Posted by
Andrews on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 11:32:16 AM
I saw an advertisement for
The Men Who Stare at Goats and immediately got a sense of deja vu. Obviously ever since
Dr. Strangelove Hollywood has been trying to repeat that success, coming up with an absurdist movie mocking the military that America can get behind. The problem is, most attempts end up going too far, making the military too absurd and losing their audience. So I was not surprised to see this next iteration of the effort to find a
Strangelove redux. A film which bashes the military, makes them look like dolts, yet doesn't offend the public too much and makes a decent return at the box office.
The hook for this film though is that it is "based on a true story". And, unlike most movies tagged with those weasel words, the author of the book claims to have done real research and the "based on" mean just that, the events described are real.
Now, not having read the book, I can't vouch for the quality of research, though many Amazon reviews point out some pretty sloppy methodology and a seemingly insane amount of credence given to stories without much external support. But one in particular caught my eye:
There is one aspect of this book about which I DO have firsthand
knowledge - and that concerns my first cousin Jim Channon, about whom
Mr. Ronson writes at great length. I know Jim Channon to be a highly
imaginative and creative visionary artist who sincerely seeks to
influence the human populations of this planet to cooperate rather than
annihilate one another in acts of senseless warfare. I know from
firsthand discussions with my cousin Jim that his First Earth Battalion
concept is an attempt to unify the military establishments of this
world in an altruistic common cause - to substitute worldwide
cooperation in preserving this planet in place of the centuries of
bloody conflict which has historically been centered around violently
competing religious ideologies.
[...]
Mr. Ronson mischaracterizes my cousin Jim Channon as an incredibly
wealthy and seemingly insane man who owns a mountaintop in Hawaii and
behaves like a warlord in his neighborhood. Rubbish! This is not only
ridiculous - it is libelous. Jim owns three acres at the top of the
hill in a rural Hawaiian community, on which he has constructed a
beautiful outdoor garden amphitheater (where his daughter was married),
a guest house, a yurt, and an open-air and open-beam rustic residence
in which he runs no air conditioning and communes with nature to the
extent that he kills no creature that chooses to inhabit it with him.
There are geckos clinging to the walls. There are occasional spiders in
the corners. There is a kitty cat. When his sister, my cousin Elizabeth
Channon Jones, asked him why he didn't even choose to kill the spiders,
Jim replied, "They're creatures too!". Does THIS sound like a man who
would recommend or condone the practice of attempting to kill animals
or human beings with mental or psychic energy? A 'flowerchild',
perhaps... a true 'nature boy', perhaps... but a nutcase who thinks
he's a warlord? NO. I'm afraid that with this "Staring at Goats" book
Mr. Ronson qualifies as a Spin-Meister and practitioner of hyperbole
for purposes of profit.
Jim Channon trusted this man, opened his home, and shared some of
his most personal and heartrending experiences in Vietnam. In return
for his trust he was smeared in this sensationalistic little exercise
in spin. The First Earth Battalion is Jim Channon's imaginative,
futuristic, and creative concept for a worldwide cooperative military
force whose mission would be to preserve this planet for posterity and
to replace conventional warfare with visionary tactics of
mind-expansion and compassion. The non-lethal tactics he proposed,
based upon new age psychic research and experimentation prevalent in
the 1970's - `80's, was never intended to be utilized for purposes of
torture. It was intended to be mind-altering and mood-altering in the
hope of dissuading prospective combatants from killing one another.
Idealistic? Certainly. But this man (who won't even kill a spider in
his own home) never EVER intended his suggestions to be used for
purposes of killing innocent animals... or for torturing prisoners.
Subliminal suggestions have been proven to be successful. Sound
does affect one's equilibrium and state of well being. But ask Senator
John McCain if he believes that being forced to listen to the "Barney
the Dinosaur" song: "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family..."
constitutes anything remotely approaching "torture". Give me a break!!!
This does a gross injustice to the likes of Senator John McCain and
anyone else who has genuinely experienced TORTURE. McCain's bones were
broken... his joints were dislocated... his face shows the scars. If
listening to "Barney The Dinosaur" singing for several days in a row
induces some potentially suicidal/homicidal religious zealot to spill
the beans, I'm GLAD.
So based upon my personal knowledge concerning Lieutenant Colonel
(ret) Jim Channon and his imaginative First Earth Battalion THINK PEACE
(pun intended), I take this entire "Staring at Goats" book with a large
lump of rock salt. I sincerely hope that we DO see the day when my
cousin's visionary concept of dedicating the world's manpower to
preserving this Earth (instead of wiping each other off the face of it)
comes to fruition.
What makes this particularly interesting is that the author clearly is not a "right wing zealot". Yes, the writer seems fond of McCain, but beyond that, the affection shown for her cousin seems to indicate, if anything, a rather left of center sensibility. Making it difficult for fans to dismiss this criticism as "reactionary ranting".
At this point I am sure my regular readers expect me to insert some sort of explanation of why this is all relevant, what political point I am making, but for once I am afraid I must disappoint. I really have no point. I just wanted to make mention of this film, as I am sure many will see it (or at least some), and think it is somehow true, that it is yet another bit of evidence of absurdity in the military. And, while there is plenty of absurdity int he government, I am afraid most is much more mundane and boring, and, unfortunately, these sort of insane conspiracy theories are, no matter how colorful, just not true.
Of course, none of that will stop the stories from circulating. Even today, absurd claims about MKULTRA still circulate, wonderfully unconcerned with their lack of evidence. Just like the truther tales, the stories of the USS Liberty and Kennedy conspiracy theories, I am sure some segment of the public will latch on to this film and the book which inspired it and believe the Army has psychic goat assassins on the payroll.
And I guess that is my point after all. The next time you stumble across a "true" story, especially one which tends to play into beliefs you already have (and thus you are more prone to believe), just check that there is some evidence to back it up, and not just a welter of circular links on the internet, each one citing another in a huge self-referential circle. You might be surprised how many things "everyone knows" are just not true. I know I have been surprised at what mundane "truths" turned out to be nothing of the kind.( "
The Power of Myth on the Internet")
POSTSCRIPT
As this ties in to my favorite topic, conspiratorial thought, I would point interested readers to "
Maybe Obama Was Born in Gulf Breeze, Florida". Whether or not you agree with my thesis there, check out the second set of links in the postscript, as they deal with all manner of conspiracy theories.
POSTSCRIPT II
What is more amusing is that the USSR did conduct some pretty elaborate experiments on psychic phenomena, yet those are treated with the greatest respect by most who mention them. On the other hand, even the hint of a US program on the same material is treated as utter lunacy. What makes that even more amusing is that the US really showed very little interest in such topics (despite many far fetched claims tot he contrary), while the USSR did, yet the conspiracy theorists and dull witted "humorists" (whose lack of ability to amuse makes such quotes mandatory) would have us believe just the opposite.