Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Rob Hinkley

is posting some great stuff at the moment. I wish he had an RSS feed.

Analysis of claims that George Bush caused the New Orleans floods.

And a link to this brilliant parody of leftist cultural criticism, a review of 'Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory'.

In the context of the present political landscape, one cannot help but draw disturbing parallels between the fabled chocolate factory and US foreign policy in the Middle East. The notion that Wonka rescues the indigenous Oompa-Loompas from their “difficult lives” with his gift of industrialization seems to mirror the patronizing notion that the United States is presently rescuing the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq from their preserved savagery. It is disturbing that, this time around, no mainstream movie reviewers, civil rights organizations or social critics have pointed out these parallels or made these comparisons. Could it be that overt racism and colonialism have again become the norm in our society, passing almost without comment? Do we no longer even take the time to hide it under the surface ?

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