Sunday, September 21, 2008

Leftist Revisionist / Battle in Seattle
Current mood: hopeful
Category: News and Politics

Dear David Solnit,

I went to the recent screening of "Battle in Seattle" and I stayed for the monologues that followed. I was disappointed in the movie and in what Kevin and Randy had to say. But, I was glad that you were there and that you chose to speak. I gathered from what you said that you and I would have similar critiques of the movie ...

I personally don't think that I'm going to contact anyone about this ... but, someone has to say it - THE MOVIE WAS REVISIONIST AND PRESENTED A TOTALLY FALSE RENDITION OF EVENTS SURROUNDING THE BLACK BLOCK AND THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN GENERAL. There, I said it ... phew ... I feel better.

1.) The window-smashing that occurred on (or after Nov. 30) was a response to police violence (not the reason for it.) In other words, the police started gassing and blasting people out of intersections first. Then, the "flying squadrons" (or little mobile groups of the "black block") started trying to distract the police from gassing the people that were sitting in the intersections ... so, at that point, they smashed some windows.

They were respecting the "non-violent" demonstration and going along with the plan until the cops started really getting busy in the intersections and breaking through the blockades and gassing and shooting people with "non-lethal" items at point-blank range. It is very important that someone gets this point right - despite what some among us would like to present.

2.) The mainstream press was not very focussed on the truth and/or giving time to the good activists message - even without the window smashing to focus on. One myth that has evolved into a sort-of biblical truth among the "good activists" is that they were being so successful at getting the good points across until the black block came along and screwed it all up by smashing a window or two. Now, you and I know that there were so many articulate people out on the streets and so many people who were trained to deal with the media ... trained to "stay on message" and so on. If the press wanted a good story, it was all around them. Press releases were being sent to all the right places. Press-friendly events were occurring from all angles (Jubilee 2000, labor, environment, genetic engineering, democracy and so forth.) We activists and the NGO's were so ready and eager to make super-valid points all up and down. And, still there was never any mention of really key points or really anything of substance that was occurring inside the ministerial meeting ... no mention of what the official agenda was ... no mention of the Global Free Logging Agreement ... etc ... etc ... So, to then later come along and blame a'couple of black blockers for screwing up the media campaign is naive and misguided.

Sure, the press loved to focus on the smashed Starbuck's window and sure they loved to paint the whole thing as "chaos" and so on ... that is what the press does. It is after the press does this that we all need to get a lot better at "staying on message" THEN! That is not the time to fall into their trap and to start blaming other activists because our point isn't really being totally reverberated by the mainstream (corporate-owned) press. Anytime anyone of us was ever asked about the "violence" or "mayhem" ... we should have popped right back with, "Well, what is really violent is what the corporations are doing on a daily basis in countries all over the world." ... Instead of saying to the press and at movie screenings, "well, there were some bad protesters who unfortunately screwed everything up because they are dumb anarchists who like to smash things. We, the educated reform capitalists are the reasonable ones ... listen to us ... " That is such a wrong position to take publicly - even if that is how one feels privately.

Look, I still count Seattle as a big success. Where we failed was in the follow up. I mean, if you really think about it and try to predict what the media is going to do and how "the man" is going to respond with their own press machinery ... their own video news releases and so on ... then, it is all very predictable that the take-away for the mainstream press is going to be that angry protesters descended on Seattle and screwed up an otherwise perfectly good shopping season. We activists and NGO types should have known this ... should have predicted this ... been ready to respond to this ... instead of constantly feeding the media the "bad protester" story.

And, so now, fast forward to the Canadian movie with a medium/small budget and a couple of celebs - THE BATTLE IN SEATTLE. The movie makers are talking to the upper-class "activists" such as the Rain Forest Action Network. They are in dialogue with the likes of them. So, they get a lot more of this "good protester / bad protester" perspective. And, of course, they are really making a movie that is a lot of hype and human-interest drama. It is not surprising that they would want to focus on the internal clashes between the window smashers and the truly violent peace-police that tried to protect the corporate windows. But, what is surprising is that the "green capitalists" such as Paul Hawking would support it to the extent that they have. It is also kind of sickening to see the self-congratulating, seasoned "activists" like Kevin Danaher and Randy Hayes using the screening as an opportunity to pat themselves on the back and to further this myth of the "good protester vs. bad protester" thing. It is disheartening and disgusting. No real activist should champion and/or legitimize this movie. We should just say, "it's a movie ... it's fiction ... not a bad human drama ... but, not any kind of valid depiction of what occurred in Seattle."

In the past, the "Left" itself has shown that it is happy to live with a sanitized version of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. and his ultimate message. And now, in our era, our most financially-endowed and well-connected "activists" are happy to perpetuate lies and myths about what really happened in Seattle.

I saw that you were trying to balance this out and for that I am appreciative.

