--- Ever notice that in

--- Ever notice that in some American families there is generally a
stated preference for certain branches of the Armed Services? A brother
or a father, or even a mother or a sister (We mustn’t be sexist) was
Navy, and goshdarnit, they’ll support the Navy until they die.
It’s like college rivalries and my family and the husband’s are no
different in this respect. The husband’s uncle was a very successful
Master Sergeant in the Marines, so he’s a big supporter of the
Marines. My family is spread out between Army and the Navy, but the
Army holds a wee bit more sway with my side because of my cousin, who
is career. But, on the whole, everyone supports all of the armed
services, only allowing their preferences for a particular branch of
the service to show when that branch has done an exceedingly good job.
This would be that time for me. GO ARMY!

Someone did their homework on this one and---AHEM---it’s working.

--- Johnny Depp Revisited.

Had an interesting email this morning from Mr. H. about the whole Johnny Depp thing this morning. And I quote:

“Johnny Depp was all over the news yesterday with his "puppy"
comments…He wants to be "Dixie Chicked"! My hope is that it works for
him, like it did them,{they}sold more, and {it}gave them a hell of a
lot of attention!...I just wish Johnny would have come up with a little
bit more intellectual statement, {than} a "dumb puppy"?”
And I would have to agree with Mr. H. Johnny Depp does want to be
“Dixie Chicked.” And that’s fine by me. If it sells more tickets
to his movies in Europe, or here, that’s great. That’s just plain
good ol’ fashioned capitalism and who could deny him the right to make as much money as he can? I can’t. Good for him. And I really mean that.

What I object to, however, is the notion that he assumes we’re going to play the same xenophobic tune that was whipped out of the record collection when the Dixie Chicks said their piece.

In fact, he seems to be counting
on it. In my opinion, Mr. Depp seems to think that it's ok to use us,
meaning Americans, for his own gain with impunity. He'll take all the
money we pay into his coffers to see him perform, and yet when he tries
to promote his work to a whole different audience, in this case, the
Germans, he plays up to them by saying, well, I may be American, but I
don't like what's going on there and the people there are stupid and I
don't want any part of their culture. Blah, blah, blah.
I couldn't care less about his political views, it's just that he seems
to lump all Americans into the dolt department when it's beneficial to
his interests. It’s fairly obvious that his American citizenship is
something to be slipped on and off, like a coat, when it’s in his
interest to do so. That’s his right, and no matter how much it
bothers me that he considers his United States citizenship to be an
on-the-job liability, he’s allowed. He’s an American. We’re allowed to do stuff like that! Ben Franklin said so, damnit.
He doesn’t stop there, though. He chooses to add insult to injury, by
just assuming that I, as an American, am too stupid to realize that I'm
being played. He implied that Americans are idiots, so the logic
follows that I, as an American, am only going to notice the insult
because I'm too unintelligent to realize it’s actually a media ploy.
His statements on politics prove my point, because he hasn't changed
his tune too dramatically from when he promoted Pirates
earlier this summer in the American media. It’s the wording and tone
that are different and obviously intended to play to specific parts of
his audience.
I generally don’t bother much with celebrity interviews anymore, but
I did happen to read this one and it’s telling, if nothing else.

Let’s do some compare and contrast, shall we?

From the USA Weekend article: He
rejects the view that there has been a surge of anti-Americanism there
because of opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and he believes the
French people have behaved in a dignified manner while some Americans
have resorted to "schoolyard tactics" by renaming French fries "freedom
fries." "That was so revealing, that grown men sat around and came up
with that idea," he says of the freedom fries initiative. "It was
tragic and embarrassing. At the same time, I was happy it was exposed,
and people knew that a bunch of congressmen -- big people, the
upper-drawer people -- made that decision."

From the article I linked to yesterday:
“Depp recalled that French fries were renamed ``Freedom'' fries in
the House cafeteria on Capitol Hill at the height of U.S. anger over
France's refusal to back the administration of President George W. Bush
over the war in Iraq. ``Nothing made me happier than when I read that -
grown men and grown women in positions of power in the United States
government,'' Depp said. ``I was ecstatic because they revealed
themselves as idiots.''
So, in one interview, aimed toward an American audience, the whole
Freedom Fries debacle was “tragic and embarrassing” and he was
“happy it was exposed.” In the other article, aimed toward Germans,
he’s “ecstatic because they revealed themselves as idiots.”
Let’s do another one just for the fun of it.
USA Weekend: “"I love America -- I love going back, seeing my
family and friends -- but it's wonderful to get back to France and be
living in a tiny village with nothing around.”

From the link: “…told
the German magazine he couldn't see himself paying more than short
visits to his Los Angeles residence in the present political
climate.” and we also have : “Depp said he wanted his two
children, ages 1 and 4, to experience the United States ``like it's a
kind a toy - a broken toy maybe. Investigate a little bit, check it
out, get this feeling and then get out.''”
His citizenship is like a coat to him. He thinks he can slip it on and
off when he needs to. Then he goes on to assume that I’m just simply
too unintelligent to realize he's playing one side off the other and
hoping to benefit from the resulting melee.
Mr. H. is right. He does want to be 'Dixie Chicked.' And to be honest,
it’s frickin’ ridiculous. I’m giving the whole thing way too much
attention by even writing about it. This story just deserves to die,
but I don’t think it’s going to, because some American governmental
personality is going to try and score cheap points off this whole mess,
in essence, proving Johnny correct. Don't do it, please. Step away from
the mike! I beg you! --- Chuckle for the Day

Shake it, Grandma!

Posted by Kathy at September 1, 2003 03:44 PM | TrackBack