Cool News
POLAR EXPRESS Has Zemeckis In Driver's Seat!!
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Well, it's nice to see a little forward movement on this one finally. Tom Hanks was first linked with THE POLAR EXPRESS, a Castle Rock/Warner co-production, over a year ago. This is based on one of Chris Van Allsburg's beautifully illustrated children's books, like JUMANJI was. Here's hoping William Broyles has come up with something more substantial in crafting his treatment of the project.
The news that Robert Zemeckis is considering directing the film makes me very happy. I may not love every Zemeckis movie recently, with particular rancor set aside for GUMP and WHAT LIES BENEATH, but there was a time when I was in open awe of the guy. He's one of the most technically amazing directors of his generation, with only a few guys like George Miller and Steven Spielberg standing equal with him in terms of shooting FX and making them feel real. If he brings the full force of his imagination to bear on this film, we could see a defining Christmas story, one of the key interpretations of Santa so far.
HERE IS THE ORIGINAL STORY THAT VARIETY RAN THIS MORNING!!
"Moriarty" out.
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Feb 21, 2002 10:07:56 AM CST
Forrest Gump is a piece of conservative reagan propaganda crapol
by inkymae
basic theme of that movie: be dumb, dont ask questions, obey your momma and you will live the american dream. (look at forrest's life)
i like zemeckis too, but Forrest gump was a syrupy piece of crap with an extremely politically conservative viewpoint.
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That sucked rotting cock.
That will be all. -
How many times has he mentioned that movie? It wasn't as bad as most say.
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I remember coming out of Forrest Gump when I was younger, thinking what a cool movie it had been. Then I remember the eventual backlash from talkback types who didn't realize how popular it would be with the mainstream viewer. And I noticed that a whole bunch of people, including myself, suddenly started to hate it, including myself. I eventually grew up and realized you can like a movie even if it is popular in the mainstream. And incidentally, Gump is NOT Reagan-era propaganda (it's from '94, sheesh). It's actually Clinton era feel-good mush. But sweet and good-natured mush. I'm willing to bet most of you bashers initially loved Gump. Anyway, that's my piece. The Priest has spoken.
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It's easy to do I guess because of the format of the movie, but Forrest's travails through U.S. history was intended as satire. It's only purpose was to be funny, not push some agenda. For me, what Forrest Gump was saying was that, even through Forrest was a moron, he knew what was important in life (kindness, family and friends), whereas many other "intelligent" people in his life tended to forget those things. His inability to let his simple, core values be swayed by the events around him makes him a hero.
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But i agree, Gump should never have seen the light of day.
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Zemeckis didn't do that, Peter Jackson did. It doesn't even feel like a Zemeckis film. He Exec Produced it, but that's no reason to bring it up.
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It was his first and still my fav. Zemeckis film. Never got the credit it deserves. Very funny movie.
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I'm excited. I LOVE this book. Brings back massive childhood memories. Everyone loved it when the teacher would read this book and show us the smooth/delicate art. I just hope that element is kept..
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Zemeckis is so technically gifted but his storytelling is trite.
Gump's Vietnam era was so deravative.
I liked WLB thanks to Michelle Pfeffier but Castaway was a big stinking vanity project for Hanks and Zem. "I got an idea, lets do me all by myself on a desert island!"
Can somebody tell me why Hanks is considered a titan of an actor?
Match him up against say Crowe, Washington and Penn and he is batting way down in the order? -
Feb 21, 2002 1:21:08 PM CST
This news has this "And the winner is ..." in whenever it comes
by aronld scazziger
Can't you smell it? I do! Anyway, I HATE Tom Hanks since he became such a whiny actor (and fat too). He is so annoying on screen bah! Hope he isn't ruining "Road to perdition"
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"Forrest Gump" is fantastic and never deserved the backlash it received, "What Lies Beneath" is total crap, and thank god Kubrick101 mentioned "Contact." That little unsung gem, along with Spielberg's "Amistad," are the two most underrated films of the 1990s. Hey Moriarty, when are you going to finish your 90s articles and give "Amistad" the due it's got coming?
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Enjoyed reading this book to my children every xmas and expect to do the same with my grandchildren. That's the experience that a movie won't be able to recreate - the one on one connection between parent and child and that's really what xmas magic is all about.
