Christina’s Common Sense

If you’re an avid reader of this blog, or if you know me personally, you can probably tell that military stuff is very important to me. So when I first saw the trailer for Stop-Loss over Christmas break, I immediately knew I was going to despise it. Not only did I have suspicions about its political leanings, I also hate MTV and Kimberly Peirce. However, because it’s important to know what the enemy is thinking, I forced myself to watch it last night.

I tried to keep an open mind. Since I like military movies, I wanted to like Stop-Loss. And as much as I love those who protect my freedom, it’s the truth that sometimes the brass makes mistakes and the GIs suffer. Maybe this movie would help bring awareness to something that needs to be changed.

And it started out pretty well, with soldiers singing Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue,” which is one of the most-played songs on my iPod (shocker, I know). And then it all went to you-know-where.

Political statements aside, Stop-Loss wasn’t a good movie. It just wasn’t. It lost my interest after the homecoming parade and never got it back. I have to say, Ryan Phillippe showcased some pretty significant acting talent in his 180 from Navy Cross recipient John Bradley to simpering deserter Brandon King. It was particularly amusing that he spent most of the movie running from the Army in a pair of BDU pants and a green T-shirt. Not conspicuous at all…

Stop-Loss also makes its main characters into some of the most unlikable characters ever to appear on the silver screen. They look like weak, manipulated wimps. It really should be pathetically easy to drum up sympathy for a PTSD-stricken soldier, yet Stop-Loss managed to render me completely uncaring toward King’s struggle.

The movie’s worst offense is taking the soldiers running from their duty and making them look like heroes. The ones who follow orders look like villains. The only thing that kept me from destroying the screen in front of me was that it happened to be my computer screen and I’m not ready to part with it yet (though it would give me an excuse to buy the Panasonic Toughbook I’ve been lusting after).

So yes, Stop-Loss was a terrible movie and a terrible disservice to America’s heroes. After the movie was over, I ran a Google search for Kimberly Peirce and discovered that she got the idea for the movie when her brother joined the Army after 9/11.

He must be so proud.

Well guys, finals are over and I’m back to writing about stuff that actually matters.

Ben Stein’s new documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is making liberals in general and specifically evolutionists everywhere squirm, which is what they do when their agenda is scrutinized.

I have yet to see this movie, but the New York Times gave it a scathing review. This means I will probably love it. The newspaper refers to Expelled as “a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry.”

Well, they’d know.

People who say liberals are against free speech are wrong. They love it—for them. They don’t want anyone else’s speech to be free of their regulation. If liberals were really confident in their positions, they wouldn’t be worried about Expelled. They’d offer evidence, debate Stein on Hannity & Colmes, and engage in discussion over it. But since their positions are indefensible and they know it, all they can do is whine like a four-year-old girl. And I love watching every minute of it.

You can tell it’s finals week because my posts are done late at night and are of little substance…

I’m not a fan of Chris Tomlin, but this is a really nice music video done for the movie Amazing Grace. If you have not seen it, I recommend you do—particularly if you’re interested in political activism and/or the intersection between faith and politics.

Also, I have changed my blog’s format as a result of the homepage not displaying properly on my screen and this being the most legible layout for such a situation. I hope it displays properly for you, and if it doesn’t I am trying to fix it.

After discussing Patton in my Two World Wars class last night, I stumbled across this on YouTube. It’s an overdub of the flag speech from Patton (which you should really see if you haven’t yet), and done very well. Hold out for the end!

And for those who wish to see the real thing, here it is:

As a piece of worthless information: Reagan got out of Hollywood because he lost the role of Patton to George C Scott. Can you imagine Reagan giving that speech?

Thanks to Katie for showing me how to embed :).