2008 Olympic Games: What I hope to see

The 2008 Olympics. The once every 4 year event that circles the globe and features the greatest athletes in the world. The pinnacle of healthy fit human bodies. Supposedly representing the best of every nation, and with little polispeak of those nations.

But that’s not exactly true.

China is a prime example of that, and needs to be addressed before, and during this years games. China is a key supporter of the Sudan, and in this manner supporting the genocide of Darfur. China is the Sword of Damocles over Taiwan. China is the iron fist against Tibet. And while it’s not as commonly discussed as it has been in the past, for all the economic innovations made in the past decade, they are very communist.

On Wednesday many Americans got their first glimpse of the problems that China promotes. The students that crossed the Atlantic Ocean and our country to scale that bridge, at serious risk to themselves, made a statement. The protests, which were far more peaceful than similar events in England and France, got significant attention. But the major news media missed the big boat.

Well let me rephrase that, they missed the big boat of issues that I care about. While much was said of the protesters supporting Tibet, little was said about the other problems of China that have been ongoing for decades. Not to belittle the desire of the Tibetan people to be free. But I have yet to hear more than a polispeak soundbite discussing the continued efforts of China to encourage the Darfur genocide.

But it’s not because some with the major medias eye have not made statements. Stephen Spielberg quit as artistic advisor to the Olympics because of all the issues. French President Nicolas Sarkozy seems ready to boycott the Games. Last night Dennis Miller made perhaps the best statement and idea I have heard on the matter during his time on the Bill O’Reilly show – that every athlete, of every nation, appear at the opening ceremonies dressed like this



Some might say that a bit of clothing is just not enough. That this is not a strong enough statement. That more is required. I agree that more needs to be done. That Darfur needs to be ended, and those supporting the genocide punished in some manner.

“The Chinese have had their way over Tibet. They have openly intimidated those countries who want to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. And from their point of view, the Tibetans are an ungrateful bunch of peasants who have been dragged from the Dark Age of a Buddhist theocracy to the modern era of paved roads, city plumbing and light bulbs.”

Does that sound familiar? Does it remind you of the European desire to help the African people find civilization? Or the comments of some recently trying to justify the slavery of Africans in America and the current condition of Black Americans. Those kinds of thoughts and comments were not always unaccepted or considered the utterances of minds filled with compost. And even recent Olympics have been the stage for criticisms of American acceptance of those similar thoughts. Many of my readers may be too young to recall the international attention that this one scene created, deservedly so.



The Olympic Games are about the nations that host, as much as they are about the athletes that are competing. Nations are connected to the Games and each other. To accept the Olympic Games without calling attention to the murder of children and the subjugation of countries is an insult to what is on-going.

Thus I agree with Dennis Miller’s thought. I support his idea and add one minor point – every visitor to the Olympic Games’ opening ceremonies, including the political representatives of all the nations, should join the athletes in wearing the robes of the Tibetan monks. Such a display, viewed around the world, would shame China and hopefully be the cause of starting to address these horrible actions in a peaceful non-paranoid realistic manner.

Do you agree?

Why current Oscar Award choices lack interest

I was watching The O’Reily Factor, which I watch most every day, and Dennis Miller was doing his weekly spot on the show. The discussion encompassed the Oscar Awards, and Dennis Miller mentioned the fact that several nominated and winning films of the past could never be made today. I agree with that.

So I decided to go through a list of all the movies I have seen that have been nominated or won an Oscar Award. To that end I only selected films that I have seen, and range from the start of Oscar nominations up to 1984. Where there are movies that have been remade (some several times) I have gone with the original movie.

To simplify this list a bit, I’m grouping the movies into groups based on the reason it can be made today. I will add that several of the movies, if remade now, would have their theme and emphasis massively re-written. Wining movies are identified with a w.

[By the way, I recommend seeing all these movies, and M – a German film starring Peter Lorie.]

Movies that can’t be made because they promote America – A common theme now is that America is evil and our military is cruel. At least many in Hollywood would like you to think that.

