August 10, 2005 The Art of Movie Warfare

One of ceaseless criticisms that has plagued Bruce Lee's fighting style was that he fought "dirty" (went straight for the hacky sacks). Shifu from many schools have chastised him for bringing "street fighting" elements into his all-encompassing method, Jeet Kune Do. His answer was that martial arts meant war, and in war, you use whatever is necessary to preserve yourself and destroy your opponent. Martial Arts Competitions with rules, regulations, and judges were antithesis to the art of war.

Something just struck a blow of revelation to my cynicism about Hollywood movies. The cheesy background music (orchestral strings=love, piano=introspection, minor chords=bad dudes on the way), the decision to use one of People's ten sexiest actors of the year to play mentally-handicapped parapelegics, space aliens with British accents, the dreaded Spielberg close-up face shot, buttered popcorn; All devices to win the audience over and evoke empathy and compassion.

I found that if I looked at movie-making as a military strategy, it becomes clear that there are no contrivances that are off limits when attempting to trick humane sentiments back out into the open. Sun Tzu, Chinese general of 500 B.C. who was generally credited for authoring The Art of War has often been quoted as saying, "A general will win if he knows when to fight the enemy and when to enlist Brad Pitt to play him to fight the enemy."

It would be nice if viewers can rediscover the compassionate, spiritual side of their lives through the stark landscapes of Bergman or Kiewlowski. But let's be honest: Keeping tabs on missing white girls and watching beautiful people (who have to work less in life for cash) eat horse rectum and drink bug excretions for cash has become a national past-time. That may not be a formidable opponent, but when it comes to seeking out humanity within that rubble, the tiger claws can sure be damn elusive.

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August 19: :  How We Became So Noisy

August 10, 2005 :   The Art of Movie Warfare

July 20, 2005 :   Online Dating Is Wrong?

 

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