Heroes & Villains

This is for any firefighter, police officer, rescue worker or relative of a victim?in fact anyone who knows the difference between right and wrong: The next time you see an Oliver Stone movie advertised, do not give a penny of your hard-earned money. Boycott the theater, and boycott any film company that finances this pig's unwatchable garbage.

The paronomastic Stone publicly called Sept. 11 a revolt, as revolting a remark as I can think of. I had the bad luck to meet and dine with Stone a couple of times around 10 or 15 years ago. He craves publicity and attention, ergo his conspiracy theories and unbridled hate for Uncle Sam. Knock the old boy, invent all sort of lies, and the media and Hollywood are sure to notice. This is the Oliver Stone creed. I hope to relieve myself on his grave.

Mind you, the only positive thing to emerge from the Sept. 11 rubble is that Hollywood suddenly has taken cops, firefighters and the military to heart. Just think about it. It took the murder of thousands of innocent people for those craven vulgarians in Hollywood to come to their senses, and then only because they fear the reaction of the people. Since the 1960s, it's been trendy to make the U.S. government, the CIA, the FBI and the military the heavy. Patriotism was depicted by Hollywood as an emotion felt by crypto-Nazis, racists, homophobes and squares. Let's see. When was the last time a Hollywood film did not portray the military as bloodthirsty rednecks? When was the last time a movie showed a priest as kind and altruistic, rather than a child-molesting bigot? When was the last time Hollywood showed cops for what they really are, good men out to serve and protect the public?

Last week, while flicking the channels, I came upon a movie that showed four young men sitting around a room. A large American flag was on the wall. Before I heard a word they were saying I told the mother of my children that they were skinhead Nazis out to murder black people. You'll have to take my word for it, but this is exactly what they turned out to be. The flag on the wall gave the plot away. Since the 60s the flag has been a symbol to denigrate (it was used as a bedspread, tablecloth, even as underwear). I know, I know, this is what freedom of speech is all about, and I would go along with it, as long as we had real freedom of speech. But the only ones free to insult, denigrate and malign have been those insulting the flag, the military and the church.

Let me give you a perfect example of a double standard. Hollywood has avoided making films that deal with communist totalitarianism, while movies about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust are produced with regularity. Are Stalin's victims not victims enough for a film? True, Nazi Germany was our enemy, while the Soviets were our allies, but the evil empire lasted 70 years and the Cold War began in 1946, whereas the Nazis were only 12 years in power. The Soviet Union murdered millions, as have the Chinese communists, but Hollywood has not dared make a film like Burnt by the Sun, the extraordinary work by Nikita Mikhalkov on what Stalinism was all about. It was dedicated to "all those who have been burnt by the sun of revolution."

Hollywood's left-liberal culture has always been infected by Popular Frontism and anti-anti-communism. It was this kind of culture that made possible the constant attacks on the U.S. government and the military. Scummy so-called trendies like Robert Redford reveled in their anti-American messages, completely ignoring the fact that millions upon millions fled their native lands in unofficial global plebiscites against Marxist socialism. But since Sept. 11, Hollywood has changed its tune. In fact some of the most powerful figures of La-la-land are discussing with the White House how they can help spread the message abroad and at home about the war on terrorism. The only thing that comes to mind is that it's about time. These creeps have not suddenly seen the light. It's more the other way 'round. They know that making anti-American films will not wash, at least not inside these United States. So now, all of a sudden, we're all patriots.

I write following the funeral of Christian Reganhard, on Friday, Oct. 26. I met him in judo class, as wonderful and polite a young man as you'll ever hope to run across. He was 28 years old, as tough as he was gentle, and left the Marine Corps in order to join the FDNY only last January. Assigned to Ladder 131 in Brooklyn, he died the way he lived, heroically, while trying to save others. He was the son of a New York police detective. He was the prototype Hollywood villain. Patriotic, respectful of the flag, a gentleman, a churchgoer, he had all the attributes the freaks and conmen of Hollywood detested.

The booing of the Clintons in Madison Square Garden was well-deserved. A pig like Harvey Weinstein and the grotesque Clintons can try to benefit from the tragedy, but the firefighters did not fall for it. After all, they embody what the Clintons, Weinstein and the rest of the rabble have always hated and looked down upon. The vast right-wing conspiracy lives.