MOVIE - THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND - Review Rating $$$$$ $$$ (OUT OF 10)

NARRATOR - Lili Taylor

DIRECTORS - Sam Green and Bill Siegel.

A timely historical documentary about America's most prolific group of domestic terrorists. The relative merit of this documentary is directly related to the degree it provokes thoughtful discourse. The Weather Underground attempts to objectively straddle the fence of moral equivalency. Objectivity and moral equivalence are, however, mutually exclusive concepts.

In many ways moral equivalency has become the predominant sociological construct of the early 21st century. This may seem counterintuitive in an era of ever increasing partisanship but I would argue that one of the root causes of such intense partisanship is moral equivalency. Other contributing factors include hypocrisy, waning morality and the demise of accountability.

Politicians are a perfect example of this phenomena. The real differences between the objective, measurable actions of Democrats and Republicans, while in office, has become so small as to almost be indistinguishable. In response to this the parties have increasingly staked out positions, at the extreme end of their respective political spectrums, in an attempt to rouse their core supporters. Indeed, the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections are shaping up as a colossal battle between poster boys for the far right and left, Bush and Dean. This despite the fact that at one time or another they have both advocated policies now embraced by the other.

But its not only politics where moral equivalency reigns supreme. Spend a day in the courtrooms of any country or watch/listen to the talk shows on T.V and radio and you'll come away fortified in the belief that no one is responsible for anything. McDonald's and genetics are responsible for obesity and every criminal has a story deserving of mercy.

In a world where politicians lie, stock brokers steal, spouses cheat and genetics can be blamed for everything else, life itself becomes cheap. The bright line that used to separate right from wrong has blurred to the point that not only can one man's terrorist be seen as another man's freedom fighter but that the terrorist and victim can now be put on equal footing.

Two recent examples of this phenomena were articles comparing the life stories of a female Palestinian suicide bomber and one of her female Israeli victims and an article in Time Magazine portraying an Iraqi insurgent and a U.S. Army Sergeant. I'm sorry, but these individuals are simply not equate able and the society that accepts such equality is in grave danger of losing the required cohesive capacity to preserve the freedom we so cherish and sanction those who threaten to rip the fabric of society apart.

The above should not be construed as a clarion call to blind obedience. Rather, its an effort to illustrate, in the Durkhiemian tradition, that there is a point beyond which the foundations of a civil society (responsible use of authority and shared sacrifice for the greater good) can be shaken.

As I noted in my review of The Missing moral equivalency is not without merit. However, it is better suited as a method of historical reflection than as a means of judging the legitimacy of immediate events. If nothing is momentarily scared than every wrong is right and every right is wrong and no action can be sanctioned or justified. Sometimes, it more important that you believe in something than what your beliefs actually are.

The most fascinating aspect of the film is to see former members of The Weather Underground struggle to defend their actions and beliefs in a post 9/11 world. They, for the most part, don't wish to be seen as the moral equals of Osama Bin Laden despite the clear equivalencies is the rationales they relied upon to justify their actions.

What is clear, from my watching of this film, is that terrorist organization do share one thing in common, the cult of personality. As hard as the members of the Weather Underground try to convince you otherwise the groups raison d'être had as much to do with sex, drugs, and personal power as it did with fighting an unjust government. All terrorists seek to cloak their actions in the name of a sacred cause but the problem is that they are not wearing Joseph's amazing techicolor coat. The Weather Underground ultimately unraveled due to very human failings rather than the achievement of the group's goals. The sad truth is that it was these same human failings that provided the group with its initial impetus.

It's very debatable if The Weather Underground had any effect on how history unfolded and their long term impact has been either negligible and/or counterproductive. One of the group's members believes they have prepared future generations for the inevitable revolution. This in spite of massive evidence to the contrary. The demise of The Weather Underground coincided with the rise of the preeminent cheerleader, Ronald Reagan. The future revolutionaries they sought to groom overwhelming believe, according to a recent poll, that Saddam Hussein had a part in 9/11 despite absolutely no evidence to support this claim. The group's "failure", instead of cultivating revolutionary fervor, may have actually had the opposite effect, instilling the belief that "Resistance is Futile".

The Weather Underground also reminds how universally violent the late 60's and early 70's really were. This chaotic period, which seemingly simultaneously started and stopped, worldwide, was a "Perfect Storm" of social unrest. Social scientists would, no doubt, be able to offer numerous explanations for this. Nevertheless, this phenomena is not only hard to fathom but a scary prospect, as well, if the conditions which created it were ever to coalesce again.

Perspective has a lot to do with interpretation. Seek out The Weather Underground and judge for yourself.

Running time - 92 minutes

Check out my TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2003 & WORST MOVIES OF 2003 lists.

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