Rave Reviews for The War Tapes

By John

Noah Shachtman at Defense Tech and Andi from Andi's World both braved moonbat infested New York this weekend to catch the premier of The War Tapes.

Glowing reviews from both of them.

Defense Tech:

It's not only the best documentary to date about the conflict in Iraq. It just might change the face of journalism in the process.

Andi's World:

When you see this film, you will laugh outloud. You will cry. You will wince and you will recoil. But in the end, you will be very proud of the men and women who are putting their lives on the line in this long and difficult War on Terror. This film, more than anything I've ever seen or read, humanizes our troops. These soldiers are hysterically funny, articulate, intelligent, compassionate and loyal to their mission and their brothers-in-arms. Some may not agree with our premise for being in Iraq, but that doesn't stop them from doing their jobs with great integrity and courage.

What strikes me the most about the reaction to TWT isn't so much the positive reviews as it is the immense swelling of gratitude from "the community" (military, that is) for giving the troops a fair shake. Deborah Scranton and company could have easily turned TWT into a hit piece against the military, and would have been lauded as "courageous" for it by the Indy film world.

Good on her for taking the road less traveled. I can't wait to see this flick.

BTW, actor/comedian Ben Stein (Bueller? Bueller?) had a beautiful piece in the American Spectator on Hollywood, the troops, and real courage recently.

Basically, the sad truth is that Hollywood does not think of itself as part of America, and so, to Hollywood, the war to save freedom from Islamic terrorists is happening to someone else. It does not concern them except insofar as it offers occasion to mock or criticize George Bush. They live in dreamland and cannot be gracious enough to thank the men and women who pay with their lives for the stars' ability to live in dreamland. This is shameful.
The idea that it is brave to stand up for gays in Hollywood, to stand up against Joe McCarthy in Hollywood (fifty years after his death), to say that rich white people are bad, that oil companies are evil -- this is nonsense. All of these are mainstream ideas in Hollywood, always have been, always will be. For the people who made movies denouncing Big Oil, worshiping gays, mocking the rich to think of themselves as brave -- this is pathetic, childish narcissism.

The brave guy in Hollywood will be the one who says that this is a fabulously great country where we treat gays, blacks, and everyone else as equal. The courageous writer in Hollywood will be the one who says the oil companies do their best in a very hostile world to bring us energy cheaply and efficiently and with a minimum of corruption. The producer who really has guts will be the one who says that Wall Street, despite its flaws, has done the best job of democratizing wealth ever in the history of mankind.

No doubt the men and women who came to the Oscars in gowns that cost more than an Army Sergeant makes in a year, in limousines with champagne in the back seat, think they are working class heroes to attack America -- which has made it all possible for them. They are not. They would be heroes if they said that Moslem extremists are the worst threat to human decency since Hitler and Stalin. But someone might yell at them or even attack them with a knife if they said that, so they never will.

Damn straight.

May 1, 2006 09:15 PM Hollywood

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Comments

Not all of us NYers are moonbats. Most aren't, not that you could ever tell from the media, but it's true.

Doug · May 2, 2006 08:59 AM

Thanks so much for the shoutout guys! Each and everyone of us can make a difference in these soldiers' voices and stories being heard, spread the word.

btw, it was great to get a chance to meet and hang out with you at the milblogging conference, rock on!

all the best,
Deborah Scranton
Director, THE WAR TAPES

Deborah Scranton · May 12, 2006 07:07 AM