The Cascade
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Pay - Back Time By Graham Dowden Barry Levinson 's new film
Sleepers made me want to throw up. Here's why. Four adolescent boys are attempting to grow up without dying first in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. They have two adult male role models. One is the father of one of the boys-a greasy, foul-mouthed swine who beats his wife regularly and sits on the front stoop in his undershirt telling the lads that the way to survive is not to get mad but to get even. The only law around here is the law of the jungle: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Lex talionis, its called, not that he has the Latin. At this point the film makes it very clear that he's a prick. The good guy adult is one of those compassionate street-smart priests (Robert DeNiro) who always make me wonder why I'm not Catholic. He loves the boys, the boys love him, and his message is that violence is not the answer. The boys, however, will be boys, and one day they pull a dumb
prank and a man gets badly hurt. Off they go to reform school, already reformed and full of uplifting insight:"That guy had a family! We were so stupid! We didn't realize what we were doing!" Etc. You can imagine what happens at reform school. Humiliation. Random, repeated, endless beatings. Rape. One guard (Kevin Bacon) is particularly vicious. Ten years later. The boys are now in their mid-twenties, all deeply scarred. One is a junior prosecuting attorney (Brad Pitt), one is a journalist, and the other two have become twobit hoods and bargain-basement hit men. One evening, in the back of a restaurant, the hoods see Kevin Bacon at a meal, and after a brief consultation they whip out their handguns and blow him away. Very satisfying. Thanks, he needed that. Up to this point, the film is reasonably subtle, quite powerful, disturbing, moving. But now there's the trial.
Forination of a Provincial Student Association By Shawn Stetsko In September I attended the second meeting of the B.C.S.A.; or British Columbia Student Association. There I had the opportunity to work with some enthusiastic, intelligent, and devoted members from other student unions and witnessed some of the infant stages of a growing political entity. The B.C.S.A. is an open-access, interschool student coalition devoted to generating awareness of and taking action on student related issues. For only the second meeting they were well on their way to finishing their internal structuring and were already looking at beginning campaigns against the G.S.T. on books and the capital freeze; especially as regards municipalities where severe overcrowding is occurmg. That weekend five schools commited to membership; King Edward, Camosun, Kwantlen, Cariboo, and U.C.F.V.. Very worthwhile input was made by a representative of Douglas College who expressed that they are currently discussing membership within their own student union. Those with whom the idea of the B.C.S.A. was born with had hoped that the foundation would be laid by those schools currently unrepresented by any large political organization. Given the membership, the B.C.S.A. already has, a good start has already been made. Aiming at making an impact at a provincial level, B.C.S.A. members have begun investigations to find out what political committees and assemblies B.C. students are entitled to join. This could include many organizations from small lobby groups up to the provincial legislature itself. Many of these
organizations, while having open space for student representation, have not had students represented: the B.C.S.A. intends to change that. It has made membership to it's ranks easy and affordable; it has allowed for a totally inclusive membership so that schools already having representation on other student assemblies may also join the B.C.S.A., and it has managed it's voting system in such a way that no single school may dominate the assembly. In short, as stated, the B.C.S.A. has made a focus of open access and inter-school participation. The B.C.S.A.'s foundation has also focussed on affordable representation, realizing that some of the less represented schools are so because they are under-funded. Actions proposed have remained flexible in that they allow individual schools to act individually within their means while simultaneously being a part of a collective effort. Avoiding having staff continuously on pay-roll (while relying more on independent volunteer action) has also helped to keep the B.C.S.A. costeffective. While the B.C.S.A. (being young) has not yet made it's big splash it has already begun to generate some ripples. Yukon College has expressed a desire to attend the next B.C.S.A. meeting (in November); several government groups have contacted them (some out of curiosity, some out of concern, and some to give support), and both news and gossip about the B.C.S.A. have been generated in the press. With a strong foundation laid we await further word from this assembly. May their strength grow because one thing is for certain, the problems faced by students will not diminish.
Nov 14, 1996 A7
Entertainm.ent Brad Pitt persuades the D.A. to let him take the case, and then conspires to lose it so his buddies will get off. The turning point for the jury comes when De Niro takes the witness stand in his priestly attire and perjures himself to provide the killers with an alibi. (Francis Bacon once translated the French essayist Montaigne as follows: "To say that a man lieth, is as much to say, as that he is brave towards God, and a Coward towards Men. For a Lie faces God and shrinks from Man." I wish this priest good luck.) Needless to say, our heroes are acquitted. The film's final scene takes place in guess which restaurant, a huge victory feast, good-looking women beaming approval, high fives all round, we won, the end. Oh great, just what we need, another film that tells our culture's young men that the justice system is a mockery and the law is an ass. This movie winds up being no better than any Schwarzenegger or Stallone vehi-
cle (never mind Hockey Night In Canada) that adrenalizes taking the law into our own hands. In fact, it's worse, because Levinson tries to have his cake and eat it too. We are disgusted at the film's slovenly wife beater who says violence is the best policy, but when cool Brad Pitt gets that steely look in his eye and says, "It's pay-back time!", WEARE PUMPED!! And we wonder why, when 14-year-old boys go to school nowadays, they pack more than their lunch. They pack knives and gunstoo,becausethey'velearnedthat hitting back hard when you think you've been dissed is the only way to 'act like a man'. Bruce Claggett, the Abbotsford News "Movie Scout", calls Sleepers "a film which details some solid reasons for revenge." Maybe I've been reading too much William Blake, but I don't think there are any solid reasons for revenge, and I call this movie a piece of shit.
Ranf S, Raves, and Assorted there be cement!" Reviews Tuition: What would a student
By Nolan Webb
Just a couple of beefs this week ... Sidewalks:As in why aren't there any one Mackenzie Avenue on the east side of the Abbotsford campus? Must we risk life and limb and the well-being of our stylish clothes in a batle against the elements, which often ncludes mammoth puddles, and yes don't forget traffic (we all know how crazy students can drive when they're late for a class!). If the amount of pedestrian traffic is any factor (and it should be) in determining where the sidewalks are installed then I say "Let
rag be without the odd complaint about tuition? My problem is that we are expected to make full payment in November of all months. That's right, kiss those Christmas presents goodbye because your dough will be coughed up before you can take part in any of the winter fun. I've heard that deferrals can be granted in certain situations, but I can just imagine how flexible the college financial heads will be on this one. I applaud SFU and other schools who allows their students a little hangover from Christmas and New Years by the pay-in-January policy.
Murdo Ultra Cont' elders in town leaving out the "University" prefix. Raise your hand if you recall Paul deMontaginue, who brought the use of alcohol to our student gatherings through his pioneer activities CO-ordination. God knows, he was here long enough. However, he couldn't possibly have stopped brain drain: our best and brightest fed into SFU, and UBC. Then, courses drifted away to the Abbey campus, necessitating students to Th~ Courteous
leave Chilliwack for the north. And, recently, a big screen TV. began to enslave the minds of new students by the dozens. This falling apart of the Chilliwack campus requires action now. Sir, pending a further report, I advise an immediate air strike. The danger in one of centralization. The old location is proving less viable. My team awaits your command.
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