Frank Miller on the state of our nation.
I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find that Frank Miller, one of my favorite writer-directors, was not a raving moonbat. I hadn’t heard him comment on politics before, so I always assumed he was something of a liberal, since the comic book industry is so polluted with left-wing work. He turns out, however, to be quite informed. Here are some snippets from his interview with NPR:
NPR: […] Frank, what’s the state of the union?
FM: Well, I don’t really find myself worrying about the state of the union as I do the state of the home-front. It seems to me quite obvious that our country and the entire Western World is up against an existential foe that knows exactly what it wants … and we’re behaving like a collapsing empire. Mighty cultures are almost never conquered, they crumble from within. And frankly, I think that a lot of Americans are acting like spoiled brats because of everything that isn’t working out perfectly every time.
NPR: Um, and when you say we don’t know what we want, what’s the cause of that do you think?
FM: Well, I think part of that is how we’re educated. We’re constantly told all cultures are equal, and every belief system is as good as the next. And generally that America was to be known for its flaws rather than its virtues. When you think about what Americans accomplished, building these amazing cities, and all the good its done in the world, it’s kind of disheartening to hear so much hatred of America, not just from abroad, but internally.
NPR: A lot of people would say what America has done abroad has led to the doubts and even the hatred of its own citizens.
FM: Well, okay, then let’s finally talk about the enemy. For some reason, nobody seems to be talking about who we’re up against, and the sixth century barbarism that they actually represent. These people saw people’s heads off. They enslave women, they genitally mutilate their daughters, they do not behave by any cultural norms that are sensible to us. I’m speaking into a microphone that never could have been a product of their culture, and I’m living in a city where three thousand of my neighbors were killed by thieves of airplanes they never could have built.
NPR: As you look at people around you, though, why do you think they’re so, as you would put it, self-absorbed, even whiny?
FM: Well, I’d say it’s for the same reason the Athenians and Romans were. We’ve got it a little good right now. Where I would fault President Bush the most, was that in the wake of 9/11, he motivated our military, but he didn’t call the nation into a state of war. He didn’t explain that this would take a communal effort against a common foe. So we’ve been kind of fighting a war on the side, and sitting off like a bunch of Romans complaining about it. Also, I think that George Bush has an uncanny knack of being someone people hate. I thought Clinton inspired more hatred than any President I had ever seen, but I’ve never seen anything like Bush-hatred. It’s completely mad.
NPR: And as you talk to people in the streets, the people you meet at work, socially, how do you explain this to them?
FM: Mainly in historical terms, mainly saying that the country that fought Okinawa and Iwo Jima is now spilling precious blood, but so little by comparison, it’s almost ridiculous. And the stakes are as high as they were then. Mostly I hear people say, ‘Why did we attack Iraq?’ for instance. Well, we’re taking on an idea. Nobody questions why after Pearl Harbor we attacked Nazi Germany. It was because we were taking on a form of global fascism, we’re doing the same thing now.
NPR: Well, they did declare war on us, but…
FM: Well, so did Iraq.
If you’re unfamiliar with Frank Miller’s work, he’s the creator of Sin City, 300, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. He is widely regarded one of the greatest comic book authors in history, and along with other modern authors Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) and Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), helped revive the stagnant industry in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
You can listen to the interview over at Little Green Footballs.
Posted by Rory
January 26th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
How great was that interview and I could just imagine the interviewer having heart failure at the educated and intense response of this man whom it would seem they did not have an idea of his political views either, funny.
January 26th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
The liberal NPR interviewer probably was holding on to a cross the whole time.
January 27th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I was struck by Miller’s emotional intensity and discomfort, like he was trying to keep the depth of his feelings in check while being intellectually cogent at the same time. The interview ends abruptly as he seems to choke back the grief of 9/11 which occurred a few miles from where he was living at the time.
I’ve heard Miller interviewed on NPR before and he did not sound anything like this.
January 27th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
hg,
The interviewer is probably still on an
oxygen bottle!!
January 28th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Well, I don’t know about that particular interviewer, but Miller has spoken explicitly about his position on Iraq and the War on Terror, on two other NPR programs. I assume they included Miller for balance.
They followed him immediately with an all-but-weeping woman going on about how George Bush is disregarding the American soldiers being killed or maimed in Iraq.
