Monthly Archives: June 2024
Further Thoughts on The Killing Fields
Over at Law and Liberty, I had the great privilege of offering a 40th anniversary retrospective of the 1984 movie, The Killing Fields: https://lawliberty.org/the-tragedy-and-triumph-of-the-killing-fields/
A reader responded to me over at my other website, Stormfields. Here’s the note he left–
Dear Dr. Birzer,
Your piece on “The Killing Fields” was timely in an Internet sense, in that the film has been prominently on Netflix of late and a lot of folks may be rewatching or encountering it for the first time (me). Your essay made me want to contact you directly. I’m fine with doing so here. I completely agree with perhaps 90% of your take on the film; the other 10% I vehemently disagree with, because it is Reaganite revisionism.
The issue you DO touch on– the culpability of the U.S. in regimes like KR coming to power– is where we disagree. The Cambodian genocide never happens if the U.S. doesn’t decide to fight (and lose) a catastrophic proxy war in Vietnam. Wars destabilize nearby countries. This was OUR fault. The movie, in fact, makes this very clear, putting it in lines spoken by Sam Waterston’s Sydney Schanberg. The intensification of conflicts and wars makes groups like KR MORE paranoid and ruthless in their aims.
You also have quite a lot of nerve to call the KR “racist” because they were slaughtering ethnic minorities (although, curiously, they idolized the Chinese Mao). What was the U.S., then, who are estimated to have killed some 3 million people in Vietnam? I always return to the General Westmoreland’s response in “Hearts and Minds”: “Life is cheap in the Orient.” What could be a more racist justification for wanton slaughter of soldiers and civilians alike?
I have to admit my disbelief that you are trying to use this film as a rationale for your larger project of Christian nationalism. At the same time, it intrigues me that you would do so, and that you are actually interested in memory– unlike most of the Right in the U.S. right now. So I hope you’ll engage me in a dialogue.
My response.
Dear Roberto, thanks so much for your note. I appreciate your taking me and my arguments seriously.
Honestly, I don’t think we disagree on much. Maybe my wording was a little off. Here’s what I wrote in the unedited version of the piece regarding U.S. involvement:
The U.S. Role
In 1970, a military coup, possibly with the backing of the CIA, displaced the Cambodian king, and he and the Khmer Rouge became unlikely allies. The U.S., then fighting a war against North Vietnam, expanded into Cambodia in the early 1970s, through air power and infantry (U.S. infantry had gone into the country at least as early as 1969, a full year before the coup).
Disturbingly, the United States—unconstitutionally, illegally, and secretly (at least to the American public)—dropped nearly 540,000 tons of explosives on the beleaguered country, itself already fighting a civil war.
This tonnage was more than all the tonnage dropped on Japan during World War II. To state that the United States destabilized an already destabilized area of the world is the understatement of understatements. While one could never logically blame the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge on U.S. intervention in the region, it would be equally a mistake to dismiss what the U.S. did to the region in the years leading up to the Watergate crisis. A country wrecked by internal division became radicalized against the West, driving many would-be neutral Cambodians into the ranks of the Khmer Rouge.The United States ended its mass bombings in 1973 and abandoned its Cambodian embassy on April 12, 1975.
So, I’m most certainly not opposed to blaming the U.S. Clearly, our bombing was tragically immoral and unconstitutional. I do believe that the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge were made out of the free will of those involved. I hate indiscriminate bombing, but our bombing of Japan and Germany (again, sometimes deeply immoral such as the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki or the firebombing of Dresden) didn’t lead to radicalization but to pacification. So, there can’t be a direct correlation between U.S. bombing and population radicalization. Undoubtedly, though, our bombing served to move many more Cambodians into the ranks of the Khmer Rouge.
Please note, however, that I never criticize the movie for it blaming the U.S. I honestly don’t know what the causation was.
As to the racism of the U.S. in Cambodia and Vietnam, you’re quite possibly right. It’s not something I’ve given enough thought to, but I should. Given that we gave amnesty to huge numbers of Southeast Asians in the 1970s, though, our racism (if it existed) couldn’t be a blanket racism.
