Louis:
I read somewhere --and I don't know whether it is true or not-- that
Seagal demanded the right to say anything he wanted at the end of his
Alaska film, with no producer censorship, as a condition for making the
flick. As you probably know, he used those ten minutes to denounce
multinational corporate destruction of the environment. I haven't seen his
latest, but look forward to it. I went to see "Above the Law" with my
brother who is a black belt, "this guy has some GREAT moves", he said, and
we staggered out in a state of shock at the powerful denunciation of
CIA drug trafficing in Central American in support of the Contras --AND
the explicit connection to their earlier actions in Indochina. It was
a little like watching a revealing documentary on what was going on
at the time. While he might do the job better with some advice from us :-)
there is no doubt that he is reaching one hell of a lot of people with at
least part of what they need to hear and see.
Harry
On Wed, 10 Sep 1997, Louis Proyect wrote:
> There is a genuine integrity to Steven Seagal's body of work. While the
> critical establishment is finally giving Jackie Chan the acclaim that he
> richly deserves as martial artist/film star, isn't it about time that we
> recognize Seagal for the politically progressive trail-blazer that he is?
> Make way, Oliver Stone, for a genuine rebel--one who is at home delivering
> class-struggle speeches or karate kicks to a villain's teeth.
>
> In his latest film "Fire Down Below," Seagal plays Jack Taggart, an EPA
> inspector who goes undercover in rural Kentucky to find out who has killed
> his partner. His partner was investigating toxic spills. His cover is as a
> volunteer church worker who repairs the porches of congregation members.
> The pastor is played by Levon Helm, formerly of the band called The Band.
>
> It turns out that a most reactionary member of the bourgeoisie, Orin Hanner
> (Kris Kristofferson), is being paid big money to hide toxic waste in the
> hills and waters of the beautiful Appalachian countryside, and the
> chemicals are killing fish and making children sick. Orin Jr.(Brad Hunt)
> runs the day-to-day operations in the hills while his dad sits in the
> corporate headquarters like an Appalachian version of the rotten
> businessman J.R. Ewing on the old TV show "Dallas". Now in his sixties,
> Kristofferson has adapted well to villainous roles. He was outstanding as
> the sadist cop in John Sayles "Lone Star" and equals that performance here.
>
> Orin Jr. sends out one goon squad after another to kill Seagal, but he
> always manages to defeat them with well-placed kicks and punches. The charm
> of watching Seagal in action has a lot to do with his growing middle-aged
> paunch which many cinema fans can identify with. Seagal wears long coats
> throughout the film which tastefully disguise his love handles, but you can
> discern their contour if you look carefully.
>
> Not only does he have lethal extremities, he is also cunning and lethal
> behind the wheel. One of Hanner's thugs tries to run him off the road, but
> Seagal dodges him at the edge of a cliff and the would-be killer drives to
> his death. This is an action hero par excellence: a combination of the
> Roadrunner, Bruce Lee and--best of all--Big Bill Heywood.
>
> As soon as he returns to town after the car chase, he walks into the middle
> of a church service and mounts the pulpit. He tells the congregation that
> there are rich people who are trying to poison them. Their profits come at
> the expense of the town's children or the beauty of the environment. It is
> time to stand up to these greedy businessmen and fight for justice, says
> Seagal with a steely glint in his eye.
>
> Highly recommended: Five hammer-and-sickles
>
>
> Louis Proyect
>
>
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Harry Cleaver
Department of Economics
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas 78712-1173 USA
Phone Numbers: (hm) (512) 478-8427
(off) (512) 475-8535 Fax:(512) 471-3510
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cleaver homepage:
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/index.html
Chiapas95 homepage:
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html
Accion Zapatista homepage:
http://www.utexas.edu/students/nave/
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