Ever since reading Joshua Gibson’s essay “Monsters in the Closet:  Killer Kids and Queer Identity,” I have a much more acute awareness of the ways in which gays and lesbians get configured as the monster objects in horror films.  One of the interesting aspects of Gibson’s essay comes from the way he shows that even characters not overly coded as gay can act as stand-ins for fears about homosexuality endangering the beloved and always besieged family.  

High Tension is a film that feels like it was made by a panting serial killer with one hand down his pants.  It’s the first horror film I’ve ever seen that made me feel guilty for watching it.  The camera puts you in the position of a sociopath, erotically lingering over images of women gored and distressed, eschewing plot for stark visual caresses of slit throats, gushing wounds, and sadism so prolonged and unrelenting that the movie becomes a marathon for your capacity to tamp your gag reflex.  I guess I should note that the next paragraph might spoil the one-trick,  wholly implausible plot twist in this rancid piece of trash.

The big shock in High Tension comes at the end when you discover that you’re simply watching a hyper-violent exploration of lesbian desire.  The character being chased and tortured throughout the movie is really the killer, who envisions herself as a fat, middle-aged, white man so that she can express her desire to have sex with her friend and attempt to kill her when her advances get rebuffed.  Of course, she can’t just get drunk and make out with her during spring break for the Girls Gone Wild crew; she has to gruesomely murder the family of the one she loves.  In this way, High Tension traffics in any number of right-wing slurs about the birth of homosexual desire necessitating the death of the traditional family.  

If it were just homophobic, it would be simply typical, but the retrograde notions of queer identity abound.   In one scene, the killer uses a decapitated head to simulate a blowjob in her fucked up terror-truck (every good serial killer needs one) before discarding the head out the window.  Not only does the movie equate homosexual desire with the extinction of the family, but it theorizes lesbianism as simple penis envy.  Thus, all the big rifles, buzz saws, and barbed wire sticks seem like frustrated dildos, the rage that apparently comes from being cursed with a vagina.  After all, what are two women-identified women going to do with two vaginas?  In this sense, homosexuality itself becomes inconceivable except as a stunted desire to reproduce the heterosexual model atop mutilated bodies.  

The tradition in horror films of packing conservative messages into surfaces that would appear antithetical to the family values crowd has been around as long as teenagers have needed to be impaled on film for having pre-marital sex.  But High Tension offers a new bottom in hidden messages.  It’s painstaking to dig through the depravity to find the secondary message of degradation.  

Terry Sawyer

There is no denying that the latest film from George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck, is a vanity project — those films that usually get made only for the star power of its creator and have been around since D.W. Griffith made the bloated Intolerance in 1916.  Some of these films have been hailed as the greatest films of all time — see Citizen Kane.  Others go directly to DVD never to be seen again (except for those loyal fans that, if given the chance, would watch their star read War and Peace while on the toilet).

Good Night, and Good Luck is definitely in the heralded category.  It is co-written and directed by George Clooney (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) who is precisely a star that can exercise his pull but does so with integrity and, in this case, to make a movie that deserves to be on all of the year’s top ten lists and a contender for an Academy Award.  The film, shot entirely in black and white, tells the story of the 1952 sword fight of words between the infant CBS News and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy, who was on a diligent and misguided one-man crusade against communism in America.  More particularly, the film is both an homage to legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow and a tutorial on why freedom of the press helps make the United States one of the greatest nations the world has ever known or how we, the people, can nip power-mongers before they get too powerful.

Where Kevin Spacey’s love letter to crooner Bobby Darin, Beyond the Sea (2004), was a vanity project that didn’t quite make the grade, Clooney uses his head as well as his heart in giving up the starring role and handing it to the excellent David Strathairn (A League of Their Own, L.A. Confidential), who gives a pitch-perfect performance as Ed Murrow that captures the arrogance, courage, and insecurity of a man who practically wrote the textbook on broadcast journalism.  Clooney smartly relegates himself to an understated supporting role — but a key one in this morality tale — CBS News honcho Fred Friendly who himself created what would give face to the “Tiffany Network,” the CBS Nightly News.

