America failed after 9-11.
The media failed because Thinking Journalists were silenced by the corporate interests now controlling the news. Thinking Journalists have mortgages and family obligations and Thinking Journalists aren’t getting any younger, so Thinking Journalists publish publicity. They spread good PR for the politicians and the corporate bosses who fund them.
The politicians failed because they want to win, to win with “whatever it takes,” and in war the win takes life. The politicians are cocky and quick with big degrees but no experience, and they are slick, and they are seductive. They perform. Well.
The young people failed because they don’t care, don’t have to care, even when their peers die for them to have the luxury of not caring. They know the intimate details of celebrity life in up-to-the-minute real time, but they know nothing of the military strategies executed over the past six years.
We failed the young people because we are torn. We want them to get involved, but not so involved that they risk their lives. We want them to make small changes, to “lick envelopes.” We don’t want them to stand together in a snowy wilderness to learn true brotherhood. We don’t want them to be warriors, not in this war.
Robert Redford’s new film, “Lions for Lambs,” is the first articulate statement on post-9/11 America guaranteed to reach a wide audience. It is clear the writers, including Redford himself, have been reading everything from Arundhati Roy’s email messages to the world, to the updated World Atlas, to their own struggling hearts.
The acting is superb, with Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Michael Pena, Derek Luke, Andrew Garfield, Peter Berg, and Redford. And that’s it. A perfect cast for a perfect film. Streep is amazing, Cruise at his best. Pena reminds us why he stood out in Crash. Luke is nuanced and fresh. Garfield is arresting. Peter Berg elevates the discourse around our military. Redford is complex – and key.
Every line of this film compels thought. Every expression from each actor builds content. Every detail in the set design develops story.
And then, it all ends.
My filmmaker husband and I saw “Lions for Lambs” at a screening hosted by the New York Association of Black Journalists. Afterwards, during the q&a led by Gary Anthony Ramsey, NYABJ members discussed our role in the build-up to Iraq and what we need to remember as Iran looms in front of us all.
I am certain this movie will get you talking, but it will also get you thinking. About yourself. See it on November 9th. Don’t wait. We’ve needed this for six years now.