Quote of the Day/Week- Christopher Hitchens

On Dec. 15, 2011, the world lost a very vocal person who everyone likely either agreed or disagreed with at one point or another irregardless of where one stands in the political landscape. That was very vocal person was renown essayist/intellectual/pundit/culture critic Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011).

This month, we are quoting famous people who died in 2011. And, we start with a controversial figure as we did with Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928-2011) on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire."

Hitchens was perhaps most known for being one of the world's leading atheists, and in the process, he outraged Christians, Muslims, Jews and even Hindus and Buddhists alike. Other atheists and many secularists were also uneasy about Hitchens' outright disdain for religion which he articulated in his book "God is not Great" (2007).

Though Hitchens was not only liberal, but even a Marxist in his younger years where he gained prominence for covering the war between Turkey and Greece over the island nation of Cyprus as a young journalist in 1974, he did end up supporting many neo-conservative causes, most notably the War in Iraq.

But, where exactly Hitchens stood politically or philosophically at the time of his death age 62 may still be a source of debate. Interestingly enough, he supported Ralph Nader (2000), George W. Bush (2004) and Barack Obama (2008) in the last three American presidential elections. Many perceive that Hitchens went from left to right, but there is some dispute to that because he was an ironic supporter of British conservative Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher, also known as "The Iron Lady," in many areas, including the UK's highly controversial war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.

Hitchens would disagree with liberal atheist Bill Maher, whom he was reportedly close friends with, over the War in Iraq, yet he would also argue with the likes of Sean Hannity on the right about the existence of God. He was also critical of both the late Rev. Jerry Falwell and Noam Chomsky. In his lifetime, Hitchens' work took him to 60 countries, including North Korea.

Here is his quote from "God is not Great," these are the views of the late essayist, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog:

"Religion is man-made. Even the men who made it cannot agree on what their prophets or redeemers or gurus actually said or did."

Remembering Sidney Lumet (1924-2011)

Since Sidney Lumet, one of the best film directors of the 1970s, died over the weekend (he made many great films before and after that decade as well), I thought I would simply tell this one story about how I saw "Serpico" (1973) at an outdoor Turkish cinema in the resort Kushadasi in 1985, some 12 years after the film was released in America.

In Turkey, the film was actually "Serpiko," and it was dubbed in Turkish! Today, virtually all foreign films are shown in their language of origin with subtitles in Turkey. I had assumed that was now the practice in every country except India until I went to Azerbaijan in 2008 where I saw a Russian-dubbed version of the Will Smith action comedy "Hancock" that I could not understand.

Thankfully, I can speak Turkish so even as awkward as it was to see Al Pacino, who is very popular in Turkey perhaps because he is in a lot of violent/gangster films, I could undertand the film about the plight of a New York police officer Frank Serpico (b.1936) ok. Though several years later, I was happy to see the film again on video, and it is among the films I have wanted to rewatch again (this was even before Lumet's passing).

The cinema was quite packed that humid night in Kushadasi where mostly men were watching the film, and few of them seemed to have any dates. As is custom whenever someone in Tukey sees an American film with a lot of violence or grit, the spectators asked me 'Amerika hakikaten, oyle mi?/Is American really like that?"

Of course, many people here have asked me if Turkey is like "Midnight Express."
(1978, d. Alan Parker), I respond to the later by saying: "I've never been to a Turkish prison." And, I tell people who see American films like "Serpico" that New York is a lot different than Roanoke, Va.- my hometown.

I learned from the IMDB, that "Serpico" was shot in 104 different locations in New York. And, the film was shot in reverse order with Pacino starting off with a beard and long hair, and then ending up clean shaven.

The director and tandem would team up again in "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), and then Lumet directed "Network" (1977) with actors like Robert Duvall and William Holden. Some have suggested that "Network" predicted the rise of televanglism and the Tea Party movement.

Hmmmm.....if we get a chance, we'll ask Noam Chomsky what he thinks!

But, in all seriousness, virtually film buff except the somewhat notorious David Thomson (who I recall disdaining Lumet for some reason or another), will assuredly miss Lumet, but we have many films to remember him and his exceptional work.

Quote of the Day- Leo Strauss

We don't quite agree with all the views of the late political philosopher Leo Strauss (1899-1973), a German emigre who was the leading influence of the neo-conservative movement (which is the general editorial position of "The Weekly Standard" magazine), but he did have a few interesting things to say. And, since we are featuring philosophers this month, including a quip from the very liberal philosopher Noam Chomsky on our other blog today, we figured we'd 'balance' things with a quip from Strauss:

"All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable, which makes you see something you weren't noticing, which makes you see something that isn't even visible."

Remembering Howard Zinn (1922-2010)

As a centrist Democrat, I'm sometimes in a quandry about what to think of left-wing intellectuals. There are times when I completely agree with them, like their complaints about George W. Bush's dubious decision to invade Iraq, but there are times when I am soldly against them, like when they say President Barack Obama has too many Wall Street influences (just how can one become president of the country without those connections?).

But, regardless of how one percieves Howard Zinn, arguably the most recognized left-wing intellectual in America for a generation, it does seem fair to say that the world will simply not be the same without him.

Alex Green, an independent bookstore owner in the Boston area, wrote on "The Huffington Post" that Zinn's influence can be seen all over his store.

Noam Chomsky, a contemporary of Zinn's, told "The Boston Globe" that Zinn made a significant contribution to America's moral and intellectual culture.

Zinn also had celebrity friends like actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who mentioned Zinn's work in their Academy Award-winning screenplay for the film "Good Will Huntin."

Affleck told "The Boston Globe" that Zinn had one of the greatest minds in American political life.

Zinn, a long-time professor at Boston University, is best known for his 1980 book "A People's History of the United States," which was recently made into a History Channel docuemtary entitled "The People Speak."

He is also known for his sentiment that one 'can't be neutral.'

SIDEBAR: Though I don't like to focus on crime stories since it detracts from what I aim for on this blog, it would be morally wrong of me not to mention the brutal Morgana Harington slaying, especially since I hail from Roanoke, Va., where she was from. Harington's body was found near Charlottesville, Va., earlier this week. She had disappeared after a Metallica concert in Charlottesville in October. Harington was a student at Virginia Tech. The Washington, DC, radio station WTOP said that Metallica posted a message on their web site expressing their condolences to the Harington family. As an opponent of capital punishment who has been involved with Virginians for Alternative to the Death Penatly (VADP), I am outraged by those who suggest that those with my views sympathize more for the criminals who undertake such horrific crimes than the victims themselves. I certainly hope law enforcement officials find the person responsible for this awful act soon.

SIDEBAR TWO: There are other stories we are working on, and I hope to post my TOP 25 Films of the Year List here very, very soon!