current spate of A-bomb research, I watched both Dr. Strangelove and a documentary called Atomic Filmmakers, Behind the Scenes.
Dr. Strangelove is an irksome film. When I first saw it I was too young and too scared of the bomb to get the humour. This time I did not find myself laughing either, but at least I saw it as subversive rather than oppressive. When I was a child I wondered, "How could this be?" and I guess I still kind of wonder the same thing. I like the chilling P.O.V. shots on the ground when General Jack T. Ripper's stockaded base is invaded (on orders from the president) by a neighbouring military unit. Americans, shot by Americans, lie dying on the dusty ground. The footage reminds me of Kent State, and also the part in Catch-22 when Milo Minderbinder strafes his own base as part of some black market deal he made for 'the syndicate" (because what's good for the syndicate is good for us all). There are similarities to Catch-22 but the humour here is much colder and less humanistic. It's a different kind of war, I guess. Still, it's interesting that the technology (big knobs and switches on the airplane consoles, survival kits and bomber jackets, etc.) of Dr. Strangelove looks much more like WW II than like our present day remote control death networks. I am pretty sure that the overabundance of chewing gum in the film was hyper-ironic reference to a nostalgia for a more individualistic, Johnny-get-your-gun, kind of war.
The Atomic Filmmakers doc (1997) was about a bunch of guys who documented the A-bomb tests in Nevada and at Bikini Atoll. The film was highly unsubversive, the interviews were conducted passively, and the tone was true to the ethos of the era: there's a decent, American job to be done here: heck, them-there A-bombs ain't gonna document themselves!
One good anecdote was from a guy who sat with his cameras in the nose (gunner-bay, I guess) of a plane that followed the plane that dropped a bomb, so he was right above the blast when it went off. He had goggles to shield his eyes but they broke as he was pulling them on. He (in a state of panic, sure he'd go blind) put his hands across his tightly closed eyes. He didn't go blind, but he did see the bones of his fingers in the flash.
There was a whole secret film lab called Lookout Mountain. These guys documented everything: they made 6500 films! One them had an aunt and uncle killed at Nagasaki. He said they lived in the country and made the "unfortunate" decision to go into the city to market that day. He said that in one of the Nevada tests he filmed, pigs and monkeys were tied up in the bomb area with their eyes propped (what-the? Like in Clockwork Orange? whY? ) open. He said that made him think "This is how it would be for people who had a bomb dropped on them."
The film ended with a montage of incredibly magnificent footage of big blasts and mushroom clouds. I stared at the TV screen trying to understand what I was seeing, but it just kept looking like really nice pictures.
I like a film with a character in it named Captain Bat- Guano.
have you seen "fail safe" (director: sidney lumet)? it came out around the same time as strangelove and was close enough in theme that kubrick sued lumet. it also has a beautiful/ depressing end scene.
Where did you read that Kubrick sued over Fail-Safe? According to this summation, the Strangelove novelist sued the Fail-Safe novelists but Kubrick trumped Fail-Safe by getting his movie released first and making Fail-Safe look silly (at least in 1964):
Fail-Safe, first published in 1962, shared startling similarities to another novel that had a similar plot, Red Alert (1958) by Peter George. In fact, George filed a suit for plagiarism against Burdick and Wheeler, which was eventually settled out of court. It was also rumored that President Johnson did not want to see Fail-Safe turned into a film (Henry Fonda, the star of Fail-Safe, later said he had inside information that the reverse was true). At any rate, Stanley Kubrick purchased the rights to Red Alert and transformed it into his black comedy masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove (1964). Ironically, Columbia Pictures had both Kubrick's film and Fail-Safe in production at the same time and eventually decided to open Kubrick's film first. As a result, the dramatic impact of Fail-Safe was severely diminished by the early release of Kubrick's satire which treated nuclear war as a cruel joke on the human race. Nevertheless, it is interesting to view both films for their treatment of a doomsday situation; in Dr. Strangelove, the disaster is caused by human error but in Fail-Safe, the state of mankind depends on a computer.
