Thursday, April 10, 2008

Charlton Heston: No One Did Cheese Better

The one reason I was sad to hear about Charlton Heston's death was because now the man who delivered some of the cheesest movie lines with such engrossing conviction is now gone. Plus, it makes me feel old to know that another actor from so many classic films has died. Touch of Evil is one of my favorite movies, and even though Charlton Heston was completey out of place (you know what I mean if you've ever seen this movie), he was still a major part of that film. Mr. Heston's body of film work speaks for itself. Okay, there's more than one reason why I'm saddened by the death of Charlton Heston. I won't miss his NRA endorsements, but I was watching Planet of the Apes on the Friday before Heston died and I remember who protected Val Kilmer in Tombstone. I'm not interested in debating the political ins and outs of his life, and though I give him credit for never wavering from his stance, I find it strange that a guy who played so many roles portraying a struggle against an oppressive state would become such a staunch conservative after what conservatism has come to stand for politically in the past decade. What I am interested in is celebrating cheese, and Heston was a master. So, for my pleasure (and yours) and a tribute to some damn fine movie roles, here's a brief Charlton Heston soundboard from

Soylent Green

and, of course, from Planet of the Apes.

Bloody Baboon!

Insane, Walking Pestilence!

You Led Me on a Leash!

A Madhouse!

You Damn Dirty Ape!

And, of course, the crowning achievement: Damn You All to Hell!!!

To see a better list of Charlton Heston stuff, go to The Charlton Heston Online Shrine page where I got these sounds.

RIP, Taylor.

Mad Cap Socialist Self Analysis! ("Mi Casa") Continues. Part Six: Remember, New Perspective

Continuing a piece about my home town, it's odd military history, and my position within.

PREVIOUSLY ON "Mi Casa":
PART ONE: History. A timeline of important dates in this project.
PART TWO: Introductions. In which the players of this one-act socialist analysis first pop up.
PART THREE: Flash Back-Flash Forward. Work on the top-secret project begins.
PART FOUR: Start Your Engines. The people start building the bomb (in more than one place).
PART FIVE: This Is More Than Just a Test. The first detonation of an atomic bomb at Trinity, New Mexico.

GREETER
Flashback to July 24, 1945, eight days after the Trinity test. At the Potsdam Conference, President Truman decides to tell Stalin that America has the bomb. (PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN and JOSEF STALIN walk on stage and pantomime the scene that GREETER describes.) However, unsure of how the dictator will react, Truman decides to make the announcement by a casual aside comment, telling Stalin that the United States has a powerful new weapon. Reports vary as to the exact reaction of Stalin when Truman made the comment, but most agree that Stalin looked impassive and did not seem overly concerned with the announcement. (HARRY S. TRUMAN goes to the side and watches STALIN closely.) Russian reports state that Stalin did this on purpose to protect Russia’s own nuclear program.

(STALIN looks off-stage and whistles loudly. IGOR KURCHATOV appears quickly.)

STALIN
(Whispers to KURCHATOV) Better hurry up. Or you will be shot.

(KURCHATOV exits in a flash. STALIN follows him.)

GREETER
By 1949, the Russians had detonated their own atomic bomb. On September 23, 1949, President Truman made the announcement.

PRESIDENT TRUMAN
We have evidence that within recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in the U.S.S.R. (Exits.)

GREETER
The Cold War was in full swing and the Arms Race was on. Los Alamos played a critical role in the Cold War as the National Laboratory continued to be weapons development center. The town remained highly guarded and secretive due to the dangerous work being done in the Lab and the possibility of Russian spies stealing nuclear secrets. And there we have it. (Addresses COLIN MILROY) Mr. Milroy, you’ve had a chance to hear about the history of Los Alamos and share your own thoughts. What about looking at the town from a social perspective?

COLIN MILROY
For the first few years after I moved away from Los Alamos, people would ask me jokingly if I glowed in the dark from radiation upon hearing I grew up in Los Alamos. It was surprising that I got this same question from every part of the country I lived or visited. The Lab dominated employment at Los Alamos ever since the town began. As a result, Los Alamos is filled with scientists: physicists, engineers, biologists, and on and on. My father was an exception as he worked at the only hospital and was the only urologist in town. When I was growing up, all of my friends’ fathers were scientists. Most of their mothers, like mine, were homemakers when we were children. Due to the highly classified nature of the Lab’s work during the 1970s and 1980s, work at the Lab couldn’t be discussed. There were many elements of Los Alamos that gave it a militaristic identity that I simply accepted because I had not really been exposed to any other kind of town. A machine gun guard tower still stands in one of the three entrances to the town. The machine guns and guards are no longer there, but the tower stands as a stark reminder of the “secret city’s” way of life in the early 1940s. There are several areas surrounding both Los Alamos and White Rock that are fenced off with barbed wire fences and signs that read, “Keep out. Explosives.” Certain areas of the town were mined and fenced off when the town was built in case of invasion from German or Japanese forces. A vivid memory I have of my early childhood was playing football in the backyard with my friend Bobby Colston. As we played, there was a muffled boom and the earth shook slightly under our feet. This had happened before, and we did not concern ourselves because we had learned that it was just another underground bomb test and our moms had told us not to worry.

(JAMESON, BLOCH, LUKÁCS, RODCHENKO, TROTSKY, BRECHT, and MARX all give an exasperated sigh and shake their heads. COLIN MILROY looks nervous and self-conscious, as usual.)

GREETER
We're actually not interested in the social aspects of your life. History is over. This is analysis. Remember, the point is new perspective.

