Damian--
I truly don't believe you, or any of us, need concern ourselves with
atonement--a concept I hold with a particular streak of Christianity that is
quite antique. (Well, I think all of Christianity is antique, but that's
something perhaps for another time and place.) At the same time, I'm not
quite comprehending your statement:
``However, those of us who live in what are/were seat of colonial power will
have to do much harder to convince those who don't that we really atone for
having a boring culture in comparison to Asia, or Africa etc.''
I think I know what you're trying to state, but it's not quite coming
through.
Sorry if you perceive that old knee jerking. I think that's commonly
perceived when there's disagreement on the basis of aesthetics, politics,
philosophy, religion, and so on. Face it, Damian, we do plainly disagree on
some issues; I appreciate your differences from mine; I think that's partly
why I became involved in this Salon. It isn't any culture that's boring;
it's unanimity of position and opinion that's boring.
However, our differences do not include the component, on my end, of what
you term ``a dangerous streak of US-patriotic (or simply anti-European)
sentiment.'' God knows, that could hardly be the case. If you knew me, you'd
know that I'm constantly pestering my American brother and sister film
critics to go catch European films. (My latest cause is Laurent Cantet's new
masterpiece, ``L'Emploi de Temps/Time Out.'') Indeed, I just now returned
home after purchasing 3 European CDs, one by the great UK jazz trio,
Azimuth. (Side note: Co-leader John Taylor is one of the great unheralded
jazz pianists of our time.) I find myself staying up late at night (Pacific
Time) to catch the latest European weather report on CNN. I could go on and
on with my various European obsesssions. They go alongside my Mexican
obsessions, my African obsessions, and, in recent years, my Iranian
obsessions, care of my Persian wife. This is just to indicate a little to
you that you've really, really got me wrong, Damian. What may be confused
here is my love for Western culture, which I love right alongside Eastern
culture. It is almost as if one professes a love for Western culture, at
least in some circles, one is identified as retrograde, reactionary, even
(in a case I witnessed, though I'm glad I wasn't the target), proto-Fascist!
My daily, domestic dialogue is West-East, East-West, English-Farsi. That's
where I come from, and I believe that's where the world is headed. I hope
so...
Robert Koehler
PS--I can't have slammed ``Eloge de L'Amour,'' as you might suggest,
precisely because I haven't seen it. My comments on Godard are based on his
pre-``Eloge'' work, plus the glib ``t-shirt'' statement. Just for the
record....
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