Monday, December 31, 2007

Charlie Wilson's War 2

Charlie Wilson's War 2. I wrote another article about Charlie Wilson and who he was and is so this is why this article is 2. I went to see the Movie yesterday. It was interesting to me that the average age of the viewing audience which was full up was about 50. So it was mostly viewed by people who actually lived through the 1980's as an adult. Last night I was somewhat horrified to realize that as of 2010, 30 years will have passed since 1980. In 1980 I was 32 years old and newly remarried raising my son from my first marriage and two new stepkids.

The movie did not disappoint me in any way. In fact, it was so well done that I fully expect it to win Golden Globes, Oscars and the like.

It documented Charlie Wilson's life and was played by Tom Hanks who also helped produce the movie. Julia Roberts played the part of the real socialite the "sixth richest woman in Texas" very well who actually got Wilson on the stick about Afghanistan and even arranged his first meeting with then President Zia of Pakistan who caused Wilson to visit his first Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan which caused his crusade to get weapons for the Afghan freedom fighters. Wilson saw the children with hands and arms blown off from mines that looked like toys put in Afghanistan by Soviet soldiers.

I was amazed at just how pragmatic and yet funny the movie was. Both Charlie Wilson and the Texas socialite were such amazing people in the 1980's that it was really wonderful to see people like these again. One doesn't see people like that these days much. Both of them now would be considered just so politically incorrect. However, without people like these two there is no hope for the world. Therefore, the dangers of political correctness should be very obvious to all.

Though he might be underappreciated I still think that the gentleman who played the part of the raucus CIA agent should get an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. I especially like his Zen Story at the end of the movie. It put the last 30 years on earth in political perspective.

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