communique’
Editor’s notes
Humanity unable to shake violent social norms
I was yelled at the other day,
and probably for good reason.
The insert ads we ran last week
were tacky, tasteless, sexist and
an insult to our readers’ in
telligence. These inserts adver
tised the latest films to be
released from Columbia Pic
tures, and in particular, “Hap
py Birthday to Me.”, The ad
depicted a young man about to
get a shish kebab forced down
his throat with the sentence at
the top reading, “John will
never eat shish kebab again,”
followed by, “Steven will never
ride a motorcycle again,” and
on and on and so forth.
It was even more unfor
tunate that these ads came out
the same day the Pope was
shot, a sad coincidence, in
deed, for at the bottom of the
ad it proudly proclaimed, “Six
of the most bizarre murders
you will ever see.” I was ap
propriately scolded for condon
ing violence, which is what the
ad was selling. “The Pope gets
shot, the world is going down
the tube, and you’re saying,
‘Oh, boy! Let’s go see some
nice bizarre murders.’
After a few moments of
recollection, I realized that she
was right. Unfortunately, the .
College made money off this
tacky ad. Even though it was
only $70, it was still money.
The movie itself has made a
profit, our newspaper profited
by receiving a few more
readers (I noticed that a few
people on the bus who normal
ly don’t read the paper picked
one up, looked at the ad, then
started reading the black and
white). Some people even en
joyed the advertisements. I
guess everyone profits • from
this sort of violence.
Everyone, save the victims
of brutal violence. There will
probably never be any direct
connection made between
violent art and violence in real
life (although it has been the
subject of many a research
paper), but just the thought of a
society insensitive to extreme
violence because we watch it
nearly every time we go to the
theater is a frightening thing to
comprehend. Because there is
no way we can tell whether the
movies cause violence, it may
always be considered a little
flaky. So which is which, does
life imitate art, or is it visa ver
sa?
To bring up the life-imitates-
art side, the best example is
“The Manchurian Candidate,”
an early ’60s potboiler that
predicted the possiblity of
political assassinations, ex
treme violence in everyday
lives, and brainwashing of
POWs. These were all con
sidered absurd at the time.
Then, the late ’60s came.
Another possibility yet to be
explored is the death of John
Lennon. In the Woody Allen
film, “Stardust Memories,”
movie star Sandy Bates gets
bumped off by a crazed fan
with a handgun, a scene
tragically played out in front of
Lennnon’s apartment less than
three months after the film’s
release.
The most recent incident, of
course, is the attempt on Mr.
Reagan’s life, allegedly by a
crazed Jodie Foster fan. The
suspect reportedly thought it
would please Ms. Foster if he
took a high official’s life, as
Robert DeNiro attempted to do
in Martin Scorcesse’s “Taxi
Driver.” Jodie Foster starred in
the a ward-winning film.
Many believe films are
nothing more-than just a reflec
tion of 'what-society is and what
it wanfs, and where it is head
ed; That’s tough to árgue.when
a film like “Friday the 13th” br
ings in $50 million. At $4 a
head, that means 12,500,000
people wanted to see 10 sex
ually active teens get brutally
murdered. When shit like that
brings in
money by the
bundles, what is Hollywood
supposed to think?
Manypeople believe the mo
tion picture industry and the
television industry should put a
lid on themselves as to the
kinds of picture shows they put
out. But who should put a lid
ón what? When trash makes,
the top 10 in the Nielson
ratings, or gathers $50 million
at the box office, it is just telling
the producers, that that is what
people want. What can this lid
allow to slip by? Does this
mean a film like “A Clockwork
Orange” or “The Hand” must
be nixed simply _ because
graphic violence can be found
in both?
There is no question that
there .is tod much violence in
films today. But, unfortunately,
there is, too much violence in
society today . I used to . think
that this was mostly an
American problem, this being
the most free society. It isn’t.
So who can we pin as the
scapegoat for our ignorant
violence? • No one , but
ourselves. Most mammals kill
by nature in order to eat meat.
It’s as simple as that. Man has
done this, too. With the
knowledge we possess,
humans have developed more
efficient ways to kill, and have
turned our weapons oi
ourselves. The instinct of sur
vival is the strongest instinct
have, and’when many humati
feel threatened, they kill. Witl
five billion people on thf
planet, it’s easy to fed
threatened. W.hy innocent peo
pie like Lennon or the Pope art
singled out, is still beyoru
reason. I guess some people
are just crazy.
