4_________
A&E
Traffic explores war against drugs
The CI ac I camas P rint
WedNEsdAy, J anuary 51, 2001
TAM OLIVER
movie, was quoted in The
Through these stories,
Columbian on Jan. 29
one question stands out. Why
saying, "I was shocked
are so many people addicted to
Traffic is a powerful film that ex and dismayed at the gra
drugs, legal or illegal?
plores the reasons we are not win tuitous amount of vio
An undercover police
lence and profanity in
ning the war against drugs.
man on a stakeout in a
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Traffic."
cramped van asks his partner
As the film traces the
the film features a fine cast of ac
why he doesn’t try the patch
tors: Michael Douglas, Don war against drugs on
to quit smoking as the van fills
Cheadle, Erika Christensen, both sides of the Mexi-
with smoke. A husband tells
Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Quaid and can-U.S. border, it inter
his wife that if he didn’t have
twines the stories of sev
Catherine Zeta-Jones.
his nightly glass of Scotch,
Traffic scores all of its points with eral groups of people;
he’d be bored to death. A
effective restraint. A torture scene some rich and some poor,
crack addicted teenager who
is heard but not seen. Instead, the some morally corrupt and
seems to have everything - pri
horror is reflected on the face of a others decent, and some
vate schools, money, excellent
Mexican police officer who hears powerful and some weak.
grades and good looks - talks
A new American drug
his prisoner delivered to a terrible
about the fear of not being able
czar (Michael Douglas) is
fate.
to measure up. An overworked
Rather than bombard the viewer so busy fighting drugs
father throws himself further
with blood and brains splattering or and politicking to keep
into his work when problems
Two Mexican police officers find themselves in trouble in a scene from Traffic.
a needle entering a teenager’s youth the financial support
develop at’ home.
ful vein, the film holds back. In do coming in that he misses
Traffic is a thought-provoking
ing so, it frees the imagination of the the fact that his teenage daughter tion to United States’ DEA agents nally shocked to discover her hus movie. It hints of reasons for los
(Erika Christensen) is becoming an in exchange for lights for a baseball band is a drug lord, takes over the ing the war against drugs, but it
audience.
Make no mistake, Traffic earned addict. A Mexican police officer park so the children of Tijuana can business when he is imprisoned. doesn’t sermonize. It leaves room
its R rating. Senator Orin Hatch of (Benicio Del Toro), who makes play safely at night. A pampered She’ll pay any price to keep from for the audience to do their own
Utah, who has a cameo role in the about $300 a month, trades informa California housewife, who is origi being poor again.
soul-searching.
A&E Editor
Spanish, Latino Clubs bring
bilingual play to campus
MAGGIE JIRASEK
Feature Editor
To save Earth from an old proph
ecy and learn how to live in har
mony with our planet is the theme
of Profecia, Teatro Milagro’s bilin
gual play being performed at
Clackamas Feb. 7, 12 p.m. in the
McLoughlin Hall theater.
The play is set in the year 2012
and the fulfillment of Xutan, an an
cient Mayan prophecy, is about to
approach. Great earthquakes and
floods have been foretold, and our
planet’s future lies in the hands of
four individuals who can alter the
course of humanity. The play, writ
ten by Danel with original music
by Rodolfo Ortega, is set in the
highlands of Chiapas where some
of the earliest records of people in
the Americas - dating from 2500 BC
- have been found.
Teatro Milagro, the bilingual
touring company of Miracle The-
Aries: Recognition for all your
hard work should be coming soon,
but it may not take the form you
expect.
Taurus: Cut yourself some slack,
Taurus. Don’t set the bar so friggin
high you can’t jump it.
Gemini: Kindness matters in this
worlc, and you have been extremely
atre, has toured
throughout the West
Coast, Mexico and
Canada for over five
years, addressing im
portant global issues
in their plays. Past
works have included
stories about saving
the rain forest, immi
gration and freedom
of artistic expression.
Miracle Theater
group is the largest
Hispanic arts and cul
ture organization in
the Northwest.
With the help of
fundraising,
the
Spanish Club as well
as the Latino Club
made it possible for
Milagro to come to
Clackamas. Admis
sion to this bilingual
production is free.
Authorsf Night
Soaring Above Adversity: New Memoirs
Wednesday, February 7 at 7 p.m.
Gregory Forum
Larry Colton: Former sports writer and
professional baseball player
A former professional baseball player and a writer for Sports Illus
trated and the TVew
Times Magazine, Larry Colton will be
reading from Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and
Honor on the Little Big Horn. The book focuses on Sharon
LaForge, a gifted yet undisciplined Crow Indian who hopes to
become the first Indian player from Hardin High School in Mon
tana, to win a basketball scholarship.
Jennifer Lauck: TV journalist/producer
PHOTOGRAPH BY LARA KLINGEMAN
Cast members from left to right are
Danielle Malan, Francisco Garcia, Maya
Malan-Gonzalez, Manuel Hall and
Laurel Garcia
kind to others. Remember to be
kind to yourself too.
Cancer: Sorry Cancer'but don’t
plan on the road being any
smoother for another couple of
weeks.
Leo: Don’t let your last tumble
keep you on the ground. Dust
yourself off and try a different way.
Virgo: The world is not quite as
linear as you might want it to be.
Instead of trying to force the world
into.your narrow parameters^
widen the parameters.
Former TV journalist and producer Jennifer Lauck will be reading
from Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found. The book
travels through the standpoint of a child narrator who
experiences the death of first a mother, then a father, and then
abandonment at the age of 10 to a church commune in central
Los Angeles. Lauck has appeared with her book on the Rosie
O’Donnell show and the Oprah Winfrey show.
ing bad would happen to you this
week, but your skeptical nature
would keep you from believing me.
hidden message. Don’t read be
tween the lines this week, just take
things at face value.
Scorpio: This is your week to be
like the Eggman. Koo-Koo-Ka-
Choo.
Capricorn: If it feels like you have
been beating your head against
the wall, it is because you have
been. Find a new hobby before
you get a headache.
Pisces: Dust off those old posi
tive affirmations. You are good
enough, smart enough, and gosh
dam it people DO like you, so quit
your whining.
Sagittarius: I could tell you noth
Aquarius: Sometimes there is no