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December 23, 2005
Steven Spielberg, statesman
Much more on the Munich Massacre and “Munich” the movie.
Spielberg has been trying to do an end run around the political critics by screening "Munich" for policy wonks and hopefully getting their imprimatur for his cause of moral equivalence. Yes, moral equivalence; it's here in black and white:
[Mike] McCurry recruited Middle East peace negotiator Dennis Ross for a series of high-brow advance screenings and panel discussions in New York and Washington for leading policy experts, academics, diplomats, politicians and press. The goal: to drive home the point that Spielberg didn't try to spin the story in favor of one side or the other, and to inject the film into the current debate about the appropriate response to terrorism. [my emphasis - ed.]
I never thought I'd see Dennis Ross as an apologist for the PLO.
The largest screening was held last week for 600 people at the Ronald Reagan Building hosted by Universal Pictures, Foreign Policy magazine and Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. "It wasn't your typically red-carpet opening," said McCurry. "They had a seminar instead of popcorn."Spielberg wants in the worst way to be seen as a significant player in international politics, as more than a mere entertainer. But given the reviews I've seen I can't imagine that crowd changing their minds about foreign policy from watching this overwrought drama. Anyone who sympathizes with the Palestinians' methods for getting their way will have their stance confirmed by the film. Anyone who understands how terrorism works, and the global context in which Israel has had to survive, will not be moved, except perhaps to redouble their efforts (as I have) to tell the truth.
What I do hope is that the film will be a catalyst for the kind of fact-gathering I've tried to do here, so that more people will learn the true story, how reprehensible the Palestinian terrorists and their European enablers were and are, and how the decades of global rationalizing of terrorism set the stage for 9-11 and Iran's nuclear threat.
UPDATE: My co-blogger sees the big picture, which I have not, being too focused on the Munich story and its relevance to israel. [In email:]
Why, after all, is there so much urgency to defile the Munich story except as a way to use it as transference for him to make known his disagreement with the Bush admin about the GWOT? He can't do that directly - or so he feels - he'd be too lambasted by the US public and perceived nakedly as a "bad guy", so instead he does it with Munich.The real agenda is to sway the minds of policy-makers about the efficacy of having ruminative conversations with terrorists in stairwells, as opposed to eliminating them. Again, these people have made up their minds based on various mixtures of ideology, strategy, and agenda. These are not Hollywood types. They are not going to rethink their positions based on a clunky shot of the World Trade Center at the end of the movie. (Well, maybe the media people will, and some of the elected officials, but not the wonks. Wonks wouldn't be caught dead being influenced by a Spielberg movie.)
Judith | 12/23/05 at 04:49 PM | Categories: - Munich Massacre
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Comments
I have maybe even more of a cynical view than Alcibiades. It seems to me that Spielberg is spitting on the Israeli and American war(s) on terror not to change minds but to get praise for the movie from the quarters that matter to him. Leftist Hollywood, its leftist reviewers and critics... They will praise both the movie and him as brave and underappreciated representatives of Important Cinema.
It's the most repellent of feel-good self-indulgences.
someone | December 24, 2005 03:09 AM
Looks like Roger Ebert is Spielberg's new PR man.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainment/sho-sunday-spiel25.html
davesax | December 25, 2005 11:29 AM
Dennis Ross is one of those guys who evenutally wear out their welcome with both sides.
exguru | December 25, 2005 02:11 PM
Dr. Horsefeathers has a good description of the real story behind the Munich Massacres (scroll down). Apparently the book by Aaron J. Klein, Striking Back, is also full of useful and accurate (as far as can be known) information.
It's clear that Spielberg has his own personal agenda--achieved while walking on the graves of the murdered athletes. He didn't bother to try to tell the real story of the massacres and the Israeli response. Too bad for him. He's become one of the many terrorist apologizers that we can thank for the success the terrorists have had in the PR realm.
Note to Spielberg--get it through your thick skull-terrorism is bad. The world is a darker, more brutal place because people like you defend it.
Promethea | December 25, 2005 04:03 PM
Actually, a shot of the World Trade Center Towers might shock someone into realizing how idiotic the movie is and how necessary the real Israeli response was and is still today.
Sabba Hillel ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.keshertalk.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| December 26, 2005 09:24 PM
tremendously disappointing! To have the power to make a positive film, and to waste it with this is beyond understanding.. The final 5 minutes of the film has spielberg turning his back on Israel and all that it stands for. The man who brought us Schindlers list should understand the enormous importance of Israel's existance and safety
jane | January 4, 2006 05:40 PM