Either way, I’m not reallj
surprised. I’Ve come to exped
stupidity from mankind. It only
follows intelligence, that standi
to reason, too. Man is violeiij
by nature, murdering eacl
other is just a bad trait tha
we’ve developed, and we’n
stuck with it.
-Thomas A. Rhodes
Ireland: nation of rebels without a cause
By J. Dana Haynes
tism. Both brands of religion
disdain violence, don’t they?).
Bobby Sands is dead, as is
But it also has to do with the
Francis Hughes. Others hover Irish Catholics vs. the British,
at death’s door. They are or the Protestants vs. the British,,
were all fighters for a cause. and the British vs. everyone. If
Revolutionaries. Idealists.
the two warring Irish groups
Fools.
agree about any one thing, it’s
Violence in Ireland is nothing not letting the English army
new, but the American media, share in the genocidal fun.
in accordance to the wishes of
Now if this seems a wee bit
thé public, has recently familiar to you, it’s because the
spotlighted the fighting. British army went. through a
Everyone loves a martyr, I sup similar situation' in the Middle
pose. Joan of Arc and Patrick East 30 years ago. The only
Henry still get good coverage. thing the Jews and Arabs have
But behind every good ever agreed upon is their
“ultimate sacrifice,” there must mutual dislike of Her Majesty’s
be a good cause, or at least a empirical forces. It took the
logical one. Ireland seems to be English nearly half a century to
a little short on logic these realize that they’re persona non
days.
grata in Lebanon. They’ve
The battle is a complex one; been “protecting” Ireland for
few people can explain the more than twice that time; the
whys and wherefores of the British have ever been a little
century-long conflict. It seems slow on the uptake .
to have something to do with
However, the rollcall isn’t
the Catholics vs. the Pro- over yet. Along with the
stestants (though, I suspect, cathartic Catholics, protesting
not Catholicism vs. Prostestan- Prostestants and the intrepid
Of The Print
Page 2
English, mix in a healthy batch
of third generation Irish
Americans. Here we sit,
relatively safe and sound in a
country whose shores have not
been breached in' over 100
years (say, wasn’t that the
English, too?). Once a year,
several million of us dust off
our brogues, wear the green,
and remember dear 61 Saint
Pat, th Patron Saint o’ Ireland.
He was the bonny lad, ye’ll
recall, who drove all th
serpents out o the Erin Isles (no
one’s ever bothered to drive
out the Molotov Cocktails).
Those several, million
Americans of Irish stock (sure
an I’m one meself) also
remember the old country in a
different way. Each year, it
seems, the Irish Republican Ar
my is bankrolled by citizens of
the good old US of A. All part
of the effort to get “the Brits”
out of Ireland, supposedly.
So, if you’ve been keeping
up with your scorecards, the
game should read:
Our heroes: The Catholics,
fighting in the name of God to
stave off Protestantism. The
Protestants, fighting in the
name of God to stave off
Catholicism. The English Ar
my, fighting in the name of
stiff-upper-lip honor and some
long dead Empire (upon which
the sun has most definitely set).
The Irish Americans,' who
-----------
donate valuable Saturday-night!
specials, Sten Guns, and plasti-
que, bless our souls.
And the other team : Who? :
The day Bobby Sands died!
a bomb destroyed a hardware
store in Ulster. There were two
deaths. The papers didn’t list
their names or religions. They;
were, of course, just statistics.
More’s the pity.
\
Tobacco fountain
Among the pleasures everybody shares in the Com
munity Center these days besides the soft sultriness of
Gloria Johnson on KGON and newspaper inserts drifting
like ash over the chairs is a new one. Every time we go
over to the drinking fountain by the game room we are
confronted with chewing tobacco. Not in a nice little tin
proffered by a baseball player, but little chunks of used
chewing tobacco, glistening softly not five inches from
our nose. Sweet.
We say charge a tax. A penny extra for every Asteroid
game, and get those guys a spittoon. Otherwise, we’re
gonna print a really gross joke by one of our more deprav
ed editors. It starts: this guy walks into a saloon...
Clackamas Community College