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The first time I saw Independence
Day was on video, not in the theater, and I watched it then
three times. (In two days.)
Ah, stereotypes. Sometimes they work.
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Now, I admit
that I am a UFO freak. In my youth, I was a Trekkie. In my adulthood,
I am an X-Filer. In between I went to every science fiction film
I could get my pocket on. And my students will tell you that one
of my favorite teaching films is Close Encounters of a Third
Kind. So this is a reviewer with an attitude.
I loved "Independence
Day".
I loved it because
the good guys win, because the special effects are incredible,
because nobody smokes cigarettes (though there are lots of cigars),
because they risk their lives to save the dog, because a woman
drives a truck well, because every type of personality shows up
on screen (hopeful New Agers holding signs "Take Me With
You", Madison Avenue executives, farm workers, Viet Nam vets,
military macho types…), because it doesn't deny real life
(people are killed, get divorced, screw up, lie, and yes, there
are government coverups…) because every family constellation
in America is represented (happily married, single parent, stepfamily…),
because it shows that terrorism is bad because people get dead
from it, because there are serious value dilemmas (should the
president nuke the aliens to save the world if it means nuking
Americans in the process?), because the conflicted nations around
the globe (Arab, Israeli, Chinese, Russian…) work together
to rescue humanity, and most of all, because the world is saved
by the combination of a cute and clever WASP president, a flippant
gutsy black pilot and a sensitive computer-nerd Jew.
That's what America
is all about. Ah, stereotypes. Sometimes they work.
In case those
of you who haven't seen the film or the video haven't figured
it out, let me sum it up in one sentence. Well, maybe five:
- Bad aliens invade the world and
threaten to annihilate humanity
- Had the CIA not kept information
from the president, the invasion might not have been prevented,
but it could have been repelled earlier.
- Unlike the former CIA official
in the movie, the aliens are straightforward and honest. (President:
"What do you want us to do?" Alien: "Die.")
- The combo I mentioned earlier put
their skills together to "dis" the bad guys.
- 5) Two out of the three heroes get
their woman in the end.
If you want to
give yourselves a strong dose of fun, action, off-beat humor and
patriotism, prepare a giant bowl of popcorn and carrot sticks
and curl up under a warm comforter on a rainy night and watch
Independence Day together.
Twice.
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