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Bulldozed by Naivetι [WSJ Theater Critic Trashes Rachel Corrie Play]
Wall Street Journal ^ | October 21, 2006 | Terry Teachout

Posted on 10/21/2006 2:26:19 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee

NEW YORK--Politics makes artists stupid. Take "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," the one-woman play cobbled together from the diaries, emails and miscellaneous scribblings of the 23-year-old left-wing activist who was run over by an Israeli Army bulldozer in 2003 while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian house in the Gaza Strip. Co-written and directed by Alan Rickman, one of England's best actors, "Rachel Corrie" just opened off-Broadway after a successful London run. It's an ill-crafted piece of goopy give-peace-a-chance agitprop--yet it's being performed to cheers and tears before admiring crowds of theater-savvy New Yorkers who, like Mr. Rickman himself, ought to know better.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: bulldozer; bunnymeetrachel; corrie; flatasapancake; palestine; rachelcorrie; saintpancake; terrorism
How bad is the play? Says Teachout, it's worse than Tim Robbins' play. OUCH!
1 posted on 10/21/2006 2:26:19 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee
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To: L.N. Smithee

I wouldn't call it inspiring.....in fact, it left me feeling a bit flat.


2 posted on 10/21/2006 2:29:24 AM PDT by edpc (Violence is ALWAYS a solution. Maybe not the right one....but a solution nonetheless)
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To: edpc
WHAT ABOUT FOLEY?
3 posted on 10/21/2006 2:57:50 AM PDT by Dallas59 (Muslims Are Only Guests In Western Countries)
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To: edpc
in fact, it left me feeling a bit flat.

LOL!

It left me craving a stack of pancakes.

4 posted on 10/21/2006 3:02:59 AM PDT by Allegra (Super Elastic Bubble Plastic!)
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To: L.N. Smithee
"My Name Is Rachel Corrie," by contrast, is a scrappy, one-sided monologue consisting of nothing but the fugitive observations of a young woman who, like so many idealists, treated her emotions as facts. "I am disappointed," she declares, "that this is the base reality of our world and that we, in fact, participate in it. This is not at all what I asked for when I came into this world."
None of asked to come into the world without being ruler of it. But some of us came to terms with the fact that other people have something to say about that . . . before we even got into grammar school.

5 posted on 10/21/2006 3:17:08 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion (The idea around which liberalism coheres is that NOTHING actually matters except PR.)
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To: Allegra

6 posted on 10/21/2006 3:18:07 AM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: " There is no God named Allah, and Muhammed is his False Prophet")
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To: L.N. Smithee

Alan Rickman...he plays such great, deranged movie villains, in Robin Hood, and Die Hard. Maybe his secret is, he isn't acting.


7 posted on 10/21/2006 3:43:41 AM PDT by YaYa123
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To: YaYa123

don't forget Professor Snape.


8 posted on 10/21/2006 3:48:38 AM PDT by Mercat (Μου παρουσιάστε τι ο Mohammed έφερε που ήταν νέος, και εκεί θα βρείτε τα πράγματα μόνο κακά και απάν)
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To: YaYa123

Yeah, Rickman is an amazing actor. Sounds like he shouldn't give up his day job!


9 posted on 10/21/2006 3:54:13 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater (The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.)
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To: L.N. Smithee

It's just more anti-semitism packaged as 60s style give-peace-a-chance baloney.


10 posted on 10/21/2006 4:07:52 AM PDT by kjo
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To: L.N. Smithee

IMO, I would guess that she is a product of today's public government schooling and incredibly unenlightened parents. Her parents probably concentrated on building up her self esteem. The play is more like abstract art and a testimony to her life, albeit an empty one.


11 posted on 10/21/2006 4:31:14 AM PDT by olezip
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To: Mercat

shhhhh, don't tell anyone I'm Harry Potter illiterate.


12 posted on 10/21/2006 4:43:31 AM PDT by YaYa123
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To: Aaron0617
c'mon not a true Rachel Corrie thread without my favorite..


13 posted on 10/21/2006 4:46:48 AM PDT by Aaron0617
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To: conservatism_IS_compassion

Raising children the liberal way seems, more often than not, to result in a narcissistic and grossly prideful person.


14 posted on 10/21/2006 4:47:19 AM PDT by visualops (artlife.us)
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To: visualops

I know it's my job to tell my granddaughter that there is more to life than polly pocket. sigh. We had a lot of fun with The Lion the Witch and the Wordrobe last year.


15 posted on 10/21/2006 4:48:51 AM PDT by Mercat (Μου παρουσιάστε τι ο Mohammed έφερε που ήταν νέος, και εκεί θα βρείτε τα πράγματα μόνο κακά και απάν)
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To: L.N. Smithee; Slings and Arrows

16 posted on 10/21/2006 5:03:24 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: L.N. Smithee
Terror advocate dies in accident. Atrocious drama ensues...

