ESL eee re ees Drugs, capitalism and two new films COLORS. Directed by Dennis Hopper. Screenplay by Michael Schiffer. Starring Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Maria Conchita Alonso. ABOVE THE LAW. Directed by Andrew Davis: Written by Steven Seagal and Andrew Davis. Starring Steven Seagal, Pam Grier. At local theatres. Two major breaking news stories about drugs have appeared recently side by side on the evening news: the involvement of con- tras with U.S. officials in international drug trafficking, and the roundup of over a thou- sand drug dealing street gang members in Los Angeles. Curiously, each news item is reported as a distinctly separate and isolated event, even though alarming evidence links the highly profitable U.S. government involvement in drugs and arms dealing, both globally and domestically. This connection is deliber- ately severed because the trail would inevit- ably lead right to the'heart of the corrupt capitalist system itself. Movies, too, have been notorious in fragmenting the connections between such related events to avoid facing hard truths and coming to grips with what must be questioned and changed. ; In Colors, a fact-based police drama depicting a meaningless, bloody cycle of violence among East L.A. ghetto street gangs and police alike, but little else. The audience is subjected to an interminable and endless bloodbath between rival gangs, the Crips and Bloods (whose real life members even star as brawling extras) — reinforcing negative racist stereotypes about ghetto youth as the ‘“‘other,”” or sub-human, and hopelessly entangled in a “just the way things are” existence. A flashy rap sound- track even succeeds in glamourizing the drug-and-death lifestyle. Aside from random casual police assas- sinations of these kids, nothing is shown beyond: the isolated subculture — the social problems plaguing the inner cities, the poverty, abandonment, joblessness and theft of future that under Reaganism has left the local drug dealer practically the only equal opportunity employer around. The only scene hinting at a larger reality outside street gang life is a heated commun- ity meeting where local residents become so -caught up in their anger and frustration that they hopelessly drown each other out. The even larger reality about how any of these drugs and military hi-tech weaponry man- ages to flow freely through the streets of poor communities in the first place is never even suggested. In contrast, Above The Law, an other- wise standard shoot-and-chase movie, tries _ to confront such burning questions. The filmmakers, who wrote the script “based on several known realities about CIA complic- ity in narcotics trafficking for the purposes of funding covert operations,” make some attempt to rise above the formula plot and delve into CIA terror here and around the world. In Above the Law, an idealistic CIA recruit, played by Steven Seagal, is con- fronted with jarring truths about torture, assassinations and international drug deal- _ing by the agency during the Vietnam War. Returning to the U.S. and believing he has left all this horror behind, Seagal, nowa Chicago cop, stumbles upon a complex CIA network involving drugs, torture, Sanctuary Movement target murders, polit- ical assassination, and very active U.S. government death squad complicity. Afro- American actress Pam Grier stars as Sea- gal’s partner in a role where she’s generally confined to the shadows. But for a change, a smart, strong woman gets to play the brains of the team. Above The Law does fall into much of the same violence and racist stereotyping as Colors, especially regarding Latino roles. But in the closing scene, the filmmakers seemingly struggle against the thin material they’ve been provided with and tell it like it is — how the CIA has “started and According to a recent item in a U.S. fraternal paper, the People’s Daily World, a program by the Public Broad- casting System we mentioned a few weeks ago — “Back in the USSR” — was an exercise in cold war propa- ganda. That’s the way it sometimes works out when we preview something we haven’t seen. So in the spirit of view- ing adventure, we note another upcom- ing PBS feature called, ““The Defence of Europe.” A co-production of the series Front- line and Time magazine, the program examines the effect of the recent Soviet peace initiatives on NATO and the Uni- ted States’ “future security.” It contains such gems as an assessment of whether U.S. or Warsaw Pact forces would win a “conventional” conflict. But the feature also acknowledges that the Warsaw Pact allowed NATO commanders to observe Pact manoeuvres in the strategically sen- sitive Fulda Gap. NATO leaders are apparently “startled” at this openness since the Gap is supposed to be a “main invasion route” for Pact forces. The program may actually recognize that the reason for this is because the peace initiatives are indeed groundbreak- ing and genuine. Whether it does so not, Peace initiatives viewed “The Defence of Europe” will likely pro- vide a glimpse into the minds running NATO and how they view the European situation. It’s on KCTS, Channel 9 in most areas of B.C., for one hour begin- ning at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24. The program is closed-captioned for the hear- ing impaired. Nuclear-free Palau Peace activists concerned with making the south Pacific Ocean nuclear-weapons free have often hailed the stance main- tained by the government of the tiny islands nation, Palau. A client state of the United States — despite U.S. vows to aid Palau in developing an independent ~ economy when granted United Nations protector status after World War II — the nation disallows the use, stor- age, stationing or transfer of any nuclear materials on its territory. This is a consti- tutional provision the U.S. wants to see vetoed. : The story of Palau, rocked of late bya struggle to free itself from U.S. domina- tion, is featured on the Frontline show, “Trouble in Paradise.” It airs Tuesday, May 31 at 9 p.m. on KCTS. Closed- captioned. 