Here's some more interesting background, from the IMDb trivia page:
Based on the novel " Red Alert" by Peter George, and originally conceived as a tense thriller about the possibility of accidental nuclear war. Director Stanley Kubrick was working on the script when he realized that many scenes he had written were actually quite funny. He then brought in Terry Southern to turn the story into a satire. Among the changes were the addition of the title character and the renaming of other characters using satirical names such as Turgidson, Kissoff, Guano, DeSadesky, and Merkin Muffley.
Remembering his work on the western One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Kubrick cast 'Pickens, Slim' as Kong, the gung-ho hick pilot determined to drop his bombs at any cost. Pickens was never shown the script nor told it was a black comedy; ordered by Kubrick to play it straight, he played the role as if it were a serious drama - with amusing results.
Well, that's interesting that it didn't start out as a comedy. I'd have to say that I don't think the process of tacking on jokes was very successful. Will try to see Failsafe this weekend.
I am pretty sure that I've seen Dr. Strangelove years ago in my Film 101 class, but like many of the films I had to watch then, they made very little sense when you're hung-over. That aside, to bring the a-bomb a little closer to my pop references. In the opening scene of the film "Back to The Future," the large speaker stack that Michael J. Fox stands in front of, and subsequently gets blasted across the room by, has the same serial number as on the a-bomb in Dr. Strangelove. "Wooahh." A classic scene for sure. Maybe even one of the best stereo inspired, 80's film, power of rock, shots ever next to the vampire "death by stereo" scene in The Lost Boys.
Funny:
"The deciding factor was when we learned that your country was working along similar lines, and we were afraid of a doomsday gap."
"Gentlemen, you can't fight here, this is the War Room!"
Sellers wrestling with his arm.
I agree there are funny bits for sure! I love poor Mandrake, swallowing hard, locked in a room with whacked out General Ripper. But overall I think the film's primary role is still a "a tense thriller about the possibility of accidental nuclear war," and the inconsistencies in ironic tone get confusing. The film takes an agressive stance toward the audience. We are either complicit or victimised, and Kubrick, perhaps intentionally, muddles any clues about how we might navigate between the two positions. It's subversive and oppressive.
Ouch...Bunnie, must you remind us about Back to the Future? I will pledge to watch it again only if you will watch Baseketball.
pls dont hate me coz i b-leeve everything i read
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/click/movie-1007004/reviews.php?critic=columns&sortby=default&page=1&rid=1255866
In elementary school I went through nuclear warfare drills. I suppose the same drills were valid in case of tornado, but there was always the overtone of hydrogen bombs.
Against that backdrop, nothing about Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb could be oppressive. In highschool we had an A/V system in the library intended for study, I suppose. But I used it to watch Cool Hand Luke and Dr. Strangelove, among others, over and over again.
A few favorite moments ...
The refueling/mating scene in the opening credits.
George C. Scott's "those babies can fly so low" scene in the War Room.
The previously cited "you can't fight here" scene.
Slim Pickens reading of the survival kit supply list. "A fella could have purty good time in Las Vegas with all this stuff."
And this exchange between Mandrake and Guano ..
Mandrake: Colonel...that Coca Cola machine. I want you to shoot the lock off it. There may be some change in there.
Guano: That's private property.
Mandrake: Colonel! Can you possibly imagine what is going to happen to you, your frame, outlook, way of life and everything, when they learn that you have obstructed a telephone call to the President of the United States? Can you imagine?! Shoot it off! Shoot! With a gun! That's what the bullets are for you twit!!
Guano: Okay. I'm gonna get your money for ya. But if you don't get the President of the United States on that phone, you know what's gonna happen to you?
Mandrake: What?!
Guano: You're gonna have to answer to the Coca Cola company.
"Against that backdrop, nothing about Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb could be oppressive."
