[Reader-list] Re: the revolution will not be televised etc.

[Curt Gambetta]

Hi Geert,

I apolgize for not responding sooner. I wanted to find
something that was handed to me, so I could provide a
link to it. After I watched "The Revolution Will Not
Be Televised" in NYC last October, I was shoved a
pamphlet:

http://www.11abril.com/index/especiales/TripticoDocumental.pdf

I thought it was interesting... I've never watched a
documentary--to have it immediately followed by
counter-information provided by an some anonymous
person. I am inclined to go with the documentary on
the facts, though the documentary was overwhelmingly
pro-Chavez... so much so that the audience was
cheering at its conclusion in a way I've never seen
before! The movie was incredibly exciting as it was
presented... watching the coup 'from the inside' was a
thrill, and I think the audience reaction only
confirmed that. I would agree with a reviewer who
suggested it functioned like an 'action movie.' But...
I feel that just as the meaning behind the footage of
the crowds surrounding the Presidential palace was
incredibly subjective, I am also weary of the 'inside
view' as necessarily presenting the truth. I
personally felt conflicted following the movie--not
really about the facts themselves, but the excitement
at the time of something from the left side of the
table really taking a stab at the coup in Venezuela
and the embarassing US support of it (there were, I
believe, suggestions from Bush's staff that this would
get Venezuela on track for democracy!) I felt
conflicted because it was so incredibly unconflicted
about what it was showing us... I would compare this
to another 'political' film I saw recently (a narrow
vision of politics!) which has received more attention
in the United States... "The Fog of War"... the
documentary is about Robert McNamara, Sec of Defense
during the Vietnam War... much much more conflicted
about McNamara and his place in history... there are
many questions left unanswered, many he is pushed to
answer but won't... (such as his culpability in the
drive to the Vietnam War). He wears the cold face of
the state like no other... and thankfully the movie is
not sympathetic in that regard. The dehumanized number
crunching (which McNamara was also involved with) that
led to the bombing of Japan and the firebombing of
Tokyo also sends chills... Sadly, it remains in
limited release.

If anyone with a good knowledge of the situation in
Venezuela is a subscriber to this list (I myself don't
know about Venezuelan politics or history), I would be
interesting in knowing what they think, and if they
saw the movie (and their response to the pamphlet link
I have included... which is itself clearly
anti-Chavez).

I think, in response to your question Geert, what
interested me in 'the mass' presented in the
Revolution Will Not Be Televised, was that it reminded
me of the endless un-critiqued reportage funneled
through ABC News et. al when I was growing up, of
people taking to the streets, and how that sufficed as
'authentic politics' for the American viewer. I am
curious why this is so often turned to by the American
news media, what visions of politics it presents and
what it fulfills for the viewer... obviously, the
politics and violence of everyday life becomes totally
obscured (I think Haiti is a pefect example...
suddenly, it was on the radar again, once a crisis is
ensuing... nevermind the United States' weak
commitment to the country over the years and its
enduring poverty!). I also think it would be
interesting to look into the representation of 'mass
politics' in American History courses, because, though
there was an effort when I was in primary school to
integrate into the existing narratives of American
history a more social history, I think there was a lot
of emphasis on the classic events--massacres and
such... I wonder how 'street politics' was narrated in
history textbooks. To be honest, it is too far back in
my memory to remember!

When you refer to mass psychology, I am interested in
what authors you are referring to, because I am
ignorant on the subject, and would be interested in
learning more...

Just wanted to convey some thoughts as a spectator! 

Curt

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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2004 16:05:50 +0100
From: "geert lovink" <geert at desk.nl>
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] crisis unfolding(ed)
To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
Message-ID: <064701c401fd$44af4f70$adb95c91 at geert>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Thanks, Curt.

You wrote:

"I think after Venezuela we should be very very
weary of the crowd, of the mass of people on the
streets as evidence of anything authentic."

Does that also include 'our own' demonstrations? How
about Seattle, 
Genova,
February 15? I do not mean this at all as a rethoric
question because 
since
a long time I have been studying mass psychology, this
now defunct 20st
century analytic and reflective wisdom (I hestitate to
write 
'science'),
which is exactly stressing the point that you are
making here.

Geert



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