'COLLATERAL DAMAGE'
Boring lies from the Pentagon
By Heather Cottin
"Collateral Damage" is one of those one-man-against-the-bad
guys Hollywood action movies that cost millions to make but are
a dime a dozen. The premise involves a firefighter, played by
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who takes revenge for the deaths of his
family in a Colombian "terrorist" bombing in Los Angeles.
Although Colombian guerrillas have never engaged in such a
bombing, the movie makes it appear that this is their MO.
The film was released just in time to prepare U.S. filmgoers
for the vicious bombing of the demilitarized zone in Colombia
initiated by the Pastrana government. No doubt Washington gave
the go-ahead for both the film and the bombing. Having made the
guerrillas appear to be terrorists in the movie, there could be
little opposition from people here who are now primed to
believe the lies "Collateral Damage" perpetuates.
There is nothing factual about the movie at all, but
theatergoers may not know that. The movie depicts the Colombian
guerrillas as wanton killers of innocent civilians, although as
recently as Feb. 25 Newsday reported that three quarters of all
the people who have died so far in the guerrilla war were
killed by right-wing death squads. The movie also links the
guerrilla army with cocaine production--another distortion of
reality.
Paramilitary death squads are missing from the plot, as is
their relationship with the Colombian military and
Washington.
When Bush declared 2002 the "war year," he claimed that
Colombia was a terrorist stronghold, thus justifying his Plan
Colombia. "Collateral Damage" is propaganda that furthers U.S.
designs for an escalation of this war.
The only good news here is that audiences were bored by
"Collateral Damage." In the theater this reviewer went to,
people filed out complaining about the inanity of the actors
and the stupidity of the plot. Reviewers didn't like it either.
CNN.com gave the film an "F," saying succinctly, "The movie
stinks." We agree.
Reprinted from the March 7, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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