ARTS Thursday, January 5, 1989 The Michigan Daily Poage 5 But Black's book is more than a brilliantly conceived photo album. His evocative pictures are accompanied and strenghtened by a cogent, concise nar- rative of U.S. involve- ment in the region from the building of the Panama Canal to the The Good Neighbor: How the United States Wrote the History of Central America and the Caribbean By George Black Pantheon. Paperback/$9.95 Did you know that the song "Cuban Moonlight," one of many Depression era hits depic- ting Cuba as a sensuous land of romance (for U.S. tourists, of course), lifted the melody and replaced the lyrics of a song lamenting the depressed eco- nomic condition of Puerto Rican peasants? That the U.S. media used Charles Lindbergh's cele- brated Pan American tour to divert attention from Wash- ington's murderous war against Nicaraguan nationalists? That Ollie North based his "proof" of a Cuban presence in Nicaragua on satellite pictures of baseball dia- monds outside of Managua ("Nic- araguans don't play baseball, present. Cubans do," crowed North) - obviously unaware that U.S. Marines had introduced baseball to Nicaragua during their quarter- century occupation? George Black's new overview of U.S. involvement in Latin America manages to distinguish itself from the floodtide of similar accounts in-recent years by using scores of anecdotes such as these - along with numerous well-chosen quotations, cartoons, and pictures. What emerges is a surprisingly fresh portrait of the United States' fascination with the countries to its south - as well as what that fascination can tell us about the malaise gripping the North American psyche. Next to a quote claiming the moral superiority of the United States, a current U.S. military advisor to El Salvador reclines on his cot, a pistol by his side and porno- graphic pictures pinned to the wall behind him. Beside a horrific picture of burning bodies in Esteli, Nicaragua - the consequence of Somozan torture in 1978 - we watch Secretary of State Al Haig proclaim that the very same picture proves how genocidal the Sandinistas can be. But Black's book is more than a brilliantly conceived photo album. His evocative pictures are accompanied and strenghtened by a cogent, concise narrative of U.S. involvement in the region from the building of the Panama Canal to the present. Rather than provide a blow-by-blow political and military history of that involvement-already well done, in any event, by landmark works such as Walter LaFeber's Inevitable Revolutions - Black concentrates on general patterns and specific images marking U.S. intervention. .Black focuses on the paradox inherent in the United States' actions in Central America - how the United States can invade a region so frequently and still preserve a sense of Edenic innocence regarding its behavior. Repeatedly, he demonstrates, U.S. governments would claim to be "turning over a new leaf," distancing themselves from their past atrocities toward countries such as Haiti and Nicaragua in the firm conviction that "Now" - whether "now" be 1928 or 1977 - things would be different. But things never were. For, Black argues, all U.S. foreign policy debates about the region, from Cuba in 1898 to Nicaragua today, are more about a struggle for the "soul" of the United States than an attempt to address the social realities of Central America, which "seemed to exist in some disembodied parallel universe." Perhaps the biggest problem with Black's book is that he paradoxically duplicates the pat- tern he so accurately indicts. Boxed in by his analysis of the U.S. mind, he too occasionally ignores the social realities of countries such as Grenada and Nicaragua. While he condemns U.S. aggression against both countries, he is less than fair to * their respective revolutions, swal- lowing CIA propaganda about the Soviet infiltration of Grenada and referring to Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortegafas adictator. Black's powerful criticisms of U.S. aggressions against such countries are undercut by this failure to analyze or defend positively their revolutions. Still, Black's valuable and unique book provides a powerful introduction to the consequences of misinformation, not to men- tion a source of guaranteed out-. rage for its readers - itself valu- able, to the extent that it pushes those readers to explore heyond the boundaries of Black's story in an effort to understand the cown- tries of Latin America them- selves. At the very least, Good Neighbor's tremendously powerful photographs highlight what a very bad neighbor the United States has been - and how our "free" press has system- atically distorted the history of U.S. intervention in an effort to claim otherwise. -Mike Fischer Awww... this cuddly corgi is William hurt's best friend in The Accidental Tourist, University alum Lawrence Kasdan's latest film, which makes its Midwestern premiere tonight. Tourist Continued from Page 1 volved with an unconventional wo- man named Muriel (Geena Davis), whom he had hired to train his dog. Already released on both coasts, Tourist has won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for the best film of 1988. The combination of acting talent in this film is an incredible asset. Davis, the least experienced of the three leads, is most known for her role in The Fly. Kathleen Turner has had numerous successes in such films as Romancing the Stone and its sequel, as well as Prizzi's Honor. In 1986, she received an Oscar nomination for Peggy Sue Got Married. William Hurt, however, has come the farthest. He won an Academy Award in 1986 for his performance in Kiss of the Spiderwoman. The next year he was nominated for his part in Children of a Lesser God, and last year he again received "a nomination for Broadcast News. It is expected that he will garner his fourth nomination this year. And then there is Bud - the lovable but unruly corgi and the reason that Macon and Muriel meet. Profits from tonight's benefit showing will support the Michigan Theater and Winterfest: Ann Arbor Festival of the Arts, which debuts this year. THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST pre- mieres tonight at the Michigan Theater at 8 pm.Tickets are $10, and students with I.D. can get two tickets for the price of one. -- RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS YOUR UNCLE WANTS TO PAY FOR COLLEGE. BUT ONLY IF YOU'RE GOOD ENOUGH. Army ROTC scholarships pay tuition and provide an allowance for fees and textbooks. Find out if you qualify. ARMROTC THE SMARTEST COLLEGE COURSE YOU CAN TAKE. Find Out More. Call Captain O'Rourke. Visit 131 North Hall or Call 764-2400. ART ARVED CLASS RINGS Join the Front Line... ' : w tk y 4~ j & t' k[t r{ 'is : ' 1 F i MICHIGAN ' .5a- 4 . 47 s. s S }r AN N TELEF.1 Back To School And Nothing To Do, Yet? You're In Luck! UAC/SOUNDSTAGE PRESENT... 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Send me Michigan's largest newspaper at BIG i I SAVINGS. I have enclosed my check or money order I (made payable to The Detroit News) for: I 1 Q Second Semester 1 $15.00 for 15 weeks 1 1/6 to 4/28/89 For more information call 973-7177. Check or money order must be enclosed to begin delivery. ihe Qiwlii): Mei G'(f/SU/U)Jushi)). ihe Rca 'aril fireDever u" kroommom I s