loser of the week part three (and a bit of what I thought of revenge of the sith)
Hmm, I tried to do something a little different here. Not sure it really worked, but I like the idea behind it at least.
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LOSER OF THE WEEK
Revenge of the Sith, which I finally saw after therapy to erase my memories of the horror that was Attack of the Clones, was much as I expected, with FX that started to annoy more than impress, and acting that made me view group devised experimental theatre with relative sympathy. However, this is not a StarWars review, and it was not the movie in isolation that got me thinking, but reading the details of the revelations in Mark Latham’s new book when I got home.
As a friend observed, Loner becomes Loser quite easily, and as I read over the snippets of Latham’s attacks on Kim Beazley, Bob Carr, Peter Beattie and the ALP in general, I couldn’t help thinking of the scene where the newly anointed Lord Vader lies limbless and screaming next to a volcanic pit. Just as Vader supposedly betrayed the Jedis for the sake of his family, Latham supposedly quit as ALP leader because he wanted to preserve his health for the sake of his family, but Latham’s eagerness to spill his guts with a book deal as soon as possible suggests that he too was tempted by the sheer pull of the dark side.
This is not to say that none of Latham’s criticisms are valid, of course, but I do think I’d find him less repulsive if he didn’t try and hold the moral high ground about the party being “run by conservative machine men”, when he was so clearly one of them himself. For all Latham’s posturing about his intellect and new ideas, he was a Labor hack through and through and is totally deserving of the distaste, or, better still, disinterest, his book will be greeted with.
At least Darth Vader comes out of it all with a snappy outfit. Mark Latham, you couldn’t be more deserving of being Loser of the Week if you were being played on screen by Hayden Christensen.
_____________________________________
LOSER OF THE WEEK
Revenge of the Sith, which I finally saw after therapy to erase my memories of the horror that was Attack of the Clones, was much as I expected, with FX that started to annoy more than impress, and acting that made me view group devised experimental theatre with relative sympathy. However, this is not a StarWars review, and it was not the movie in isolation that got me thinking, but reading the details of the revelations in Mark Latham’s new book when I got home.
As a friend observed, Loner becomes Loser quite easily, and as I read over the snippets of Latham’s attacks on Kim Beazley, Bob Carr, Peter Beattie and the ALP in general, I couldn’t help thinking of the scene where the newly anointed Lord Vader lies limbless and screaming next to a volcanic pit. Just as Vader supposedly betrayed the Jedis for the sake of his family, Latham supposedly quit as ALP leader because he wanted to preserve his health for the sake of his family, but Latham’s eagerness to spill his guts with a book deal as soon as possible suggests that he too was tempted by the sheer pull of the dark side.
This is not to say that none of Latham’s criticisms are valid, of course, but I do think I’d find him less repulsive if he didn’t try and hold the moral high ground about the party being “run by conservative machine men”, when he was so clearly one of them himself. For all Latham’s posturing about his intellect and new ideas, he was a Labor hack through and through and is totally deserving of the distaste, or, better still, disinterest, his book will be greeted with.
At least Darth Vader comes out of it all with a snappy outfit. Mark Latham, you couldn’t be more deserving of being Loser of the Week if you were being played on screen by Hayden Christensen.
posted by weasel at 3:12 AM
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