Clooney captures the look, feel, and sound of an era where cigarette smoke filled rooms and everyone wore suits and ties to work.  All of the action takes place indoors and, for the most part, in the studios and offices of CBS New York.  The claustrophobic effect adds to the thematic storyline of a Congressman’s attempt to squeeze communists out of every nook and cranny of his choosing.  Clooney himself comes from a TV news pedigree and even tried it himself, only to find his calling elsewhere, but he did make this film as a reverence to his Dad, Nick Clooney, who had a long career as a TV anchor and host in Cincinnati.  Whatever the reason, Clooney has created a tightly-weaved snapshot of one moment in the history of our country that needs to be revisited and accomplishes this feat in both an entertaining and relevant manner.

The supporting cast is no less stellar, with names like Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey, Jr., Frank Langella, Jeff Daniels, and Ray Wise filling out the roster of almost-forgotten CBS staffers.  But the best supporting performance has to go to Sen. McCarthy himself, who only appears via actual news clips from the time.  Ed Murrow perpetuated the downfall, but only McCarthy could unmask himself and show the nation his true colors, all in stark blacks and whites.  Good Night, and Good Luck will rightly be screened in many a future journalism class, but it should also be a film every American should see because it helps remind us that the virtues that make our country great should never be taken for granted.

High ratings to Good Night, and Good Luck, now playing in select theaters.

Rich Burlingham

Since March of 2003, over 2,000 American troops have been killed in Iraq.

By all accounts, this death toll — the highest for Americans since the Vietnam war — is accelerating, not slowing. The same is true for Iraqi citizens. Iraq Body Count estimates that minimally 26,732 Iraqi citizens have died in the conflict.

As troops continue to return to Iraq for multiple tours of duty, and military recruiters continue to struggle — particularly among African Americans, who overwhelmingly oppose the war — President Bush states that “the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission.”  As we honor the dead of our country, many of whom are heart wrenchingly young, we must support our communities as they grieve and continue to seek ways to bridge the political divides that persist among us.

llouison

My fraternity brother’s best friend died the other day, and as I was sitting listening to him, my heart could not help but go out to him. His best friend from high school was one of those friends from high school he always promised himself he would keep in contact with. The person he always meant to call but got to busy and forgot to. As he tried to hide his tears for his best friend and innocence, my heart went out for him, and I was glad for once for my fraternity because as a freshman at K-State, I do not know who else he would have talked to.

From a high school senior to a freshman in college, the community we had gets lost somewhere, and we find ourselves with new people and situations, but without a home base, tragedies only evolve into catastrophes from which we cannot escape. That is what we lose during a tragedy, a hurricane, or a death. While we might lose buildings or money; we also lose the community that we have created in the meantime. The only thing harder than experiencing tragedy is experiencing tragedy by yourself. Community is involvement in a group larger than you and creating a safe place that cannot be pulled apart.  

Brett Currier

In the Supreme Court case of Gonzales vs. Oregon, the Federal Government is scuffling to uphold the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. This federal law makes it illegal to prescribe controlled substances for assisted suicide, and doctors who follow state law to assist will be penalized. Ultimately, the highest court in the land is deciding whether or not terminally ill Americans may have that right to abruptly terminate their lives along with the pain they endure day in and day out. Some perceive suicide as a choice. Others believe that suicide is really about lack of choice. This time of uncertainty presents a pivotal opportunity to examine suicide as a health issue, and to explore the presence of choice within this social problem.

Derek Humphry, an internationally recognized author, journalist, and euthanasia activist, is convinced that people aren’t really free unless they are able to die according to, and at the time of their selection (10/14/05). In an email sent to InTheFray, Mr. Humphry wrote: “The right to choose to die when terminally or hopelessly ill is to me the ultimate civil and personal liberty” (10/14/05).

Humphry specified that assisted suicide should only be available for dying or hopelessly ill people whose bodies have decimated to the point of limited mobility and strength.

Diane Brice, Program Director for Suicide Prevention Service of the Central Coast (SPS) carried the point that, in the case of assisted suicide, many times terminally ill patients never actually use of the lethal pills that are prescribed to them. Patients keep the pills close to them, as an option to end their lives if the pain ever becomes unbearable. “That lets me know that control is the issue,” said Brice.

The International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide reports that, while 326 prescriptions for lethal substances were dispersed within the last seven years, only 209 assisted suicide deaths were reported.

Michelle McCarthy, director of crisis services at SPS, stated that suicidal individuals do not wish for death. “When you’re suicidal, it’s like being in a tunnel or a box. It’s an altered state. People are in a lot of pain. Sometimes the pain becomes unbearable…people are looking for a way to end their pain.”