*Snicker* At least the review is amusing. :)

17 posted on 10/21/2006 5:14:39 AM PDT by veronica (http://www.freerepublic.com/~starcmc/)
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To: YaYa123

You forgot Dr. Lazarus in Galaxy Quest. My favorite role.


18 posted on 10/21/2006 5:21:09 AM PDT by sportutegrl (This thread is useless without pix.)
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To: L.N. Smithee

It's a morality tale about the consequences of being a left-wing moonbat. Unintentially, of course.


19 posted on 10/21/2006 5:30:14 AM PDT by WashingtonSource
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To: L.N. Smithee

I think that a new play should be written about the catepillar bulldozer...how its feeling have been hurt ...maligned by the lib/dem muzzie loving left....

this is just as stupid as this play!!!

screw this dope usueful idiot of the muzzies...none even know her name and could care less about how she wasted her life.....

the true victim is catepilllar getting bad press....

otherwise....this shi-ite on off-broadway just portrays how bad plays are and how stupid people are in going and wasting money to see this crap!!!


20 posted on 10/21/2006 5:36:58 AM PDT by hnj_00
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To: Aaron0617

I did not follow this story well, and I've not seen this picture.

Unreal photograph!

If Arafat had the frame tilted just a bit more, it would look like a pizza delivery box.

That's one not so peaceful looking kid that was aborted.


21 posted on 10/21/2006 5:38:41 AM PDT by freema (Marine FRiend, 1stCuz2xRemoved, Mom, Aunt, Sister, Friend, Wife, Daughter, Niece)
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To: L.N. Smithee
While I agree with the sentiment, who was this piece targetted at? The writing is nonsensical.

Sentances like: the real-life character she is portraying was unattractive in the extreme, albeit pathetically so

What is pathetically unattractive?

or

Megan Dodds's performance as Rachel Corrie is frankly cartoonish.

What is a cartoonish perfomance? She runs off a cliff, hangs in the air for a few moments?

or such uncomprehensible babble as; To mistake such jejune disillusion for profundity

Uninteresting disillusion as profound? How about "Her mistaken ideas were dillusional not profound".

ugh,.

22 posted on 10/21/2006 5:53:46 AM PDT by Malsua
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To: YaYa123
Oh, well, drat!!! Another actor taking himself off my enjoyable list. And I so much liked Alan Rickman, not only for the villains but for his role in Sense and Sensibility!

Darn, darn, darn!!

23 posted on 10/21/2006 6:00:37 AM PDT by Miss Marple (Lord, please look over Mozart Lover's and Jemian's sons and keep them strong.)
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To: L.N. Smithee
Try Stupideté.
24 posted on 10/21/2006 6:21:24 AM PDT by Savage Beast (9/11 was never repeated thanks to President Bush and his expert--and ATTENTIVE--leadership!)
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To: sportutegrl

My first thought was Galaxy Quest - he was great in that. Oh well, great acting doesn't guarantee great depth of thought.


25 posted on 10/21/2006 6:44:18 AM PDT by Moonmad27
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To: L.N. Smithee

I liked the header: "Terror advocate dies in accident. Atrocious drama ensues."


26 posted on 10/21/2006 6:45:54 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: 1rudeboy

"When she finally does so by thrusting herself into the middle of the Israeli-Palestinian blood feud, she sees only what she passionately longs to see: "The vast majority of Palestinians right now, as far as I can tell, are engaging in Gandhian nonviolent resistance."

Best insight into the mind of a Pro-Palestinian-Terrorist- sympathizer-leftist.


27 posted on 10/21/2006 6:49:42 AM PDT by DesignerChick
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To: YaYa123

Alan Rickman is married to a Labor activist, hence I would assume his dopey radicalism.

He's given one or two good performances (especially in "The Barchester Chronicles" all the way back around 1980) but he's been sliding on his reputation ever since. He's got all sorts of vocal problems (I sat through nearly 4 hours of his horrendous "Anthony & Cleo" several years ago) where he drove me crazy with his lackluster, hoarse performance. He would do well to stop attempting playwriting and take a few acting lessons.


28 posted on 10/21/2006 6:58:35 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: Aaron0617
Didn't the Corries get kidnapped during one of their Palestinian suck up tours? They were only released when the head terrorists told the kidnappers to free the propaganda tools?

These two people are EXACTLY what is destroying America from within. If I were the mother, I would have used this photo op to plunge a knife into Arafat's throat. This weak moron and here eunuch husband are one of the best weapons the Muslims have, two white breads groveling and kissing their terrorist a@@es.
29 posted on 10/21/2006 7:04:43 AM PDT by ishabibble (ALL-AMERICAN INFIDEL)
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To: martin_fierro; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; SandyInSeattle; Darksheare; OSHA; ..



30 posted on 10/21/2006 7:27:54 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Natalie Maines fears me...)
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To: YaYa123
You forgot when he was upstaged by a rifle in "Quigley down under."

"I said I never had much use for them, I never said I didn't know HOW to use one."

Great Tom Seleck line.

