Palmer Events Center
The Revolution Televised Is Pure Political Manipulation
RECEIVED Tue., Jan. 20, 2004
Marc Savlov,
I honestly think that you're a great movie critic. Sometimes I don't agree with you, but that's what makes a good critic; he/she has to be able to write reviews that generate a response from the reader, and you certainly accomplish that with each one of your reviews.
Now ... regarding your review of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised [Film Listings, Jan. 9]. Well, honestly as a movie, it's a great movie. As a documentary, it definitely was a great stroke of luck for those guys to be able to get all of that great footage.
However, as a Venezuelan, someone who has been deeply affected by the actual political situation, and the Chavez "regime," I would have liked to see in your review some type of warning for the average moviegoer, that this documentary just projects a small piece of a huge problem. Man, I can't even begin to explain my experience when I went to see this movie at the SXSW screening. People clapping, booing the so-called "corporate slime balls" that tried to take a country out of the hands of the people ... man ... pure bullshit. A whole bunch of people dressed with Diesel shoes and what not, with their $500 badges, clapping to something that is as serious as the life of my family itself. It just sucks. It's something I would accept from ignorant rednecks from Arkansas, but not from the ones that pretend to be educated and "open minded" honestly. This whole revolution is as fake as a $35 bill. I grew up in a lower middle class family in Venezuela, and I have experienced the bullshit that this so-called revolution has brought to my country. On the other hand, I don't blame Chavez for the actual situation. I do blame the former presidents who got us to this point, and that made Chavez a hero. But anyways ... I just wanted to let you know that the documentary as a movie is great, but whoever goes to see it needs to know that there's more to it. Why? Because it is just not a movie. It's a slice of a history process that, believe me, is really far from over at this point. It is definitely not just another movie.
I honestly think that you're a great movie critic. Sometimes I don't agree with you, but that's what makes a good critic; he/she has to be able to write reviews that generate a response from the reader, and you certainly accomplish that with each one of your reviews.
Now ... regarding your review of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised [Film Listings, Jan. 9]. Well, honestly as a movie, it's a great movie. As a documentary, it definitely was a great stroke of luck for those guys to be able to get all of that great footage.
However, as a Venezuelan, someone who has been deeply affected by the actual political situation, and the Chavez "regime," I would have liked to see in your review some type of warning for the average moviegoer, that this documentary just projects a small piece of a huge problem. Man, I can't even begin to explain my experience when I went to see this movie at the SXSW screening. People clapping, booing the so-called "corporate slime balls" that tried to take a country out of the hands of the people ... man ... pure bullshit. A whole bunch of people dressed with Diesel shoes and what not, with their $500 badges, clapping to something that is as serious as the life of my family itself. It just sucks. It's something I would accept from ignorant rednecks from Arkansas, but not from the ones that pretend to be educated and "open minded" honestly. This whole revolution is as fake as a $35 bill. I grew up in a lower middle class family in Venezuela, and I have experienced the bullshit that this so-called revolution has brought to my country. On the other hand, I don't blame Chavez for the actual situation. I do blame the former presidents who got us to this point, and that made Chavez a hero. But anyways ... I just wanted to let you know that the documentary as a movie is great, but whoever goes to see it needs to know that there's more to it. Why? Because it is just not a movie. It's a slice of a history process that, believe me, is really far from over at this point. It is definitely not just another movie.
Take care,
Sergio Leoni
Sergio Leoni