Never marched in lock-step with Rush Limbaugh. Have had more than a few problems with Roger Ebert over the years. The pair are obviously parsecs apart on most everything. So when both guys find a Salon review of the new Secretariat movie a steaming pile, I find that interesting.
Sure enough the review by some hack turns out to be a fascinating example of what can only be called willful cultural illiteracy on the part of a newish breed of “critics” fully stewed in the notion that “texts” only have the meaning the reviewers impart to them. As a result farcical delusions which were once limited to academic ramblings have spilled over to Net media, only with an added dose of vile cruelty and dishonesty.
Not only that, my heavens, the ignorance on display by reviewers who plainly saw that the film is out the Disney stable and decided then and there the film must be sloppy, sweet fantasy. Ebert disagrees, calling it “a great film about greatness.” Why? Because Ebert was educated about Secretariat — the reality — by writer William Nack, whom Ebert calls “a close friend of a lifetime.” Nack’s biography of Secretariat was source material for the movie and Nack was actively involved in its making, facts Ebert duly discloses.
I have not seen the film, so I do not know if Ebert is on the mark or not about the quality of the film. But I know he is at least qualified to supply an opinion about it because he has the facts with which to frame the tale and — this is important — Ebert actually thinks reviewers do not get license to invent a reality when there is already one in place.
For some backstory — and maybe some spoilers for some of you — there is this excellent ESPN SportsCentury clip featuring Nack and some of the best sports journalists of the age reflecting on Secretariat. They are real. The horse was too. Propaganda is always illusion.
