tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post2024436815806294250..comments2024-03-29T02:32:15.437-04:00Comments on Remarkable: Quiz ShowGeoff Klockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-40650334289069410302008-11-07T08:46:00.000-05:002008-11-07T08:46:00.000-05:00"Did you read "A Million Little Pieces," James Fre..."Did you read "A Million Little Pieces," James Frey's so-called autobiography?"<BR/><BR/>I did! Finished it last night. I remember reading the "Teeth" excerpt somewhere years ago, but missed the whole controversy about the book.<BR/><BR/>That Smoking Gun article... I couldn't read the whole thing, it's so fucking <I>seedy</I>. On top of the "who cares" there's a "what, so the stuff he 'lied' about wasn't even related to the meat of the book - his addiction?" His publisher claims that Oprah turned on him because of the negative reaction <I>she</I> received, rather than an actual moral position.<BR/><BR/>Hey, I'm in a loop of my own right here! My first reaction to this stuff was "who cares if it's true", but then I get outraged at their outrage. Because the stuff that matters (i.e. his internal states) couldn't be fabricated.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14740669500899738381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-17926253167860887422008-11-06T15:58:00.000-05:002008-11-06T15:58:00.000-05:00In case I was not clear, up above is JILL DUFFY's ...In case I was not clear, up above is JILL DUFFY's comment, which I put into the comments manually, because google was being dumb today.Geoff Klockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-53285752694861308362008-11-06T15:57:00.000-05:002008-11-06T15:57:00.000-05:00JILL DUFFY says THIS (some problem with comments e...JILL DUFFY says THIS (some problem with comments earlier, so I am putting this in myself to see if it works)<BR/><BR/>I think talking about moral indictments in the film is a thread that does not have an end. And that's what I like about Quiz Show. It's not possible to answer the question, "Is this a victimless crime?" There are cases arguing in favor of and against everything and everyone in the film.<BR/><BR/>I really like gray areas where there is no firm answer one way or another -- a loop. To me, that's how "television is going to get us." Television is going to catch us in its loop. And hasn't it? Culturally, we revere television and at the same time condemn it for ruining us (the idiot box).<BR/><BR/>Did you read "A Million Little Pieces," James Frey's so-called autobiography? There is another great case of the same thing. The book is very entertaining, and as a piece of entertainment, who cares if everything really happened the way Frey says it happened? And yet, people were outraged at being duped by him, at being made to feel sympathetic or at the very least a little more understanding of him and addicts in general.<BR/><BR/>So we have someone like Van Doren who is upholding the value of being smart and coming from an educated family. The viewer buys into <I>him</I> and <I>his</I> integrity, only to find out he was duping everyone. The scene in which Van Doren reads his statement to the court, and the judges at first praise him for his honesty and bravery at coming forward is another great example of this. Viewers want to buy into the person, not the "show" (both "programming" and "acting" here).<BR/><BR/>The only moment when we break out of the loop in the film is when the one judge just flat out condemns Van Doren and the whole courtroom applauds. I feel like in that moment, we are not caught in that loop of both loving the entertainment and hating ourselves for loving it. (As soon as everyone exits the courtroom and is attacked by the media, we're back in the loop.)Geoff Klockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-264975995678524872008-11-06T13:06:00.000-05:002008-11-06T13:06:00.000-05:00But... Isn't making a hollywood movie about the oc...But... Isn't making a hollywood movie about the occurence just another way of profiteering of the misfortunes of these people; the exact "crime" Redford is accusing them of?Christian O.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00444025571307204096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-70874366890593258872008-11-06T10:17:00.000-05:002008-11-06T10:17:00.000-05:00Jill -- that's a good point about Morrow and you a...Jill -- that's a good point about Morrow and you are right; but don't you think Redford is making a moral indictment? Or is he, as a filmmaker, just playing the same game the quiz show guys played.Geoff Klockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-33084509632952483622008-11-06T09:21:00.000-05:002008-11-06T09:21:00.000-05:00The quote you mentioned, and my favorite line in t...The quote you mentioned, and my favorite line in the movie, is incorrect. It is: "I thought we were going to get television. The truth is, television is going to get us."<BR/><BR/>Dick Goodwin does not go after this case for the moral cause. He's a young go-getter attorney who hasn't had a chance yet to make his name. He wants to use the system to advance himself in the same way that all the other culpable people are.Jill E. Duffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01546533292699874507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-22057956854849038532008-11-05T22:17:00.000-05:002008-11-05T22:17:00.000-05:00The closest paralell I can think of here for our g...The closest paralell I can think of here for our generation is reality TV (weren't game shows after all the first 'reality TV)... guys our age clearly remember the first real world and how 'real' we thought it was. Only to discover, later, that things were edited to give us certain perceptions that weren't really there. Fast foward to now, where celebreality shows no longer even pretend to not generate their own drama. <BR/><BR/>Granted, nobody has ever made a federal case out of it, but I'm sure, at the time, it was a big deal... not because people were that stupid or naive... but just because TV was so new that no one had any reason to mistrust it; everyone just assumed that what they were being presented with was being presented to them honestly. It's not that they were too naive to see... it's just that they had no reason to suspect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com