All my constituents really care about are their guns and low taxes. That means I get to vote yes a lot.~Charlie Wilson
Sitting in the dark theater, just around 100 miles from the seat of Texas’ 2nd Congressional district, I had to laugh out loud at how well Charlie Wilson grasped the interests of his electorate. He was explaining how he had managed to have most of Congress owing him favors. Favors he used to increase funding for the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan from five million to one billion dollars over the course of the Soviet occupation. His efforts were key in the Soviet defeat and, of course, in the arming of the Taliban which took over Afghanistan in the wake of the Soviet withdrawal.
Charlie Wilson’s War is the second of two movies I’ve seen this holiday season, and, like Juno, I’d definitely recommend seeing this film. While the topic of Charlie Wilson’s War is far from humorous, there are plenty of light moments in the film, most of them focused either on Wilson’s well-known drinking and womanizing or on the silliness of his East Texas constituents. One scene features a Dairy Queen owner from Nacogdoches who wants Wilson to intervene with a judge to allow a nativity scene on public property. Wilson refuses on the basis that doing so would, “violate a number of really good laws.” I saw the movie with Adventure Guy, my dad, my sister and her husband, and my brother. At times, we were the only row laughing. Hmmm…I’d say this definitely reflects a change of times from the East Texas that sent Wilson, known as “the Liberal from Lufkin” to Congress.
In other “Texas notes” Julia Roberts plays the Houston socialite Joanne Herring with entirely too “Southern” an accent. Houstonians have an accent all their own, much less Southern than other parts of East Texas. My guess is Roberts pulled from her own Georgia roots for this accent, and it’s “off” for those of us who actually have lived in Houston. But I’m probably being snarky since Roberts looked so good in her bikini scene despite being several months pregnant at the time.
Despite that, I definitely recommend this movie. Go see it. I only wish it had a happier ending. The quote from Wilson that runs before the credits is particularly relevant as we try to figure out how to best address the mess we’ve made of Iraq. Like in Afghanistan, the way we play the end game will be what’s important as history evaluates this latest American war.
Somewhere In The Suburbs 