The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, April 7, 1989 Page: 9 of 16
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THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, APRIL 7. 1989 9
Unrealistic '60s flick fails
BY BILL TUCKER
It was still a time of
innocence, when those who
were protesting the war in
Vietnam believed, despite the
deaths of the Kennedys and
Martin Luther King, that the
rightness of their cause made
them invulnerable, and those at
whom the protests were
directed believed that the
turmoil in society was due to a
few "bad kids" who were
leading Johnny and Sue astray.
Depending on one's point of
view, President Nixon was the
devil or a bulwark against
anarchy, and the soldiers in
Vietnam were either murderers
or defenders of democracy.
From the perspective twenty
years's distance gives, it seems
inevitable that such a deep rift
in America would lead to a
dramatic explosion. When the
National Guard fired into the
crowd at Kent State and left
"four dead in Ohio," it marked
the end of the innocence of the
time. Those who had been
advocating lining the protestors
up against the wall and shooting
them were shocked to discover,
when it really happened, that it
was Johnny and Sue standing
there. And for their part, the
students and other anti-war,
anti-establishment groups finally
realized just how dearly the
previous generation, with their
experience of the Depression,
held the dream of financial
security and familial and social
stability.
A complex, interesting time
(interesting in the sense of the
ancient curse) such as this
deserves a complex, interesting
movie, and that is just what
1969 is not. Despite a veneer
of verisimilitude, the substance
is missing from this film, and its
dippy, feel-good ending is simply
insulting to everyone who fought
for what they believed.
The main characters are
Ralph (Robert Downey, Jr.) and
Scott (Kiefer Sutherland), two
friends who live next door to one
another in a small town which
has yet to be much affected by
the war or the protests. As the
film opens, they are hitchhiking
home from college, where they
are roommates. Once home,
attention focuses on Scott and
his family. His father (Bruce
Dem) is an ex-Marine who is
absolutely convinced of the
need for the war. Ralph's older
brother, Alden (Christopher
Wynn), takes after his father
and goes off to fight in Vietnam.
He gives his '64 Corvair
convertible to Scott, who is
unwilling at first to take it from a
murderer-in-training, but who
eventually gives in.
Mariette Hartley, who should
have stuck to doing Polaroid
commercials, plays Ralph and
Alden's mother. I say "plays"
mostly out of convention—in
this part, it means pursing her
lips a lot. She is sympathetic to
Scott's beliefs, and refuses to
go to the bus station to see
Alden off, and anachronistical^
goes jogging instead. On the
way out of town, the bus passes
her, and stops so that Alden
can get out and wave to his
mother, but passing traffic
prevents him from hearing her
say "Don't die." (This is called
foreshadowing—it's the key to
quality filmmaking.)
Ralph and Scott return to
school, where they are visited by
their mothers and Ralph's sister
Beth (Winona Ryder). In an
event which is obviously meant
to be deeply symbolic, they get
caught in a takeover of a
Sewall presents
Soria exhibit
BY TIM CARROLL
T
■he
Ihe latest exhibit at Sewall
Art Gallery,"Visions of the 20th
Century on the French
Revolution: The Georges Soria
Collection," will be on display
through April 21. The show
commemorates the bicentennial
of the French Revolution through
the works of various renowned
artists of-the modern age.
Through their works, each artist
presents a view of the problems
and triumphs which mankind
has faced (and continues to
face) in the struggle for liberty.
As Georges Soria himself put
it,"The exhibit helps the ideas of
progress and liberty. It is a
prayer addressed to humanity.
Everyone is concerned. It is a
testament to life." The works all
do have a certain vitality, and
the energy in each work—be it a
representation of the horrors of
oppression, the chaos of
revolution, or the exhuberance
of freedom—is apparent.
Those works which deal with
the violence and power of
revolution in a more abstract
way are especially powerful.
Fode Camara's "Memorial
Goree" and Oliver Debre's
"Arousal" both make use of
intense color to create a violent
energy and sense of chaos. In
both works, red is a dominant
color, apparently symbolizing the
bloodshed and brutality still
observed today. Other artists
chose to represent these
themes in black and white,
while retaining the abstract and
tremendously energetic quality
of the other works. Chu Teh
Chun's two pieces,"The
Revolution" and "Variations"
both have a powerful
composition with strong lines
and forms which emphasize the
same chaos and energy.
Many of the pieces celebrate
mankind's struggle in an
emphatic and dynamic way. The
best example of this is Andre
Masson's drawing,"Ecstasy," a
beautiful and powerful work
which has an undeniably
emotional quality—celebrating
the ecstasy of liberty and
freedom. Guillaume Corneille's
"The Phoenix" is a serene and
pleasant piece which, although
it is less energetic, contains a
similar sense of ecstasy and
hope. Edouard Pignon's "All
Men Born Free and With Equal
Rights" is an expressive work
which again stresses the
positive ideals of man in a
beautiful, colorful repre-
sentation.
SEE SEWALL PAGE 11
campus building, and a student,
beaten by the police, falls on
Beth, bleeding all over her.
The action then gets dragged
back to the hometown for
Beth's high school graduation,
which concludes with Ralph
tripping on acid. This scene
seems to have been written by
someone who not only has
never tripped, but has never
been around anyone who has. It
is also revealed that Ralph has
flunked out of school, and is
thus eligible for the draft. The
Corvair gets traded in for a VW
van, and the two boys head out
on the road. Then they return.
(Is this getting monotonous for
you, too?)
They break into the local draft
board offices to steal Ralph's
file, but Ralph is caught and
jailed. Then Beth seduces Scott,
and they leave in the van. Then
they return. By this point, it is
impossible to much care what
happens to anyone, and by the
end of thfe film, one is left with
the feeling that the cast just
wanted to film an ending, any
ending, and get the hell out of
there.
The film does have a few
bright spots. Ryder does a
convincing job of portraying the
earnestness and fragility of late
adolescence, and Sutherland
certainly does the best with the
part he's given. And the images
of the time are all there—Easy
Rider and True Grit are both on
the marquee of the local
cinema. But if you want to learn
about the '60s, and not just
listen to the music, you'll have
to look somewhere else. 1969
just doesn't cut it.
VAX IPMOGEAMMEE
CAMCO, a Houston based manufacturing company, is recruiting for top technical programming talent. CAMCO ^
engaged in developing and maintaining software to continue its position as a leader in Factory Automation. The
development environments include DEC's VAX platform and IBM's 370 based machines.
C'AMCO's use of programming languages include "C", Fortran, and Cobol. Software tools available to the software
development team include Database Management Systems, 4GL's, and CASE.
Qualified candidates must have experience programming in "C" and Fortran, systems experience on IBM PC's, good
communication skills and a degree in cither Computer Science or Engineering.
Duties will include program development and maintenance of "C" and Fortran programs for the Factory Floor
Software. Other duties may includc systems and programming support of IBM PC's, programmable controllers, and
other microcomputers in use at CAMCO.
Interested candidates may apply in person or send resumes and college transcripts to:
Bill Bahr
Cameo, Inc.
7030 Ardmore
Houston, Texas 77054 E.O.E.
CAMCO
Come Join the Rice
"Magical Mystery Tour of London"
$575
Departure May 15- Return May 22
TOUR INCLUDES:
Round trip air fare
Transfers to & from London Airport
6 nights at the Tavistock Hotel
Includes breakfast daily
Pub Crawl
Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe
Call Ringo at
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1740 Sunset Boulevard .
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Final Payment due April 15
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McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, April 7, 1989, newspaper, April 7, 1989; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245719/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.