Name One Thing…
Tim Blair has a good post up about Hollywood’s ‘selective’ memory when it comes to Fidel Castro:
Cathy Seipp’s actress friend Leah asks a bunch of Hollywood types why they’re so hot for Castro:
“Name one pro-Castro movie that’s come out of Hollywood,” Gelbart demanded.
“Comandante!” Leah snapped back, referring to Oliver Stone’s recent paean to Castro.
“OK, that’s one …” Gelbart said.
“Motorcycle Diaries!” Leah immediately added. Gelbart was beginning to look exasperated at that point, so she shut up. “But there’s also Havana,” she whispered to me, “by Robert Redford, another lyrical poem to Castro.”Don’t these people even watch their own movies?
All I can think of when I read this is the scene from Life of Brian…
REG:Yeah. All right, Stan. Don’t labour the point. And what have they ever given us in return?!
XERXES:The aqueduct?
REG:What?
XERXES:The aqueduct.
REG:Oh. Yeah, yeah. They did give us that.Uh, that’s true. Yeah.
COMMANDO #3:And the sanitation.
LORETTA:Oh, yeah, the sanitation, Reg. Remember what the city used to be like?
REG:Yeah. All right. I’ll grant you the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done.
MATTHIAS:And the roads.
REG:Well, yeah. Obviously the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don’t they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads–
COMMANDO:Irrigation.
XERXES:Medicine.
COMMANDOS:Huh? Heh? Huh…
COMMANDO #2:Education.
COMMANDOS:Ohh…
REG:Yeah, yeah. All right. Fair enough.
COMMANDO #1:And the wine.
COMMANDOS:Oh, yes. Yeah…
FRANCIS:Yeah. Yeah, that’s something we’d really miss, Reg, if the Romans left. Huh.
COMMANDO:Public baths.
LORETTA:And it’s safe to walk in the streets at night now, Reg.
FRANCIS:Yeah, they certainly know how to keep order. Let’s face it. They’re the only ones who could in a place like this.
COMMANDOS:Hehh, heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.
REG:All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
XERXES:Brought peace.
Heh heh heh.