Focus on the Family is the organization headed by James Dobson. They are a pernicious and dangerous organization of the Religious Right. They come accross as very mainstream and somewhat secular, merely interested in the American family, with no agenda beyond the best interests of the kids. However, Dobson was one of the organizers of the marriage rally recently held in Seattle. They are very involved in ex-gay issues. In fact, one of their leading staffers is/was (not sure if they wound up firing him) an ex-gay who liked hanging out in gay bars in D.C. When confronted on it, his claim was that he was there to do outreach and mission work. I'd have to put them in the enemy camp all the way around, but what is most dangerous about them is they aren't as obvious as the Fred Phelps of this world. They have a great deal of mainstream respectability, and tend to do their most damaging work behind the scenes.
As for Pluggein, their Troy reviewer has to be the most clueless individual to trod the face of the Earth. In addition to giving spoiler warnings for a movie based on the Illiad, his conclusion demonstrates a complete lack of connection with the material that should be criminal for any sort of reviewer.
QUOTE
Conclusion to Pluggedin Troy review:
The last heavily hyped battle between Trojans and Spartans pitted USC against Michigan State in the 1988 Rose Bowl. (The Spartans won 20-17, no wooden horse required.) Much like that football game, Troy features muscle-bound warriors, cool helmets and a few trick plays. The big difference, of course, is the level of violence. Instead of chop blocks, rivals in this contest have limbs chopped off.
Director Wolfgang Petersen combines the close quarters, swords-and-sandals combat of Gladiator with the large-scale clashes that awed audiences in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It’s a brutal barrage that’s turned on and off throughout the movie’s two-and-a-half-hour runtime. During the lulls, Pitt and Bloom’s characters have sex with women they aren’t married to. And who’s behind it all? The gods. Thanks, Homer, but as much as I appreciated the moral fiber of that Hector fellow, we’re still better off watching a rerun of the 1988 Rose Bowl on ESPN Classic.
edited because G-d forbid we should mispell the names of our enemies.
[ May 20, 2004, 08:38 PM: Message edited by: jqueer ]