Under the Radar

By wpengine | November 22, 2002

Thanksgiving is fast approaching. It’s that time of year when everyone goes home to large amounts of food family, and tradition. Horrible, isn’t it? Just remember, it could be worse. You could be a character in one of these films. Here are the top ten family films of all time, putting the fun back in dysfunctional.

10) The Prophecy. And you thought your family had problems. This truly tacky (if enjoyable movie) is about one hapless guy trying to prevent the end of the world, brought about by a war in heaven. The best (ok, only good) part of this film is the wonderfully petty infighting between the angels. There’s Raphael, the whiny one everyone picks on (Eric Stoltz), the responsible oldest, Lucifer (Viggo Mortensen, doing the whispery voice thing) and the black sheep with the wicked sense of humor, Gabriel (Christopher Walken, the scariest thing is that he won’t stop smiling). As we’re reminded, no one ever said angels are, well, all that angelic.

9) Kind Hearts & Coronets. The bastard son (Denis Price) of a noble british family is out for revenge after his mother dies in poverty. If he kills off nine of his lordly relations, he’ll inherit everything. He comes up with some fiendishly inventive ways to do so, but in the end he’s overshadowed by Alec Guinness as the family. All of them. Guniess is fabulous, assuming the character of each with a minimum of external help. See why Sir Alec was so pissed no one knew his work outside of Star Wars.

8) Avalon. Four generations of an immigrant family in Baltimore. A true domestic epic, with the pivotal scene being a silent holiday betrayal and portent of the disintegration to come: “you cut the turkey without me?!”

7) A Street Car Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, Last Summer. Southern gothic, done as only Tennessee Williams could do it. There’s more sexual hysteria, nasty secrets, and inappropriate family interaction than you can shake a phallic symbol at. There are very few nice people here, but there are many interesting ones. There’s also Marlon Brando and Paul Newman in various states of undress. And Liz Taylor. Acting.

6) Gosford Park. It’s just like any other gathering of extended family and friends — full of resentment, rivalries, and massive consumption of alcohol. There’s also the dead body of the master of the house, who’s been done in. Twice. Clue with real people.

5) Slums of Beverly Hills. A coming of age story put through the hilarious lens of the Californian 70s. Vivian (Natasha Lyonne) lives in a series of trashy motels with her father (Alan Alda) and brothers. They live in the other Beverly Hills, eating breakfast at Sizzler, running out on the bill at four in the morning. Worst of all, there’s no female presence to tell her dad that you don’t have to wear a bra under a halter top. That is, until wacked out cousin Rita shows up (Marisa Tomei). Family loyalty in the face of massive embarrassment.

4) You Can Count On Me. Brother (Mark Ruffalo) and Sister (Laura Linney) and the eternal, infuriating bonds between them. Excellent dialogue, acting, and directing. It only hurts because it’s true.

3) Little Voice. The ultimate stage mother (Brenda) and her not so child prodigy (Jane Harrocks). Blending sleaze with emotional fragility and a killer soundtrack.

2) The Opposite of Sex. Didi (Christina Ricci) isn’t like any other teen you’ve ever seen in the movies. Pregnant, poor, and conniving, her acid voiceover sets the mood for this off kilter indie. Martin Donovan is the real revelation here, as Didi’s much older, hopelessly nice half-brother. He keeps the film from flying off the rails into empty irony so that when Didi finally finds the opposite of sex, you’re happy for her.

1) The Lion in Winter. This one has it all. An estranged couple and their children reunite for the holidays. The couple in question are Henry II (Peter O’Toole) and Eleanor of Acqutaine (Katherine Hepburn). Henry has let his queen out of jail so they can put on a united front to take a crucial piece of France away from Prince Phillip (Timothy Dalton) and give it, along with Phillip’s sister Alice, to the next king. There are a few problems. Henry wants his successor to be John (Nigel Terry) and Eleanor wants it to be Richard (Anthony Hopkins in his screen debut). The other son, Geoffry (John Castle), isn’t happy with either of these two plans. Neither is Henry, who would very much like Alice to continue as his mistress, nor is Eleanor, who poisoned Henry’s last lover and misses her eldest (dead) child. Chock-full of great lines, plots, and people hiding behind tapestries.

