Discouraging
I’m watching an episode of The Daily Show from earlier this week. Charlize Theron is the guest. She is promoting her movie about the WTO protests in Seattle a few years ago. Disturbing thing #1: they showed a clip from the movie with riot gear wearing cops, tear gas, etc. Stewart jokes that this is what his walk to work looked like every day during the Repubican convention. Then goes on to kind of casually toss out that there were all kinds of protesters and cops in riot gear, but you didn’t see it in the coverage. WTF? Why not. Disturbing thing #2: In discussing the film, Theron says that she didn’t really know anything about the WTO before doing the film, but knows now how it effects every aspect of our lives from what you eat for breakfast in the morning onward. I’ve long thought of Charlize Theron as someone on the smarter end of the so-called Hollywood elite. Hearing that she knew nothing about the WTO until doing the movie was discouraging enough on its own, but I was more upset by the implication of just how few people probably know or understand about about the WTO, GATT, etc. How do you even debate what we’re doing as a nation when most people don’t even understand what it is that we’re doing. Half the people who are somewhat familiar with these things just think they equal “free trade” and are, therefore, good.