Sincerly hope this one rots in development hell. -
I mean Romancing the Stone, Roger Rabbit and Back to the Future, plus some cool earlier films like Used Cars. Then came Back to the Future 2, followed by Death Becomes Her and then Forrest Gump. After that I figured why bother. The reason I don't like Forrest Gump is because 1) The portrayal of our recent past is so myopic it verges on disrepectful towards several groups (particularly offensive was the allusion to the Black Panthers). 2) The cheesy use of popular music as a way to let the audience know the era and meaning of the scene (laziness, the visuals should tell us those things) and 3) The story was uninteresting. Some nice performances and tricky FX don't make a compelling story. Maybe his more recent efforts have been better, but from what I heard they are more of the same.
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I think Zemeckis is a great filmmaker. "Cast Away" was excellent, and probably Hanks's best performance, at least in my opinion. I even thought "What Lies Beneath" was an involving supernatural thriller until it spiraled down into nothing more than a game of "chase and scream" at the end. However, is anyone else troubled by the fact that Zemeckis gives EVERYTHING away in the trailers for his movies? "Cast Away"'s trailer revealed Chuck's ultimate fate (in case you haven't seen it), "Contact" trailer revealed who gets to go into space, and so on. It's a weird thing. And before anyone says that the studio cuts the trailers, not the director...forget it. Number one, Zemeckis has enough clout to make any trailer he wants. Number two, he has actually ADMITTED that it's his idea. He calls it the "McDonald's Syndrome" and argues that people always want to know exactly what they're going to get before they shell out any money. He's a great director, but totally out of touch with what movie fans want.
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Well, I for one, like Zemekis (sp) films, although they do tend to drift toward the rose colored glasses optimism Spielberg is known for offering (obviously because Steven was such an influence to him. I tend to prefer gritter fare from time to time.) I think he's a solid choice for Polar Express, which will no doubt be an effect heavy, holiday time family film that will make roughly Argentina's deficit at the box office. Fine and good, far as I'm concerned, although I may not rush out to see it._______________________________
And now for the half-wit talking about "Reaganite propaganda" in Forrest Gump: True, while some of what Gump says could be construed as conservative, ("Sorry I ruined your Black Panther party." springs decidedly to mind) I'm going to submit that Forrest Gump is more about remaining innocent, yet undyingly faithful through hardship and turmoil. Oh and by the by, what conservative IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would see Forrest as a flag-waving jingonist as he inspires Lennon to write "Imagine" on the Dick Cavvit show? If you look at the film more philosophically, it's really quite harmless that way. Even the producers of the film reitterated during the Academy Awards that year that film was not about exclusively conservative values. C'mon people, relax already. -
My birthday comes up tomorrow and this was a nice present of news to hear. The Polar Bear express has been one of my favorite stories ever about Christmas, still have the book at home and the audiocassette. Zemeckis has always done great fantasy (WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, BACK TO FUTURE) which are my favorite works whose lines I can quote and images are part of my mind when it's awake and sleeping. Done right this could be the film that we all wanted Ron Howard's THE GRINCH (which I liked as comedy but failed as fantasy) to be but wasn't. Zemeckis has done a lot of adult fantasy but he's never done something with kids like his mentor Spielberg did and I hope this ranks up with the best early work of Spielberg. As for me well I actually think Forrest Gump is a great movie but not 1994's greatest movie. That honor belongs to HOOP DREAMS which if you haven't seen it, please reward yourself by doing so. I actually started to loathe Zemeckis when he started doing CONTACT (bland sci-fi and uninvolving) and WHAT LIES BENEATH (so close and yet so far, did like Ford as evil though) while for CASTAWAY, I did like it but compared to Zemeckis better early work it's nowhere great. As for Moriarty's taste in films it's his opinion. Speaking for myself if any of you have read my posts you'll know my tastes are about as similar to the average geek/fanboy as chalk is to cheese.
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Well, it bites alright. Dunno about the satire though.
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. . .a movie called "The Public Eye" about a Weegee-esque photo-grapher (played by Joe Pesci; the movie had a fantastic look.
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The Gump book is a satire. The Gump movie is not...entirely. Yes, the historical incidents are somewhat satirical but the film, as a whole, has no satirical voice (unless "Hey look, Forrest stumbled into another historic event!" counts as satire.). Instead, Zemeckis takes the opportunity to enforce his militant/sugar-coated-variation-on-a-John-Milius right wing agenda. He sentimentailzes all the major American tragedies of the last 50 years and trivializes every left wing countercultural movement that has promoted social change (hippies are mean, black panthers abuse women, etc.), while promoting a skewed, self-absorbed philosphy of life: family values and God...unless it happens in your own house, it doesn't matter.
