Must see movie: "Red Dawn" - Not kidding - even freepers will "get it"

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Mon Jan-10-05 09:19 PM
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Must see movie: "Red Dawn" - Not kidding - even freepers will "get it"

The 1984 movie Red Dawn was a shameless piece of right wing propaganda. It was produced at the height of the Reagan era, and was filled with images of American Patriotism and martyrdom.

Plot premise: A group of teens escape their small town after it is attacked by the Russians and several other countries who have formed international alliances. Now they fight a seemingly insurmountable battle by themselves to re-take the country that is theirs. They resist the Russians and mount an insurrection that really gives the Russians a headache.

I suggested watching it to someone who is fairly right wing and was going on and on about how awful those Iraqis were and could not possibly understand why they kept blowing things up. They were defending FOX news' use of the word 'terrorists' for insurrectionists. (That's one of FOX's propaganda moves that is most irritating to me. Even MSM outlets like CNN and MSNBC distinguish between insurrectionists and terrorists.)

It only took about 15 minutes of "Red Dawn" - which had been one of their favorite films in the past - for them to "get it". I mean they REALLY got it. ("Oh my god, WE are in THEIR country, no wonder they are pissed".) That was NOT obvious to this person before, but watching Red Dawn made it painfully obvious.

Now in researching for this post, I came across the following comment at imdb.com This person has done the analysis brilliantly, for anyone who is unwilling to put themselves through viewing this film:

As much as I appreciate the message of undying faith in one's country that this film tries to send to it's audience, current events certainly cast an ironic shadow on the attitudes promoted by this film.

Allow me, if you will, to explain: America has been invaded by an international coalition, consisting of (by my count) the armed forces of at least 4 sovereign nations from around the world. While initially successful in securing a large portion of the country, a small, but stubborn insurgency has succeeded in disrupting the occupying forces to the extent of diverting large numbers of troops to dispatch the guerrilla threat. Eventually ending in the martyrdom of a large portion of the cell's members.

Now, why on earth would these supposed "Patriots" resort to violence to resist the invader, despite the fact that, at least in their immediate area, the war is over? Should they not be placated by Soviet attempts to establish a provisional government? Why would they attack the "Soviet-American Friendship" building, costing the lives of untold numbers of relatively innocent members of the Soviet government? Do they not recognize that their former leaders had to be forcibly removed by an international "Coalition of the Willing" in order to remove the threat of America's reckless wielding "Weapons of Mass Destruction?" Would they not be happier working for a Soviet company charged with extracting America's resources for foreign consumption? Why do they not recognize these facts? Because no one, ANYWHERE should be happy about a foreign army marching on their soil. Because, when all else fails, the people have a responsibility to defend their homes. Because collaboration with the enemy should never be tolerated. Because it is human nature.

Now if we can all keep this in mind as we consider the events of our own time, perhaps we can spill a few less drops of blood in the name of freedom.