January 28th, 2007 at 10:39 am
During the NPR segment, Miller was the only one supporting the Iraq War. Even Merle Haggard was against it or didn’t understand the point, and spoke as though his children were on the verge of being drafted.
In the context of the entire show, Miller sounded quite dark, almost deranged. I agree with him and appreciate his courage in speaking out, but he was in a lonely spot and I’m not sure how well his appearance worked. He may have been aware of this and that’s why he sounded so strained.
February 16th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I saw “300″ yesterday at the berlin film festival. for those interested, it’s a shameless allegory of the iraq war. though i disagree with the iraq war and Miller’s views, it was a fine movie.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Miller sounded like he is out of control. He was ignorant, uninformed and nearly hysterical.
People who are familiar with his work said I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Anytime you are to the right of Merle Haggard I think you need to check yourself.
March 5th, 2007 at 2:45 am
From Misguided to Utterly Wrong: A List of Things I Disagreed With Today
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March 5th, 2007 at 10:48 am
I think a lot of people assume that because of a couple of songs he did in the ’60s Merle Haggard is some kind of right-winger. Seems to me I’ve read some things he’s said in more recent years that suggest otherwise.
March 11th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Miller is “informed”? All of the sections of his comments that are bolded are wrong. 1) Iraq did not declare war on the US. 2) All of the 9/11 terrorists were highly educated and several were in fact engineers trained in the West. This doesn’t make what they did any less horribly wrong, but it also shows that Miller doesn’t know his facts. So several of the terrorists probably could have designed that mic or that airplane. But you know what? I bet that Miller couldn’t. 3) Miller says our enemies (which in his mind seems to be all Muslims everywhere) want to take us back to the sixth century. Uh, Islam didn’t exist in the sixth century. 4) Americans aren’t spoiled brats (how’s that for lack of patriotism? Insulting your fellow citizens), they just recognize that this war is unwinable.
March 11th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Doug - You can surrender your country as easily as you have surrendered your brains, and it won’t change the facts to suit your agenda.
America is not losing in Iraq. The surge is working. Trying reading a few first hand accounts outside the green zone. Michael Yon, for example, he is not criticism free nor whitewashing the difficulties, but he will give you an honest appraisal - that is of course if you are interested in honesty.
March 12th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Kathy,
I note 2 things. 1) You agree with Miller that Americans are “spoiled brats.” 2) You don’t seem to disagree that Miller is, in fact, not well informed at all, which was the main point of my comment, since you don’t even attempt to discuss any of my other points.
I’m not going to try to convince you that the surge is working–I know that I have no chance of succeeding. But when the level of violence has, if anything, increased since the “surge” started, I don’t see how you can justify your optimism.
March 12th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Kathy,
Let me add that it’s completely ridiculous to say that I have “surrendered my country.” You may have forgotten this, but Iraq never attacked the US! Iraq is a distraction from fighting terrorism, which is the real danger. Where’s Bin Laden? I thought we were supposed to have him “dead or alive” by now. He’s still out there. Saddam, who certainly wasn’t a nice guy but who had nada to do with 9/11, is dead, but Bin Laden, the man who planned 9/11, is still out there. Nice job, BushCo.
March 12th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Doug - thanks for your comments - not fact based but I didn’t expect it.
Here’s something you might want to consider. We are fighting a war in Iraq. There are only two ways to end a war. Lose or Win. There is no Draw. You choose to lose. Check it out buddy - that’s surrender.
March 12th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Doug,
Although Kathy is perfectly capable of defending her own comments let me address your Iraq was not a part of 9/11 and where is bin Laden questions.
Do you remember ever hearing of Salmon Pak? You know the big plane that was used to train terrorists in how to hijack jets? Do you know where Salmon Pak is? Try Iraq.
Do you remember the little guy with the bad leg who was Al Qaeda and was in Iraq for medical treatment and then Saddam had him snuffed?
Do you remember Iraq was one of the few countries to express condolences after 9/11?
Circumstantial of course, but do you remember all the Democrat harpies telling us they were just positive Saddam had WMD and President Bush said we must take care of that situation before it became an imminent threat?
How do you know we haven’t killed bin Laden? Have you seen him on any videos lately?
March 12th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Doug,
I did an entire post just for you. Tune in tomorrow morning around eight. There was just too much information to put into a single comment.
Give your white flag a rest.
