Friday, December 06, 2002 :::
EBERT WATCH
Haven't read Roger in a few weeks; haven't missed him. For some reason I decided to check his site and found his take on the Larry Clark incident (2nd item):
Clark grew angry at his British distributor, Hamish McAlpine, during a dinner at which McAlpine said Sept. 11 was the best thing that ever happened to America, and continued by praising Yassar Arafat and making disparaging comments about Israel and Jews. When he praised Hamas, Clark wrote:
"I said what about the innocent little children and babies who get blown up? He said, 'they ------- deserve to die' and I lost it and punched him in the nose.
Roger then swallows the vile McAlpine's version of events hook, line and sinker:
McAlpine later told the London Guardian, "I was not prepared to put up with the presence of a racist man."
emitting this insane bit of moral equivalence that is not supported in any way by the story as Ebert has presented it:
McAlpine thought Clark was racist because he was anti-Palestine, and Clark thought McAlpine was racist because he was anti-Israel.
Now, thanks to Roger "Big Picture" Ebert, we know that this incident is just like the situation in Israel: a question of perspective and whose side you're on. Nothing to do with sending your children in to blow themselves up amidst the innocents of your enemy.
Roger really, really should stick to talking about movies.
::: posted by Brian Jones at 9:31 AM
