Word: subtext
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Amazon employees. Michael Krantz, our San Francisco bureau chief, hung around their offices in Seattle for a few days and noticed how the subject of stock options never came up. "They're all imbued with this giddy faith that their best days lie ahead of them," says Krantz. "The subtext, of course, which they are well trained never to mention to reporters, is that if they're right, a lot of them are going to be extremely rich...
...admire Al Gore and Bill Bradley, surely the most nonconfrontational of politicians, for at least trying to put up their dukes in debates that took place Friday in New Hampshire and Sunday on "Meet the Press." The subjects were wonkish - health care, education, campaign finance reform - but the subtext was clear: How willing were they to show a nasty side...
...pleasant afternoon fades into a Jayhawk raid on a slave-owning farm. This rapid transition lets Lee quickly establish the historical subtext for the film. Lee's unique insight in exploring a different angle of the Civil War, namely the conflict in Missouri between Kansas Jayhawkers (fighting to destroy slavery) and Bushwackers (Southern guerillas), should be commended. Lacking ties with the established armies, these "irregulars," traveling in bands such as the one Roedel and Chiles join, rode through the countryside killing innocent people and destroying enemy farms...
...Chiles' death provides the needed pause to prevent the plot and historical subtext from spinning out of control. Lee, who has forgotten about Holt's unique story until now, quickly exploits the uneasy relationship between Southern white women and black male slaves. He also finally allows Holt to express his desire for freedom. Similarly, a Bushwacker sympathizer reveals why he believes the North will win, "They fight because they believe everyone should have liberty and freedom. We fight because we care about ourselves." Lee deserves credit for addressing this astute evaluation of the Civil...
...extended appearance. But something is amiss in these scenes--the sex is cold and mechanical, and feels overly choreographed. Since Jordan gives us little else to define the relationship by, it's difficult to feel emotionally involved in the film's later, tragic scenes. There's an interesting subtext in the novel regarding the oft-blurred line between physical and emotional love, but the film just zeroes in on the copulation and leaves the rest to the imagination. Call me reactionary, but it seems a little backward...