McCarthy pointed out that suicide is about requiring resources such as social support. Individuals may become unable to experience options during moments of overwhelming pain, leaving suicide as the only release. McCarthy delegates a group of volunteers who work on the Suicide Prevention Service Crisis Line (1-877-ONE-LIFE). The volunteers are trained to recognize the callers’ thoughts, decisions, and abilities to choose during crises.

McCarthy showed confidence in the abilities of individuals who call the crisis line; “People have their own answers. People know how to take care of themselves. They just need support in the process. After talking, you may still have the same issues, problems, and that emotional bundle that you’ve been carrying around might be a little bit lighter.”

Other suicide activists have extended knowledge via the Internet. Metanoia, an online therapy website, has created an Internet crisis page. The message on the page embarks with a directive, “If you are thinking about suicide, Read This First.” Below the title is a letter to the reader. The first line follows: “If you are feeling suicidal now, please stop long enough to read this. It will only take about five minutes. I do not want to talk you out of your bad feelings. I am not a therapist or other mental health professional — only someone who knows what it is like to be in pain.”

The presence of online media resources for people in a suicidal mind state is vitally important. Crisis Link, another Internet resource site, states that one of the biggest mythical warnings surrounding suicide is, “Don’t mention suicide to someone who is showing signs of severe depression. It will plant the idea in their minds, and they will act on it.” Society’s conviction to avoid the subject of suicide has only intensified the issue and has made it difficult for community members to acquire resources.

In regards to assisted suicide, it seems that, rather than focusing specifically on ending their lives, terminally ill patients simply yearn for some form of control over the pain that isolates them in states of physical agony while they live out their final days. Many times these people are cared for in supportive environments such as hospitals and homes. However, when somebody has no support during times of crisis, it is very common to feel as though they do not have control. In this case, suicide is not about making the choice to give up on life. It is about feeling disempowered to the point where one cannot experience any choices, leaving only thoughts of suicidal reaction. Suicide prevention is about self-empowerment, about helping someone who is in crisis to understand that they are valuable, and also to acknowledge the pain that is present in the world today.

Diane Brice stated that people are discouraged from recognizing the full extent of their emotions. “We are allowed to be sad today, but not next week, even if those feelings come up again.”

For social activists such as Humphrey, Brice, and McCarthy, the goal, as described by Diane Brice, is, “To get real about our human condition… about loving and losing.”

For more information about suicide prevention services, call Suicide Prevention Service of the Central Coast at 831-459-9373.

ahodgdon

As three bombs rocked the Palestine and Sheraton Hotels — both of which serve as bases for foreign journalists and contractors — and killed at least 17 people today, the death toll among the media rose yet again.  

“It’s about time the international community of journalists realized that Iraqi journalists make up the lion’s share of the killed list. In this year alone, 31 out of the 32 journalists killed in Iraq were Iraqis,” stated Hayet Zeghiche of the International Federation of Journalists, referring to the rising death toll — now over 100 — among journalists and the media since the American invasion in March of 2003.  

Mimi Hanaoka

“I said loud and clear that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey, and I stand by that. For me, these are scholarly issues… I am a novelist. I address human suffering and pain and it is obvious, even in Turkey, that there was an immense hidden pain which we now have to face.” — Orhan Pamuk, reiterating his stance on the contested Armenian genocide in Turkey that occurred during the twilight years of the Ottoman Empire. Pamuk’s remarks to a Swiss newspaper regarding the Turkish slaughter of Armenians have earned him the charge of “public denigration of Turkish identity,” complete with a December 16th court date. Crucial to Pamuk’s defense is his insistence that he has never used the word “genocide,” to describe the event.

Pamuk sparked the controversy with his comment to a Swiss newspaper in which he claimed that “30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it,” referring to the Turkish killings of Armenians in 1915 during their forced march out of Anatolia.  Pamuk faces trial and up to three years in prison for his statement.  

The Turkish government is playing a dangerous game of semantic brinksmanship with the EU in the trial of Pamuk; with the question of Turkey’s possible entry to the EU fraught with infighting within the European community as it is, the imprisonment of an internationally acclaimed writer on charges of humiliating the state will be an ideal explanation for some European nations for Turkey’s unsuitability to joining the European club.

Mimi Hanaoka