As to the change of being a Reaganite, I plead guilty, and I don’t think I’ve ever not said as much. I loved the man and still revere his memory as our last great president. I have his picture hanging proudly in my office (along with a portrait of John Paul II).
As to being a Christian nationalist–this one intrigues me. I’ve never been accused of being any such thing. You’re the first! I’m a practicing Roman Catholic (and, thus, a papist), so I can’t really be a nationalist. Further, my politics are extremely libertarian and, therefore, decentralized. I’ve published numerous articles–especially at The Imaginative Conservatism–attacking any form of nationalism.
Anyway, thank you again for comments. I hope my answer helps.
Yours, Brad
AULD MUNRO: Tagline
Polyglot Gael, language, classical music, history and literature lover
Collapsing Waves: The Power of IZZ
Spirit of Cecilia loves the prog group IZZ! It’s always a cause for rejoicing when they release a new album, and member John Galgano was kind enough to share an advance copy with us. It’s called Collapse the Wave, and it contains some of the best music they’ve ever recorded. Brad Birzer and Kevin McCormick share their thoughts on this new set of songs.
Brad: I always love doing these with you guys. Kevin, thanks for being my partner here.
I absolutely love IZZ. Indeed, the band represents best what we try to do at Spirit of Cecilia. Art for the sake of intellectual and spiritual edification, understanding the dignity of the human person, and playing like men and women possessed by the muses. Lyrics that read like T.S. Eliot wrote them based on the theology of John Paul II and the philosophy of C.S. Lewis. What’s not to love?
Every part of the band is incredible–from John Galgano’s excellent voice and bass to Laura Meade’s rather heavenly vocals. Tom Galgano (I love that this is a family affair)’s majestic keyboards and vocals, to Paul Bremner’s astounding guitar work, to the two profound drummers, Brian Coralian and Greg Dimideli. Amazing. Astounding. “This is the real thing.”
To be sure, IZZ and Glass Hammer are my two favorite rock bands from the U.S. If anything, I just can’t believe that IZZ isn’t HUGE! They deserve to be adored and well loved. Frankly, they should be as loved here in the States as Big Big Train is in the U.K. and Europe.
I also love how the band–though unique in its own sound–reflects the loves of the members of IZZ: Gentle Giant, Genesis, ELP, Yes, Jethro Tull, and others. In other words, they readily blend tradition with innovation, no mean feat in 2024.
My own history with the band goes back over a dozen years now. In fact, I was introduced to the band by their 2012 album, Crush of Night. I’m not sure, now, how I came across it. It was probably a submission to Progarchy, and I was reviewing for CatholicVote and The Imaginative Conservative, then, too. Man did I fall in love with that album or what? To me, it was (and remains) a perfect album. Composition, lyrics, mood . . . everything rock deserves. To this day, it remains one of my all-time favorite albums. And, it was a part of a trilogy of albums, including The Darkened Room from 2009 and Everlasting Instant from 2015. A trilogy of albums! Aside from Riverside and Glass Hammer, what band does this anymore? Dang, I loved it.
And, here’s just a sampling of the lyrics from Crush of Night:
I could run only half the way
Though she loved me more than I can say
How could I falter?
How could I fall?
Though I’d remember I would not call
When I was young she said, “Pick out the toys
That you want
I’ll see what I can do
Did I take care of you?
By the way
A dollar or two can go a very long way
Use it to buy anything you want.”
The droning sound of the rosary
Etched in my heart
More than a memory
In one of my more obnoxious (or daring!) moments, I wrote the band the year I was living in Colorado (2014-2015 academic year), and they responded by sending me several of their CDs! I still remember opening the mail box in Longmont and discovering such a rich treasure trove. It meant everything to me. This act of kindness predisposed me toward the band, of course, and I immediately back ordered everything–going all the way back to album no 1, 1998’s Sliver of the Sun. If these guys were going to support me, I was most certainly going to support them.
