amateurist

you know who has a lotta self-regard? ppl who practice racist religions

covers most of the major ones

Fred b proves he's not a clown

Maybe there could be an I Love Death Threats board and everyone could blow off some steam.

frederik i actually really have very little idea what you're talking about, a statement that will no doubt consolidate your impression of me. but you're welcome to have whatever impression of me you want!

anyway, eastwood's star-text definitely had a component of reactionary revanchism, although i'm not sure if it was pervasive in the way that, say, chuck norris's star persona was closely tied to a kind of dumbed-down jingoism. i also don't know if we could say with any confidence whether that star-persona somehow seeped into clint's actual real-life persona the way that reagan seemed to appropriate or mis-appropriate elements of his roles into his public persona once he became a right-wing politician. it's entirely possible!

i just don't think alcatraz is the best example to use. the worst you could really say for that film is that eastwood's character calls a black character--with whom he ultimately makes close common cause--a "nigger" and "boy." but as i recall even that is in the context of the two characters sort of testing and sizing up one another -- the black character calls eastwood's character "honky" and so forth. when they realize that they both are tough characters (that they have thick skin, a quality some people on ILX could probably use more of, including myself) they largely drop the slurs and insults.

that's why it seemed "idiotic" (far too strong of a word!) to me to yoke eastwood's latter-day politics to that of all films. i vaguely recall frederik having made similar (?) dismissals of other good films on political-correctness grounds. that's something that gets my gander up a little, i suppose. there are certainly more important matters in the world, though.

(btw in re. reagen i heartily recommend michael rogin's essay "ronald reagan, the movie" in his collection of the same name. it discusses the way reagan selectively utilized elements of his movie roles as a politician. of course in reagan's mind what was "real" and what was in his movies seems to have, eventually anyway, freely intermixed.)

i guess this board sometimes encourages people to draw sharp lines. i find myself agreeing a little bit w/ everyone here, but in terms of where ire is directed, it def seems like certain folks are "marked out" for dismissals and abuse and i've fallen into that trap. sometimes i've also been that "person" (scare quotes because we're all just avatars here, right) and i know it can sting (although for mental-health's sake it's probably best not to let it). whether or not you think it's sincere, suspiciously timed, or whatever, am i sorry i insulted you.

er, I AM sorry, not AM I sorry. :)