M/M
12-21-2019, 11:09 AM
If author is onto something vis a vis this film, some soul searching could be a key to open doors and windows in minds locked in polarizations... Polarization fuels the war of words and accomplishes very little - except further entrenchment of each side and often escalation of strategies for domination; becoming unwitting pawns in a hidden agenda happens more easily in polarization; and, perhaps, ultimately unbridgeable separations. Of course, people can make this movie about some THING: (religion, sacrifice, or a whole host of other 'social' media topics) and abort the invitation to consider how we can best deal w/evil - in ourselves and in world - entirely.....
Terrence Malick's new film 'A Hidden Life' is the story of a farmer who resisted Hitler - NOT a metaphor for anti-Trump #Resistance (https://www.rt.com/op-ed/476361-hidden-life-resistance-trump-jagerstatter/)
Michael McCaffrey
Sat, 21 Dec 2019 01:27 UTC
Although A Hidden Life was in development before Trump became president, some out here in Hollywood have interpreted the film as a metaphor for the moral imperative to resist Trump. I think that interpretation is myopic at best, and believe that the movie is unintentionally a scathing indictment of the moral vacuity and hypocrisy at the heart of the anti-Trump resistance.
The main point I took away from the film is that moral authority is essential if opposition to evil is to endure. Franz Jagerstatter had an abundance of moral authority because his loyalty was not to country, village, leader, party, policy or even church, but to the truth.
....
For instance, they are rightfully furious over Trump's immigration (https://www.rt.com/op-ed/431260-hollywood-children-immigrants-trump/) policies, and like to wail about "babies in cages" to prove their point, but that outrage rings entirely hollow since they never spoke up in opposition when Obama put "babies in cages" and deported so many immigrants that he became known as the "Deporter-in-Chief".
Equally disingenuous is their outrage over Trump's supposed war on the free press. Obama prosecuted more whistleblowers during his two terms than every other president combined and yet none of these resistors said a word in opposition at the time.
Even more damning is their deification (http://mpmacting.com/blog/2018/8/31/bill-maherbrennan) of morally and ethically dubious intelligence agency apparatchiks. John Brennan, Michael Hayden, and James Clapper are all criminals and moral abominations for being integral parts of America's heinous torture, rendition, surveillance, and drone war programs, and yet they are hailed as patriots and heroes.
... The #Resistance must learn the crucial lesson of Jagerstatter, that loyalty to the truth must be the priority, if it ever hopes to attain any moral authority. The first, most basic, and most important truth that they need to understand is this... Donald Trump is not the cause of the evil of neo-liberalism and American empire... he is a consequence of it.
Terrence Malick's new film 'A Hidden Life' is the story of a farmer who resisted Hitler - NOT a metaphor for anti-Trump #Resistance (https://www.rt.com/op-ed/476361-hidden-life-resistance-trump-jagerstatter/)
Michael McCaffrey
Sat, 21 Dec 2019 01:27 UTC
Although A Hidden Life was in development before Trump became president, some out here in Hollywood have interpreted the film as a metaphor for the moral imperative to resist Trump. I think that interpretation is myopic at best, and believe that the movie is unintentionally a scathing indictment of the moral vacuity and hypocrisy at the heart of the anti-Trump resistance.
The main point I took away from the film is that moral authority is essential if opposition to evil is to endure. Franz Jagerstatter had an abundance of moral authority because his loyalty was not to country, village, leader, party, policy or even church, but to the truth.
....
For instance, they are rightfully furious over Trump's immigration (https://www.rt.com/op-ed/431260-hollywood-children-immigrants-trump/) policies, and like to wail about "babies in cages" to prove their point, but that outrage rings entirely hollow since they never spoke up in opposition when Obama put "babies in cages" and deported so many immigrants that he became known as the "Deporter-in-Chief".
Equally disingenuous is their outrage over Trump's supposed war on the free press. Obama prosecuted more whistleblowers during his two terms than every other president combined and yet none of these resistors said a word in opposition at the time.
Even more damning is their deification (http://mpmacting.com/blog/2018/8/31/bill-maherbrennan) of morally and ethically dubious intelligence agency apparatchiks. John Brennan, Michael Hayden, and James Clapper are all criminals and moral abominations for being integral parts of America's heinous torture, rendition, surveillance, and drone war programs, and yet they are hailed as patriots and heroes.
... The #Resistance must learn the crucial lesson of Jagerstatter, that loyalty to the truth must be the priority, if it ever hopes to attain any moral authority. The first, most basic, and most important truth that they need to understand is this... Donald Trump is not the cause of the evil of neo-liberalism and American empire... he is a consequence of it.