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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-10-19, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017. PAGE 5. Other Views Fighting against power's privileges The explosion of fury against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein for his sexual exploitation of dozens of women under his power may be about more than the lowlife activities of one scumbag. The anger may be against the ongoing re-establishment of the privileges of power. Weinstein, who with his brother Bob had created the successful Miramax Studio, made such award-winning films as Pulp Fiction before they sold the company to Walt Disney in 1993. The brothers continued to run the studio until 2005, then founded The Weinstein Company which made films such as The King's Speech. Heading these studios brought Harvey Weinstein into contact with a parade of attractive young women — actresss, writers and directors. As had many movie moguls in the past, he seemed to think using them for his sexual pleasure was one of the perks of his position. The situation has been going on for years and only when a few brave women risked their careers to expose him did the backlash begin. Since then there's been a tsunami of accusations and recriminations. He's been forced out his own company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But in many ways this is one battle for fairness in a losing war in which the powerful want to re-establish their right to exert the privileges their power gives them. Perhaps the reason that the Weinstein story continues to dominate the headlines day after day when, really, there are a relatively few people who are directed affected, is that there's currently a man in the White House who boasted that he could grope women freely because "When you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything." When that story broke almost exactly a year Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk ago, many political commentators thought this comment, caught on tape, would doom Donald Trump's campaign for the U.S. presidency. Instead, he went on to become president, supported by voters who bought into his pledge to "Make America great again". For at least some of those voters, returning greatness to their country means beating back the forces that have been seeking safeguards to protect less powerful people in society from the powerful. This isn't only an American phenomenon. From ISIS to the Taliban, many of the movements that we're fighting in terrorist skirmishes is a backlash against the incursion into Muslim countries of Western concepts like the equality of women. These men liked the days when they were unquestioned in their families and became prepared to fight to make their own countries "great again" by reimposing restrictions on the way women dressed and what they could do outside the home. But the drive to reinstate the privilege of power goes well beyond the battle of the sexes or the white supremacists who are using the Trump -era philosophy to try to put "uppity" black Americans back in their place. Trump's decertifying of the 2015 multinational deal that had reduced sanctions on Iran if it suspended its development of nuclear weapons is all about a rich man, used to getting his way, thinking that as president of the world's most powerful country, he should be able to impose his own idea of what is a good agreement. European countries and former President Barack Obama, who signed the agreement, operated under the concept that "politics is the art of the possible". Trump thinks he should be able to impose what he wants, though perhaps he's over -estimating his power. But that's the attitude that made many American voters mark their ballots for him. They want to return to an image of their country that, because of its power, can get what they want. So the idea of tearing up the North American Free Trade Agreement and imposing America -first trading conditions on their neighbours is attractive to them. What's the sense of living in the world's most powerful country if they don't have the privileges that power brings? But those who long for a return to the privilege of power live under the same delusion as those who want to make America "great" again: viewing the past through rose-coloured glasses. Eventually, the weak fight back, as the women have who were assaulted and raped by Harvey Weinstein. Americans who dream of returning to the days when their country could enforce its will on the world need to watch the current television series The Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on PBS. It might remind them of when the powerful U.S. armed forces were humbled by a vastly inferior fighting force that was the army of North Vietnam. Those who support U.S. President Donald Trump's desire to use the privilege of the power of his office can only hope his arrogant brinksmanship with North Korea and Iran doesn't lead to a misstep that could mean war. I love it when a plan comes together Just this past weekend, you could have watched the 1984 smash hit Ghostbusters no less than six times if you have the cable package that I do. Chalk it up to pre -Halloween movie pushes or just to how fantastic a movie it is, but for some reason, Oct. 13, 14 and 15 seemed to be the days to catch the film. I watched it twice. The movie is a year older than I am and I took what little time I had at night over Sat... Actually, the first time I was flipping back and forth between the Habs and Leafs game on Saturday, so that only counts for a half -viewing. I watched it one -and -a -half times. This movie is a year older than I am and I took what little time I had to myself at night after Mary Jane was sleeping and dedicated it to the same movie two consecutive days. It's a cathartic film for some reason. Maybe it's because the guys with glasses and a deep- seated respect for science save the day, which resonates within me. Maybe it's because of the comedic gold that runs throughout the film ("When someone asks you if you're a god, you say yes!", "Tell him about the Twinkie", "Doe, Ray, Egon", "We came, we saw, we kicked its"... okay, maybe that's enough). Maybe it's the unforgettable one-liners that I didn't really appreciate until I was much older ("I find her interesting because she's a client and because she sleeps above her covers. Four feet above her covers."). Maybe it's because Walter Peck is just such an incredibly easy guy to hate and it's awesome to see someone like that get their comeuppance. Regardless of what