31 posted on 10/21/2006 7:41:42 AM PDT by Abathar (Proudly catching hell for posting without reading the article since 2004)
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To: freema
"If Arafat had the frame tilted just a bit more, it would look like a pizza delivery box."

Yep.


32 posted on 10/21/2006 7:51:20 AM PDT by MaryFromMichigan
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To: L.N. Smithee

Wasn't Rachel Corrie one of our Darwin finalists?


33 posted on 10/21/2006 8:12:17 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
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To: Mercat

What happened to your tagline?


34 posted on 10/21/2006 8:23:03 AM PDT by Huntress (Proud owner of Norman/Norma, the transsexual attack cat.)
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To: L.N. Smithee

Ah yes... if only she'd studied physics instead of loopy lefty politics, she might be alive (and interesting) instead of dead (and boring).

Because Newton didn't just have three good ideas of motion. It's the Law.

And no one likes a flat girl.

Terry didn't answer one question that I have, though, which is: "at which point(s) in the play does Flat Rachel burn the US Flag?" Knowing Manhattan theatergoers, that ought to be the big applause scene.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F


35 posted on 10/21/2006 8:35:27 AM PDT by Criminal Number 18F (Build more lampposts... we've got plenty of traitors.)
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To: freema
Unreal photograph!

I believe you're right ... it's a photoshop job:

She looks much better in the one on the right....

36 posted on 10/21/2006 8:43:17 AM PDT by r9etb
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To: r9etb

I agree, a more realist version of a peace protester.
Really, isn't "peace protester" an oxymoron?
Any way we see her, she's a flat oxymoron.


37 posted on 10/21/2006 9:28:01 AM PDT by freema (Marine FRiend, 1stCuz2xRemoved, Mom, Aunt, Sister, Friend, Wife, Daughter, Niece)
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To: Criminal Number 18F
Maybe her death was just a right wing conspiracy? She's not really gone? She could have taken this picture: http://flatstanley.enoreo.on.ca/images/israel.jpg

38 posted on 10/21/2006 9:33:59 AM PDT by freema (Marine FRiend, 1stCuz2xRemoved, Mom, Aunt, Sister, Friend, Wife, Daughter, Niece)
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To: L.N. Smithee

Plays should be written first-and-foremost to entertain; those designed to teach, preach and screech usually stink to high heaven. This one sounds as flat as dear Rachel herself.


39 posted on 10/21/2006 9:35:45 AM PDT by Dionysius
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To: L.N. Smithee

Rachel tried to bulldoze her way into martyrdom, yet came over like a steam roller.


40 posted on 10/21/2006 9:48:44 AM PDT by fish hawk
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To: YaYa123

Maybe they drove a bulldozer full of money to his house.


41 posted on 10/21/2006 9:58:39 AM PDT by Trillian
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To: L.N. Smithee

"MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE.... AND I'M A MORON!"


There, I corrected the title......

What a POS, how could any person of sanity and judgment want to see such a pile of crap as this play?? Amazing how many leftists have a taste for shallow, puerile agitprop masquerading as "art"


42 posted on 10/21/2006 10:04:18 AM PDT by Enchante (There are 3 kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and the Drive-By Media)
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To: martin_fierro

LOL! St. Pancake.


43 posted on 10/21/2006 10:13:14 AM PDT by Ptarmigan (Ptarmigans will rise again!)
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To: L.N. Smithee; Slings and Arrows

Bulldozed by naiveté.... considerably worse than been mugged by reality!!


44 posted on 10/21/2006 10:21:06 AM PDT by Irish_Thatcherite (A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!|What if I lecture Americans about America?)
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To: MaryFromMichigan

"Yassir, how sweet! You bought her a coffin!"

45 posted on 10/21/2006 2:08:05 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Natalie Maines fears me...)
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To: Allegra
It left me craving a stack of pancakes.

Depending on the mix used, pancakes can be kinda fluffy. Rachel seems more like a crepe girl, to me.

46 posted on 10/21/2006 3:52:12 PM PDT by edpc (Violence is ALWAYS a solution. Maybe not the right one....but a solution nonetheless)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Lol!


47 posted on 10/21/2006 4:28:43 PM PDT by MaryFromMichigan
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To: edpc
Rachel seems more like a crepe girl, to me.

Full of crepe, anyway.

48 posted on 10/21/2006 9:35:16 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Natalie Maines fears me...)
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To: freema
Maybe her death was just a right wing conspiracy?

More of a right-caterpillar-track conspiracy.

Actually I heard she wasn't a really firmly committed leftist. The kids at DailyKos were saying she was "kind of a squish."

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

49 posted on 10/22/2006 9:06:20 AM PDT by Criminal Number 18F (Build more lampposts... we've got plenty of traitors.)
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To: Criminal Number 18F

She's might not have been a firmly committed leftist before, but one wrong turn and OOPs, there it is!


50 posted on 10/22/2006 6:47:38 PM PDT by freema (Marine FRiend, 1stCuz2xRemoved, Mom, Aunt, Sister, Friend, Wife, Daughter, Niece)
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