This camp classic is funny and sad at the same time, with every character wreaking havoc on the rest because they hate each other so much and know each other so well. But, as Eleanor says to Henry, “what family doesn’t have its ups and downs?”

Archived article by Erica Stein

Forum Raises Farm Worker Rights

By wpengine November 25, 2002

A forum organized by the newly formed Cornell Farm Worker Advocacy Coalition was held last Thursday evening in Uris Hall. A series of speakers ranging from local migrant farm workers to the director of the Cornell Migrant Program spoke to an audience of about 40 people about important issues currently facing farm workers in upstate New York. The panel of six stressed the lack of human and labor rights afforded to migrant farm workers in the state and how students could help gain fundamental rights for the workers. This was one of the first events of the new student organization, started to get Cornell students more involved in helping local farm workers. Migrant farm workers, of which there are approximately 47,000 in New York alone, often migrate or perform seasonal labor on different kinds of farms, ranging from harvesting fruit such as apples, grapes and cherries, to work on dairy farms. While the National Labor Relations Act of 1995 entitles most workers to many fundamental labor rights, farm workers are exempt from this legislation and therefore are exempt from most labor laws considered standard for other industries in the U.S. The panel explained and illustrated many examples of such laws, including the right to workmen’s compensation and sick leave, minimum wage and freedom from harassment. A highlight of the program were three farm workers, Irlain Theodore, Aleus Hilaire and Augustin Dumerci, who spoke about their experiences during the past 15 to 20 years. Each told a similar story of coming to the United States from the Caribbean and the various jobs they had worked as a farm worker since that time. While each had been in the industry for a number of years, none had received any more substantial increase in payment for work and experience. They all spoke of working in conditions where managing farmers withheld payment for long periods or infinitely, and without water or light. While some of the workers expressed their enjoyment of farm work in general, they all hoped that and actively encouraged their children to succeed enough to be employed in other industries. Because conditions are so poor for farm workers, and real wages have actually decreased over the past thirty years, Hilaire asked the audience who would harvest their food in the future, implying that conditions were so bad that soon everyone would leave the industry. The efforts of organizations such as the United Farm Workers and Rural and Migrant Ministries have been able to lobby legislatures on behalf of farm workers and to organize farm workers themselves to increase their power. However, the latter has remained quite daunting because the workers are not even given the right to organize or unionize. The panel stressed the importance of empowering farm workers themselves, rather than continuously advocating for them. “Farmworkers are the ones leading the charge; we’re helping them along the way.” said Bill Abom of Rural and Migrant Ministries. The idea for the new student groupcame last year from several students and Herb Engman, director of the Cornell Migrant Program, an outreach program which began in 1971 as the Agricultural Manpower Project, part of the department of human development in the College of Human Ecology. Engman spoke extensively about many of the local issues affecting farm workers as well as systems in which Cornell students and faculty have worked on behalf of local farm workers in the past. During the latter part of the program, Engman and members of the Rural and Migrant Ministry as well as some audience members talked about the potential help that students could give by lobbying the state legislature, doing research and creating a knowledge base about farm worker issues for students. Several of the student founders have engaged in independent work during the school year or summer through local organizations. Rebecca Bixby, president of Cornell Farm Worker Advocacy Coalition, and Pilar McKay worked on a field interview project this summer, involving interviewing migrant workers across N.Y. about sanitary condition across the state. Alyson Greenlee, another organizer of the Cornell Farm Worker Advocacy Coalition, worked for Rural and Migrant Ministries this summer. “Before working [at the Rural and Migrant Ministries], I had no idea that this issue existed, because farm workers are totally hidden from everyone. And even in school, you don’t learn that they don’t have the same rights as other workers,” Greene said. “Even in ILR, we spent maybe one day learning about how farm workers are exempt from most labor laws.” Discussion between the audience and the panel veered towards the immense structural causes of farm worker impoverishment and lack of rights. While they are being oppressed by farmers, many of the farmers are not making large profits at all and are in turn oppressed by the distributors and supermarkets who sell the food. “There’s an incredible variation, and it’s not based on need, it’s based on production,” Engman said. “The biggest earners are the truckers, processors and grocery stores.” Bixby said that the struggle is “definitely something that Cornell students can and should be involved with, in the way that it relates to ongoing policy changes regarding immigration and documentation” Archived article by Aliza Wasserman
Canadian Parliament Member Speaks

