As I write this the powers that be are trying to make themselves and us feel better as we have once again been "attacked"' and our civil liberties have been jeopardized. I say this not in complete disagreement with those said powers as everyone should have the right to move about freely, carry about their business without fear of being killed. Sadly, however, we live in a world, a rather large world, where this is not the case. But, is the response to our basic freedoms being threatened to restrict those freedoms, to make us feel more like caged animals than protected. As I listen to and read the news from the US and the UK, I hear things like "more restrictions," "a ban on," and "tighter security measures," and though I understand the need and responsibility to try and protect as many people as possible, I can't help feeling more like a victim than someone who feels safe. Of course, I want people (including myself) to be as safe as possible but will not having carry on luggage do that or worse yet, having my personal items in a clear plastic bag so they are no longer personal but public. There is something very strange and invasive about this to me that falls in line with the current conservative wave of not just the US but the UK as well - and I am no conspiracy theorist.

Recently I was in a discussion with someone about 5 Days a film that is a chronicle of 5 days during the forced deportation of the Jews from the settlements in the Gaza Strip last August. The film shows the Israeli Defense Force physically removing their fellow Jews from their homes. It is a sight that is both heartbreaking for the soldiers who feel they are doing their duty as soldiers and betraying their faith and people simultaneously. It is not in any way a pro-Israeli film or a pro Palestinian film in my view and it manages to try and capture both sides from the point of view of the action. However, the person who I was having the discussion with felt that because of what was happening currently in Lebanon that I had no right to discuss or even comment favorably on a film about and/or made by someone Israeli. I was dumbfounded. Not only did the film have nothing to do with the current situation in Lebanon. The film was a living breathing document of a moment in history - a tragic moment but a moment nonetheless. Looking at something like this and the pre-release uproar over Oliver Stone's World trade Center I am finding more and more that people are consistently willing to dismiss or cry controversy over films they have not actually seen and/or present a view that is not their own or one widely held. I find myself again feeling trapped in a place where filmmakers, writers, artists, songwriters will not be able to make great work that rocks all of our sensibilities. Without the look outside the popular view, we would not have A Clockwork Orange, the Sex Pistols. Lolita, The Last Tango in Paris, Salo or Get Up Stand Up. It is so called controversy that makes us -in my view- as a society so wonderfully unique and creative. it brings out the best in us and the worst which is okay as long as it all continues.

Keeping it indie,
Julie