File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_1998/postcolonial.9811, message 79


Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 10:13:11 -0500 (EST)
From: Spoon Collective <spoons-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Subject: Saving Pte White... (fwd)


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Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 16:16:59 +0800
From: Jim & Yvonne Duffield <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>
To: Acker <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, Church <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>,
    First Nation/Fourth World Health <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>,
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Cc: trent-AT-indy4.com, OSP <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, OSA <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>,
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    Lists <omen.com.au-AT-mailhub.omen.com.au>, a.mckee-AT-cowan.edu.au
Subject: Saving Pte White...

I just thought that you might like a movie review, if you are not 
interested or have a different view, please delete or respond as 
appropriate.

I've just seen "Saving Private Ryan."  A most interesting, epic.  

Given that no one wants to fight, but that someone has to (and that 
someone is invariably from the lower socio-economic (bloody poor 
people) side of the tracks, then I do recommend it, but only after some 
appropriate reading and research, outside of the US.

Also, accepting that polythene(?) had not been invented to protect the 
soldier's weapons in the landings as the first technical flaw, I believe 
that the largest error of Spielberg is his anaemic world view of the 
USA and I therefore predict that he will be in for it from the black (and 
even native American) side of USA cinema, or movie, politics.

The horror of the first 20 minutes deserves praise as an antidote to 
war, as does the remainder of the epic for its illustration of the futility 
and contrary nature of combat (chance) and the frailty of flesh and 
bone, and its impact on the human mind and alleged spirit.

Me?  As a survivor of a Nazi camp where my parents were held for 
nearly four years, I admit to subscribing the the theology that God is 
dead.  Our inhumanity sickened him in 1914-18 to such an extent that 
the 1933-45 event just killed him off.  Perhaps I'm not the one to 
critique this celluloid event?  

But I must say something...

Just to give an idea of that first day on the US beaches:

"At Omaha, one in nineteen men landed on D-Day became casualties 
(nearly 40,000 went ashore; there were 2,200 casualties. At Juno, 
one in eighteen were killed or wounded (21,400 landed; 1,200 
casualties). The figures are misleading ... most men landed in the late 
morning or afternoon at both beaches, but a majority of the casualties 
were taken in the first hour. In the assault teams at both beaches the 
chances of being killed or wounded were close to one in two."  
(Stephen E. Ambrose, D-Day, p. 541.) 

This is perhaps in part due to the US refusal to use the full range of 
"Hobart's Funnies (79th Armoured Division (RE))."  The US used only 
the DD (floating) tanks which frequently sank on the way to the 
beaches, but none of the other specialised armoured beach assault 
craft, see:

http://www.valourandhorror.com/DB/SPEC/Funnnies.htm

And here's the rub for Spielberg, I got this first hand from a 79 Div 
(RE) recovery specialist who went ashore in the first wave onto the 
Brit beaches, (a Jerseyman) the initial assault troops of the US were 
mainly - black.

Even given that the US military did not de-segregate until 1945 and 
later...  Is it conceivable that D Day was a white US combative event, 
Aryan and Hispanic US citizen against the Aryan and even Latin Nazi?

Given even the reality of the Spielberg blood and gutz in perhaps 
suggesting the frailty of one's skin and that all that underlies it, and as 
a Vietnam ex- serviceman I believe the more reality the better - to 
illustrate the pain, futility and frailty of the human body, was there any 
colour other than white involved in the US beach assault on D Day?   
Perhaps its my cynicism, I dunno.  Perhaps Spielberg is illustrating 
the segregation by using only non-Afro personalities, dunno, don't 
think so.

So does this give us a "Glory" type follow up anticipated? Further, is 
this another case of illustrating that too little too late costs too much?  

Did the cavalry arrive just in time or to late?  Again, dunno, but the late 
entry of the US in two world wars, and this is not to denigrate the 
personal sacrifices, is contrarily well illustrated by the faded US flag 
flying at beginning and end of the epic.

Congratulations on the technical reality Mr Spielberg, but the human 
side of the event is just a little blanched and too candy apple chrome 
plated.  

PAX,


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