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**molly bloom** · August 11, 2012, 07:33

Originally posted by Hauldren Collider View Post

1. That wasn't the south, that was Appalachia, if I recall correctly.

You don't. The film, like Dickey's novel on which it was based (he helped write the screenplay too, and appeared at the end, playing a sheriff) is about 4 urban men from Atlanta trying to assert themselves against the Cahulawassee River- not the Appalchian Mountains, not Mountain Men, and not 'Appalachia'. But don't take my word for it, read the book, or watch the film.

From the documentary 'The Dangerous World Of Deliverance':

...hill country, deep forests of North Georgia...

James Dickey is quoted as seeing the book as portraying the struggle of man, pitting himself against nature, reverting to a pre-civilized existence. It's also about the loss of 'natural' habitat, as Burt Reynolds' character clearly points out in the opening lines of dialogue:

... the last... unpolluted, unf*cked up river in the South...

In his search for the main actors, Boorman wanted classically trained actors raised in the South, and found Ned Beatty in Washington and Ronny Cox in New York- neither had worked in television or Hollywood at that time. Burt Reynolds (who admitted he had spent quite some time trying to lose his Southern accent when Boorman asked if he could replicate one) had done three unsuccessful television series. Jon Voight had made a flop film.

As John Boorman also says of the author:

I think Dickey belonged to that particularly Southern theme of survivalist man... in the outback tradition...

Indeed, Dickey tutored Burt Reynolds in archery for the film. Oddly enough of the four leads, only Ned Beatty had had previous experience of canoeing in the great outdoors.

There is only one mention of 'Appalachia' (and not even that, it's 'Appalachian Mountains' ) in the film, and that's on John Boorman's commentary.

Of all ways to try to learn about another culture, you picked Hollywood?

See, Vallery, when someone as wholly ignorant and presumptuous as you are says something like this about me, I smile inwardly and outwardly.

I can't say I've toured extensively around the whole United States, but I've certainly visited California and Nevada and Washington State- even did a tour of underground Seattle in a salute to a favourite Kolchak film...

and a quick glance around my bookshelves revealed amongst others:

Made In America
Low Life
The Free & The Unfree
The American Revolution
America The Mixed Curse
The View From Christopher Street
Get Off My Ship
States Of Desire
The History Of The Blues
From Satchmo to Miles
Soledad Brother
Soul On Ice
American Scripture
The American Century
Breaking The Silence
A Rap On Race
Bushwhacked
War Without Mercy

-that's not an exhaustive list by any means. There's things like books on Pollock and Cornell, 'American Art Since 1900', a biography of Roy Cohn, a biography of Bessie Smith, another of Mahalia Jackson, 'The Amen Corner' and 'Blues For Mr. Charlie'...

and the great treasure trove of American music- from 'Raunchy Nuts and Hot Lollipops' to 'Shaker Loops' and Ella Fitzgerald sings Gershwin.

And the films- although if pressed, I would say I prefer people like Welles, Corman, Romero, Rudolph, Cassavetes, and Sayles. I recently watched 'Touch Of Evil' again and 'The Crazies'. Mighty fine.

'Come around tomorrow, I'll take you again.'

P.S.- that's from 'The Grifters'.

**molly bloom** · August 11, 2012, 07:38

Originally posted by regexcellent View Post

Oh okay, I get it now. Molly's a pretentious drama queen with an internet connection.

I do not have internet access in my house.

I am not involved in am dram or the professional theatre. I do enjoy getting a rise out of small minded American youth however.

**kentonio** · August 11, 2012, 07:46

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi View Post

Let's be honest here. The problem you have with homeschooled children isn't their quality of education - it's the fact that they are being taught things that you don't believe. You believe every child should be taught what you believe, whether they want to or not.

I certainly don't believe children should be brought up to be racist, science hating, sexist or many other things. If you do then thats yet another reason who you should never be allowed near children.

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi View Post

Anyways, homeschooled children, on average perform much better than their peers.

Have you got some evidence to back that up?

92 percent of superintendents believe that home learners are emotionally unstable, deprived of proper social development and too judgmental of the world around them, according to a California study by researcher Dr. Brian Ray

So tell me Ben, were you bechance homeschooled?

**molly bloom** · August 11, 2012, 07:50

Originally posted by regexcellent View Post

I think the issue is that molly isn't smart enough to actually make intelligent contributions,

From someone who f*cked up so spectacularly on easily researched recent African history, that's precious. Read any Guyanan literature lately ?

so he argues minutiae he can contradict with quick google searches

Didn't need google, didn't use it- I can remember a British (well, pseudo-Scottish) journalist called John Junor writing of Joshua Nkomo way back then that he was a

fat bladder of terrorist lard

that was in connection with Nkomo's group accepting responsibility for the shooting down of the civilian airliner which you attributed to Robert Mugabe's group. As you could have easily confirmed had you read 'The Sunday Express' back then. Or read

Terrorism & The Liberal State

Africans & Their History

Discovering Africa's Past

Africa In History

War Without End

The Geography Of African Affairs

Rise To Globalism

Africa Since 1800 (3rd edition, to be precise)

and

Southern Africa: The New Politics Of Revolution

I've read 'em all, and got 'em all. I also volunteer at an African charity, have worked with political refugees from all over Africa and am currently part of a project (along with the British Museum, a locally based charity and the Council) on a project relating to a 19th West African Century conflict and its aftermath.

