Monday, December 12, 2005
Munich Fantasy
Spielberg is a director who can't grow up. His imagination and extraordinary skills as a story teller serve adolescent and childhood fantasies. No mean feat to realize on screen the magic of such fantasies— but such magic, not informed by adult complexity, devolves into entertaining confections — not the resonant work of a mature artist.
David Brooks indicates what many suspected: that Spielberg would drink deeply of moral equivalence in his new movie Munich. Spielberg, woozy on his goodness, has run true to type — Peter Pan never can grow up and still retain his magic — he needs to live in his fantasy. If only we can be nice enough to each other, gosh darn, we can achieve peace.
Spielberg has the affliction of the unsophisticated do-gooder — his sensibility devolves into narcissistic self-regard — look at me, how kind I am, how understanding — he leaves out the real world (and its suffering).
David Brooks has it nailed:
In Spielberg's Middle East the only way to achieve peace is by renouncing violence. But in the real Middle East the only way to achieve peace is through military victory over the fanatics, accompanied by compromise between the reasonable elements on each side. Somebody, the Israelis or the Palestinian Authority, has to defeat Hamas and the other terrorist groups… this kind of violence is the precondition to peace…