The title is a quote from the movie "Sneakers" (1992) starring Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, Dan Aykroyd, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix and Ben Kingsley (among others)
The selective quote is (mainly) from "Whislter" (David Strathairn).
The situation is this - The FBI (or similar govt. organisation) is negotiating with a team of "security consultants". The FBI is asking each "consultant" what they want before the team of "consultants" will agree to hand over a device that the FBI need desperately.
And thus goes the conversation;
Whistler: I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
Bernard Abbott: Oh, this is ridiculous.
Martin Bishop: He's serious.
Whistler: I want peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
Bernard Abbott: We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Martin Bishop: You're just gonna have to try.
Bernard Abbott: All right, I'll see what I can do.
Whistler: Thank you very much. That's all I ask.
P.S. Bernard Abbott is played by James Earl Jones and Martin Bishop by Redford.
I found this piece of dialogue to be HILARIOUS when I first watched this movie... But if every one of us thought like Whistler we'd surely be in a better place - wouldn't we? Idealism... hmmmm...
Oh and by the way - STILL find it hilarious BUT it has more meaning to me now...
Why now? Not sure. BUT I remember, during early January 2009, being in Sri Lanka and seeing some residents of Colombo running around on the streets waving Sri Lankan flags and celebrating amid exploding fire crackers...
Painting from RICHARD CARDONA PAINTING, PRINTS, & DRAWINGS.
Mainly cos I got stuck deciding on an image to go with the post... Lennon kinda seemed appropriate... but do feel free to suggest other/alternate images/art/etc.
Mainly cos I got stuck deciding on an image to go with the post... Lennon kinda seemed appropriate... but do feel free to suggest other/alternate images/art/etc.
They were (rightly?) celebrating the Sri Lankan Army's success in the war against the LTTE... But somewhere in there I couldn't help but think "Why are they celebrating the loss of human lives?". In all honesty, they must have just been celebrating a victory - but that victory caused a hell of a lot of lives, Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims, Buddhists, Men, Women, Children... human beings...
If we HAVE to choose a side... maybe we should choose humanity... the sanctity of human life - forget race/religion/[insert other denomination(s) here]...
Think this might solve all the conflicts? If the "buck" stopped at loss of human lives? Idealism again...
I should stop that... shouldn't I?
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1 comment:
You are right. It's senseless that humans want power and subordination over other humans. Why can't we just leave others alone and enjoy our lives, right? Or, why can't we just enjoy other people's company? I for one can never understand why people should hate other people over differences in opinion and other things as well.
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