Thank you, Jeff

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Freedom without economic freedom is sentimental and anemic."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

9:36 AM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove -

sabrina

I can honestly say that I had a better time getting gassed and pepper sprayed in Seattle in 1999, than I did sitting through the movie I just watched. It was so poorly written, that I felt sorry for everyone involved in making the film. Stuart Townsed, decided to ignore historically accurate and exciting stories (ie, the Union march joining the direct action, the spontaneous convergence of a variety of different activists from around the world, the symbolic marginalization of WTO African delegates even in their accomodations) for a tawdry, pat storyline and lousy performances.

Pregnant woman who gets injured and loses baby? Cop who loses his shit and beats a protestor, then apologizes when the activist is in jail? Macho activist dude sweeping tough girl protesor off her feet after getting beaten by cop who later apologizes? Evil black bock activist endangers pregnant lady when wrecklessly smashing baby gap window. Journalist miraculously drops her career in the course of a couple of hours and transforms from a sleazy mainstream anchor to a dedicated protestor...The list goes on and on....

Why was I laughing when Charlise Theron lost her baby? Is it because I'm a heartless cold person? Maybe. But it's also because the film was all so unbelievable and ridiculous! The whole thing made me kind of depressed really. So few mainstream films are done about politically relevant, modern historical events and I felt kind of jipped.
This is what we get? I wanted a t-shirt that said "I got tear gassed at the Seattle WTO protests and all I got was this lousy movie!!!"

But seriously, the truth is the movie isn't going to have much of a presence in the theaters. It's, quite frankly, too weak of a film (disregarding the historical inaccuracies) for a major theatrical release. It will have a limited release (2 weeks), then straight to video...I can guarantee it.

If the film was made with more skill, if it treated the audience with more respect (ie that we are intelligent) then it may have a chance of reaching the mainstream. Unfortunately it's going to go in the fire sale at the DVD store by next summer. I'd definatley rate it in the B movie category of filmmaking. And it is because of its shoddy execution from a cinematic perspective, that I personally, don't even think it warrants much of a critique. Just another lousy hollywood film to be placed into the bottom shelf of the DVD store. It isn't going to be seen by very many people. Maybe some wide eyed kid will see the film and be inspired to protest the WTO which should be considered a major triumph at this point. The story of Seattle should be left to the documentarians who were there. Thanks for doing your part.

Posted by sabrina on Sep 22, 2008 8:57 AM
[Remove] [Reply to this]

Mango

Hey .. On a positive note - the website about all this "realbattleinseattle dot org" is really nice to see. It is a user-driven, wiki type of website featuring people telling their own Seattle stories and reactions to the recent movie. It was good to see that a good many people feel that the movie is shite. And, many are using the bad movie as an excuse to refocus their thoughts and re-transmit their own impressions.

In a sense, our whole struggle against the WTO, IMF and the World Bank were eclipsed by the events that have followed the attacks of September 11, 2001. So, now, we are confronted with this bad movie about N30 and it is (in a round about way) encouraging us all to look at this again ... to review what went right and what went wrong ... to re-evaluate the qualities of our struggles and groups ... to examine our possibilities now.

So, I think that is what to take away from this horrible film release - the realization that we were the ones who really did accomplish a lot in Seattle and we need to again focus on OUR AGENDA instead of always just reacting to the fears, crises and wars that the corporate system is creating. What do we want? Who do we want to work with? Can we get invovled in a struggle that has meaning and make some progress ... in the context of the post-911 world? If the so-called "leaders" of the Rain Forest Action Network and A.N.S.W.E.R. are really lame, then, how to diminish the disheartening impact they have on all the rest of us? In other words, how to reclaim our strengths and organize really effective actions in spite of the lame ones who are deluded into thinking that they are leading? We just have to get back in the game and go on with or without the so-called "vanguard."

Posted by Mango on Sep 22, 2008 1:37 PM
[Remove] [Reply to this]

Mango

Smashing Mothers for Shock - Bad Filmmaker Bad ...

>Hey there, How is everybody. ...something about the
>movie ...
>
>The writing was bad ... the good parts were derivative ... and one
>part should be renounced by anyone calling themselves an "activist."
>The scene I refer to, is a set with two young motherly women looking
>at infant clothes at a store that is apparently still open in the
>midst of a giant protest. Anyway, a "blackblocker" suddenly smashes
>the window of this still-open store and very close to the
>mother-women. We all know that this type of thing never happened ...
>but, the question for the filmmakers and for the "activists" that
>they were working with, is WHY DO THAT? Are you trying to villify
>activists in the eyes of the public on purpose? or, are you just
>incredibly stupid? If I had anything to do with the vetting of this
>movie (as some of the RAN folks claimed to at the party) ... then,
>that scene would have had to go.
>
>But, on a positive note, I do like how the movie is getting people
>to talk again and I like the website ... realbattleinseattle.org ...
>and the fact that I am writing you now, that is all completely
>positive ... so, ah ... keep it real amigos ...
>Mango