Do Ideas Matter?

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Robert Kane Pappas, Director of "Orwell Rolls in his Grave"

I had to laugh the other day during a phone interview with former New York Post writer, Jerry Tallmer, who having apparently viewed "Orwell Rolls in his Grave", said "I remember Peter Mitchelmore, I worked at the Post with him in 1980." (At this point I thought: "Finally, some evidence that he existed." People were doing Google searches on this guy, but came up with nothing. They would say, "Are you sure you got this right?" "Yes, I interviewed the man in 1980 in his office.") Tallmer continued, "Yeah, Murdoch and his henchman did a job on us. Anyway, I was taken with a phrase in your movie used by Representative Sanders. He said 'you have reached a stage in American politics where the question is not a debate over ideas, the issue is whether ideas at all matter.' What do you think of that?"

The fact is, when Sanders said it to me 2 years ago I was initially confused and uttered something like "ehh?" But then the Congressman continued, "You seem like a nice guy, got any kids?" I nodded, "Two." "Great! why don’t we elect you?"

In another context, two years later, that phrase is still sinking in. "Do ideas matter?"

Since "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" began playing in festivals in October 2003, there have been some good reviews. Now, on the eve of the film’s New York release, notices and quotes are trickling in, not all good. With the above quote in mind here are the openings of two different reviews:

Ed Halter; Village Voice, July 19th, 2004

"The level of subtlety expressed in the title of this video broadside about media consolidation continues into the rhetoric deployed by its talking heads, who provide references to Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and of course Orwell’s 1984."

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0429/halter2.php

Ronnie Scheib; Variety, November 4th, 2003

"A marvel of passionate succinctness, Robert Kane Pappas’ docu critically examines the Fourth Estate, once the bastion of American democracy, Docu asks, ‘could a media system, controlled by a few global corporations with the ability to overwhelm all competing voices, be able to turn lies into truth’? ‘Orwell Rolls in His Grave’ refrains from preaching to the choir…"

http://print.google.com/print/doc?articleid=y4tfu9YqpnG

What to make of the discrepancy?

Again later in the reviews:

Village Voice:

"Pappas’ message is one of relentless hopelessness: 1984 is happening now. American citizens are powerless, and we’re all fucked."

Variety:

"Docu merrily deconstructs the myth of ‘deregulation,’ from its inception under Reagan to the infamous Telecommunications Act backed by FCC head Michael Powell (son of Colin) who opined that ‘Openness isn’t always good.’ Pic ends with an epilogue that finds true drama and a sliver of hope in the hearing that led to the act’s eventual challenge by a coalition of the strangest bedfellows, including the NRA, Tom Daschle, Trent Lott, NOW and Jesse Helms."

Did these two reviewers watch the same movie; did both watch the entire film? I think it goes back to that question, "Do ideas matter?"

My guess is that reviewers who like the film will zero in on the ideas and likely get specific and quote the film, while reviewers who don’t will use words like bashing, broadsiding and partisan; the comments will probably be less specific with less quotes. They’ll probably mention the film’s rudimentary graphics.

To this I say, "The name of the production company is 'Sag Harbor – Basement Pictures.' We didn’t spend millions on the film, we spent thousands. To us 'Ideas Matter.'"

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION