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HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU
Pete McCommons is taking some breaks from writing this summer,
though not from working. This Pub Notes was originally published
March 19, 2003.
I watched Casablanca again the other day. In addition to its
romantic love story the movie has always provided a handy and
enjoyable framework for understanding world events and mak
ing us feel good about ourselves. The place is French Morocco,
a last outpost of freedom from Nazi control and filled with ref
ugees from those nations overrun by the German war machine
on the continent. The time is 1940, when Europe was at war
but America still slept in isolation, avoiding involvement in
foreign wars. "I stick my neck out for nobody,” in the words of
American Rick Blaine.
Rick runs a nightclub, Cafe Americain, the place to be.
"Everybody comes to Rick's.”
Then, into Rick's place walks his lost love, lisa, on the arm
of her husband, the renowned freedom fighter, Victor Laszlo,
and destiny snaps to attention, as does the amiably corrupt
prefet de police, Louis Renault.
So does Major Heinrich Strasser, the representative of the
Third Reich. Major Strasser brags that the Germans are learning
to fight in all climates, as they conquer the world.
"It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory: a
case of do or die.”
Love and glory so inextricably intertwine in Casablanca that
the story is driven to its climax by those twin passions, ending
with Laszlo welcoming Rick back to the fight, while Rick sends
the tearful Il§a off to freedom with her husband, against her
desire to stay with him. "If that plane leaves the ground and
you're not with him, you'll regret it... Maybe not today, and
maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life."
The cynical Rick who didn't want to get involved is now
noble. He has killed Major Strasser and heads out of Casablanca
to join the Free French Forces, the beginning of a beautiful
friendship with Louis Renault. Fog. Music. Curtain.
We know that America, just like Rick, got out of its isola
tion in time to cause some serious regime change, saving
our allies from certain defeat and whipping the Japanese at
the same time in an unbelievable two-front war, our finest
moment.
Casablanca is a great reminder of why we fight, and no
doubt our president George Bush—in that greatest of all perks, j
the White House movie theater where he can see any film he
wants—watches this one and identifies with whom?
Bush can't identify with Rick. Rick is cynical and uncom
mitted. Bush is a true believer ready to act. But Bush is not
Laszlo, either. Victor Laszlo is the underground fighter. He has
no armies, just the purity of his conviction and his dedication
to the cause of fighting the tyranny which is conquering the
world and has pursued him to Casablanca.
In the world reflected in Rick's place the national commu
nity respects Victor Laszlo and pulls for Rick to join Laszlo's
fight. At Rick's place, the world abhors Major Strasser and the
dive bombers and Panzer divisions that have devastated their
world. The inescapable fact, too, is that the rest of the world
now sees President Bush as Major Strasser, sowing destruction
and death with his dive bombers, without regard to the urgent
pleas of the world community.
At this point in history we have squandered the moral
imperative that informs Casablanca and that drove us through
World War II. Our paradigms shift. Our President and those in
the bunker with him corrupt even an international icon like
Casablanca.
If Major Strasser represents us now, who, then, is Victor
Laszlo? I shudder to follow the logic, but is he not some
impassioned young Muslim, newly driven to resistance and
martyrdom by the forces that will blast his village, killing his
sisters and sending him into exile? And what of Rick in this
scenario? Is he just the cynical minority of Americans who
won't support their president and join the fight, just like the
hypocritical Frenchman, Renault?
Shall our nation watch Casablanca through new eyes, cheer
ing Major Strasser as he bravely ignores world opinion to fight
terrorists like Victor Laszlo? In the fog of war, you're either for
us or against us, even if we are the aggressors and lose the
high ground, as time goes by.
Pete McCommons editor@flagpole.com I
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
NEWS & FEATURES
City Dope 4
Athens News and Views
It s votin’ time again already...
Comment 7
Warmed-Over Science
Joseph 0’Bnen. Fti D. a research ecologist, defends the argument on global warming
ARTS EVENTS
Graphic Content 11
New Comics Reviews
Paris, a shark attack and psychotropic substances, respectively power these three books
Movie Pick 21
Not a Particularly Super Hero
Hancock. like its titular superhero, flies awkwardly and lands roughly
MUSIC
Diplo and Dark Meat 22
Together on Record and Onstage
The renowned producer and 0J fuels Dark Meat's madness on a new release and an upcoming show.
Sex Vid Is Hardcore 23
Limited Promotion, Unlimited Potential
Even with SafeSearch enabled, you won’t find info about this band on Google
CITY DOPE
CITY PAGES
CAPITOL IMPACT...
COMMENT
COMMENT
ATHENS RISING...
TOWN SPRING
GRAPHIC CONTENT.
THE CALENDAR!...
ART AROUND TOWN
BULLETIN BOARD..
MOVIE DOPE
MOVIE PICK
DIPLO
SEX VID
REDUX NATION
RECORD REVIEWS ...
THREATS & PROMISES
REALITY CHECK
COMICS
CLASSIFIEDS
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featuring artwork from “When Fish Fly**
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VOLUME 22
ISSUE NUMBER 27
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JULY 9,2008 • FLAGP0LE.COM
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