Below the row of stars is the text of an email I just got from David Agro. I love when people send me stuff. It makes blogging easier. I just throw up whatever somebody sends me and I don't have to think. Aaaaahhh.
This think...er...er...thing, is about a movie called "Red State Voices." To me that title sounds a lot like "The Vagina Monologues," or that Doors album the three surviving band mates made after Morrison drowned in puke in France, called "Other Voices." Whores.
Does anybody else remember when during the 2004 race for the Democratic presidential nomination race Howard Dean said he was planning on speaking more openly about religion in order to reach out "in the milieu of the south?" Anybody else find the phrase "milieu of the south" vaguely ironic? This blog has an audience of literally dozens. Somebody has to remember that.
Anyway, so "Red State Voices..." For some reason all I can hear is that guy from Deliverance saying "squeal like a pig!" but if you have a more open mind than I have tonight, please feel free to read "Agro's" email...
Without further milieu...er...er...er...adieu...er...ado, here's the email.
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I hate to admit, but this e-mail is an attempt to help promote a project I am working on in Vermont. I hope that you do not mind. Blogs are a great way of reaching the public- since I am trying to reach the public, I am contacting you.
So here comes the plug; I am working on promoting a documentary called "Red State Voices" by a philosophy professor at Marlboro College, Vermont. We are just beginning-The documentary is meant to help create a dialogue between people of "red" and "blue" ideologies- with the hopes we might be able
to mediate the current polarization that is plaguing politics. You can find out more about the film on our website, and you can even check it out when it airs on Vermont Public Television at 10pm on December 22nd 2006.
If this project is success- it will be screened throughout Vermont and maybe the USA with accompanying discussions. We would love it if you could help spread the word about the Vermont Public Television Showing, about the "Red State Voices" documentary in general, and or help by participating in the dialogue itself (since that is what we really need). It would be great if you wanted to discuss the film on your blog/ - but we totally understand if you do not want to. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Thank you for your time and again I hope you do not mind this e-mail!
David
www.redstatevoices.com
Be warned, that "professor from Marlboro College" is a sexist tool who told a friend of mine girls shouldn't study philosophy and verbally abused her during her years at Marlboro. I'm an alum and great fan of Marlboro EXCEPT for this sexist, self-absorbed jerk.
ReplyDeleteAnother "Red State Voice," perhaps?
ReplyDeleteActually the comment above re- sexist Marlboro prof raises some interesting questions about human perception and the time-space continuum.
ReplyDeleteThat the prof is a sexist doesn't necessarily affect the quality or value of the documentary, but it may affect our perception of its quality or value.
I find it interesting how external and even ex post facto events can totally change one's perception of a static work of art. E.G- After Michael Richards uses a certain racial slur, you can't watch Seinfeld without looking for hints of racism; after Hunter S. Thompson blows his own head off, you can't read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Train '72 without getting a strong urge to listen to Nirvana.
The Seinfeld reruns didn't change. Thompson's book didn't change.
The sundial never moves.
So about that "sexist tool" of a professor- was that a man or a woman? There is no identifying pronoun in your comment, anon. I didn't see it in the post either, and don't want to make a sexist assumption.
Haik,
ReplyDeleteHe's a man, name of Neal Wiener. While his attitude toward women might not have bearing on the film's subject matter it does give you an indication that this man is intolerant of others not like himself and his work is thus tainted (for me) by his problematic moral position.
My perception of the value of his work is affected by my perception of his intolerance and mean-spirited behavior. So I got snarky and called him names. Not adult or fair, but my response to this guy is visceral after all these years.
Did anyone see the film? I saw it. I don't think Wiener came off as a sexist. If anything he was too moderate and didn't challenge the assertion made by some of the subject of his film.
ReplyDeleteI think the subjects knew exactly how they were supposed to come across. They struggled, literally biting their lips, to maintain a moderate tone, but you could see the thinly veiled hate seething right below the surface.
There was a writer named Lisa Singh who tried to play the aloof Ann Coulter. The piece was obviously edited to make her less offensive. The was also a black guy from VMI who gave the lamest, unchallenged, defense of heard mentality I have ever seen. And a male 3rd grade teacher gave the most uniformed caricatured view of relativism I heave ever heard. You would think a philosophy professor would have challenged him a bit more.
I lived in the reddest of red states for ten years before moving back up here in 2004 and this film did not portray how much they actually hate us. I think the moderate fringe he tried to portray in this film is a tiny minority.