Two other things convinced me of IZZ’s greatness. First, I bought their live DVD, simply called IZZ LIVE, and I devoured it. [If amazon.com is to be believed, I ordered it on May 4, 2013] I couldn’t believe how cooly normal (and normally cool) these people looked. They didn’t look like long-haired metal heads but like normal, professional people. I would’ve been looking at a video of my history department colleagues. Yet, what they were doing on stage was definitely beyond normal. Cool, sure. But, not normal. Extraordinary passion and talent manifests itself in that DVD. It’s still one of my favorite live concerts, and I would’ve given a lot to have been there at the recording of it. Thank the Good Lord, they preserved the show.
Second, in 2012, I had also listened to and reviewed John Galgano’s gorgeous solo album, Real Life is Meeting. I thought Galgano was as great alone as he was in his band. The man simply brims with creativity and integrity. Then, we started corresponding through email and social media. Again, Galgano stunned me as a truly genuine person. I know almost as much about Galgano’s love of the Mets as I do about his love of prog!
But, Kevin, I’ll shut up for a minute and let you jump in.
Kevin: Well this is my first exposure to IZZ. What strikes me immediately is the variety of music on this new release, Collapse the Wave. The opening, “We Are 3rd,” is an expansive track that covers a lot of prog ground in its eight and a half minutes running. The keys and drums harken to mid-era Genesis with the guitars and melody lines more-styled on Yes’s similar mid-era work. The bass lines offer an excellent grounding to the dense textures and carry wonderful counter-melodies. And then about two-thirds of the way into it the tune opens up to expose a piano ostinato and glockenspiel in tandem and highlights the lyric:
Coming to the brink of change
The past is shifting out of range
The wind is at our back
It’s a beautiful moment and definitely one my favorite sections on the record.
Musically there is a great deal of variety on the record. “We Are 3rd” and “Brace for Impact” have a relatively heavy guitar leads, but with many contrasting sections. “Brace for Impact” in particular has moments reminiscent of King Crimson’s angularities, which almost reprises in the final track “And We Will Go.” Elsewhere we hear solo piano accompanying voice in both “So Many Voices” and “Deep Inside.” The latter piece shifts into a folk-like arrangement with acoustic guitar and bass.
The title track, “Collapse the Wave” shows hints of jazz meeting Kansas at their most jam-bandish, eventually settling into an almost reggae back beat, the drums holding a tight groove. There are moments that even feel like latter-day XTC—a sound heard again later on the album in “Soak Up the Sunlight.”
I really like the acoustic passages used by IZZ on this record. The aforementioned piano echoes later in the guitar intro to “Sometimes Sublime.” They definitely know how to shift between contrasting styles and thus melding them into their own sound.
Brad: You’ve covered the music brilliantly, Kevin. Thank you! I love your analysis. I will admit, I’d not thought of Kansas and being a jam band. But, relistening to “Collapse the Wave,” I totally agree. This could be something (updated, of course) off of Leftoverature.
And, speaking of jam bands, maybe there’s a bit of Phish in here! Oh, those East Coasters. . .
I already noted this above, but when it comes to IZZ, I especially appreciate the vocals and the lyrics. That the band has three vocalists gives us a Yes “Leave It” or Yes, “All Good People” vibe. As much as I love the Galgano voices, I’m especially taken with Laura Meade. Her solo album from last year, The Most Dangerous Woman in America, remains a favorite, even though it’s a bit poppier than IZZ. It’s hard not to fall in love with her–arguably one of the greatest vocalists in rock music today.
Well, there is so much more we could say about IZZ and Collapse the Wave. But, probably the best thing we can do is recommend it. And, we HIGHLY recommend it. Yes, I’m shouting at you. It comes out in a just a few days, and you can pre-order it here: https://izzmusic.bandcamp.com/album/collapse-the-wave
What are you waiting for??? Pre order it!
Spirit of Cecilia 
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