Sergeant York
Yankee Doodle Dandy
The Best Years of Our Lives - w
It's a Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th Street
Mister Roberts
The Alamo
M*A*S*H

Movies that are anti-Feminist

Captain Blood
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Gone with the Wind
The Wizard of Oz
Casablanca
The Best Years of Our Lives - w
It's a Wonderful Life
The Quiet Man
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
12 Angry Men - if only for the title if not the casting
The Alamo
The Guns of Navarone
West Side Story – w
How the West Was Won
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
In the Heat of the Night – w
M*A*S*H
A Clockwork Orange
Sounder

Movies that offend various special interest groups

Sergeant York – Germans
Cleopatra (1934) – Africans/ Blacks/Arabs (none of which are White)
The Gay Divorcee – Title insults Gays
The Thin Man – not sensitive to overweight people
Gone with the Wind – w – African Americans
Of Mice and Men (1939) – Tthe mentally challenged
The Wizard of Oz – Height challenged
The Best Years of Our Lives – w – Disabled Vets
It's a Wonderful Life – lack of minorities
Miracle on 34th Street – insensitive to non-Christian religions
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Mexicans
The Quiet Man - Irish
Shane – Native American Indians
Mister Roberts - Japanese
The King and I - Asians
The Ten Commandments – Non-Christians
The Bridge on the River Kwai – w - Japanese
12 Angry Men – Puerto Ricans/Hispanics/Latinos
The Defiant Ones - Southerners
The Alamo – Mexicans
West Side Story – w- Puerto Ricans
Lawrence of Arabia – w- Arabs
To Kill a Mockingbird - Southerners
How the West Was Won – Mexicans/Native American Indians
In the Heat of the Night – w
Sounder – African Americans
Gandhi – w – Hindus
A Soldier's Story – African Americans

Movies that have African American leads, not involving them as drug addicts/dealers, not involving a holiday, family gathering or wedding, without a comedic plotline

The Defiant Ones
To Kill a Mockingbird
In the Heat of the Night – w
M*A*S*H (yes it’s comedic, and the only Black guy is called Spear Chucker; But he is a top class surgeon and respected by the leads)
Sounder
A Soldier's Story

Movies that would offend some religious or religious group

The Gay Divorcee
The Wizard of Oz
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
The Bells of St. Mary's
It's a Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th Street
The Quiet Man
The King and I
The Ten Commandments
M*A*S*H
Gandhi

Movies about wars that would be rewritten to change historical fact or make the enemy seem nicer

Gone with the Wind - w
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Casablanca - w
The Best Years of Our Lives - w
It's a Wonderful Life
Mister Roberts
The Bridge on the River Kwai – w
The Alamo
The Guns of Navarone
Lawrence of Arabia – w
The Longest Day
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
The Sand Pebbles

I could go on, but you get the point. A host of movies that are classics would never be done any more. Of the ones that would, the entire storyline would be redone to facilitate various groups, and ruin the story.

The recent remake of Robin Hood with Kevin Costner is a great example. Did they really need Morgan Freeman in the film? Did the fact of the Crusades occurring in that time help the story at all? And there was the re-write of Disney’s version of the attack at Pearl Harbor. I believe the remake of the Alamo was historically wrong too.

Protests from various orthodox (more like fanatical) religious groups assuredly would surround The Wizard of Oz, due to witches that many movies recently have seen. It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and The Ten Commandments would all be attacked in a similar manner as was The Passion of the Christ.

And not a single movie that shows America being a positive force in the world could get past the extreme left wing groups that have continued to fund and promote the miserable flops like Sicko, Redacted and Lions for Lambs.

Oh, I would support the blocking of a film like The Ten Commandments and Cleopatra on the basis that Egyptians are African, not White. No matter how many times these films are remade or colorized, Blacks are Black even if they are from North Africa. It’s insulting to portray them as otherwise. I mean if there was an all Black version of The Guns of Navarone it wouldn’t make a hell of a lot of sense now would it?