I missed the earlier phase of the cold war which might be a necessary context for properly understanding this film. As it is, Dr. Strangelove doesn't give me a sense of release, it makes me more scared. But maybe that's appropriate. I keep thinking about this quote by
Isaac Asimov, from Better to Have Loved, by Judith Merril and Emily Pohl-Weary, on Merril's story Shadow on the Hearth
Read this book on a warm sunny day, with the birds singing and summer in full play; and, as you read, the sun will dim out, the birds will fall silent and the cold will creep in. Yet the story is only the quiet account of five days in the life of a Westchester housefwife. [...] This becomes an exercise in grim horror, since the story takes place during the five days after the atom bomb falls on New York City. [...] When you have lived them, it may take awhile for the sun to strike a light again and for the birds to clear their throats and find their places in the musical score. It may take a long time, and that, perhaps, is how it should be. There should be a permanent chill in every man's soul while the menace of atomic war remains.
Perhaps it's not so much a matter of believing everything you read as believing everything you read by someone named "Christopher Null." But seriously, I'm still curious if there's any validity to the lawsuit story or if we're actually just talking about the suit between writers. It's for my urban legends class.
Strangelove has one foot in the "zany 60s comedy" tradition along with the The Loved One, You're a Big Boy Now, The President's Analyst, Casino Royale, They Might Be Giants, and The Magic Christian (two of those also had Terry Southern scripts). I haven't seen Strangelove in awhile but I believe you that some of the jokes don't work. The idea of blowing up the entire world, which many people accept(ed) as a fact of life, I think Kubrick assessed as beyond tragedy--only farce would do. The humor/horror contradiction does make it scary. The kind of mentality that led to a joke about a "doomsday gap"--ie, bozos blowing up 15 megaton warheads in the Pacific--how do you deal with that? The people who did protest--such as the Berrigans--went to prison. Still, Fail-Safe is probably the more relevant movie now. Let's see, you've got an angry Professor-type (the neocons) egging on the President to war and a President willing to sacrifice New York, not with an A-bomb, but by escalating global tension levels, welshing on reconstruction payments, etc.
I can recommend an interesting book for your research, Sally. "Children of The A Bomb" is a collection of descriptive essays by children who survived the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. I read it when I was 9 or 10 years old and naturally, it has stayed with me for all these years. The most bewildering thing I remember was that several of the children wrote about their hatred and anger at America, and then, in addendum, stated that they all love Americans now. (my childlike justified rage was thrown for a loop by that)
That Japanese/USA love/hate thing is bugging the shit out of me too. I guess I can relate (only I can't relate, and have no idea what that particular cultural relationship to USA must feel like).
On one of my trips to Berlin, while drinking beer and playing petanque with a group of people, a German jokingly said to me "Sorry about the war." But he had a strong cockney accent, which confused me. "Why would a Brit appologize for the war?" Once I realized he was German, I felt like saying "Well, sorry about the fire bombing", but the joke had passed.
I've worked with some Japanese. During my trip to Tokyo, we socialized by eating sushi and drinking beer and saki. We didn't mention the war. That would be a very un-Japanese thing to do.
What if you'd said " sorry about the war" in Tokyo?!! hah just imagine. I doubt that would go over very well.
Funny you should mention that Berlin conversation, Mark. Whenever I am in Germany, I talk with as many people as possible about WW2 and the Cold War (two of many wee obsessions with me) Once had a taxi driver crying as he told me about the fall of the Berlin wall (I felt like Barbara Walters). Anyway, it is only lately that I have started to read more about the war in the Pacific, and if I went to Tokyo, I would ask taxi drivers, people in restaurants, people in elevators and every other social setting about WW2 Japan.
Are you and Sally warning me against this? (not that it would stop me)
I'm in no position to warn anybody about anything. I've never been to Germany or Japan (but I would very much like to go to both places...soon!). Just speculating like the loudmouth that I am.
