Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!hplabs!sri-unix!sstar.pa@XEROX.ARPA From: sstar.pa@XEROX.ARPA Newsgroups: net.movies Subject: Re: "Red Dawn" Message-ID: <12544@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Thu, 16-Aug-84 15:21:00 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12544 Posted: Thu Aug 16 15:21:00 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 19-Aug-84 03:12:22 EDT Lines: 55 I've been in Canada since 1973, and this summer is my first extended return visit to the U.S. since then. First it was Karate Kid. Great reviews--a good movie for the kids and the family. No one seems to note that behind the apparant rejection of the hard-hitting, get'em-when-they're-down philosophy the film's high points are when the Japanese karate instructor/maintenance man, knock's the crap out of the bad guys, and when he teaches the little guy to do the same. Sure, there is talk about finding yourself, but the climax is litterally a solid kick in the face. Believe me, the kids next to me in the theatre weren't yelling and screaming when the hero was trimming bonzai trees. They waited 'till the blood started flowing. All the little kids left the film practicing their karate and swearing vengence on wrong-doers, meaning anybody they could beat up. The next day I went to the S.F. Zoo with a friend. Some little twerp comes walking along at a fast clip and bulldozes his way into us. Then he turns around, assumes his karate pose, and says, "Hey, let's start something, fuck-ups." So much for a pleasant afternoon at the zoo. (Yeah, it's a true story.) I won't do more than mention the random violence in recent weeks: the MacDonald's Massacre, the car going down the sidewalk in L.A.,.... Then I saw Cloak and Dagger the other night. A pretty good flick for kids, and not-too-bad, simple-minded entertainment for adults, but--the kid kills two baddies indirectly (car accident, cross-fire) and then shoots a third in a one-on-one. The director handled the violence pretty well. The kid really doesn't want to shoot, but is forced to after receiving a fusilade of bullets that miss their (imaginary) mark. (You'll have to see it to understand.) So...we've got a relatively good treatment of kiddie violence--and the body-count goes up. Red Dawn is number one at the box office this week. What do we see? Not simple commie-bashing, but a gung-ho protect-our-families-thank-god-we-all-have-guns attitude in a strong political statement. When the commies arrive the first thing they do is search for the form 4477 in the sporting goods store. That's the form that tells who in the county has a registered firearm. Luckily our heros load up a truck with unregistered guns, Coke, and chips. Their initiation rite requires drinking the warm blood of a freshly killed deer. After that, "You're a real hunter. You'll never be the same." And all those pinko sympathizers who want gun control laws can now see--in TECHNICOLOR--that the only hope for America is a well-armed highschool football team. Abby Hoffman recently said, "Now we can't trust anyone under 30." Ronnie just outlawed the Soviet Union. I'm going back to Canada next week (No--I didn't go there to dodge the draft. I just happened to get a job there.). Are these films just a reflection of the popular culture, or do they create it? Be careful at the zoo, and don't get any 12-year olds upset. Spencer Star