Another Tale of US Exceptionalism
We saw a wonderful film last night by Cao Hamburger titled The Year My Parents Went on Vacation about the upheavals in Sao Paulo in 1970. The story is woven between two events, the climax of the brutal military dictatorship with it's crackdown on leftists and Brazils play in it's third World Cup win that year. The young protaganist's parents are forced to flee their country ( leaving their son behind) after being identified as communist sympathizers, an all too familiar scenario that played out in those turbulent decades. Though we are constantly informed and reminded (especially during political campaigns!) that America has always been a beacon for democracy and freedom blah blah blah the facts prove that to the contrary, we played a much different role during the global "proxy" Cold Wars. And while the stories of Central American, Argentinan and Chilean dictatorships are fairly well known, Brazil does not seem to recieve the same attention generally.
The coup deposing Jao Goulart in 1964 was given tacit approval by that famous Texan commie fighter, Lyndon Johnson. US support for the successive military dictatorships ( aprox. 2000 people Dissapeared in 21 years) continued through Nixon/Ford as strongmen Branco, de Silva and Medici helped keep the continent safe for capitalism. At the same time , nationalistic fervor was maintained through the great Brazillian football team ( including Pele) which dominated with three World Cup wins. The film juxtaposes these cultural and political contradictions and gives a interesting view into the Jewish exile community living there post-Holocaust. These were years of booming economic growth, showing, (as has the Chinese example) that contrary to popular myth, capitalism, like bureacratic statism, thrives under authoritarian rule.
It is good people are making films to preserve memory, else we truly are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Every exceptionalist, City on the Hill, apologist needs to be denounced and corrected. There is some great acting and a poignant story in this case of revisionism. I recommend it.
posted by troutsky @ 10:01 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
2000 people that is it. That is low for a civil war prevented by opponents of turning their country into Cuba. Funny when commies butcher millions you clowns grow silent.
Then again communist butchery takes place after Civil Wars. Lets blame everything on Stalin and ignore the actual record of the ice picked messiah.
Does Renegade Speen have an ice pick painting to go along with his goofy cult of historical ignorance?
Speaking of films, trousky, I took in "Slumdog Millionaire". Never mind the attention deficit disorder style editing and rather flat acting, this is one of the most devious films I've seen in a while.
I think it can be summed up in two aerial shots. One early on shows an expanse of tin roofed shanties. Later in the film the supposed identical shot shows a series of construction pits building high rise apartment buildings.
After starting out with scenes of abject poverty the poor have just disappeared! I guess they all got living wage jobs in a call center.
There isn't any cynical view toward money here, just get some. There's plenty. Look, as soon as you get to the 250,00 rupee question all the poor are gone. It's like "Hoosiers" in the Bombay slums. I was surprised it was that vulgar. Romanticized some incredible poverty that capitalism makes just disappear.
If you might enjoy a very fine film on the disappeared in Argentina, I strongly recommend "The Official Story".
I saw The Year My Parents Went on Vacation. Unfortunately its not going to be seen by many. No commercial gimmicks, just a good story and good acting.
A better term than "bureaucratic statism," would be Bonapartist. Bonapartism can be leftist or right. Stalinism was left Bonapartism, while Goulart is right Bonapartist. Most third world leaders are Bonapartist in some form. That's more precise than the Trotskyist "deformed workers state" idea, or what I think is way off, the Cliffite state capitalism idea. When Marx said, "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce." he was talking about Bonapartism.
My group holds offices in Lula's party.
The Chinese economy is tanking. The economic crisis of 2008 is to Reaganism, what the fall of the Berlin Wall was to Stalinism.
Ducky: I wouldn't be surprised if Slumdog wins an Oscar as best picture. As Graeme said it's City of God meets Bollywood.
You provide Beakerkin his only legitimacy. You are aware he is both verbally abusive and a liar towards Troutsky and myself. He is not worthy of you visiting his blog. His comment here is proof.
You can read the filth he spouts. Why enable him? Do yourself some good, and phase him out.
Compare CB's behavior on this site to Beaks. Craig is farther to the right than Beak.
If you read beak's comment, you'll notice it's cryptic politically. He is here to troll.
Beakerkin: The Russian Revolution was relatively bloodless, except for the outside intervention. Most revolutions are not real violent.
Talking about bloody revolution is usually something of the extreme right or extreme left romantics. All a revolution is, the moments when people for whatever reason, change their daily routine, and become actors in history.