The movie might have been satirically successful and funny in the hands of a skillful satirist like Robert Altman, Richard Lester, or the Robert Zemeckis that made Used Cars (PS: great DVD with a hilarious commentary! Zemeckis says he'd never make another movie like it, just like Spielberg says he'd never let Close Encounters end the way it did: these people are officially bland old people.). Anyway, Zemeckis hasn't made a really respectable film since Death Becomes Her. Cast Away was okay, until it nose-dived tragically in the last half hour. Who cares what Zemeckis is up to. He's washed up and boring. If you weren't special effects fetishists you'd admit it too. -
Feb 21, 2002 4:45:37 PM CST
HEY MORIARTY! WHERE'S YOUR ATTACK OF THE CLONES SCRIPT REVI
by winnie the jew
???????????
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Zemeckis....he's cool. Now you...you suck.
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There is usually a reason why actors become A-List, and that it because they are good. And Tom Hanks is damn good. In the MovieJuice review of Cast Away, the dude mentioned how Hanks is one of the only people who could make a dialogue-lite movie about a man stranded by himself appealing. And he was right. Tom Hanks is a massive star for a reason, and unlike some, he didn't get there based on looks or teen appeal or anything. He got there by being a damn fine actor. Now shut up. Anyway, Zemeckis. He alright. Goodbye.
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Feb 21, 2002 6:14:14 PM CST
I saw WLB opening day at a packed theater - the whole audience c
by togmeister
Just telling it as i saw it - Zemeckis is one of the few great directors of POPULAR motion pictures we have left, on the same level as Spielberg or Cameron. Loved the reverse cut early in WLB, of Pfeiffer hugging her daughter by the family home, then the switch to the daughter's face in the college dorm - hours pass in a second. Class. Let me see Stephen Sommers or Simon West do that.
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and I hated Contact. I guess the main reason I hated it was the character that Matthew McConaghey played, I just did not like it. Then the whole final arc just sort of took it out of me. Plus it was really long. I liked Back to the Future 2 because of all the time travel, the alternate dimension, etc. However the one thing that threw it for me was Marty's hatred of being called a Chicken, or yellow. That just came out of nowhere. It wasn't even in Back to the Future. Polar Express sounds good, and I thought Tom Hanks got robbed for the Best Actor Oscar. I thought Crowe should have won it or tied with Spacey for The Insider. Gladiator, he was fine in, but Oscar caliber? Nope.Hanks is the only actor that could make me watch about an hour of the film, with no dialogue. Zemeckis is a great director.
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i grew up quoting this movie...it was part of my life in 1984 when I was a smartass high school freshman...and Tom Hanks has the audacity to publicly DISOWN it ("I'd like to forget i ever made that movie").....congratulations on 'growing up' and becoming boring and serious....but you were funny once.....c'mon, gimme Kip again...."i don't care what they say anymore, this is tom's life....go ahead with your serious movies...leave me alone"...
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Feb 21, 2002 7:22:49 PM CST
Man, Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks just can't work without e
by cooldan989
But seriously, I'm glad Zemeckis is at the helm, because it means that this movie really has a shot at being good! Go Zemeckis!
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Finally, someone else that saw that Zemeckis had taken the satire of the Gump book and turned it into something else.
for those that dont get it, watch the film again and notice how everyone liberal or non conservative is portrayed. (the hippie beats his girlfriend, the black panther is a raving lunatic, Jenny dies of aids because of her lifestyle choices) and everyone that lives by forrest's lifestyle (never questioning authority and living a reagan era lifestyle) succeeds. by the way, is zemeckis a republican? when you think about it Back to the Future (as great as it is) has a reagan agenda tone to it too. Marty goes back in time and fixes his dysfunctional family so that everyone is the ultimate success story. His brother now works in a corporate office, his sister is now popular with the men, and marty's ultimate reward for fixing things is a material item - the toyota truck....hmmm, am I crazy? or does this all make sense? -
I don't think so but if it was then good because every other movie that comes out of Hollywood is some left wing liberal PC piece of crap!!
Take John Q for example,it ends with Hillary Clinton and Jesse Jackass talking a load of BS.
