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Sean Penn Speaks!

Ed

Philosopher
E
Joined
Aug 4, 2001
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From the IMDB.

"Sean Penn, whom many critics believe to be the frontrunner for a best-actor Oscar this year for his performance in Mystic River, has written a lengthy article for the San Francisco Chronicle about life in Iraq after his return to the country last month. The article, which could provide a hint of what Penn might say during an acceptance speech if he should win, excoriates U.S. policy. "Many Iraqis I speak to tell me there is no freedom in occupation, nor trust in unilateral intervention," he writes in the article, which appears in today's (Thursday) editions. "For the people and children of Baghdad and the coalition forces, the insurgents and the utter lawlessness of the streets are a constant and real threat."

Maybe, maybe not. But Penn sure as hell has no idea.

http://www.imdb.com/StudioBrief/#3
 
It's a fact, living in an occupied country sucks.

Surely a knowledgeable history student such as Penn can find parallels to historical examples such as Japan and Germany. And surely such a finely honed political mind can understand the negative consequences of squeamishness by the occupier.

Or maybe not. Psychic prediction: within 5 years Sean Penn will be doing ads for Christian Children's Fund.
 
I'm sure that last time he spoke to the Iraqi people, under escort of the minders Saddam supplied, he encountered only happy Iraqis who praised the glory of Saddam and life in Iraq to no end.

Sean Penn is an idiot, he is a great actor though. Only in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" did he not have to act. ;)
 
phildonnia said:
It's a fact, living in an occupied country sucks.

Surely a knowledgeable history student such as Penn can find parallels to historical examples such as Japan and Germany. And surely such a finely honed political mind can understand the negative consequences of squeamishness by the occupier.

Or maybe not. Psychic prediction: within 5 years Sean Penn will be doing ads for Christian Children's Fund.
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No, in 5 years he will have moved on to the next PC cause while enjoying his privledged lifestyle.

Brings to mind Col. Kilgore in Apocolipse Now. Remember when he is "ministering" to that VC and someone tells him Lance the Surfer showed up? That is Penn and Iraq.
 
WildCat said:
I'm sure that last time he spoke to the Iraqi people, under escort of the minders Saddam supplied, he encountered only happy Iraqis who praised the glory of Saddam and life in Iraq to no end.

Sean Penn is an idiot, he is a great actor though. Only in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" did he not have to act. ;)
Click to expand...

Actually, he meets his 'minder' again on the trip:

Well, coincidence of coincidences, it was Ahmed who had been my "minder" on my trip the previous December. "Minder" meant the Hussein regime's intelligence personnel designated to keep one's eyes on those things the regime wanted one to see and off those things it did not. But Ahmed had been a warm presence on my first trip, a father sharing stories of his children as I shared stories of mine.

Nonetheless, there is something in the coincidence of our paths crossing again that forces me into a very ugly place. It is, after all, the midlevel Baathists, those not in our "deck of cards," who are largely behind the insurgency. And however prone I am to trust Ahmed, I become equally mindful of how real the danger of misplaced trust is in this area of the world. I will have to be wary of Ahmed. This is the most remorseful moment of my trip: sacrificing instinctual trust or courage for intellectual commonsense and guardedness. Perhaps the Bush administration has gotten to me, too?

I go downstairs ahead of Rob and greet Ahmed in the lobby. It is nice to see him alive. I am eager to hear what he might have to say, now that his old boss is not the new boss, and to hear him describe the experience of his family and himself living through the U.S. bombing campaign and invasion of Baghdad. But Ahmed is reserved and simply lets me know that it is difficult getting by each day to support his family, and I am reserved in sharing many of the specifics of my trip or movements.

He offers to arrange transportation and a translator for me. I decline. I am sorry not to have more time with Ahmed. I had felt that he was a good man who had simply been under Hussein's iron thumb. It seems that my discomfort (even self-importance) in worrying about the coincidence of our interaction is nothing compared with the decision-making that must face the investigative journalist daily. Read that: Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and executed in Pakistan in 2002. This just isn't the time or place to confirm my better instincts about Ahmed. I write these words very aware that Ahmed himself may read them at some point and I confess to him their ugliness.
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Perhaps, even if you are right about Penn, his articles may be worth your time to read. I don't believe that the excerpts from IMDB really do them justice.


MattJ
 
aerocontrols said:
Perhaps, even if you are right about Penn, his articles may be worth your time to read. I don't believe that the excerpts from IMDB really do them justice.


MattJ
Click to expand...
Yep, I should have read your link instead of Ed's. That is a good article, not nearly as biased as it was made to appear through selective quotes. Penn's not an idiot after all.

But why don't I see the "real" journalists writing in such detail about Iraq? Seems they're dropping the ball.
 
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