Here we have Ren in liar mode. The Russian Revolution bloodless?????
Commies killed at all times as matter of policy peacetime, wartime and everything in between. Here we
have more word games and deception
and the killing did not start with
Stalin. Trotsky deserved to die for
his crimes against humanity. Perhaps Enema Goldman was a premature Neocon.
The imbecile Renegade Spleen now talks about China's downturn. As a communist he has already demonstrated imbecility. Lets see years of double digit growth caused by communist malfeasance and the spleen is talking failure. Sorry, but a downturn in the economy will
pass it is called the business cycle.
Of course the spleen is nostalgic
for the days of the Mao. Millions of dead laid at the feet of Marx
discredited the idea.
As for CB he is not a member of an
ethnicity historically persecuted
for populist gain. He is also too
genteel to go into the lethal historical record of applications of Marx. I also do not allow the bait and switch games and include
the totality of evil caused by Marx.
When and where are the apologists
for Chavez renouncing their citizenship? Do all the people in my office just happen to tell identical lies including gays, Jews
and Professionals?
My wife and I were discussing how American and Indian films have to explain everything explicitly, in almost caricature so that Beak can understand, whereas European film (generally)can still leave a little to the imagination.
Interesting they would release a paean to globalism at such an inopportune moment.
I must admit having visited Beaks site Ren, a guilty pleasure. Not for any content, obviously, though there are flashes of wit, but as sociological research. Yesterday I went off your blog to FJ and then followed his links for the same reason. Depressing but fascinating.
Ducky, Did you ever see the film version of Lawrence Thorntons Imagining Argentina? Powerful stuff .Naming the Spirits also good. We have a documentary recorded called Blood Ties and no, I don't only watch and read stories of oppression! Just sounds like it.I'll look for Official Story.
Troutsky
You do not posses the IQ to grasp the material on my blog.
Lets see a fan of a failed idea is not exactly fit to pronounce judgment on anything. An exponent of genocide lacks the critical facilities to grasp that which conflicts with his pseudotheological dogma.
FYI Maybe you should stop watching foreign films and visit your local
asylum office so you would sound less ignorant. How do so many people tell identical lies about
Hugo?
When are you renouncing your citizenship to join Hugo.
See how Beak changed my words from "relatively bloodless except for outside intervention" to "bloodless." In the process changed the meaning.
The rest was word soup. He started off talking about how Trotsky killed "millions." He switched to talking about one battle.
Again most revolutions are relatively bloodless. I can list dozens of examples.
The PSUV gained 1,000,000 new voters last year, compared to the year before. The opposition lost about 500,000 votes. I'm sure the Venezuelans you know tell you what you whatever words you put in their mouth. Look how you change my words.
The liar Renegade Spleen is too cowardly to come to an asylum office and read the reports. How can I place words in the mouth of people who wrote their stories months before meeting me.Of course this would require a conspiracy of multiple officers, lawyers including multiple
gay advocacy groups traditionally on the left and hundreds of applicants telling the same identical lie. Obviously officrs have nothing better to do with our
time than to collect stories to
discredit Hugo. There is obviously
a Jewish conspiracy with the proper
code word to discredit Communism
which one will it be neocon, zionist, zog or international banker.
What we have seen is more words games from Ren who selects points in time and then disowns the mayhem
that follows. Lets see few people
died on day one duhhhhhh but millions died on day thirty. Sorry
but you are members of a death cult
worshiping a war criminal messiah.
Lets see Enema Goldman was a Jooooo
so her comments about Trotsky must be part of some premature Neocon sympathies.
I think the IRS needs to investigate if the travels of Troutsky and Che Bob were subsidized. This would require you
commies to pay taxes and register
as agents of a foreign government.
One person has already been charged
with this paying bribes on behalf of Hugo.
Funny gas prices are going down and Hugo gets less shrill. Who is the next savior of communism? How long are we going to continue this farce. Even lab mice are more capable of learning than commies.
trousky, there is a lot coming out of South America lately.
I subscribe to Film Movement which does a very good job of rooting out some substantial indie releases.
This month's was from Uruguay, "The Pope's Toilet". A guy trying to make it as a small time smuggler like half his village hears that the Pope is going to be visiting his town.
The villagers all hatch a number of entrepreneurial ideas to cash in and our hero decides the crowds will need a pay toilet.
Well the crowds never materialize, everyone goes bust and the film does a job of skewering religion and capitalism as failed lights in this case. But one that the working poor aren't prone to give up belief in.
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