The Macaca MOVIE! "Gods & Generals," with references to "darkies"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/johnny-reb-allens-swift-_b_32694.html

Senator Allen, meanwhile, made a cameo appearance in the awful movie Gods and Generals (in the interest of fairness, Stephen Lang, who played Stonewall Jackson, was brilliant). Gods and Generals, apart from being a preachy love letter to the Confederacy with an editorial pace making it seem only about two minutes shorter than the actual war, contained repeated instances of the word "darkies" to describe African-Americans while glorifying the generals who engaged in what technically amounted to an organized military and political insurrection against the United States. Senator Allen is seen in the movie singing the Bonnie Blue Flag lyric, "Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights, hurrah!" implying, in part, the right to own slaves. Senator Allen, when you boil it right down, portrayed a traitor against the United States. An insurgent, if you will.

Yet few would be insane enough to indict Allen for this, other than his taste in writer/directors. It was a movie about actual events and actual behavior in Virginia during the American Civil War. He was involved in a production which fictionalized actual historical events -- events which included the ugliness of American war. Even after repeated allegations of racism, no-one I can think of has actually made an argument against Allen based on his Gods and Generals appearance. If anything, the Republicans could've made a gigantic hoohah over the fact that Allen appeared in the same scene as "far-left secular progressive" Ted Turner who, by the way, financed the movie and portrayed a Confederate officer.

That said, Senator Allen has again exposed his own lack of character and, more than anything, his myriad of political weaknesses in this latest desperate smear of his opponent. Allen dressed up in a mustache and butternut uniform and performed in a theatrical account of the Civil War which dramatized, in part, some of the ugliest truths of that era. Webb actually served meritoriously in the Vietnam War and wrote about the ugly truths he witnessed in wartime and its aftermath. Allen pretended to be a soldier, which is as close as he ever came to actual military service, while Webb served bravely and honorably.

Now tell me -- because maybe I'm missing it -- do Senator Allen and his chickenhawk supporters in the wingnut media have a leg to stand on? Does Lynne Cheney, who has written salacious books and whose husband received five deferments from the draft during Vietnam ("Dick did not"), have any right to impugn Jim Webb on CNN? Do the hypocrite roll call. It's not too difficult. Check out some of Arnold's movies. Check out what the president and others did while members of Yale's Skull & Bones society.

Wow, didn't know.

General officers records are/were not always accurate.

One of the most interesting persons was Moses J. Ezekiel was a Hispanic-Jewish Confederate Sergeant who designed a sculpture commemorating Confederates at Arlington Cemetery. Ezekiel was a student of General Jackson. On the sculpture Ezekiel did depict an African American Confederate which at various times has infuriated the Klan types.

The world is a complex place and the simplistic views of closet racists like Senator Allen do not do justice to history. Wonder if Allen would have called Moses Ezekiel a Macaca?

Judah P. Benjamin, who was also Attorney General and Secretary of State, though not at the same time.

G&G is on my list of five worst movies of all time, while the earlier "Gettysburg" is in the top 20 of my best. I think George Allen ought to switch to an acting career after November 7 (although he has done a lousy job of acting like a decent human being).

Wrapped around 3 hours of crap...

Stephen Lang is always good...really underrated IMO...

And the battle scenes were staged very well...particularly Fredericksburg...

But the rest..the confederate family straight out of a stupid lost cause painting, all the happy black slaves...just really bad.

As one of the many reenactors used in the movie!!! :-)

screw the Academy for snubbing you!

pic of Allen in my signature line since summer. Yes, it's from a movie, but it's a role Allen was born to play. Here's a guy who named his son after Confederate General Nathan Forrest, perpetrator of atrocities against black Union troops and early KKK Grand wizard. He named his daughter Tyler after Robert Charles Tyler, last Confederate General slain in battle. He named his other daughter Brooke after John M. Brooke who deserted the US Navy and became Commander of the Confederate States Navy in Richmond. All his adult life (starting in high school in Southern California) he's displayed the Confederate Flag - on his person, on cars, on trucks, in his home. The opportunity to play a Confederate General must have been a dream come true.

By the way while Senator Webb was serving in Vietnam and garnering the experiences he would later fictionalize in his novels, George Allen was spraypainting the walls of his high school with racist graffiti. What a piece of work.

I never saw it, but I saw "Gettysburg" and have been to Gettysburg, PA during the anniversary re-enactment.

The point that I would like to make is that we as a culture have progressed in the 140-plus years to the point where such opinions are archaic, where racism in nearly all people and institutions has been watered down to much smaller levels. Yet Allen seems to have progressed in his opinions far less than most people ('macaca' thrice, anyone?), and futhermore he both knows it and enjoys it. The idea of fighting for the right for states to oppress human beings, the idea of hangings, and the waving of the Confederate Navy Jack appeal to him enough to make him proud to do this in public and in his political offices. This attitude was not part of this birthright, either, as Allen is a Californian. It appealed to him, and he adopted it whole-heartedly. Probably as part of his bullying jock personality.

Perhaps some savvy Virginian can write a letter to the papers noting this. As a damnyankee, they probably wouldn't publish if I did it.

Steven Lang deserved an academy award nod for that performance as Stonewall.

Lisby

:donut:

- and that he played a confederate general (which always struck me as odd since he represents a Union state that was born of the Civil War).

oh NO! a period movie used period language! really, there are more useful things to complain about than that.

It was a good show, plus the soundtrack is stellar, including some fine work by Dylan. Check it out.

There's plenty to slam macaca about without going here...

And a three star at that-- one below General Robert E Lee himself.