Tuesday, May 22, 2007

The Fabulous Life of Marianne Pearl


Who wouldn't be tickled by the thought of spending a raucous weekend on the French Riviera with Brangelina and the creme de la creme of cinematic high society? Marianne Pearl, wife of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, is certainly having the time of her life.

I can't imagine what it's like to lose your husband just months before giving birth to your baby, but the five years since that horrible ordeal seem to have done Marianne very well, so much so that she's now clinking glasses with the jet set, swathed in couture.

And Marianne isn't the only one turning calamity into lucre while the War on Terror rages on. Pointless films like United 93 and World Trade Center don't celebrate heroism as much as triviliaze the most harrowing events of our times. Unlike the victims on the big screen we get to walk out of the mess. To think that a two-hour rehashing of unthinkable violence is somehow cathartic or brave is just stupid. If you ask me, these kinds of movies are pornographic.

I'm not taking a shot at a widow who has a child to support. I want to think it's admirable that Marianne Pearl hasn't ended her life along that of her husband's. But to go from grieving widow to the toast of Hollywood sounds more like a Candace Bushnell novel than any great feat.

12 comments:

James Henry Bailey said...

This is quite possibly the lamest thing I have ever read. I'm only commenting because you seem to have lost all 3 of your readers and I miss them.

A woman is living her life, the way she wants, and is not doing anything wrong- and it's still a problem for you? Why do liberals insist that everyone be so miserable. Maybe you should spell out the terms by which widows should live their lives. I'm sure she would appreciate it- no doubt she would be all beside herself knowing that some irrelevant gay blogger disapproves of her choices in life.

I realize you really don't read these comments and hardly ever respond, but I would really like to know in what ways movies such as the incredible, critically acclaimed, Oscar nominated United 93 trivialize Sept. 11? And how do they qualify as pornography? Did you see either movie? Is Sept. 11 now a taboo subject? What about critically acclaimed books by Don Delillo, Ian McEwan, and Moshin Hamid? Should they be banned?

What about all WWII movies? Titanic? They seem to fall under the same category: i.e. a two-hour rehashing of unthinkable violence.

I notice you have Evita listed as your favorite movie. Uh- Ok. To be clear- THAT IS IN FACT A GROSS TRIVIALIZATION OF A MURDEROUS REGIME AND A DANGEROUS TIME FOR LATIN AMERICA. Plus, MADONNA CAN'T SING!!

Lame, GCL. Really lame.

James Henry Bailey said...

...And why is Jennifer Lopez pictured in a post about Marianne Pearl and Sept. 11 movies?

You big 'MO

Anonymous said...

JHB -- I'm sure you can tell the diff between Titanic and a movie about a war we're still fighting.

I do read people's comments and appreciate them but I often don't have the time to respond -- granted, I should get better at that.

Anyway, United 93 was just unnecessary. That's my opinion. I saw it and couldn't sleep for two days after and I had to leave the theater at one point. So if it comes down to me personally not being able to handle such films so be it -- that does, however, parallel so much of what goes on in this country where people want to dictate behavior based on their own limited point of view.

So maybe I am hypocritical. And I am well aware that Evita was a dictator and facist, but damn it that bitch had some style. What can I say?

And TGC, that's Angelina Jolie as Marianne, not J-Lo (another woman who can do now wrong.)

Anonymous said...

JHB - Read the blog about how Latinos are being useless and watching big screen TVs. That's probably something you can get around. Nothing liberal there.

Berdo said...

Wow, GCL. You came dangerously close to sounding like Ann Coulter in this post. Only, when she said almost the exact same thing about the "Jersey Girls" as you just did about Ms. Pearl, she got slammed by the MSM you seem so intent on defending.

Amazing, I don't remember a post about the "Jersey Girls" deriding their hunger for notoriety, hitting a unique high (or low) in the production of "Press For Truth."

If there is one thing consistent about your posts, it is your inability to stick to any principle whatsoever. If it's a widow of a Wall Street Journal reporter, she's fair game. If it's a widow who believes that Bush knew about, and possibly planned 9/11, they get a free pass. It doesn't matter that the PRINCIPLE - the idea that their husband's death has catapulted these women into celebrity (in the case of the "Jersey Girls," far quicker and far more severe) - remains the same throughout - even though the Jersey Girls are markedly worse in this regard.