When you think about it, the reasons why movies like all the above, and others like Sergeant Rutledge, don’t get made anymore are stupid. No wonder we are left with endless remakes (The Invasion, The Honeymooners, Who’s Your Caddy, and occasionally a decent but ultimately disappointing plot changed I Am Legend), prequels (Hannibal Rising, AVP:Requiem), and miserable original films based on everything but a good idea (Bratz, Hulk, AVP, I Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Transformers, Sex in the City, Codename: The Cleaner, and the list goes on).

Dennis Miller, Yvonne De Carlo, and Golf changes - 1.10.2007.1

A mixed day of information today. I’ll get into my further thoughts on the debacle that is Mr. Donald Trump vs. Ms. Rosie O’Donnell in a subsequent post. I’ll simply state that at this point it has more attention than it ever deserved.

On a higher note, there is news that Mr. Dennis Miller will be starting a radio show soon. This is a great thing as I find him talented. While I connect more with, and find funnier, Mr. Chris Rock there is no question of the abilities of Mr. Miller. He hits the high ground in an arena of comedy that generally goes for the low-brow. There’s nothing wrong with the comedy of Mr. Ron White (who I think is also funny), or Larry the cable guy. I just like to enjoy a conversation that has a bit more depth from time to time.

Similar to the aforementioned Mr. Rock, and Mr. Steven Wright, having to think about the joke isn’t a bad thing. I like that some comedians respect and expect that there is an audience that can grasp a complex subject and the jokes about it. Those comedians are few these days. Mr. Wright is unseen these days, Mr. Rock is working on other projects more than his stand-up, and Mr. George Carlin is getting up there in age. Mr. Miller is the only choice and it’s not a bad one. If you haven’t seen his work before, you may want to get a tape of his early work on Saturday Night Live. Or just listen to his radio show once it hits the air.

In sad news, which there has been too much of lately, I send condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Yvonne De Carlo. Many of the younger readers may not realize who this is, but I think TVland or Nick at Nite carries a show that they may recognize her face from. Ms. De Carlo played the character Lilly Munster on the show The Munsters. While this may be her most immediately recognizable role she had many others. Ms. De Carlo was a Canadian that played a Hebrew wife to Moses (Mr. Charleston Heston) in the classic and impressive The Ten Commandments. Her career started in 1941 and continued until 1995 including many roles in westerns including a favorite of mine McLintock! [Yes I am a fan of Mr. John Wayne] I’m sorry to know that she has passed but glad that she has a body of work that will live on for many more generations to come.

For the golfers out there some news that may have been missed. It seems the PGA thinks that instituting a points program similar to the one in NASCAR will help draw more interest to the game. It seems that the 4 big majors are not enough of a draw, and the multiple other matches are not interesting enough. It’s pure money talking, which will screw up the game without a question in my mind. Going for the ratings may be great for physical competition sports but I don’t see it for golf. It’s a sport of individuals, with the majors being the reward. A points competition should not be more important than a major, nor equal to it. If joe average isn’t watching I doubt if a 37 match scoreboard will be a draw. It may help Vegas, a whole new thing to put odds on, but that’s about it.

Some things shouldn’t be about the profit. Profit is a good thing and it’s great as a secondary goal, but it shouldn’t be the drive. Mr. Tiger Woods is after the legacy of a legend, not the money. Many newer or younger players are out to become Mr. Woods or try to surpass him. It’s not about money. When kids say they “want to be like Mike” they mean the ability of Mr. Jordan, not his money.
The focus on money always trickles down to the players. It always dilutes the game and lessens the quality. Baseball used to be a game of greats, now I find it a battle of businesses. The same can be said of basketball, players forsaking educations and self-discipline for a grab at the cash. Golf would be unwatchable if it forgets it’s a gentlemen’s game. Even worse it could be unplayable as etiquette-less players storm courses with dreams of cash. Profit isn’t worth that to me.

This is what I think, what do you think?