Does poltics have to be in everything?!?! -
Feb 21, 2002 11:00:35 PM CST
Forrest Gump is Republican Propaganda..........not.......Its per
by shiva
Its easy to call it Republican or Clintonite propaganda(whats the difference?)...................There is no film maker working in Hollywood today who takes a look at American life, indeed all modern life, through a more pessimistic lens than Zemeckis.................He has always been an anarchist, right from his Used Cars and I Wanna Hold Your Hand days.............Have any of you watched his USC shorts-The Lift or A field of Honour.............they rip into American social conceits and prejudices so gleefully..................someone like Zemeckis could not make a mushy Hollywood feel-good movie, he's too subversive for that.............Forrest Gump actually holds up a mirror to Americam ignorance......it tells us how most of us live out our lives.........blissfully unaware of what goes on in the world around us..........How many Americans can tell you where Afghanistan is, much less hwere Iraq and Israel are............the timing of the movie should be noted.............mid 90's America.........when the Republicans began taking control of the government machinery..............hoodwinking ordinary Americans with spurious nationalist jargon(hmm.......why does that sound familiar?)............Forrest Gump was a wake up call to all of us..........apparently nobody heard...........most of us are still revelling in our somnambulistic splendor while all of what has distinguished us as a nation is being put to sword...............Zemeckis is too subtle a satirist to mock us directly..............no that's the job of enemies of irony like David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick...................why do you think hippies are portrayed as women-beaters and black panthers as raging hysterics................thats what in the heart of our closeted republican hearts we want to believe....................thats what we are now being told by the GOP as to what the 60's really were..............zemeckis says that the only way that americans can ignore these canards and move on with their lives without caring about what happens to your society is to be like Forrest..........ignorant, dull-witted and totally un ironic.....................why do you think that he made Michael J.Fox play Marlene McFly in Back To the Future 2 or that the principal "romantic" interest, Elisabeth Shue, is knocked unconscious early on so she won't interfere with the little-boy games.................he is a total anarchist(either that or he is a raging misogynist, Death Becomes Her?hmm?)............why did he make the Romancing the Stone/Jewel of the Nile movies.............he hates the colonialist fantasies that The Indiana Jones series represent...................what other film maker would contemplate showing Jessica Rabbit's bush in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?...................Who else could mock the space program(an American establishment which has lost all the idealist moorings of its 50's-60's heyday) and the media circus accompanying it than Zemeckis?...............why would so many social commentators draw attention to the parallels between the clintons and Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfieffer in What Lies Beneath?................his total scorn for the modern world is the reason for the last half hour of Cast Away(note the split title)...................its drearyness reminds us of how dreary and mechanical modern life really has become!......................no, don't dismiss an American artist simply because he works in Hollywood............Take a really close look...................
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Stephen Schiff (former film critic and now screenwriter) talked about trailers on Fresh Air on NPR a few years back. For one of his films (I believe it was that Michelle Pfiffer kidnapping flick) they cut a trailer he liked. Then the test audiences didn't like the trailer because it didn't reveal enough, which of course Schiff said was exactly the point. Then they cut a new one that revealed everything. He pointed out to several movies which did this and that it was a bad idea. The studio then countered that all those movies made 100 million dollars at the B.O. Schiff said you can't argue with that. So there ya go. Once again blame the American lemmings and their willingness to be duped by hype and spoonfed mindless stories. As for Gump, FUCK that movie. It ranks up there with Silence of the Lambs for most overrated. Pulp Fiction should have swept the damn thing. Gump is the How Green was my Valley of the '90's. I wish Zemeckis and Gale would write some new stuff though. They are very good at it. And What Lies Beneath was a blast. Also, my friend slipped me the Kill Bill script. Chew on that fuckers!
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Or was that satire? It gets difficult to tell sometimes: "mid 90's America.........when the Republicans began taking control of the government machinery..............hoodwinking ordinary Americans with spurious nationalist jargon". Sorry this sounds like the regurgutations of someone who's learned all their political history from a 6th grade social studies teacher. If you think Newt Gingrich was bad you would've HATED the '80s.
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Feb 22, 2002 1:55:04 AM CST
I love Tom Hanks but I just wish he would stop being 'worthy
by cash bailey
The guy's HILARIOUS! A brilliant comic actor with perfect timing, even in stand-up. I'd love to see him in a bust-a-gut comedy in the near future.
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Is Shiva 15 years old?
Comment: Or was that satire?....................I think the answer is pretty obvious....................I also think that 80's were underrated!