March 13th, 2007 at 12:21 am
This guy is f****** awesome
March 13th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
There seems to be some kind of censorship going on here. All my posts get flagged as “spam” and don’t appear for hours, if at all.
What’s the matter, wingnuts, can’t handle some cold hard facts?
March 15th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
There’s a lot you can say about terrorists in particular, but Arabs and Muslims in general? If we go back a thousand years, WE were burning witches and THEY were preserving the works of the ancient Greek philosophers. Many of whom would be lost to us otherwise, and our systems of logic and ethics along with them.
If Miller is as educated as he and others claim, he’d be aware of that.
(Also, genital mutilation is a product of African culture; it’s not a product of Muslim religion, although the Burka is.)
March 15th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Even the burqa did not originate in Islam. The Greek, Byzantine and Persian societies that surrounded and conquered what is now Afghanistan had similar - often stricter - gender divisions, and some (not all) Pashtun tribes carried on this tradition. Let’s also not forget that head covering and separation of women from men is part of Jewish tradition too.
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:16 am
(sorry, I meant to respond to your comment inside your post and accidentally deleted it instead, and now can’t get it back. My apologies - editor)
March 24th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
The very last line ruined the whole interview for me. My respect for Miller has gone far down simply because of his Iraq BS.
Here’s a question for all you cons: if you’re (you being the US) at school and someone pushes you to the ground (terrorist hijackers) and you bleed (9/11), and then another person who happened to be at the scene started laughing at you (Iraq, Saddam), would you vow revenge and plan to beat the merciless crap out of that a******? He didn’t do anything — he wasn’t part of the plan, and he didn’t tell anyone to push you — he was just being a douche bag. Iraq never declared war on the US. And btw, Saddam was a good friend of the Bushes.
P.S. ~J~, that was a terribly weak response. Wouldn’t you think that, especially since Dubya’s rating is so low, they would WANT everyone to know bin Laden’s dead? I mean, come on, we’re talking votes here.
[newton responds: I’m calling BS, BS, BS, and total BS on every single point made here. Saddam is history. Bin Laden will be if he’s not. And all those who support terrorists, actively or tacitly, will soon be.
That also means those who will surrender to them as well. So, shut the hell up, and stop making a fool out of yourself!]
April 14th, 2007 at 11:45 am
[…] LÄNK […]
April 14th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
oh, you wacky, paranoid, conservatives are so funny! Kathy, you’re a hoot. You’re responses to the more than thoughtful comments of Doug were prime examples of one-way communication - I suggest an avatar of the monkey holding his/her ears for you. Silly, silly, right-wingers don’t you know endless fear is for horror movies, not for real-life?
April 14th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
winggrunt4,
Thanks.
Since ad hominem is all you’ve got, pardon me if I see your LOL and raise you a ROTFLMAO.
And as for endless fear - talk to Al Gorilla - he’s the one claiming mankind is destroying the planet.
Take a trip to Ground Zero in NYC - and then tell me that terrorism isn’t real. BTW - I’ve walked on a South American glacier and I’ve stood at Ground Zero and I know who’s blowing smoke and who is simply full of hot air.
Can’t say the same for you.
April 17th, 2007 at 4:50 am
[Offensive comment deleted by editor.]
September 22nd, 2007 at 4:28 pm
I think all that he was trying to say with his comments about the microphone and the airplanes is that Muslim society has not been, within the last few centuries, the type of culture that facilitates technological innovation and development in the way that Western society has. If the Muslim World was once on it’s way to becoming progressive then that growth was stunted somewhere along the way, supplanted by Western innovation.
He makes a strong point about the potential of US citizens uniting against the idea of what we’re currently up against in the way that we united against the idea of fascism in the 40s, but he seems to undermine that point when he tries to take it a step further and parallel political specifics; with WWII the lines were drawn very clearly, with Iraq the spectrum of the enemy and who does and does not pose a threat to the US is more vague–which has been the Great Debate of this whole war.
I’m a big fan of Miller’s work and have found the political ideas expressed in some of his work to be profound … but his responses here seem strangely exaggerated and out of character for him. Not sure what to make of it.
