Jewish World Review Jan. 18, 2005 / 8 Shevat 5765

Mary C. Curtis

JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports


‘Dukes’ flag can't even raise a ruckus


http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Somehow, I cannot summon an ounce of outrage or interest in the film remake of "The Dukes of Hazzard."


Warner Bros. fears double-edged backlash about the giant Confederate flag painted on top of the movie's star - not Bo or Luke, but General Lee, an orange 1969 Dodge Charger.


For true "Dukes of Hazzard" fans, the General is sacrosanct. Even a tiny change would be akin to painting a moustache on the Mona


But what about other members of the ticket-buying public, who see the flag and think "segregation" instead of good-old-boy hi-jinks?


The studio can relax.


If Southern women who don't run around in cutoffs and high-heeled mules can accept Daisy Duke, as embodied by Jessica Simpson, who cares about a flag on a car?


No one with a life is going to mistake a show with characters named Boss Hogg, Cooter and Cletus for a documentary on Southern ways.


Nervous rumblings of sacrilege on General Lee Web sites seem premature since the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has reacted with a yawn.


When asked about the flag, a spokesman for the civil rights group told the Wall Street Journal: "People can put it on their forehead, their car or fly it on their lawn. We're for the First Amendment."


While I find the hubbub comical, I also don't understand the Hollywood fascination with television shows that ended decades ago.

Donate to JWR


If you loved "I Spy," you aren't interested in seeing Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson as Bill Cosby and Robert Culp wannabes. Explosions and computer-generated special effects won't make you forget the original's smart dialogue and exotic locations.


For every successful "Charlie's Angels" movie lie a dozen misbegotten big-screen remakes. "Leave It to Beaver" and "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" rest in peace.


"The Dukes of Hazzard" movie, now scheduled for a summer release, hopes to attract a new audience by casting Simpson, Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott, actors who might mean more to me if I were 25 years younger. Wouldn't true "Dukes" fans rather see the original actors in loose-fitting jeans?


Then again, Tom Wopat (Luke Duke) probably wouldn't be interested. On Broadway, as he sang and danced with Bernadette Peters in "Annie Get Your Gun," he earned a Tony nomination, and I finally became a fan.


So my aversion to the "Dukes" movie is no protest. In the 1970s and '80s, I never watched one episode of "Three's Company" or "Starsky and Hutch," either. I was tuned to a different channel or - more likely - to real life.


I do remember taking a break from work, wife and motherhood to gaze at the pastels, good-looking guys and incomprehensible plots of "Miami Vice." But I'd never want to see some young, blond actor wearing loafers and no socks with a Phil Collins sound-alike playing in the background.


A "Dukes of Hazzard" for our time, General Lee included, is harmless enough. But some new ideas coming out of Hollywood - now that would be something to get excited about.



Mary C. Curtis is Executive Features Editor/Columnist at The Charlotte Observer. Comment by clicking here.

Up

© 2005, The Charlotte Observer Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.