Re: Baudrillard

["R. Anders Schneiderman" <aschneid@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 12:26 PM 1/11/98 -0800, Jim Devine wrote:
>Louis writes: >On the eve of the Gulf War, [Baudrillard] argued that
>television made actual war superfluous. <
>
>Baudrillard was absurd, but it sure suggests the recent Robert de
>Niro/Dustin Hoffman flick "Wag the Dog," in which a spin doctor and a
>Hollywood producer conjure up an imaginary war with Albania in order to
>distract the US electorate from the incumbent President's being caught
>hitting on a 13-year-old girl. It's the flick that "Canadian Bacon" was
>meant to be, complete with interesting (if a bit repetitive) insights into
>the Gulf War.

Too bad they didn't have the guts to base the movie on Larry Bensky's
_American Hero_, in which the Gulf War was a desperate plot by a dying Lee
Attwater to save George Bush's ass.  "Wag the Dog" was roundly dismissed by
critics, largely because it's absurd to suggest that you could get away
with staging a pretend war (unless you were taking on the Martians).

Even if you could fake it, why would you?  So long as you know only pick
wars you know you're going to win, here's what you get:  burning up
military equipment, giving the military a chance to practice, trying out
experimental equipment, helping to bond our nation together & damper
dissent with a bit of spilled U.S. blood.  These are benefits that you
can't get from pretend wars.  Make war, not movies!

Anders Schneiderman