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You little coxuckers still don't get it do you? Gump is probably one of the most epic movies made in the last 10-15 years. When it boils down to it, it's about LOVE the one thing 1/2 of you here don't have. Ever been brokenhearted by the one you've always wanted? Try thinking about it. When someone close to you (romantically) leaves you the one question in your head is why? (see the scene after him and jenny screw) In the aftermath you are left unable to do or feel nothing but pain and think about that one particular person. You sit and don't know what to do, hence the running phase. Gump was brokenhearted as a mofo and he handled it by running. Don't be pissed cause he was in with his family, look at your precious Godfather Trilogy whats the running theme? FAMILY. As for cheesy music. Screw off, if that's cheesy to you then obviously you can't comment on anything political or historical. And obviously music isn't that important to you. Basically, stop hating, and for once look deeper into things, and give your comments about overdirecting to your teen movies. ^*^
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A talkbacker is having a Grand Slam with one of his buddies, a disgruntled would-be filmmaker who fancies himself the next Tarentino, but was even rejected for a job at Blockbuster. TALKBACKER: Hey, what about "Forrest Gump"? That was a cool flick. Great music, fun to watch, pretty funny in spots. I really enjoyed it. Can't wait for the DVD to come out. DISGRUNTLED FILMMAKER: "Gump"? Oh, come on. Zemeckis is a hack. It was total (insert your choice of "left wing" or "right wing" here) propaganda. Don't be fooled by its huge financial success and multiple Oscars, "Gump" was a steaming pile of crap. All it showed was how gullible the American public is and how Zemeckis loves to make masturbatory films. TALKBACKER: (meditates over a bite of scrambled eggs) Mmmm. I defer to your superior wisdom, o great "never-had-a-screenplay-even-read." Gump sucks.
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I said the "cheesy *use* of popular music", and made no comments on the quality of the music/songs themselves. I don't remember any particular songs, just an endless parade of top 40 hits chosen to sell soundtracks.
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Feb 22, 2002 5:42:30 PM CST
Zemekis does Federal Express the movie...? Oh, sorry, that was c
by superhero
Ugh. How depressing was that blatant product placement? So sad. Hollywood Whores...
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I love good Christmas movies, I liked the Grinch, and dozens more, so I'm sure there's potential for the Polar Express to be a beauty of a sentimental fave, and because it's Zemeckis it's gonna LOOK like a jillion bucks. WLBeneath and Cast Away both keep getting better and better (thanx hBO)and the production values are the highest of any movie you could name, to congratulate BobZ on his standards. *** But I'm posting to give my two cents on Zemeckis' GUMP, which is one of the ten best movies ever made, no matter who's making the list it should be on there. I loved it so much I went out and bought the stupid book and read it, and THAT's as big a pile of horse shit as i've evr choked down. they took the best parts of that idea to make a killer movie. people who venomously criticize GUMP are missing the point that it ain't about society, it's about the individual. Do we have to be so achingly politically correct to deny that the Black Panthers didn't necessarily have the best of intentions, that they might have wanted to crack heads once in awhile? or to deny that the hippies were infiltrated by some shady, opportunistic, violent types? Forrest is a guy who demonstrates what I believe -- that it's okay to be a little bit oblivious to the world around you, because what's REALLY important is ME, and making me and my loved ones comfortable and happy and being true to them. *** having said all that, I only wish every movie was as cool as the guerilla Super Bowl commercial in Used Cars. that's TOO FUCKING HIGH!
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First of all, I wasn't all that fond of Gump when I saw it. It was great visually but there was something about the story that just left me slightly empty. I walked out of the theatre with the girl who saw it with me, completely taken aback. I wasn't really sure what the point of the whole thing was. Now, I'm not really sure why that is anymore, although I think it might have to do with the company (the girl was a manipulative b*tch - now she is FAR away). I think I am willing to watch it again with my wife, but she really hates Tom Hanks (although she liked The Green Mile).---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As for The Polar Express, I don't really know how anyone could turn this into a movie. The story is fairly simple and straight forward. I don't really see how you could flesh it out at all without missing the entire point of the story. I think I'll prefer to read it to my children each Christmas instead. MAYBE I'll rent it, but I say that about a lot of movies these days. -
Which part was a cheesy use of music, when Jenny leaves Forrest in Washington D.C. and they play the byrds "turn turn turn" about the cycle of things (ie, her always coming and going of Forrests life). or Jackson Brown's "Running on Empty" when Forrest is running all over the country. or how about "Free Bird" when Jenny is this close to commiting suicide. that all sets tone and uses a common connection between the characters and the audience. Oh and what portrayal of the Black Panthers. Just because the hippie hit her doesnt mean all hippies did. If one of his college teamates hit her then half of you would complain about the depiction of football players. It doesnt matter which person and their affiliates hit her, it's the hitting thats important. Don't get me started on the hippies being mean either. Did you guys forget these people were fighting a war at home against the war abroad. Keep em coming. ^*^
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