PrintNovember 21, 2009
Pirate Politics
The movie Pirate Radio is loosely based on the true story of a collection of renegade disc-jockeys that broadcast rock and roll from a ship on the open seas after that music was banned from the airwaves by a repressive British government during the mid-1960s. The trailer for the comedy depicts two ominous moments interspersed among a number of hilarious scenes. The first occurs when government official Sir Alistair Dormandy (played by actor Kenneth Branaugh) responds to a colleague's suggestion the broadcasters no longer violate any laws by saying: "That's the whole point of being in government. If you don't like something, you simply make it illegal." The second moment is when actor "Quentin" (Bill Nighy) begs "The Count" (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) not to drop the f-bomb on the airwaves. Hoffman suggests that in their life as pirates, they are beyond the reach of government. Quentin's response is simply, "They will find a way. Governments loathe...(Read Full Article)