it is, I could watch that movie (and its sequel, not including the recent reboot) back-to-back for days on end before getting tired of them. Denny Scott lab& 1 Denny's Den However my wife, as wives are prone to do, took some of the wind out of my sails when she had no idea what movie it was just by watching a couple scenes (that didn't have special -effect ghosts in it). I said, at the time, that I would make sure Mary Jane knew good television and cinema, even if meant spending a fortune on DVDs, Blu-Rays or whatever media format we use in the future. In thinking about that, however, It brought to my mind that, by the time I could fully appreciate the original Ghostbusters, I was in my early teens. By the time Mary Jane reaches that age, the most recent Ghostbusters film will be 13 years old and the one that I've grown up with and love will be 46 years old and, if it's still around, will likely be considered classical cinema (if cinemas still exist). The television shows I want her to watch, already ancient by the measure of today's tweens and teens, will be beyond ancient (heck, who knows, maybe televisions will be a thing of the past and we'll all have video walls in our homes). The entire realization that trying to get Mary Jane to watch the original Ghostbusters would be like my parents trying to get me to watch Jaws or Goldfinger or Lawrence of Arabia or... Okay, so my parents had a pretty great library to choose from. Anyway, the idea of trying to get my teenaged daughter interested in Ghostbusters suddenly became a much more daunting task and had me really depressed for awhile (thanks again honey). In case you haven't read many of my columns regarding entertainment, I'm very much a product of the golden ages of television and media that preceded or immediately followed my birth. You're far more likely to find me watching a rerun of MASH or Night Court or NewsRadio than you are any modern television show because, back then, it wasn't shock -comedy or political commentary — it was plain entertaining. Fortunately for my disposition, I soon cheered up when I looked at the films and television shows Ashleigh and I do own on DVD and Blu-Ray. That media shelf, though it may be considered archaic at the time, will come in handy when Mary Jane experiences her first cable and internet outage. Gone will be access to videos of every stripe on the internet and she will be forced to actually be social with people or sit there and watch some of the great old films and shows available to her. Then and there I started planning for those days when the internet or the power goes out (thank goodness for laptops). First, I'll introduce her to some more modern shows and work my way backwards from there. We'll broach The Fresh Prince of Bel -Air before I introduce her to NewsRadio. I'll pop in some superhero and superheroine films of the late 1990s and first two decades of the 2000s before I pop in Ghostbusters. Who knows, maybe it's all a fool's errand, but, in the words of Dr. Peter Venkman, brought to life by the great Bill Murray: "I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! Let's Do it!" It goes both ways Last week the Pittsburgh Penguins visited the White House and U.S. President Donald Trump, a move that had people all around the sports world talking for a variety of reasons. The White House visit has long been a tradition and a source of pride for championship -winning sports teams. However, with the election of the polarizing Trump, the visit now has new meaning. In the months since Trump has been elected, both football and basketball players have skipped the presidential visit, which, like just about everything else that involves Trump these days, has ignited fierce debate. After Golden State Warriors star player Stephen Curry said he would decline the visit, Trump withdrew his offer for the team to visit. The controversy surrounding the traditional White House visit comes at a time when protests against racial inequality and the treatment of people of colour by police, by rabid right-wing groups and by Trump himself, are growing by the week. Just like countless NFL players kneeling for the American national anthem every Sunday, not going to the White House has become an act of defiance in the face of a world in which many are feeling less and less welcome. I have changed my mind on this. Late last year when quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling for the anthem, I wrote a column that disagreed with what he did. While I'm still not sure that if I were to protest something, kneeling for something for which I've always been taught to stand would be the way I would do it, I support these players. It was easy to criticize Kaepernick when he was the only one, but now it's clear that the U.S. has an inclusion problem and Trump has most certainly become its figurehead with his ongoing racist rhetoric and in -your -face style of scolding those who speak against him. However, just as Americans — and sports fans in general — have to open their minds to the critical debate ongoing right now and what these players are trying to say by kneeling for the national anthem or refusing to meet their president, choice needs to also be allowed the other way. The debate surrounding kneeling for the anthem has often been wrapped in the flag and the military by Trump. He has said, as have many others, that kneeling for the anthem is an insult to the soldiers who have fought for it. The rebuttal to that, however, is that soldiers all over the world fight for freedom and a way of life that ensures that residents can live the life they want to lead and are guaranteed certain basic human rights, like the right to be treated fairly and with respect by law enforcement and others. Several soldiers have come out and said that they fought for exactly what's happening in the U.S. right now: for someone's right to protest what's going on in their country. A country that doesn't allow protest, debate or criticism is a dictatorship. It's in that vein that the Penguins, in choosing to visit the White House, shouldn't be criticized either, as they have been by some. Just as the players who have chosen to kneel for the anthem have that right, the Penguins too have the right to go to the White House for a potential once-in-a-lifetime visit. They may not agree with Trump and what he's doing, but criticizing them for going to the White House is an attempt to stomp out the very free will those who kneel are exercising. We can't impose our will on others without first listening to their point of view.