*Also, I noticed a comment suggesting that someone visit Ground Zero to gain some first-hand perspective into the reality of terrorism. I live in New York City and pass by or through Ground Zero almost daily, and the faceless construction site occupying that area offers little more perspective than any other mess of scaffoldings and orange cones typically scattered throughout the city. I think you gain more insight into the reality of all this when you’re randomly stopped and searched for explosives by apathetic police officers on your way into the subway during rush hours.
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
[…] wenn Du doch mit diesem Text nichts anderes sagst, als dass Du nur Frank Miller wegen seiner zweifelhaften politischen Äußerungen ans Bein pissen […]
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Doug Says:
March 11th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Miller is “informed� All of the sections of his comments that are bolded are wrong. 1) Iraq did not declare war on the US. 2) All of the 9/11 terrorists were highly educated and several were in fact engineers trained in the West. This doesn’t make what they did any less horribly wrong, but it also shows that Miller doesn’t know his facts. So several of the terrorists probably could have designed that mic or that airplane. But you know what? I bet that Miller couldn’t. 3) Miller says our enemies (which in his mind seems to be all Muslims everywhere) want to take us back to the sixth century. Uh, Islam didn’t exist in the sixth century. 4) Americans aren’t spoiled brats (how’s that for lack of patriotism? Insulting your fellow citizens), they just recognize that this war is unwinable.
In responce to Doug’s rant.
1. Saddam Hussien’s Iraq had been firing at our air planes on a daily basis for years before we invaded that country. Any one of those incidents would classify as an act of war. And no that country did not have the right to shoot at our planes, Saddam’s rule and the rule of all dictators is illegitimate. He never had a right to do anything he did as ruler of that country.
2.The terrorists could have designed the mic or airplane eh? That’s amazingly stupid. Miller’s point was that western scientific method has trumped all other cultures as a means of discerning truth and thus creating technology. Yes, I know the Muslims helped spur on the enlightenment with preserved documents from ancient Greece, but that still doesn’t mean much because they skipped the event themselves. All cultures are not equal. In the western world you can be a muslim and still function in society. Under the Taliban or any other fundementalist muslim country, you can not be a Christian or a Jew or an athiest and do the same thing. And yes I know the Muslims tout their record of “tolerance” during the height of the caliphates in Iraq, but the system they created was worse for minorities than Jim Crow. They just let most of them live.
3. Islam came into being in 610, yes I know that’s the 7th century but you’re not winning any points for being cheeky.
4. I don’t think all muslims are trying to bring us back to the SEVENTH century and neither does Miller, he, and I, want Muslims everywhere to join the west in the 21st century and realize that subjugation of women, supression of freedom of speech ( and that includes the Prophet Mohammed and images of him and criticism of him), undemocratic regimes and terrorist attacks on civilians are not acceptable. Muslims must modernize. We will not go backwards for them.
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 pm
In responce to Doug’s March 11 rant.
1. Saddam Hussien’s Iraq had been firing at our air planes on a daily basis for years before we invaded that country. Any one of those incidents would classify as an act of war. And no that country did not have the right to shoot at our planes, Saddam’s rule and the rule of all dictators is illegitimate. He never had a right to do anything he did as ruler of that country.
2.The terrorists could have designed the mic or airplane eh? That’s amazingly stupid. Miller’s point was that western scientific method has trumped all other cultures as a means of discerning truth and thus creating technology. Yes, I know the Muslims helped spur on the enlightenment with preserved documents from ancient Greece, but that still doesn’t mean much because they skipped the event themselves. All cultures are not equal. In the western world you can be a muslim and still function in society. Under the Taliban or any other fundementalist muslim country, you can not be a Christian or a Jew or an athiest and do the same thing. And yes I know the Muslims tout their record of “tolerance” during the height of the caliphates in Iraq, but the system they created was worse for minorities than Jim Crow. They just let most of them live.
3. Islam came into being in 610, yes I know that’s the 7th century but you’re not winning any points for being cheeky.
4. I don’t think all muslims are trying to bring us back to the SEVENTH century and neither does Miller, he, and I, want Muslims everywhere to join the west in the 21st century and realize that subjugation of women, supression of freedom of speech ( and that includes the Prophet Mohammed and images of him and criticism of him), undemocratic regimes and terrorist attacks on civilians are not acceptable and will be met with lethal fury. Muslims must modernize. We will not go backwards for them.
July 19th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Its moonbats like Doug that can bring down the american empire. Stop them now while there is still time. STAND YOUR GROUND
God Bless America