Libya: The Gipper Revolution
February 21, 2011 6 Comments
Having (successfully and accurately, I think) christened the recent military takeover of glorious, liberalizing democratization in Egypt as The Porn Revolution, methinks it is now time to set my deft and insightful gaze upon Libya.
There’s a problem however which is that Libya is not as well chronicled in the Hollywood films and related popular-culture paraphernalia which form the backbone of my knowledge about the world.
To my mind, there’s only really The Wind And The Lion starring Sean Connery as a Berber and Candice Bergen as an attractive woman he kidnaps, both of which are hilarious concepts in themselves. And on reflection that may not actually have had anything to do with or been set anywhere near Libya (too lazy to wiki). But you must admit, the Stacy Keach portrayal of Teddy Roosevelt alone is worth the price of Netflixion. Two-and-a-half stars out of four-and-a-half.
What else? I think some of Patton may have taken place there. Is Casablanca in Libya? That was a good movie (though it could have used more nudity IMHO). And if you play Caesar III on your computer you may have some experience in opening up trading routes with Libya (or is that Phoenicia?). But really, aside from these facts, little is known (and even less cared) about this strange, faraway land rumored to be ‘Libya’. Does it even really exist, or am I confusing it with Narnia?
I suppose if you go back to the late ’80s, pre- our troubles with the Panama guy, and check out Joe Piscopo SNL skits and Abrams-Zucker-Abrams productions of the period, you’ll often find some actor dressed as Khaddafi Qaddafi Qadafy the Libya guy and getting his comeuppance of one sort or another (before 1991 came around and Saddam Hussein took over that role for good). In fact all things considered that’s probably what he’s best known for at this point.
Which reminds me, the main thing that Libya calls to mind is us being excitedly told that we had just bombed Libya by my history teacher while we were on the requisite school DC trip. That teacher was so excited by the drama of it all! It was like he was back in the days of Vietnam, I bet. I bet he expected us to stage a walkout or a sit-in or a walk-in or a sit-out of some sort to protest the evil actions of the US Government. He seemed to be so convinced it was all so historic, that my inclination was to play along just to humor him. Meanwhile, the girl I had a crush on DIDN’T EVEN GO. That was a boring school trip (quite inferior to the school-band trip to Disneyland).
Anyway, so if there’s one thing that Libya calls to mind, it’s none other than the Gipper. President Ronald Reagan the one and only. HE is the one who made the crucial decisive decision to bomb Libya, and now here we are, just 25 short years later, with Kadhaffiy teetering on the brink of power. You have to admire the Gipper’s foresight and prescience, in the face of nattering naysayers.
Hence, I hereby christen this: The Gipper Revolution. As far as I’m concerned, this notch belongs squarely on Ronnie’s belt. I mean, to think: he saw the dominoes way back then. While everyone else was playing checkers….he was playing dominoes.
Score another one for the Gipper.
Too bad Woody Allen is too old to play Patton in a remake. Look at old pictures of the real Patton, then at pictures of Woody Allen in the 70s. Both quick little guys with high-pitched voices, both cockhounds, both remarkably talented.
The man who said this:
“Evidently the virus started by Morgenthau and Baruch of a Semitic revenge against all Germans is still working. Harrison (a U.S. State Department official) and his associates indicate that they feel German civilians should be removed from houses for the purpose of housing Displaced Persons. There are two errors in this assumption. First, when we remove an individual German we punish an individual German, while the punishment is — not intended for the individual but for the race.
Furthermore, it is against my Anglo-Saxon conscience to remove a person from a house, which is a punishment, without due process of law. In the second place, Harrison and his ilk believe that the Displaced Person is a human being, which he is not, and this applies particularly to the Jews, who are lower than animals.”
played by Woody Allen? You’re joking, right?
A bit of getting you caught up.
I recall one movie set in Libya, regarding the pre-war uprising against Italian rule in the 30s. It was an Italian production largely funded by Khadaffi. Where they got the cv3-35s I have no idea.
Casablanca was set in the Moroccan city of Casablanca. The Wind and the Lion was set in the Rif of Morocco. Historically Pedacaris (played by Candice Bergen) was usually referred to a sir, and Mr. Pedacaris. President Teddy Roosevelt ordered the occupation of Moroccan territory in order to force the locals to take action to get Pedicaris released. It almost brought the US to war with Germany and France, but the British stepped in on our side and talked the French out of it. It played a large rule in getting France to occupy Morocco and declare it a French protectorate.
Why is Libya important? Because Libra is a big oil producer, supply much of Europe’s demands, and produces especially high grade oil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_set_in_Libya
There was a Clint Eastwood film about the invasion of Grenada, for God’s sake. Why hasn’t there been a lunkhead action movie where somebody kicks some Libyan butt?
Everybody knows Libya. It’s the country whose nationalists sold the uranium to Doc Brown so he could power his flux capacitater.
Doh! How could I have omitted that one. Unforgivable