Nighthawks
By Peter John Gardner
Lando Calrissian. Just the mere mention of that name simultaneously brings about arguments amongst Star Wars fans over whether or not he was a better pilot than Han while the rest of the world collectively rolls their eyes and continue to get laid.
I’ve always been indifferent towards Lando. When I was a kid, I didn’t think he was as exciting as Luke, Han, or anyone else in the Star Wars universe. As an adult, I can see that while his character is crucial to The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, I kinda think that the fact that he’s little more than a Han clone weakens his character.
But, I digress. You come here for Stallone, not Star Wars.
I only mention Lando because Stallone's co-star in this political fueled thriller is none other than Lando himself, Billy Dee Williams. Lando and Stallone star as two New York City undercover cops that routinely clean up the criminal trash permiating the seedy bowels of pre-Giuliani NYC. When I say "undercover", I'm not fucking around. You see Sylvester Stallone in a blond wig in the first 10 minutes of the movie. Stallone in a blond wig and Lando Calrissian in the same movie? How can that not be great?
Well, as with most of these movies, it's not. If this movie were made in this day and age, I wonder how it would be received by the public. The plot centers around Rutger Hauer's character, Wulfgar, who is a terrorist bomber, back before everybody associated terrorism with Al-Qaeda. When the feds find out that Wulfgar has come to America and is ready to fuck shit up (his motivations aren't explained that well), the government decides to enlist the best cops that NYC has to offer.
The moment where the plot kicks into gear is where I found myself identifying most with Stallone's character. At a briefing regarding Wulfgar and ways to prevent terrorist activity, Stallone keeps asking the lead investigator questions like, "Hey, yo. Why are we still in this room? Why, uh, why aren't we out catching this guy?" and most importantly, "What do you want out of us?"
What do you want out of us...I find myself asking that everytime the government mentions terrorism. I've been casually following the race for the White House and of course, terrorism is a big talking point. Giuliani and most of the other Republicans seem to be taking the same stance that the Bush administration has, that being, "Vote for us or else we're going to get attacked again! Holy shit!", while the Democrats seem to dance around the issue without really offering any clear solutions.
It's been six years since 9/11. We haven't had a major terrorist attack since then, and who knows if anyone out there is responsible for preventing them since (like our president would have you believe, but he hasn't been a reliable source of information) or if another big attack just hasn't happened yet. It's not like we get attacked by terrorists all the time. If you recall, the previous foreign terrorist attack on US soil was at WTC in the early 90s. It's not like these things happen every few weeks.
Still, candidates from both sides of the spectrum like to hang the terrorist card over our heads as a political tool. But I quote Stallone when I ask, "Well, what the hell are we supposed to do?" Really, in the six years since 9/11, has your life changed drastically? Do you do anything different in your daily life? Other than airports being more of a pain in the ass than before, I haven't detected much change in my life. When the government warns me about terrorism, what are average people like you and me supposed to do? When they raise the terror alert, do we stay inside for the night or sit outside holding shotguns? No. I'm not trying to belittle the threat. We lost many of our brothers and sisters on that day, and I've complied with the bumper stickers that littered pickup trucks in the aftermath that told me to never forget. It's the "Vote for me and I will protect you" mentality that I don't understand. It's the fear tactic that I'm tired of seeing politicians use. I'm not going to go overboard and say that's the kind of shit that leads to a dictatorship, but I would like to point out that through the use of fear, the Bush admistration has gained more powers than any previous administration.
'Hey, yo. What are we supposed to do?" My opinion? Nothing, really. Living in fear is no way to live. Other countries out there, such as Northern Ireland, face terrorist attacks on their soil every month. Do their citizens cower in fear and refuse to go outside? No. They just go on with their business. Yeah, things are getting blown up, people are dying, and we all feel remorseful, but what can one do about it?
Terrorism and the war in Iraq are both major issues, but there is other shit that I wish the candidates would talk more about instead of focusing like on those like we did in 2004. What about our cracked educational system? What about our ginormous deficit? Our healthcare system? The environment? Terrorism is something we should be conscious and aware of, but it shouldn't be the only thing that we should be thinking about. The world is full of other things to be afraid of as well, like Stallone in a blond wig and dress. That's the kind of shit that keeps me up at night.
