Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site

Antonio J. wrote:

I'm not american, but I've always felt respect and admiration for your country, and your national anthem has been a moving music for me. That version is pretty awkward. Don't know if it reflects a feeling of some of you about your country and current circumstances. I hope it doesn't.

Antonio, I understand where are you coming form. Let me bring a quote from a brilliant contemporary dramaturgist Aaron Sorkin - the author and creator of “The West Wing”. The quote is by President Andrew Shepherd from the Sorkin’s second movie “American President”:

America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've got to want it bad, because it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil who is standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the 'land of the free'? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the “land of the free.”

Besides everything, I personally very much agree with the strategic direction, satire and sarcasm of Matt Haimovitz’s. Mr. Haimovitz is touring around the world performing his “Anthem”. I heard an interview with Matt Haimovitz on NPR and I find his feedback - how the different nations perceive his “Anthem” in context of the “today’s US” - being very interesting.

The caT

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site