Watched a pretty good documentary tonight called "The Weather Underground." It's about a group of 1960's and '70's radicals who were violent anti-war, anti-racism protesters. I don't really remember that much about them, which is a bit surprising since I should be old enough to have heard something. Perhaps my parents protected me from the news more than I realize when I was a kid. I did grow up in an Army family, and this probably isn't the kind of news my parents wanted me hearing.
The film drags a bit in places, but is well worth watching, especially as a meditation on violence. It also offers a grim look at the Vietnam War, the Hoover FBI, and the Nixon Administration. It was fascinating to hear the reflections of some of the leaders twenty-five years after the dissolution of the group. Three of them are professors now. All seem to still want to be revolutionaries. All seem weighed down by shame and sadness. I got the feeling that the shame had more to do with them not accomplishing all they thought they could in their wild-eyed youth and less to do with feeling guilty about their activities.
The film is timely in terms of what it asks about America's global role and the use of violence against a violent nation. Brian Flanagan, one of the Weathermen, speaking on the conviction to use violence said: "When you feel that you have right on your side, you can do some horrific things."
The most poignant words came from Todd Gitlin, the former president of the Students for a Democratic Society—the group which gave birth to the Weathermen. Gitlin was and is a pacifist. The SDS started as a pacifist group, but its leadership was usurped by the Weathermen in 1969. Gitlin was talking about the methods embraced by the Weathermen, but his words probably apply to a current situation as well: "They came to this conclusion, which is the conclusion that was come to by all the great killers, whether Hitler or Stalin or Mao, that they have a grand project for the transformation and purification of the world, and in the face of that project ordinary life is dispensable."
The final quote is a good one. I enjoyed the movie HERO last night - context is very different but struggles with bringing "peace" by the sword . . . or not.
Posted by: "Prof" Marty | February 19, 2005 at 08:27 AM