Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
Unfortunately, an otherwise decent movie was ruined by gratuitous anti-semitism of the new left Jeremiah Wright-David Duke hybrid variety.
The lead bad guy is a Russian speaking Jew (oddly named Christo) in the Ukraine whose specialty is smuggling drugs from Mexico into the into the US (at least he did not confess to developing the AIDS virus to target blacks). The scene introducing him shows him as a hook-nosed, snaggle-toothed, import from a Goebbels poster speaking with a New York Jewish accent. Late in the film, it is gratuitously announced, by an American interrogator, that Christo is Jewish (more below).
The other lead bad guy is Christo's childhood friend (unclear whether he also was Jewish) who is now a Chechen terrorist leader (having adopted the nomme de guerre "Abu Shamal"). Abu Shamal is purported to be a convert to Islam (although it is unclear whether he is sincere).
The main actual Muslim characters in the film are innocent looking Filipinos (stereotypes of people intimidated/duped into their roles rather than more active intellectual participants) who are used by Abu Shamal to smuggle suicide bomb vests into the US via Christo's smuggling routes. Abu Shamal conspicuously does not join in their Islamic prayers, thus further drawing his conversion into doubt (originally hinted at by Christo mockingly addressing him by his Russian name).
In the scene where the interrogator notes Christo's Jewishness relative to the Muslim nature of Chechen terrorists, Christo goes into an odd soliloquy about some sort of yin-yang relationship with Abu Shamal since their childhood in which America is now in the middle. Because this dates back to their childhood, it must be Christo's Jewishness rather than his friend's Islam that is the driver. Christo also appears to not well hold his Russian accent, sounding more and more New Yorker during the course of the interrogation. Again, this seems in line with much modern anti-Semitism wherein Islamic terrorism is asserted as encouraged by Jews.
Christo's Jewishness added nothing to the film. If anything its gratuitous addition only created confusion.
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May '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
CoolHand
Meanwhile, Jews and Christians are being slaughtered daily (you know, actually killed in real life, as opposed to being terribly covertly slighted in a fictional movie) in various parts of the world.
That's only making our point. The gratuitous branding of Christo as a Jew can only be regarded as a supreme concession by the filmmakers to those real life slaughterers and their sympathizers (as if making Abu Shamal a convert of dubious religious sincerity and including a religiously non-specific Christo were not enough in the way of appeasement). It's a concession with the apparent seal of approval of the US government.
The branding of Christo as a Jew passes from appeasement to encouragement. Perhaps that was (or will be) the price of getting the film shown in certain countries where it will feed the chants of "Death to the Jews!"
Oct '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
ctlaw, you say that the line is antisemitic and libeling all Jews as badguys. If that were true, then the line would be an accusation.
Feb '12
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
The larger point - and the reason why the title of this post is not misleading - is that if the chief antagonist operating behind all the Islamists is Jewish, a powerful message of the movie is that the Jew is the true enemy, that if one looks behind the Islamist curtain, he will discover a conniving Jew.In this way, the brief dialog in question is not just a few seconds that makes no sense. It is key to presenting a perverted view of who America's enemies are, and who is most wicked in the war against them.
May '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
I never said the line was anti-Semitic. It's not like the senior said: "Listen, you damn Jew...." In fact, I said the line was what anyone would say if confronted (against all odds) with an actual Jewish Christo.
Rather, the filmmakers' decision to gratuitously identify Christo as a Jew (however done) was the anti-Semitism.
Other than the hook nose and NY Jewish accent, there is nothing to identify Christo as Jewish except for that line. The name "Christo" seems an initial assertion of Christianity. Thus the fact that it was done with one line highlights the gratuitousness.
You mistake my assertion that there was no good reason for the filmmakers to cast/identify Christo as Jewish for an assertion that there would be no reason for an actual interrogator confronted with an actual Jew to note it.
Edited on February 28, 2012 at 1:38amFeb '12
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
Leporello
prometheus: ...Granted, this was less than 15 seconds of a three hour broadcast. Harping on it would no doubt be interpretted by the intellectually lazy as "missing the whole point" of the Oscars. No doubt some would note that the Oscar ceremony is made possible by the fine work of the Navy Seals and, by golly, they pray for them every night so how dare I take issue with Mr. Crystal (their reasoning, not mine).
But you know what? It was gratuitous anti-conservative invective. It had nothing to do with the ceremony. It also makes no sense... Though I don't know why." I'm not overly sensitive - but I'm also not blind, deaf or dumb to what was going on.
PERFECT ANALOGY. Thanks.
Excuse me, prometheus, I misspoke. The analogy is exactly right - but doesn't go quite far enough. See my comment just previous. This part of the movie, though brief, has everything to do with the rest of the movie. It's essential to understanding the nature of America's enemies. Basically, it says that behind them all stands a wicked, self-seeking Jew.