First, I'm no expert on the topic. I've dealings with a Japanese firm on one project, directly and through people who worked for me, and I read Culture Shock: Japan. I've found this series helpful for understanding why Argentine men kiss, French people don't have the American "what's your job?" obsession upon meeting new people in a social setting, etc., etc.
Japanese tend not to deal with difficult issues in a direct manner. A Japanese "no" in a business setting may take the form of "that would be difficult" or "I understand your position".
On the other hand, the key manager on this project in Japan was a country boy from eastern WA who was one of the more blunt people I've worked with. I didn't try to tone down his style, since I knew that directness was pretty fundamental to who he was. And the Japanese adapted. I suppose they're been exposed to American directness, especially through movies, etc.
But if you do ask direct questions about WW2, don't be surprised if some people will try to deflect the question.
While I'm on the topic, here's my favorite Japanese fish-out-of-water story. This American engineer was in Japan for a one year assignment. Over time he got to know the folks who used the same bus stop, and would chat with them after work. Then they found out he was a Ph.D. Since they were worker-types and he was an exaulted doctor, they began to speak to him with a formal speaking style appropriate for addressing a superior. (We ain't got one of those in 'Merica.) He wasn't familiar with that aspect of the language, and couldn't understand them anymore. He had to convince them "dudes, I'm just one of the guys, talk normal", and everything was okay again.
Okay, that was kind of mean. Michael J. Fox did make my personal list of hotties back then. Anyhow, to do pennance for slagging BTTF I read some mind-numbing chit-chat on the BTTF.com forums and found out that DVDs have easter eggs. See how out of the loop I am? I thought only computer games did that. But at least I have seen Baseketball, which is more than I can say for some so-called culture mavens. I agree 100% with Christopher Null on this one: "Sadly underrated, it seems Parker and Stone will get no points for anything they do outside of South Park. While they didn't write this one, BASEketball is surprisingly hilarious, filled with sheer asinine humor to fill a dozen Naked Guns"
haven't seen Fail Safe yet, but did try my hand at a Classic Prereview here.
Has Christopher Null reviewed Touching the Void?
hm good question. Not so far, at least not at rotten tomatoes.
That was a joke. Null on Void... Ha Ha.
d-oh. And me a self-professed fan of assinine humour!
Talk talk talk on Japanse Culture. Scroll down to John Nathan. His thesis is that Japan is going through an national identity crisis.
|
In a current spate of A-bomb research, I watched both Dr. Strangelove and a documentary called Atomic Filmmakers, Behind the Scenes.
Dr. Strangelove is an irksome film. When I first saw it I was too young and too scared of the bomb to get the humour. This time I did not find myself laughing either, but at least I saw it as subversive rather than oppressive. When I was a child I wondered, "How could this be?" and I guess I still kind of wonder the same thing. I like the chilling P.O.V. shots on the ground when General Jack T. Ripper's stockaded base is invaded (on orders from the president) by a neighbouring military unit. Americans, shot by Americans, lie dying on the dusty ground. The footage reminds me of Kent State, and also the part in Catch-22 when Milo Minderbinder strafes his own base as part of some black market deal he made for 'the syndicate" (because what's good for the syndicate is good for us all). There are similarities to Catch-22 but the humour here is much colder and less humanistic. It's a different kind of war, I guess. Still, it's interesting that the technology (big knobs and switches on the airplane consoles, survival kits and bomber jackets, etc.) of Dr. Strangelove looks much more like WW II than like our present day remote control death networks. I am pretty sure that the overabundance of chewing gum in the film was hyper-ironic reference to a nostalgia for a more individualistic, Johnny-get-your-gun, kind of war.
The Atomic Filmmakers doc (1997) was about a bunch of guys who documented the A-bomb tests in Nevada and at Bikini Atoll. The film was highly unsubversive, the interviews were conducted passively, and the tone was true to the ethos of the era: there's a decent, American job to be done here: heck, them-there A-bombs ain't gonna document themselves!
