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FILM
Continued from Page 5
in the cast is John Houseman in a
cameo role as a driving instructor
whose car Drebin uses for the obli-
gatory car-chase-in-a-cop-film
scene. This was his last film and
ends his distinguished career in a
distinguished way.
Two more names must be men-
tioned. Weird Al Yankovich steals
the show from Drebin with his 3
seconds of screen time. And of
course there is Mom. The Brothers
Zucker have cast their mother in
each of their films, and here she has
her biggest role yet as another of
Ludwig's secretary.
But the real stars are the trio
whose brainchild this film was.
Some may say this film is from the
brain of child, but that all depends
on the type of humor they enjoy.
Parody is ZAZ's specialty and is
something they have worked long
and hard at. As David Zucker said,
"We meet and procrastinate as long
as we can until we have to make up
jokes."
But when that time comes, they
are sometimes given to periods of
comic genius. Case in point -
Airplane! It was the sleeper hit of
1980. Their follow up.film Top
Secret! didn't do so well at the box
office though. David Zucker ex-
plained that "comedy needs a strong
structure and plot" and that parody
film.
Still, ZAZ did have to worry
about these things. After spending a
year on the script, they spent three
months in pre-production, three.
months filming, and then a few
more months in post-production.
They were happy to find that get-
ting funding for a film based on a
failed TV show was pretty easy,
probably due to their reputation,
and that lining up the guest stars
.was relatively simple, too.
One snag came when the Los
Angeles Dodgers turned ZAZ down
- after reading the script. The final
scene of the Naked Gun takes
place in a baseball stadium with
two pro teams, so they found a
substitute - the California Angels.
As for the other team, Baseball
Commissioner Peter Uberroth ap-
pointed the Seattle Mariners who
were badly in need of publicity.
Another small problem came
with the title. Paramount Pictures
was afraid that a film called Police
Squad would be confused with the
Police Academy series
(coincidentally Pat Proft had written
the first). ZAZ was given a list of
20 or so titles to choose from, and
they selected The Naked Gun be-
cause "It was the one title that
could promise more than we could
produce," David Zucker said. But
what they did produce promises
more laughs than any other film
this season.
INTER VIEW
Continued from Page 10
D: It is an insult that is filled with
prejudice and misunderstanding. I
think that men think they have a
right to be loved but - just like
the rest of us - men have to earn
respect as human beings, as indi-
viduls. No man has a right to a
woman's admiration, to her labor,
to her love, affection. I have a lot
of respect for men who do some-
thing about injustice. I have been
very happy because I have found
that my work has meant a lot to
large numbers of men, especially
younger ones.
W: In your speech you cited
statistics that women have a higher
possibility of being beaten and
raped at home than on the streets.
What can be done to stop domestic
violence?
D: Mandatory arrests of batterers is
essential because it has actually
been shown to have an effect on
lowering battery rates, and it is the
only thing that has. When a man
batters a woman and is arrested
immediately, it is usually the first
time that he has heard that it is
wrong.
I hope women will report rapes,
but most women don't because it is
very hard to get a conviction. Rape
has to start costing men something.
Society must make changes by
punishing violence against women,
or I think you are going to see
more retaliatory violence of women
against men. The free ride is over.
W: How does pornography hurt
women?
D: Most women in pornography
were forced into it as children and
many are blackmailed or physically
forced to stay in. Most people don't
realize what pornography is today.
P, inography is being made of ac-
tual rapes, tortures, and murders and
this is being protected by the First
Amendment.
The average age of rapists is go-
ing down. We are seeing gang rapes
in elementary schools; we are see-
ing a lot of behavior which is imi-
tative of pornography because chil-
dren are getting their sex education
from pornography.
great deal of middle class feminists
feel stigmatized by paying attention-
to issues as disreputable, unpleas-
ant, and ugly as pornography,
prostitution, and sexual abuse -
issues which have a desperately
immediate impact on poor women.
But things are improving. In
Minneapolis, all feminist groups
joined with women of color groups,
lesbian groups, battered women's
essentially living in sexual slaver
W: What questions do you raise
your latest book Intercourse ?
D: The question is not whether i
tercourse is positive or negatiN
rather, the real question is what
generally speaking - does it men
What does it do to a woman's v
to be free. If in order to have intf
course you have to be a sex obji
for a man, what does it cost you
Pornography promotes the subordination of women by
depicting them as silent sex objects who get pleasure from
forced sex.
