We, the
Icy Summit of Torre Egars, recognize that artist intellectual types
sometimes get a little too full of themselves. So we shall forgive the
pretentious, bombastic arrogance of Emile de Antonio, for we are not
studying his personality, but his work.
Antonio's work teaches us,as media artists, to be morally obligated
to use our powers for good, and not evil. He says; "...what the
government will never surrender is its control of and use of the media
because that's where the power is. Power no longer resides in the universities,
as it once may have, but in television aerials." (Kellner &
Streible 88) This is very relavant to today's media artists if they
hope to make change. How
does one subvert the control of dominant media and reach the American
public with alternative messages? The problems of manipulative newscasts
are as present as ever. Antonio says of U.S. television; "the war
was being hidden by making it part of daily news programming, sticking
the burning village between deodorant and Cadillac commercials."
(Kellner & Steible 100) Hmmm...anyone know what's going on in Afghanistan
right now? Or, more importantly, does anyone care? Antonio is right
about a lot of things, and his work definitely reflects his moral standards.
Yet it
is still so obscure. Rather than changing the way the American people
think, he influenced a small group of "intellectuals", and
now he goes down in history as one of those people that tried to subvert
the flow of dominant media, but the flow can't be stopped. Antonio's
philosophy is notably opposite of Leni Reifenstahl when it comes to
aesthetics. He says of "Point of Order";"the aesthetics
in that film was the politics...that's what film is about, not beautiful
shots." (Kellner & Steible 110)
Antonio is admirable for his courage. He set moral standards for the
purpose of media, and he achieved them in his work, overcoming obstacles
of unconstitutional censorship and harrassment by the FBI. He is the
filmmaker for the revolution. They say "the revolution will not
be televised", and I wonder if that's necessarily true with guys
like Antonio around. That was an interesting conflict in "Underground",
when one of the subjects comments that cameras do not fit in well with
their normal style. By creating
"Underground", Antonio was documenting a revolutionary passion
that has inspired me to keep caring, even 30 years later. Perhaps I,
the writer of this paper, should add a disclaimer, that my views on
revolution do not necessarily reflect the attitude of individual members
of "The Icy Summit of Torre Egars". Though I, the writer of
this paper, wish that Antonio would lead us in the great revolution,
to destroy media as we know it and build it again from the ground up,
to burn and pillage the dominant ideologies created by corporate advertising
and brainwashed barbie doll newscasters, to bomb censorship, crush the
fascist rule of major networks, and reinvent the
entire ethical system of our country...I would hate to accuse my group
mates of such radical ideas just to call this a "synthesis paper"...However,
I think we can all agree that Antonio's philosophies and work inspire
this sort of leftist angst, and that can only be a good thing."Left-wing
is like a flame. It doesn't burn constantly. You have to
replenish it and refurbish it and recharge it." (Kellner and Streible
114)