COLIN MILROY
I learned new things I didn’t know before.

GREETER
There’s more to perspective than facts.

JAMESON
Perhaps we can be of assistance.

GREETER
Very well. Let the Marxist critics share their thoughts.

JAMESON
Historicize. Los Alamos arose from World War II, a very desperate time. Los Alamos helped create and produce the most powerful weapon in the world at the time. The atomic bomb not only gave the United States unconditional surrender from the Japanese, but the ability to dictate terms to the world or face the threat of nuclear annihilation. Therefore, the world and production could be molded entirely through U.S. interests. The United States could also command the world through entirely new means. Traditional warfare no longer applied. The United States had a weapon that no one had ever seen before. It was also the most efficient weapon ever made. With just one bomb, tens of thousands of lives could be ended instantly. Warfare and global politics were revolutionized and the Cold War became the new conflict between Russia and the United States with no direct confrontation of each other’s forces. It could be argued that Los Alamos helped create the modern world. But compare what was being done in Los Alamos with military and political conflicts of the past. Did Los Alamos really do anything new or was it just holding to a form? Los Alamos developed superior weaponry for the United States to defeat its foes in warfare. Now think historically about the wars between England and France in the Middle Ages. English archers used the longbow to kill thousands of French soldiers and cavalry from a distance that was not thought possible. England developed superior weapons to defeat the French. Think of what the barbarian hordes must have thought when they saw organized Roman legions with iron shields and blades. The Roman Empire dominated Europe for centuries not only through superior organization and tactics, but also through superior weaponry. So Los Alamos was only holding true to form in creating superior weaponry for its ruling forces. And what was the point to building superior weaponry? To destroy the enemy more efficiently. To force the submission of opposing forces. To broaden an empire and impose a particular brand of social and political thinking. Los Alamos also helped get other countries started in copying the form, as Russia raced to build its own atomic weaponry to match the United States. England, France, India, Pakistan, and other countries would soon follow. Everybody wanted a piece of the new weapon, and they wanted it as fast as possible.

GREETER
You don’t seem to have quite the vocabulary that Fredric Jameson does.

JAMESON
In case the audience actually needs to be reminded, they are watching a play and I am not Fredric Jameson. I’m just as actor.

BRECHT
You’re watching a play, you’re watching a play, you’re watching a play!

GREETER
Thank you, Mr. Brecht.

BLOCH
I, for one, am fully supportive of this form of expression. Instead of having facts and testimonies read to them, the audience gets to see actors tell true stories. Not only that, the actors get to put their own thoughts and emotions behind the words that others spoke before them. Feel free to express!

LUKÁCS
Keep it simple!

BRECHT
You’re reading a play, you’re reading a play, you’re reading a play!

GREETER
Thank you, Mr. Brecht. Now, Mr. Trotsky, would you like to share your thoughts?

TROTSKY
Well, I’ve seen this all before. It’s all very dramatic and fascinating, but we’re looking at lives of individuals, not of groups. While this all may be very fine, I’m afraid that there is too much self-promotion here. We’ve seen individual lives, heard individual stories, and this play is entirely about one individual.

COLIN MILROY
Sorry.

TROTSKY
(To COLIN MILROY) Well, I guess it’s to be expected. You are deeply rooted into Los Alamos as a town because you grew up there. You also have been part of a privileged class. Meaning varies depending on your perspective. You’ve come from an insider’s perspective. I think you knew your perspective before you sought out to criticize. The question now is how will this contribute to society and the future? Are you building a bridge to anything?

COLIN MILROY
I’m still figuring that out.

RODCHENKO
Well, at least this is a paper in the form of a play. I like the idea of manipulating the form to get a new perspective. Looking at something differently.

GREETER
That’s quite enough simpering for appreciation, Mr. Rodchenko. Thank you.
(BRECHT gets ready to shout again, GREETER cuts him off.) Yes, they know.

BRECHT
Just wanted to make sure. Is everybody thinking yet?

GREETER
And now, members of the audience, (a drum roll starts, GREETER speaks in a booming voice) the granddaddy of them all, Karl Marx!

TROTSKY
Couldn’t resist the individual theatricality, could you?

GREETER
We all have our weaknesses and our perspectives. Mr. Marx, please.

MARX
Oppression. Think of the social dynamics of Los Alamos during the construction of the atomic bomb and the social dynamics created by the rise of nuclear power. From a macro and micro perspective, the privileged were asserting their will over the underprivileged. There were social hierarchies built into the Lab itself. Los Alamos gave the United States the most privileged status as a superpower in the world. It did so through uprooting individuals from their surroundings and remaking their areas in northern and southern New Mexico into a place of scientific and military consumption. If anything, Los Alamos has served as one of history’s strongest means of promoting Capitalist thought through military might. Those with the greatest means continue to protect their means to the detriment of those who have less.

COLIN MILROY
Rats.

MARX
Sorry, dude. That’s how it is. By the way, I also appreciate theatricality.

COLIN MILROY
Thanks, man!

GREETER
I believe that Mr. Trotsky made a good point. Are we on a bridge to anything? What do we do now? We’ve seen how Los Alamos serves as a means of creating domination. Domination for the privileged over the underprivileged. Many other fabrics of American society advocate these same means. How do defend the underprivileged and achieve social balance? How do we stop domination from being an acceptable social action? Mr. Milroy, what do we do now?

COLIN MILROY
Members of the audience and readers… (Long pause.) Remember to think, analyze and make choices for yourselves. The play is over.

END OF PLAY