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December 28, 2005

Spielberg's anguish

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Rick Richman of Jewish Current Issues notes Steven Spielberg's reaction to critics of Munich, starting with a quotation from Spielberg's now—famous telephone call to Roger Ebert: [boldface in the original]

'Some of my critics are asking how Spielberg, this Hollywood liberal who makes dinosaur movies, can say anything serious about this subject that baffles so many smart people.  What they're basically saying is 'You disagree with us in a big public way, and we want you to shut up, and we want this movie to go back in the can.'  That's a nefarious attempt to make people plug up their ears.  That's not Jewish, it's not democratic, and it's bad for everyone —— especially in a democratic society.'

I don't think the critics are questioning his intelligence (even though he responds by questioning their Jewishness).  They're questioning his judgment, and his views. 

But for some reason, 'Hollywood liberals' think that, in a free society, they should be free to present their views without criticism.  So Spielberg equates criticism with censorship ('we want you to shut up'), responds to the criticism by accusing his critics of being 'not Jewish' (on grounds they are criticizing him?), and suggests this is 'bad for everyone' when in fact it is simply bad for Spielberg.