Paper Tiger

Recalling adolescent activism…

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Anton: A friend I found recently on social media I had known wrote a poem. Back in the mid-60s, at university.

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Paul: About you?

Mai Long, 1958:
Chinese poster

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Anton: He referred to me as a tiger. But “a paper tiger”.

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Paul: Like you weren’t a real tiger?

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Anton: But he finished it with “Then we saw this paper tiger had atomic teeth.” At the time I thought it was a most original metaphor for my wannabe activism.

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Paul: And then you found out that it was a Mao metaphor.

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Anton: Yes. It hadn’t been such an original poem after all. Perhaps he meant that my activism wasn’t so original either.

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Voice-over

Mao’s reference to paper tiger in 1956 was to reactionaries, American imperialism, the atomic bomb. Called them paper tigers meaning they weren’t as dangerous as they looked. But the bomb, well that could be dangerous. Hence the Khrushchevian reference to atomic teeth.

Propaganda poster by Mai Long from 1958. Man wearing a tiger’s mask and holding an American flag. Chinese farmers, soldiers and workers ridiculing him.

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A Battle to Remember: Napier War Memorial

The film is posted...

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Gallup: Much reaction?

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Neilsen: Over 200 viewings in the first day.

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Gallup: Is that good?

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Neilsen: Well, if you are an absolute nobody you might get three or four. If you are a celebrity or covering an international disaster, you might get thousands.

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Gallup: So you’re in the middle?

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Neilsen: We’ll see. The speakers have passion. As one of the commentators puts it: “We had the facts, we had the history, and we had the emotion.” The issue is attracting traffic.

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Voice-over

How some citizens of Napier persuaded the city council to reinstate the city's iconic war memorial after commercial interests had commandeered the site.

https://youtu.be/YthzRv5gF5I

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Turkish film: Taksim Hold'em

What movie did you see?

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The set

Louis: Taksim Hold’em. Four guys play poker while police and demonstrators fight on the streets outside. The dense, symbolic, clever dialog is a debate between the four friends as they argue whether to get involved or not. Books on the shelves behind reflect their characters and beliefs. A goldfish bowl is symbolic of the enclosed world they swim in.

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Auguste: Was there any ad-libbing?

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Louis: Apparently not. Its origin had been a group friends being close to a demonstration but who elected to play football instead. That premise became a script passed back and forth and was rewritten many times. It was a tight script to work from.

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The crew at TIFF

Auguste: Did you ask a question in the Q&A?

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Louis: I wanted to ask if it was conceived of as a stage play and if being shot almost entirely in one room had reduced logistical complexities and production costs. I put my hand up six times but the chair didn’t send the microphone my way.

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Voice-over

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Afterwards the producer came up to Louis and asked what his question was. He answered that although it was written as a film script, it might become a theater drama. And that taking place in one room had certainly lowered production complexities and costs. THAT was a producer with good PR skills!

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The unfunniness of anti-Trump memes

Watching the airport chaos unfold…

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Bill: After the chaos affecting certain people at certain US airports and beyond, I was looking for a smart anti-Trump meme. But I gave up.

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George: You gave up?

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Bill: Googling "anti-Trump memes" throws up an unmanageable number. Hundreds. And they're not funny. Because they are almost all so true. The only usable subtle one I found was about education.

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George: And this is only his first week in office. Fortunately, many journalists have become a de facto opposition party and reporting on and questioning his policies.

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Bill: Keep looking for ways to counter this insanity at the top. Marches. Social media. Legal suits. It’s going to be a drawn-out battle.

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Voice-over

This floundering administration with its malevolent incompetent leader could push its critics, which include more than half the public, Democrats, disaffected Republicans and journalists, to firm up their strategies.

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