But I'm so glad that someone like you, so eager to share their ignorance with the world, sees fit to pass judgment on what I know, and the value of what I know. Of course, had you been intelligent, like what you are saying I am not sort of really, then perhaps you may not have rushed to judgment.

Perhaps it's an age type thang. (That's the title of a groovy Isaac Hayes' track- I know, trivial minutiae...)

Enjoy.

**molly bloom** · August 11, 2012, 07:56

Originally posted by regexcellent View Post

He didn't trash alby or HC. He made his usual set of irrelevent factoid drops and culture references while coming off like an autistic auditioning for the high school play.

I wonder how it is people like you make comments so glibly about autism ? The advantage of being 49 with people like you is that I know more about more things than you or Valley Girl- your mistake is assuming that I'm limited to your impoverished circumscribed set of cultural references, and I ain't.

I also don't take a strictly utilitarian approach to knowledge either. That's how I was able to have a fascinating conversation with neighbour's friends, visiting from Lithuania- food, history, culture- it's also how I was able to greet my German nurse in German last year- and as he said I was the first person he'd met in Great Britain to do so. I put it down to my abiding interest in Fritz Lang, F. W . Murnau, Krautrock and Kraftwerk and Neu!.

See, you never know where a liking for electronic and experimental music will get you....

**Al B. Sure!** · August 11, 2012, 08:21

Holy **** I want to punch Molly Bloom. The most pretentious ******* I've ever seen. Nothing he just said has anything to do with anything! You're not hip because you put up an Isaac Hayes track for no god damn ****ing reason.

A quick purview of my book collection I see:

Anabasis
The Nemesis of Power: The German Army in Politics 1918-1945
The Managerial Revolution
Simulacra and Simulation
From Bauhaus to Our House
Fantasia of the Unconscious

Speaking of Fantasia of the Unconscious, vibraphonist Max Miller released two singles in 1950 under that title. But my favorite vibraphonist would have to be the great Roy Ayers.

Enjoy!

ASS!

**Aeson** · August 11, 2012, 08:58

Originally posted by kentonio View Post

So the solution to some areas having ****ty school is to take the kids out of school, not improve the schools?

Not what I said at all. However, "improve the schools" is quite a ways out of the reach of any given parents, whereas taking their kid out of public school to teach them is a definite possibility for them.

It is not irrelevant at all.

Yes it is irrelevant to what you responded to. The line of conversation at that point, the text you quoted, was whether or not home schooled kids were scary. I went ahead and answered your tangent anyways after noting it's off-topic nature.

Kids being exposed to new ideas acts as an antidote to parents being able to brainwash their kids into odd ideologies. A kid might be raised from birth to believe that blacks are evil or that spending time with the opposite sex will send you straight to hell, but being in a school environment and beign around other kids all day can make them start to question those things their parents taught them.

More commonly, those with divergent beliefs in public school are ostracized and further alienated. Also, most kids don't really question their beliefs until later in life. A lot of people never do. This is true of those taught in public schools, private ones, or home-schooled.

Considering education is about learning to question, that is essential.

The main thrust of public schools are hardly "learning to question". Most of public school is simply learning by rote/repetition. There are good teachers and good schools which go above and beyond this, but they generally aren't the schools people pull their kids from to home-school.

The thing about social ineptitude is also extremely important. You can have the smartest kid in the world, but if you raise them with no social skills, that can basically ruin their future.

As I said, the same level of shyness/social clumbsiness (which is not "ineptitude" or "no social skills") could be said about the smart kids in public schools. Who by and large are going to be much more successful in life.

The problem I have with the home school thing is that those who support it always use the successes as examples of how great it is.

Oh my god! How dare people point to successes when they are examples of things you don't like! (In this case I am defending it from people who are claiming home schooled kids are "scary" and have "no social skills" and "socially inept" ... which are of course all ignorant prejudices. I am not saying there is no harm done ever ... just as I wouldn't say that about public schools either ... )

There certainly are awesome parents out there who raise amazing kids, but it's a lot more important to safeguard the ones who have crazy, shiity parents whos idea of homeschooling is to **** up their kids future.

No. It's not a lot more important to force home-schooled kids into ****ty public school systems just to avoid some few ****ty parents being able to mess up their children (especially since they'll be able to accomplish most if not all of the harm anyways).

**Aeson** · August 11, 2012, 08:58