One good anecdote was from a guy who sat with his cameras in the nose (gunner-bay, I guess) of a plane that followed the plane that dropped a bomb, so he was right above the blast when it went off. He had goggles to shield his eyes but they broke as he was pulling them on. He (in a state of panic, sure he'd go blind) put his hands across his tightly closed eyes. He didn't go blind, but he did see the bones of his fingers in the flash.
There was a whole secret film lab called Lookout Mountain. These guys documented everything: they made 6500 films! One them had an aunt and uncle killed at Nagasaki. He said they lived in the country and made the "unfortunate" decision to go into the city to market that day. He said that in one of the Nevada tests he filmed, pigs and monkeys were tied up in the bomb area with their eyes propped (what-the? Like in Clockwork Orange? whY? ) open. He said that made him think "This is how it would be for people who had a bomb dropped on them."
The film ended with a montage of incredibly magnificent footage of big blasts and mushroom clouds. I stared at the TV screen trying to understand what I was seeing, but it just kept looking like really nice pictures.
- sally mckay 3-06-2004 8:36 am
I like a film with a character in it named Captain Bat- Guano.
- Jennifer McMackon (guest) 3-06-2004 4:35 pm
have you seen "fail safe" (director: sidney lumet)? it came out around the same time as strangelove and was close enough in theme that kubrick sued lumet. it also has a beautiful/ depressing end scene.
- graybaby (guest) 3-06-2004 8:03 pm
Where did you read that Kubrick sued over Fail-Safe? According to this summation, the Strangelove novelist sued the Fail-Safe novelists but Kubrick trumped Fail-Safe by getting his movie released first and making Fail-Safe look silly (at least in 1964):
Here's some more interesting background, from the IMDb trivia page:Based on the novel " Red Alert" by Peter George, and originally conceived as a tense thriller about the possibility of accidental nuclear war. Director Stanley Kubrick was working on the script when he realized that many scenes he had written were actually quite funny. He then brought in Terry Southern to turn the story into a satire. Among the changes were the addition of the title character and the renaming of other characters using satirical names such as Turgidson, Kissoff, Guano, DeSadesky, and Merkin Muffley.
Remembering his work on the western One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Kubrick cast 'Pickens, Slim' as Kong, the gung-ho hick pilot determined to drop his bombs at any cost. Pickens was never shown the script nor told it was a black comedy; ordered by Kubrick to play it straight, he played the role as if it were a serious drama - with amusing results.
- tom moody 3-06-2004 8:28 pm
Well, that's interesting that it didn't start out as a comedy. I'd have to say that I don't think the process of tacking on jokes was very successful. Will try to see Failsafe this weekend.
- sally mckay 3-06-2004 8:48 pm
I am pretty sure that I've seen Dr. Strangelove years ago in my Film 101 class, but like many of the films I had to watch then, they made very little sense when you're hung-over. That aside, to bring the a-bomb a little closer to my pop references. In the opening scene of the film "Back to The Future," the large speaker stack that Michael J. Fox stands in front of, and subsequently gets blasted across the room by, has the same serial number as on the a-bomb in Dr. Strangelove. "Wooahh." A classic scene for sure. Maybe even one of the best stereo inspired, 80's film, power of rock, shots ever next to the vampire "death by stereo" scene in The Lost Boys.
- bunnie 3-06-2004 8:58 pm
Funny:
"The deciding factor was when we learned that your country was working along similar lines, and we were afraid of a doomsday gap."
"Gentlemen, you can't fight here, this is the War Room!"
Sellers wrestling with his arm.
- tom moody 3-06-2004 9:11 pm
I agree there are funny bits for sure! I love poor Mandrake, swallowing hard, locked in a room with whacked out General Ripper. But overall I think the film's primary role is still a "a tense thriller about the possibility of accidental nuclear war," and the inconsistencies in ironic tone get confusing. The film takes an agressive stance toward the audience. We are either complicit or victimised, and Kubrick, perhaps intentionally, muddles any clues about how we might navigate between the two positions. It's subversive and oppressive.