Mar '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
Roger Simon of PJMedia yesterday:
This is right after volunteering to write the Burrito Brothers' next script.
Feb '12
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
CoolHand
Leporello
When you respond with expletives ("FFS") and childish pictures, you forfeit the right to call others "foolish."
Keep porkin' that chicken, sir...
Instead, you choose to complain about a single sentence of dialog inside a two hour long movie that was by any measure I know of, epic.
Actually, the dialog is critical to the movie, since the implication is that Jews are the real villains - hidden, but manipulating others to do their will. Islamists are just tools - it's the Jew who's the problem. It's all very much of a piece with centuries-old anti-Jewish propaganda, most famously contained in Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Again, I recommend learning some Jewish history. See the two books I recommended above, especially Semites and Anti-Semites. It's a very good summary introduction.
Feb '12
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
gkstuart: What a bunch of hogwash. I would never have remembered this detail of the interrogation scene until this post brought it up. Now, thinking back to what I was thinking when I watched it, my impression was Senior Chief was trying to say "you are Jewish, shouldn't it bother you that you are working with an Islamist?"
I didn't make the "oh, a bad guy is Jewish therefore all Jews are bad guys" connection because it isn't there.
I loved this movie. It's not anti-Semitic. It's about the sacrifices the SEALs and their families make and the sheer awesomeness of our warriors.
Sheesh. · 18 hours ago
That's not the connection. The connection is that the Jew is the real bad guy behind the other bad guys. The Islamists seem like the real bad guys, but the Jews are orchestrating everything.
The SEALs are great, of course. The point is not about the SEALs but about the nature of America's enemies - who are just the pawns of...
(that's right, you guessed it)
...the JOOOOOO-OOOOOOOS!
Feb '12
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
HERE'S THE SCENE (courtesy of Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugged):
As Pamela Geller comments:
Sep '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
I think the clincher is the scene in which the CIA agent is tortured. First, her hands are taped to a table from which she hangs with arms spread. Then a thug drills holes in her hands with a power drill. Later we see that she also has stigmata on her feet. I got the Christ imagery, but until I read this article I didn't make the connection that the absent author of her torment was, naturally, a Jew. What could be more blatant than that?
Edited on February 28, 2012 at 3:59amMay '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
Leporello: (... Pamela Geller...):
Geller is wrong on one or two counts. Clearly Christo was non-Muslim from mockingly mentioning Abu Shamal's real name (as if the name "Christo" wasn't enough).
America-hating is unclear. As my original post mentioned, "Christo goes into an odd soliloquy about some sort of yin-yang relationship with Abu Shamal since their childhood in which America is now in the middle." Is America an intentional target (or just collateral damage)? This seems to resemble forms of the White Supremacist branch of anti-Semitism wherein the either the Muslims are tools of the Jews or the two are allies against Whites.
Edited on February 28, 2012 at 4:10amFeb '12
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
Tenther: I think the clincher is the scene in which the CIA agent is tortured. First, her hands are taped to a table from which she hangs with arms spread. Then a thug drills holes in her hands with a power drill. Later we see that she also has stigmata on her feet. I got the Christ imagery, but until I read this article I didn't make the connection that the absent author of her torment was, naturally, a Jew. What could be more blatant than that? · 21 minutes ago
Edited 17 minutes ago
Wow - hadn't put that together. Very insightful. Thanks.
It seems that people have willfully overlooked strong anti-Judaism because of the patriotic nature of the movie. A patriotic movie can be flawed, however, without calling into question the worth of patriotism.
Dec '10
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
Tenther: I think the clincher is the scene in which the CIA agent is tortured. First, her hands are taped to a table from which she hangs with arms spread. Then a thug drills holes in her hands with a power drill. Later we see that she also has stigmata on her feet. I got the Christ imagery, but until I read this article I didn't make the connection that the absent author of her torment was, naturally, a Jew. What could be more blatant than that? · 2 hours ago
Edited 1 hour ago
So, the movie was anti-Romanism - the Romans executed Christ.
Feb '12
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
jetstream
Tenther: I think the clincher is the scene in which the CIA agent is tortured. First, her hands are taped to a table from which she hangs with arms spread. Then a thug drills holes in her hands with a power drill. Later we see that she also has stigmata on her feet. I got the Christ imagery, but until I read this article I didn't make the connection that the absent author of her torment was, naturally, a Jew. What could be more blatant than that? · 2 hours ago
Edited 1 hour ago
So, the movie was anti-Romanism - the Romans executed Christ. · 6 minutes ago
Cute, jetstream, but not so bright.