Frankly, I didn't agree nor appreciate it when Ann Coulter said it about them. I thought she was as she always is - an amoral, partisan hack taking the cheapest of shots to score a few points.

I don't see why I should feel any differently about you.

Rob said...

Where to start describing how wretchedly dispicable this post is? I have no idea. From commenting that blacks can't get anywhere in life without liberals to this steaming pile of shit.

James, you are one disgusting, worthless, wretched, miserable walking pile of human debris. You excrement.

If any liberal can't understand why nobody likes them and won't trust them to protect this country, this post is a glittering example.

Anonymous said...

TGC why do you hate everyone? JHB has a word for people like you -- miserablist?

Anyway, Berdo, you're right, I guess I do sound like Ann Coulter when I say that it's a bit disturbing that the decapitation of one's husband should turn a woman into a celebrity. Only I didn't go so far as to say that Marianne Pearl is rejoicing in her husband's death or that he would have left her had he lived.

What I am guilty of advocating for freedom of speech so long as it's not in my backyard. Yes, Evita is one of my fav films, so is Schindler's List. I didn't live through those rough times, I can check in and out of scenes at Auschwitz and go on with my life.

Today, I board a plane and scope out anyone who looks like they might be trouble and I'm truly scared to death of skyscrapers and I try to avoid taking the subway. That means I don't like watching movies that make me think about the horrible things that did and can happen. And I did point out that I saw United 93 and I think it got a pity Oscar. Had the Academy not nominated it they would have been labeled as America-Hating-Commie-Pinkos.

This is all just proves that the old saying is true: one man's loss is another man's gain. And that's just what 9-11, the war in Iraq, and other forms of genocide are in Hollywood.

James Henry Bailey said...

JHB - Read the blog about how Latinos are being useless and watching big screen TVs. That's probably something you can get around. Nothing liberal there.

I can't begin to imagine what you are getting at with this odd comment. What do you mean I can "get around" it? Are you suggesting that I assume that Latinos are useless and spend their days watching big screen TVs? I can assure you that the thought never entered my mind. What anyone does with their free time is up to them. I myself enjoy many days sitting around watching my big screen TV. It's wonderful. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from enjoying their own free time in any way they see fit.

I will assume, however, that if I walked through the streets of Brooklyn and said "wow- look at all the lazy useless Latinos" I would be derided and called racist/nationalist, etc.

James- I would encourage you to check your premises prior to making such stupid statements. I have never indicated that I hold any stereotypes to be true, especially regarding our South American neighbors (from which I am descended). You, on the other hand, assume (wrongly) that I am a Republican and therefore must be anti-Latino.

There appears to be plenty of racism and nationalism on this blog, but not from the conservatives.

I can't possible say it better than TGC, so I merely second the motion:

James, you are one disgusting, worthless, wretched, miserable walking pile of human debris. You excrement.

James Henry Bailey said...

that does, however, parallel so much of what goes on in this country where people want to dictate behavior based on their own limited point of view.

So maybe I am hypocritical.


...and with that, GCL, you have exposed the vast emptiness that holds your skull together. You have proven yourself, time and time again, to be an amoral, un-thinking, happy puppet.

James Henry Bailey said...

Today, I board a plane and scope out anyone who looks like they might be trouble and I'm truly scared to death of skyscrapers and I try to avoid taking the subway. That means I don't like watching movies that make me think about the horrible things that did and can happen.

Pussy!

Anonymous said...

pussy, amoral, puppet...PAP...maybe my new blog should be called PAP Smear.

Rob said...

Au contraire. I don't hate everyone. Just stupid, hate-filled oxygen thieves.

As far as sounding like Ann Coulter, the difference is that she makes a point, that 10 times out of ten goes right over the head of liberals. Either that or they get the point, but spin it to fit their miserable agenda. It's tough to chose, but I'm leaning mostly toward the latter. That's the usual liberal MO.