- sally mckay 3-06-2004 9:35 pm
Ouch...Bunnie, must you remind us about Back to the Future? I will pledge to watch it again only if you will watch Baseketball.
- sally mckay 3-06-2004 9:39 pm
pls dont hate me coz i b-leeve everything i read
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/click/movie-1007004/reviews.php?critic=columns&sortby=default&page=1&rid=1255866
- red faced graybaby (guest) 3-06-2004 11:19 pm
In elementary school I went through nuclear warfare drills. I suppose the same drills were valid in case of tornado, but there was always the overtone of hydrogen bombs.
Against that backdrop, nothing about Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb could be oppressive. In highschool we had an A/V system in the library intended for study, I suppose. But I used it to watch Cool Hand Luke and Dr. Strangelove, among others, over and over again.
A few favorite moments ...
The refueling/mating scene in the opening credits.
George C. Scott's "those babies can fly so low" scene in the War Room.
The previously cited "you can't fight here" scene.
Slim Pickens reading of the survival kit supply list. "A fella could have purty good time in Las Vegas with all this stuff."
And this exchange between Mandrake and Guano ..
- mark 3-07-2004 12:11 am
"Against that backdrop, nothing about Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb could be oppressive."
I missed the earlier phase of the cold war which might be a necessary context for properly understanding this film. As it is, Dr. Strangelove doesn't give me a sense of release, it makes me more scared. But maybe that's appropriate. I keep thinking about this quote by Isaac Asimov, from Better to Have Loved, by Judith Merril and Emily Pohl-Weary, on Merril's story Shadow on the Hearth
- sally mckay 3-07-2004 12:35 am
Perhaps it's not so much a matter of believing everything you read as believing everything you read by someone named "Christopher Null." But seriously, I'm still curious if there's any validity to the lawsuit story or if we're actually just talking about the suit between writers. It's for my urban legends class.
- tom moody 3-07-2004 3:10 am
Strangelove has one foot in the "zany 60s comedy" tradition along with the The Loved One, You're a Big Boy Now, The President's Analyst, Casino Royale, They Might Be Giants, and The Magic Christian (two of those also had Terry Southern scripts). I haven't seen Strangelove in awhile but I believe you that some of the jokes don't work. The idea of blowing up the entire world, which many people accept(ed) as a fact of life, I think Kubrick assessed as beyond tragedy--only farce would do. The humor/horror contradiction does make it scary. The kind of mentality that led to a joke about a "doomsday gap"--ie, bozos blowing up 15 megaton warheads in the Pacific--how do you deal with that? The people who did protest--such as the Berrigans--went to prison. Still, Fail-Safe is probably the more relevant movie now. Let's see, you've got an angry Professor-type (the neocons) egging on the President to war and a President willing to sacrifice New York, not with an A-bomb, but by escalating global tension levels, welshing on reconstruction payments, etc.
- tom moody 3-07-2004 3:32 am
I can recommend an interesting book for your research, Sally. "Children of The A Bomb" is a collection of descriptive essays by children who survived the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. I read it when I was 9 or 10 years old and naturally, it has stayed with me for all these years. The most bewildering thing I remember was that several of the children wrote about their hatred and anger at America, and then, in addendum, stated that they all love Americans now. (my childlike justified rage was thrown for a loop by that)
- LM (guest) 3-07-2004 8:45 pm
That Japanese/USA love/hate thing is bugging the shit out of me too. I guess I can relate (only I can't relate, and have no idea what that particular cultural relationship to USA must feel like).
- sally mckay 3-09-2004 7:37 am
On one of my trips to Berlin, while drinking beer and playing petanque with a group of people, a German jokingly said to me "Sorry about the war." But he had a strong cockney accent, which confused me. "Why would a Brit appologize for the war?" Once I realized he was German, I felt like saying "Well, sorry about the fire bombing", but the joke had passed.