For many, many centuries, the Church spread the lie that the Jews killed Christ. That was the idea being portrayed in the movie.
Dec '10
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
Leporello
jetstream
Tenther: I think the clincher is the scene in which the CIA agent is tortured. First, her hands are taped to a table from which she hangs with arms spread. Then a thug drills holes in her hands with a power drill. Later we see that she also has stigmata on her feet. I got the Christ imagery, but until I read this article I didn't make the connection that the absent author of her torment was, naturally, a Jew. What could be more blatant than that? · 2 hours ago
Edited 1 hour ago
So, the movie was anti-Romanism - the Romans executed Christ. · 6 minutes ago
Cute, jetstream, but not so bright.
For many, many centuries, the Church spread the lie that the Jews killed Christ. That was the idea being portrayed in the movie. · 1 minute ago
It's a well known historical fact that the Romans executed Christ - history does not support your goofy conspiracy theory.
Dec '10
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
jetstream
It's a well known historical fact that the Romans executed Christ - history does not support your goofy conspiracy theory.
There's no point in talking sense to them man, they're on the scent of Jew Hate, and they will not be denied their trophy.
You bring up a good point though about this being one hell of a conspiracy theory.
This grand sweeping conspiracy involves the govt, liberal writers, Navy SEALS, and dirty Christians who have come together to slander the Jews and set them up for another Holocaust. As far as bat crap crazy theories go, this one is a duzy.
Their proof that this conspiracy exists? One line of dialog (that was ad lib by the SEAL doing the scene, IE NOT PLANNED BEFOREHAND).
[redacted for Code of Conduct -- and in general (far beyond this comment), let us all tone things down here and work to abide by the CoC -- speak nicely to each other even in strenuous disagreement]
Edited on February 28, 2012 at 3:57pmFeb '12
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
I'm not the first to have noticed that Jews who are alienated from their heritage have a greater-than-average chance of finding themselves in the leadership of horrific (and anti-Jewish) movements. Infamous Jews include Trotsky, Marx (though he never practiced and neither did his family), Noam Chomsky, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. That sounds to me like a realistic detail.
Also, Michael Medved loved the movie.
May '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
CoolHand
There's no point in talking sense to them man, they're on the scent of Jew Hate, and they will not be denied their trophy.
...
This grand sweeping conspiracy involves the govt, liberal writers, Navy SEALS, and dirty Christians who have come together to slander the Jews and set them up for another Holocaust. As far as bat crap crazy theories go, this one is a duzy.
Their proof that this conspiracy exists? One line of dialog (that was ad lib by the SEAL doing the scene, IE NOT PLANNED BEFOREHAND).
Ignoring the tangent others may be taking, what's your source for the line being ad lib.? If ad lib., presumably one of the producers handed the SEAL portraying senior a profile of the Christo character that said he was Jewish. Did that SEAL (who I've been defending) just make up that Christo was Jewish (in which case I was wrong defending him)?
No conspiracy is needed beyond everyone else going along with one producer's hyper-PC demand to make Christo a Jew. That's less conspiratorial than many things government does (enabling/ignoring Nidal Hasan, NASA as Muslim self-esteem agency, Fast & Furious...)
Sep '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
jetstream
Leporello
jetstream
So, the movie was anti-Romanism - the Romans executed Christ. · 6 minutes ago
Cute, jetstream, but not so bright.
For many, many centuries, the Church spread the lie that the Jews killed Christ. That was the idea being portrayed in the movie. · 1 minute ago
It's a well known historical fact that the Romans executed Christ - history does not support your goofy conspiracy theory. · 4 hours ago
Yeah, that's what makes it what's commonly known as a "lie." You really aren't aware that Christians have spent the last two millenia repeating this foul falsehood against the Jews?
Sep '11
Re: Act of Valor = Act of Anti-Semitism
CoolHand
jetstream
It's a well known historical fact that the Romans executed Christ - history does not support your goofy conspiracy theory.
[redacted for Code of Conduct]
Edited 3 hours ago
You want a conspiracy theory? I've got one for you, although you better sit down, cuz this might blow your mind, dude. I know I risk losing my account for saying something so crazy, but the truth has to get out.
Here goes: I think that during the Bush administration nearly every Hollywood movie about the Iraq war was anti-war and pro-Democrat. I also think they consistently mischaracterized the motivation and the nature of the US involvement in that war. Imagine, if you can, a conspiracy so vast, so deep, that it could consistently produce films like Rendition, Avatar, Lions for Lambs, The Kingdom, Redacted, etc. There must be thousands involved: writers, directors, actors etc.
You probably won't see this post before it's censored. But if the truth gets to only one person....
Edited on February 28, 2012 at 3:58pm