James Lileks rocks my world

Undertoad · 12-06-2002, 12:29 PM

http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive...01.html#120206

(He's seen an advance copy of "Uncle Saddam” which documents's Hussein's personal life.')

The documentary gave us a glimpse of his flair for monument building, and you couldn’t help but pause the tape and slo-mo it for a close look, since all these places will be smoking holes in a few weeks. There was even a brief interview with his Speer, a Frenchman (surprise!) who designs some of these palaces. And there was a segment on the mosque Saddam is building - bigger than anything anywhere else, of course, surrounded by an immense lake, and boasting an island imprinted with the rills of Saddam’s fingerprint.

There was, perhaps, 30 seconds of footage from a children’s hospital.

That’s all they got before the guides moved them along.

A little girl trailed an IV bag on the floor.

The floor was pitted and cracked. The camera zoomed in on a crushed cigarette butt.

juju · 12-06-2002, 04:24 PM

I saw this film a couple of hours ago in my Cultural Anthropology class. It was pretty informative and entertaining. However, near the end, it started getting into the internal politics of Saddam's family (all of whom he's promoted to positions of power), and I just sort of got lost amid all the information. The film detailed nearly his entire family tree (way too many names to remember if you ask me).

Saddam has promoted everyone he's even remotely related to some high office. It's pretty crazy. One of Saddams relatives used to be a taxi driver, and now he's like a governer or something. Of course, he loves to torture and execute his citizens (don't all taxi drivers?).

It actually showed Saddam addressing the criticism of him spending all the money on his palaces, and not on medicine. I forget exactly what he said, but it was throughly confusing and made no sense at all. It was something like, "Food is unimportant. We should aspire to permanant things, like buildings. People shouldn't work for food."

juju · 12-06-2002, 04:28 PM

It's one thing to be told that he spends all of his money on elaborate palaces and none on medicine and food, but then it's quite another to actually SEE the elaborate palaces.

Also, the man's face is EVERYWHERE. Jesus Christ, can't he get enough of himself?

I just read the link, and I wanted to comment on this part:
<blockquote>And there was a segment on the mosque Saddam is building - bigger than anything anywhere else, of course, surrounded by an immense lake, and boasting an island imprinted with the rills of Saddam’s fingerprint. </blockquote>
This mosque he's building is supposed to be a lot bigger and taller than the one in Jerusalem, something nooone else has had the nerve to do thus far. And the thing about the island / fingerprint is just very, very strange and egotistical. An island that is a giant fingerprint of Saddam. What the fuck?

Uryoces · 12-26-2002, 03:30 PM

To semi-steal a quote from Grosse Point Blank, the man's dossier reads like a demon's resume. The only thing stranger and more unconscionable is the US supporting the man knowing who he is.

I consider myself fairly pragmatic on this issue; take Saddam out. He could simply not wake up one morning. "Heart attack"; trying to do too much.

The asinine thing is that the US would not stoop so low as to assassinate people, but we're going to commit billions of dollars and many lives to fight for oil.

No surprise here that it's all about money.

Undertoad · 12-26-2002, 04:55 PM

The problem with just taking Saddam out is that then you've got one of his sons in charge, which could be much worse.

12-06-2002, 04:24 PM	#2
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	I saw this film a couple of hours ago in my Cultural Anthropology class. It was pretty informative and entertaining. However, near the end, it started getting into the internal politics of Saddam's family (all of whom he's promoted to positions of power), and I just sort of got lost amid all the information. The film detailed nearly his entire family tree (way too many names to remember if you ask me). Saddam has promoted everyone he's even remotely related to some high office. It's pretty crazy. One of Saddams relatives used to be a taxi driver, and now he's like a governer or something. Of course, he loves to torture and execute his citizens (don't all taxi drivers?). It actually showed Saddam addressing the criticism of him spending all the money on his palaces, and not on medicine. I forget exactly what he said, but it was throughly confusing and made no sense at all. It was something like, "Food is unimportant. We should aspire to permanant things, like buildings. People shouldn't work for food." Last edited by juju; 12-06-2002 at 04:30 PM.

12-06-2002, 04:28 PM	#3
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	It's one thing to be told that he spends all of his money on elaborate palaces and none on medicine and food, but then it's quite another to actually SEE the elaborate palaces. Also, the man's face is EVERYWHERE. Jesus Christ, can't he get enough of himself? I just read the link, and I wanted to comment on this part: <blockquote>And there was a segment on the mosque Saddam is building - bigger than anything anywhere else, of course, surrounded by an immense lake, and boasting an island imprinted with the rills of Saddam’s fingerprint. </blockquote> This mosque he's building is supposed to be a lot bigger and taller than the one in Jerusalem, something nooone else has had the nerve to do thus far. And the thing about the island / fingerprint is just very, very strange and egotistical. An island that is a giant fingerprint of Saddam. What the fuck? Last edited by juju; 12-06-2002 at 04:38 PM.

12-06-2002, 12:29 PM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	James Lileks rocks my world http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive...01.html#120206 (He's seen an advance copy of "Uncle Saddam” which documents's Hussein's personal life.') The documentary gave us a glimpse of his flair for monument building, and you couldn’t help but pause the tape and slo-mo it for a close look, since all these places will be smoking holes in a few weeks. There was even a brief interview with his Speer, a Frenchman (surprise!) who designs some of these palaces. And there was a segment on the mosque Saddam is building - bigger than anything anywhere else, of course, surrounded by an immense lake, and boasting an island imprinted with the rills of Saddam’s fingerprint. There was, perhaps, 30 seconds of footage from a children’s hospital. That’s all they got before the guides moved them along. A little girl trailed an IV bag on the floor. The floor was pitted and cracked. The camera zoomed in on a crushed cigarette butt.

12-26-2002, 03:30 PM	#4
Uryoces 2nd Covenant, yo Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Pugetropolis Posts: 583	To semi-steal a quote from Grosse Point Blank, the man's dossier reads like a demon's resume. The only thing stranger and more unconscionable is the US supporting the man knowing who he is. I consider myself fairly pragmatic on this issue; take Saddam out. He could simply not wake up one morning. "Heart attack"; trying to do too much. The asinine thing is that the US would not stoop so low as to assassinate people, but we're going to commit billions of dollars and many lives to fight for oil. No surprise here that it's all about money.

12-26-2002, 04:55 PM	#5
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	The problem with just taking Saddam out is that then you've got one of his sons in charge, which could be much worse.

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