By wpengine November 25, 2002

A current member of the Canadian Parliament and former Canadian Minister of National Defence, Art Eggleton, spoke this past Friday in Goldwin Smith Hall’s H.E.C. Auditorium on Canadian-U.S. Relations since Sept. 11. The talk was sponsored by the Canadians at Cornell Club, the largest Canadian student organization in the Ivy League. Debunking Myths Eggleton said that he wished to “debunk sad myths” that seemed to develop after the terrorist attacks. These myths include “Canada [being] portrayed as a haven of terrorists” and concerns over the Canadian-U.S. border, the longest undefended border in the world. Eggleton said that Sept. 11 “awakened us all to new dangers [and] ushered in new challenges for Canadians and Americans alike.” The president of the Canadians at Cornell Club, Daniel Braun ’04 — a Canadian citizen — said, “When Sept. 11 hit, I didn’t feel like a foreign citizen and it hit close to home … I’m sure other Canadian students felt the same way.” First Country Eggleton said that Canada was the “first country outside of the U.S. to respond” to Sept. 11 and “among the first countries to offer assistance for what would eventually become Operation Enduring Freedom.” Eggleton noted that the “Canadian contribution [is] going largely unreported.” Just three months after Sept. 11 the Canadian government finished work on their budget, with nearly “seven billion dollars [reserved for] all initiatives.” These initiatives include the Smart Border Initiative, which is an attempt to “create a seamless yet secure border” with the U.S. According to Eggleton, “more than one hundred billion dollars U.S. cross the border everyday” which is more than the U.S. trades with all of the European Union countries combined. Though Canadian military assistance was provided for Operation Enduring Freedom during Eggleton’s term as Minister of National Defence, he noted the existence of “growing discomfort with American unilateralism.” Referring to an explanation given to him by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for American unilateralism, Eggleton said, “It is the mission that will define the coalition and not the coalition that will define the mission.” “The principle of multilateralism is still valid” so that the entire international community has a voice, Eggleton said. He added that the “very rules we now seek to circumvent may be the same rules we wish to evoke.” Eggleton also said “as a general principle preemptive action is fraught with dangers … the U.S. or other Western nations [do not] have an unblemished record [and] the solution we sought often [becomes] a problem later.” However, Eggleton noted that Canada is “not neutral when liberty and human rights are at threat” and that “we seek the same outcomes [as the US]: freedom and justice and peace.” “We in Canada are not a militaristic nation, nor do we spend a lot of money on the military,” Eggleton said. He also stated that “perhaps it is because we share so much with you [Americans] and think so much of you that we expect so much of you,” adding that “if war is being inflicted on our friends we rise to the occasion.” Audience members had the opportunity to ask questions after the lecture. One member asked about Canada’s involvement in the United State’s alleged violation of Geneva convention resolutions concerning the treatment of prisoners. Canada passed custody of prisoners they captured in Afghanistan to the U.S. with “assurances the U.S. would follow Geneva conventions,” Eggleton said. He noted that the main issues over prisoner treatment centered on whether the captives were prisoners of war or unlawful combatants. Organizers said they felt lucky to have such a prominent speaker come to Cornell. “Eggleton’s lecture was informative and insightful,” Braun said. “He is at the forefront of Canadian decision making.” Archived article by Brian Kaviar