10 » Pacific Tribune, May 11, 1988 of violence. financed every war we’ve been in,” has “wiped out entire cultures” and how “not one CIA man has ever been tried, much less accused” of thousands of worldwide SEAN PENN, ROBERT DUVALLIN COLORS... ameaningless and endless parade murders. That makes Above the Law 4 politically compelling and hard hitting cinematic Reagan buster. ‘ 1a — Prairie Miller, People’s Daily Wor 1988 Socialist Register _ engenders left debate SOCIALIST REGISTER 1988: Problems of Socialist Renewal: East and West. Edited by Ralph Miliband, Leo Panitch and John Saville. Merlin Press. 447 pages. Available at the People’s Co-op Bookstore. The Socialist Register 1988 deals with the problems of socialist renewal, east and west. Edited and written by academic ideologues who, with one exception, start from a left social-democratic viewpoint, this book should help to promote debate and dia- logue on the left. (The exception is an inter- view with a Soviet historian, reproduced from Soviet Culture.) Editors Ralph Miliband, Leo Panitch and John Saville state in the preface that neither they nor the contributors necessarily agree with everything in the book. The collection deals mainly with current changes in the Soviet Union and China, the problems of Communist and Social Demo- cratic parties in the west, and the U.S. politi- cal scene. pee The editors approach the current changes in the Soviet Union with some optimism: “It is by no means unreasonable to think of a convergence which would bring together left socialists, communists and many other progressive people. What makes this all the more possible is that today there are fewer fundamental differences. . ..” Yuri Afanasyev, rector of the Moscow State Historical Archive Institute, is the only Soviet contributor. Taking the histori- cal high ground, he writes: “The value of experience, our struggle, our sufferings and our hopes are our contribution to world history. If Lenin were alive today, he would probably make new adjustments and intro- duce new changes. It is a sobering thought to realise that his essential ideas are not dated. Lenin regarded Marx in this way, and if we are to follow the Leninist tradi- tional, we must regard Lenin in the same way.” The other four contributions on the Soviet Union rely heavily on the Soviet news media and party documents from that country, and include extensive footnotes. Some scholars may dispute a particular point of emphasis or conclusion, but in the main, these articles do indicate that the authors are searching for the full meaning of perestroika and glasnost. For those who want a better picture of the dynamics of the revolution in Nicara- gua, the two articles on that subject should be helpful. One is by Carlos M. Villas, co- ordinator of the Nicaraguan Centre for Research Investigation (Atlantic Coast). The other is by George Ruchwarger, who has been working with the Nicaraguan CO- operative movement since 1984. F They describe the revolution as one 0 national liberation “directed against impel ialist domination as manifested in its COn- — temporary neo-colonial and dependent capitalist form.” But Ruchwarger makes the point that the leaders do not reject the , idea of a future transition to socialism. The essay on China offers an interesting description of the economic, social and pol- itical changes that are taking place in that country. For those who are interested in the future of the Italian and French Communist parties — the largest in Western Europe — the two essays on that subject should be informative. However, there is not enough first-hand material available by which to judge these essays, which is not the case 1n respect to articles on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In his ‘critique of the British Labour Party, Panitch, a professor of political science at York University who has written many articles and a book on the subject, states: “...new attempts at socialist renewal will have to concentrate less on reforming _ the Labour Party and more on building a long-term independent campaign for dem- ocratic socialism that transcends the limits of parliamentary paternalism.” His com- ments on conflicts between the parliamen- tary leaders and the mass base of the Labour Party are very perceptive. 4 The last two contributions deal with social movements and class politics in the United States, and include a timely evalua- tion of the Rainbow Coalition of Demo- cratic presidential candidate contender Rev. Jesse Jackson. For those who want solid information about declining living stand- ards in the U.S., an examination of the trade union movement — relatively much weaker than its Canadian counterpart — and an idea of many of the adverse pressures that would be directed against Canadian workers if the free trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada become law, these articles are recommended. With a caution that responsibility for the contents rests with the authors, this book is recommended reading. It should help to stimulate an ongoing dialogue and debate on the left. — Jack Phillips