"...the Martians in our movie represent American military forces."
According to a reader over at Libertas, David Koepp, the writer of the film, had this to say in an interview with Rue Morgue Magazine, [not available online]:
“And now, as we see American adventure abroad’ he (David Koepp} continues ‘in my mind it’s certainly back to it’s original meaning, which is that the Martians in our movie represent American military forces invading the Iraqis, and the futility of the occupation of a faraway land is again the subtext”
Koepp also told Newsweek:
"I think the whole war [in the movie] is about water," he says. "I figure their planet ran out. Wars tend to be fought over very elemental things: water, land, oil."
Now, this guy wrote the film. Wouldn't he know? We also have Spielberg refusing to allow any reviews until the day the film's released. Could this be a way to avoid the bad press that hurt Kingdom of Heaven and probably had something to with Sith losing pace to hit the $400 million mark, after those films were discovered to be loaded with lame partisan (poorly written) attacks?
Spielberg's being slyly "nuanced" about the whole thing:
I tried to make it as open for interpretation as possible, without having any body coming out with a huge political polemic in the second act of the movie. I think there are politics certainly underneath some of the scares and some of the adventure and some of the fear, but I really wanted to make it suggested and not that everybody could have their own opinion.
I smell a rat, and intend to take the screenwriter at his word that the evil imperialistic murderers of millions in the film represent "American military forces."
UPDATE: Welcome fellow Polipundit fans! Thanks Lorie, and great line: "So Bush = Hitler and now the U.S. Military = Martians?"
I'm sure What-A-Dick-Durbin's already in line to see this. Little something to back up his depraved world-view.
Well, if "WAR OF THE WORLDS" is about the U.S. invasion of Iraq, then it should have a happy ending with the Martians helping rebuild the Earth as they sponsor free elections.
Posted by: Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest) | June 24, 2005 at 09:41 AM
Well, if "WAR OF THE WORLDS" is about the U.S. invasion of Iraq, then it should have a happy ending with the Martians helping rebuild the Earth as they sponsor free elections.
Posted by: Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest) | June 24, 2005 at 09:42 AM
Happily, I never meant to see it, and Tom Cruises antics are not helping potential box office numbers, either.
Posted by: the anchoress | June 24, 2005 at 09:58 AM
It's a remake based on an HG Wells story so I don't see how the latest writer could make it into an Iraq bash fest. Granted he may be a member of the tinfoil brigade and see Bushitler everywhere but that's all in his head. I have no reason to impute his insanity to Spielberg. The bigger concern (for entertainment's sake) is that Cruise has such a ginormous ego that they'll have to change the ending so Cruise can save the world. Why ruin another classic?
Posted by: Black Redneck | June 24, 2005 at 10:05 AM
So, if the movie remake of "War of the Worlds" is about Bush and the American-led war in Iraq, then what was the original 1950's movie about, NATO and the Warsaw Pact or the Suez Crisis? And, what was Orson Welles's radio drama about, the New Deal or Hitler? And, what was H.G. Wells's original novel about, the British Empire and the Boer War? I actually heard a movie critic claim that the sci-fi movie "Outland" was about Reaganomics. The plot of an invasion from Mars, which we now know is a pile of cold, dry, lifeless rock, is far-fetched. But it is as realistic as a grocery list compared with the interpretations some Hollyweirds dream up when they want to put a political construction on a movie.
Posted by: Jack Olson | June 25, 2005 at 06:58 AM
Having seen the world's worst movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes http://tinyurl.com/9wvpj, I have not felt the need to see this one. Your post confirms my instincts. Thanks for saving me some $.
Posted by: Candace | June 25, 2005 at 10:16 PM
The worst SF movie ever was X-Men II, which, as far as I remember, keeping in mind that I fell asleep 1/3 of the way through, was about how BUSH! is stopping the feds from funding research into the sex lives of mutants,unless they're Canadian.
Posted by: Brian O'Neill | June 26, 2005 at 12:58 PM
Speaking of "homophobic" sci-fi . . .
I just got my daughter a Tamagochi.
I was shocked, shocked!, to learn that when he grows up, she can connect him to other Tamagochis and marry him off.
BUT ONLY TO FEMALE TAMAGOCHIS!
Isn't this unconstitutional?
Posted by: Brian O'Neill | June 26, 2005 at 01:32 PM
Wasn't the original Wells novel inspired by the supposed extinction of Tasman islanders, or something like that? Given H.G.'s track record of supporting some really nasty ideologies, you gotta wonder.
Posted by: RS | June 26, 2005 at 10:06 PM