Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 10:13:11 -0500 (EST) From: Spoon Collective <spoons-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu> Subject: Saving Pte White... (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- 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>, JIMLIST <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, Labor <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, Liberal/National Feds <staffy-AT-omen.net.au> Cc: trent-AT-indy4.com, OSP <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, OSA <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, Oz Media <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, RAS <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, World Indigenous Affairs - Oz Base <staffy-AT-omen.net.au>, 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, --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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