I've worked with some Japanese. During my trip to Tokyo, we socialized by eating sushi and drinking beer and saki. We didn't mention the war. That would be a very un-Japanese thing to do.
- mark 3-09-2004 9:16 am
What if you'd said " sorry about the war" in Tokyo?!! hah just imagine. I doubt that would go over very well.
- sally mckay 3-09-2004 9:25 am
Funny you should mention that Berlin conversation, Mark. Whenever I am in Germany, I talk with as many people as possible about WW2 and the Cold War (two of many wee obsessions with me) Once had a taxi driver crying as he told me about the fall of the Berlin wall (I felt like Barbara Walters). Anyway, it is only lately that I have started to read more about the war in the Pacific, and if I went to Tokyo, I would ask taxi drivers, people in restaurants, people in elevators and every other social setting about WW2 Japan.
Are you and Sally warning me against this? (not that it would stop me)
- LM (guest) 3-09-2004 9:58 pm
I'm in no position to warn anybody about anything. I've never been to Germany or Japan (but I would very much like to go to both places...soon!). Just speculating like the loudmouth that I am.
- sally mckay 3-10-2004 3:57 am
First, I'm no expert on the topic. I've dealings with a Japanese firm on one project, directly and through people who worked for me, and I read Culture Shock: Japan. I've found this series helpful for understanding why Argentine men kiss, French people don't have the American "what's your job?" obsession upon meeting new people in a social setting, etc., etc.
Japanese tend not to deal with difficult issues in a direct manner. A Japanese "no" in a business setting may take the form of "that would be difficult" or "I understand your position".
On the other hand, the key manager on this project in Japan was a country boy from eastern WA who was one of the more blunt people I've worked with. I didn't try to tone down his style, since I knew that directness was pretty fundamental to who he was. And the Japanese adapted. I suppose they're been exposed to American directness, especially through movies, etc.
But if you do ask direct questions about WW2, don't be surprised if some people will try to deflect the question.
While I'm on the topic, here's my favorite Japanese fish-out-of-water story. This American engineer was in Japan for a one year assignment. Over time he got to know the folks who used the same bus stop, and would chat with them after work. Then they found out he was a Ph.D. Since they were worker-types and he was an exaulted doctor, they began to speak to him with a formal speaking style appropriate for addressing a superior. (We ain't got one of those in 'Merica.) He wasn't familiar with that aspect of the language, and couldn't understand them anymore. He had to convince them "dudes, I'm just one of the guys, talk normal", and everything was okay again.
- mark 3-10-2004 8:23 am
Okay, that was kind of mean. Michael J. Fox did make my personal list of hotties back then. Anyhow, to do pennance for slagging BTTF I read some mind-numbing chit-chat on the BTTF.com forums and found out that DVDs have easter eggs. See how out of the loop I am? I thought only computer games did that. But at least I have seen Baseketball, which is more than I can say for some so-called culture mavens. I agree 100% with Christopher Null on this one: "Sadly underrated, it seems Parker and Stone will get no points for anything they do outside of South Park. While they didn't write this one, BASEketball is surprisingly hilarious, filled with sheer asinine humor to fill a dozen Naked Guns"
- sally mckay 3-11-2004 7:08 am
haven't seen Fail Safe yet, but did try my hand at a Classic Prereview here.
- sally mckay 3-11-2004 7:15 am
Has Christopher Null reviewed Touching the Void?
- tom moody 3-11-2004 7:49 am
hm good question. Not so far, at least not at rotten tomatoes.
- sally mckay 3-11-2004 7:59 am
That was a joke. Null on Void... Ha Ha.
- tom moody 3-11-2004 8:03 am
d-oh. And me a self-professed fan of assinine humour!
- sally mckay 3-11-2004 8:10 am
Talk talk talk on Japanse Culture. Scroll down to John Nathan. His thesis is that Japan is going through an national identity crisis.
- mark 3-11-2004 1:07 pm