The U.S. vs. John Lennon

The U.S. vs. John Lennon (David Leaf, John Scheinfeld; release dates October 6 and 20, 2006) looks like a provocative documentary with a fitting soundtrack. The question is, what does it take to amp up the alternative voices in the USA and everywhere else in the early 2000s? Good old Gore Vidal weighs in with his memorable quips, of course, but why is there so much apathy in civil society? In a clip from the movie, we hear Richard M. Nixon announce that the U.S. can extract itself from Vietnam as soon as the South Vietnamese can take over responsibility for their own governance. 2006 and Deja Vu all over again: now it's the Middle East that's a shambles. Why is it that only extremists are willing to act decisively, thereby imposing their will on everyone else?

As for the Vietnamese, it's always been my contention that most Vietnamese were and are nationalists first, and the U.S. Government made them an unnecesary enemy by forcing them into the Cold War way of seeing. They have always (for at least 1000 years, anyway) wanted to retain independence from outside interference, whether it be Japanese, French, American, Russian, or Chinese. And they are slowly getting there, no thanks to anyone but themselves and their trading partners and not because of their own last traces of Cold War ideology. I was glad to see that a candle holder I recently purchased at IKEA was "Made in Vietnam." Peaceful trade and their astonishing tenacity and resilience will make them truly free, eventually.

For more on John Lennon and Yoko Ono, there's an incisive piece ("Yoko Ono") written by Francine Prose in her The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists They Inspired (2002; pp. 327-367). Part of her conclusion (p. 367): "In an era that functioned like a petri dish for narcissism of all sorts, the gods gave us yet another muse created in our own image. Once again, a society had selected and nurtured a living avatar of the divine on whom to project its most profound hopes and fears, its deepest instincts and most abstract ideas about men and women. . ."

Finally, I'm keeping an eye out for Michigan showings of The War Tapes (2006), the grassroots documentary shot by American soldiers in Iraq showing the situation on the ground from their perspectives.

I enjoy reading and considering a plurality of voices. Much more interesting than hearing only one or two sides to things.


Today's Rune: Wholeness.

Ciao!