Howard Zinn - You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
by Deb Ellis, Denis Mueller
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alice Walker, Daniel Berrigan, Howard Zinn, Matt Damon, Noam ChomskyDirector: Deb Ellis, Denis Mueller
Brand: First RUN Features
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 78 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
Movie Reviews of Howard Zinn - You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
Movie Review: "That's What's Meant When They Say The 60s Ruined Education"
Summary: 5 Stars
...In other words, the people thankfully awoke from their slumber of indifference. Having an interest in fellow dissident Noam Chomsky, I had certainly heard of Zinn, but admit that I've not read any of his material aside from some that's available online, so I was glad when Sundance Channel began including this doc in their line up. The title of this insightful film alone makes for emphatic advice. With an eye toward the eternal historic struggles of people against brute power, it traces the history of Zinn's life as professor and passionate civil rights champion of conscience, of encouraging the common people who are always the victims of power's wealth and weaponry.
As many times as I've seen stock footage of the civil unrest of the 60s/early 70s, it always astonishes me, really moves me, actually, to see such large masses of average people who instinctively knew to band together in solidarity against unjust and corrupt power structures.
Nowadays, even many supposed progressives disavow civil unrest and protest{Jon Stewart's Daily Show, for example}with a condescending sneer...what the hell?! Am I missing something here?
As Zinn says, civil unrest is *supposed to* disturb people! That's the point; to take steps toward rattling the populace from their stupified complacency, to get more people to LISTEN TO THEIR HEARTS! It's so foolish to believe that, given the magnitude of numbers that we have over those who comprise corrupt power structures, that there's "nothing we can do."
What nonsense! ...and strategic nonsense, at that.
Don't you see that you've been duped into swallowing that lie as a means of preventing the solidarity of a democratic republic forcing its government to heed its plight?! That is, forcing them to do what they're{supposedly}elected to do: SERVE WE THE PEOPLE. It's this line of questioning and thinking that fuels Zinn's spiritual urgency, and man, is it contagious - which is exactly why those in power use our so-called "free press" as their own Public Relations agency; to quell and discredit any voice that opposes the criminality and injustice of those in power, and to obfuscate and de-emphasize elementary truth and justice.
There's a great spot in the film where Chomsky is discussing public reaction to Zinn's 1967 book, "Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal." Claiming it was so far removed from the propagandized view of the invasion, "people couldn't even read it, they couldn't understand the words." Not meaning, of course, that they failed to understand definitions or semantics, but that what Zinn was conveying was in such stark contrast to what most people had been "instructed" to believe. Sadly, little has changed even though there's likely more of us awake now than back then, with the difference being more of us are online instead of in the streets.
This film isn't as comprehensive as the obelisk doc about Chomsky and the use of propaganda in media, "Manufacturing Consent," and although a more in depth doc on Zinn would be welcomed, this one runs about an hour, and is capable of reaching more people in a timely way. For so many people, it's a matter of waiting for the shoe to drop; most will fight for truth and justice if they're able to overcome their timidity, which is why solidarity is so crucial. The film's closing quote from Zinn is spot on: "To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic; it is based on the fact that human history is a history of not only cruelty, but of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. And if we do act, in however small away, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future - the future is an infinite succession of 'presents,' and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."
"You Can't Be Neutral on A Moving Train" is a wonderful introduction to a deeply compassionate thinker, and resonates with the good inside everyone. Thanks for the inspiration, Howard.
Summary of Howard Zinn - You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
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