The Kingdom

Okay, so I watched The Kingdom, finally, after listening to discussion by Jonathan and Tira in context of our class. Naturally, I enjoyed it in that way that I liked Three Kings and Syriana, for the hyper-fulfillment of genre expectations, the obvious if wonderful plot tricks and the action (which I confess I had to fastforward. Since the birth of my child I just cannot watch violence, even wonderful cartoon suspense stuff). Also the cute woman, Jennifer Garner, whose name I had heard but didn't know. And the other great acting. I liked that it was such an unshy assualt on Saudi Arabia and enjoyed the subtleties (or not) of social interaction vis a vis fundamentalism, misogyny, sectarianism. But, of course, I wonder always why these films are necessary (which I guess they are). And not to be a spoilsport, because they seem to indeed have located an audience (our goal I guess in Wr 39 C) and a fairly smart one. But why are the most obvious politics, the most undisguised, the ones that our artists, writers, film auteurs, action movie makers have to create elaborate mysteries about? There is nothing mysterious about the situation of US -Saudi relationship, or the 20,000 US troops on Okinawa or, for that matter, the relationship which PT Anderson explores via Uppie Sinclair's Oil! redone lately to, I am told, terrific effect. I am not complaining, just kind of reveling in the distance we seem to have to go to make exotic or secret or thrilling or mysterious what must be to anybody from the rest of the world or those unfamiliar with our genre-driven posing as political analysis movie art a sort of exercise in the obvious. And why, indeed, watching these films, maybe including Chinatown, is so rewarding and perhaps even liberating? You are not listened to if you say it out loud, but if it arrives with fedoras or machine guns, we can all watch and talk about it. Maybe exactly because you cannot find the analysis in the mainstream media, history books? I mean, when if ever will anybody make a movie which clearly, obviously portrays the US invasion of Viet Nam for what it was, beyond the solipsistic nonsense of the Deer Hunter or the pandering of Apocalypse Now, not to mention all the official cultural portrayals and idiom and story line about a tragic "mistake"? Again, I enjoyed The Kingdom, don't get me wrong. And I understand that is has multiple audiences, but am impressed at the elaboration and weaving and artistry and effects, all of it designed to expose a mystery which isn't so mysterious at all.