- Andrea Dworkin
Little loud, Leslie!?
specifically needs to be "focused on
a genre." While Airplane! spoofed
disaster films of the '70s, Top Se-
cret! played upon both Elvis films
and World War II spy films, and the
combination was just too disjointed
to work. But David isn't wholly
satisfied with Airplane! either. He
feels the film has too many lulls
and too many puns."
In 1985, the ZAZ trio directed
Ruthless People, starring Danny
Devito and Bette Midler, and it was
one of the top 10 grossing films of
that year. Still, they caught a lot of
negative response from certain fans
who were afraid they had given up
parody and were just looking to di-
rect other people's works. At lunch
one day, Mel Brooks, a master
satirist himself, encouraged ZAZ to
return to their roots.
With their former problems and
recent encouragement in mind, they
came upon the idea of stealing their
own idea from Police Squad, the
TV show and expanding it to fit the
format of a feature film. And of all
their films, David Zucker said he
"finds this one the easiest to sit
through." By this he means that he
still finds the jokes funny and the
tone consistent after repeated view-
ings. But the first time you see it
you'll be laughing too hard to
worry about the other aspects of the
Pornography promotes the
subordination of women by depict-
ing them as silent sex objects who
get pleasure from forced sex. What
I find unusual is that in the United
States, pornography is still seen as
being synonymous with sex in
some ways.
W: What is the role of men in
ending violence against women?
D: The role of men is major. Ob-
viously, number one is if they stop
committing violence against
women. Also, they can stop letting
the pimps and men who prostitute
women through pornography and
promote rape through pornography
from acting as if they represent the
interests of all men. They can stand
up in their communities against
rape. Men have to be activists on
feminist issues. They need to get
out on the streets - they need to
protest and organize. .
W: Is there a class or racial bias
within the women's movement?
D: The problem that we have been
having within the women's move-
ment is exactly a class problem. A
groups, rape crisis centers, and
neighborhood groups in support of
the anti-pornography ordinance. It
was obvious to them that pornog-
raphy is a race and class issue as
well as one of sexual subordination.
They understood this because they
had watched their city council zone
pornography into poor areas where
people of color lived. So what we
had was a massive coalition of poor
people.
In the Third World, we've gone
past the era where feminism was
seen as an imposition from the
West. It is regarded as a series of
indigenous movements for human
dignity. Certain issues can only be
dealt with internationally. When
you look at the economic situation
of women, you have to look at it
globally in order to understand what
it is. Also, the international traf-
ficking of women, in which Third
World women - especially Asian
women - are being sold like sacks
of potatoes on the international
market. They are being imported
into first world countries. They are
become that thing that he wants
fuck. How come women have
sign loyalty oaths to .this sex ac
And why is it that intercourse is I
central sex act in our society wh
there are so many other ways, lc
polarizing, to have sexual pleasur
W: What is your vision for the;:
FAV(
12
with F
.0
Voted
"The Michigar
4
R. E. Ma
GREEN
R. E. M.
R E.M, GREEN
GR EEN
r E;i,
ir
dIRE sTRAITS
money for nothing
ONE NIGIHT
O N L Y
L 400 U E
Lil
MAIN
CAMPUS
665-6005
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LIVE IN CONCERT
I )ereenier 2 10()811 8:4Wpm
Genra A miim 1"
Tikl M ial a l-I "(lw nfiI ,Ofiv
The Ark Presents
THE CHENILLE SISTERS
in Concert
"Son of the Really Big Show"
in The Michigan Theatre
Saturday, December 17, 8:00 PM
L
SAA
HAIR AN~
DIRE STRAITS
Mioney For Nothing
,
PFP"
1
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K
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"Two of Ann Arbor's Favorites
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515 E. L IBE F
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523 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor, 994-803i
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M-Sat 9:30-9:30, Sun 12-8 / 994-8031
CD selection is bigger than ever
The best of Campus Life!
Furnished Apartments
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Corner of S. University & S. Forest
536 S. Forest Ave.
761-2680
Advance Tickets at the Michigan Union Ticket Office
and all Ticketmaster Outlets or
Phone 763-TKTS with VISA or Mastercard
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PAGE 6
WEEKEND/DECEMBER 2,1988WEEKEND/DECEMBER 2, 1988
WEEKEND/DECEMBER-.'2,'1988