1998 december 17

cynical grinching

so, the united states is dropping bombs on iraq.

i hate that i have become so cynical about mr clinton and his travails. like some of the republican congressmen, i have my doubts about the motivation for the timing of this maneuver. i do support action that will oust or completely cripple saddam hussein, but if this turns out to be yet another in a long line of hand slaps, then i am going to be more than cynical, i am going to become angry. we have the technology, we have the power, why we insist on fucking around with this tyrant is beyond me. of course, who knows how bad the alternative may be but honestly, we can't keep starving the people of iraq, can't keep denying them medical assistance forever. it's not fair to them, and it is not fair to the rest of the world, having to constantly look over our shoulders, waiting for the weapons of mass destruction to fly out of the air and into our backyards.

and if i have to hear the phrase weapons of mass destruction one more time, i am going to scream. unless, of course, it is uttered by christiane amanpour; somehow everything she says sounds charming.

in other news of things that are making me angry, i read this on the cnn site yesterday.

Universal Pictures recently paid $9 million to Geisel's widow, Audrey, for the rights to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Oh, the Places You'll Go." A movie version of Geisel's green, cold-hearted Grinch, starring Jim Carrey, is planned for Christmas 2000.

jim carrey as the grinch. i can only hope that he stretches his face into oblivion and falls off the edge of hollywood before they start filming that particular abomination. boris karloff is the voice of the grinch. end of story. period. the grinch should be a cartoon, as dr seuss drew him, as should max and cindy lou who and the little who mouses. the roast beast! mount crumpit!! i don't care how much whizboombang they can do with computer graphics, it will just not be the same.

i also can't help but wonder if they will fill the movie with flatulence and references to the grinch's bathroom habits.

there are things in this world that should not be remade: psycho, dr doolittle, how the grinch stole christmas. just because we can do something, doesn't mean we should, a philosophy that stretches from the movies to the laboratories to the battlefields. think before you start filming, think before you start bombing, and if you are going to do either, make sure you do them well.

feeling mighty grinchy, claire