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Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, November 6, 1986 Opinion Film colorization vandalizes film’s artistic heritage Don’t you think Leonardo daVinci’s “Mona Lisa” would look better with blue eyes? Don’t you think Michel angelo’s statue of David would look better in jockey shorts? Don’t you think that Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” would look better if the old man had long hair and was smoking a joint? vorite movies for years. I rented the colorized ver sion on video the other day and was disgusted. The film I had loved — the film that I remembered — had changed. Now there were colors that didn’t ring true. All the colors were flat and the film seemed to be a distorted vision of what had touched me years ago. I hope I don’t have to see my other favorite films raped in the same way. to see what it would look like if daVinci had used an air brush. Karl Pallmeyer Unless you are an artistic idiot you realize that defacing such works of art would be criminal. But there is a form of artistic bastardization that is infesting America — coloriza tion of film. In “Casablanca,” when Humphrey Bogart is talking to Ingrid Bergman about their fling and says: “I remember it well, you wore blue and the Germans wore grey,” I don’t want to see Ingrid in anything but black and white. Just like millions of visitors at the Louvre don’t want to see the “Mona Lisa” in anything but the colors daVinci originally painted. Several famous directors have come out oppos ing colorization. Woody Allen, who filmed “Man hattan,” “Stardust Memories,” “Zelig” and “Broad way Danny Rose,” four of his last seven films, in black and white, condemns colorization as being mutilation of works of art. Martin Scorsese, who filmed “Raging Bull” in black and white, says he is afraid films will be changed and destroyed by col orization. The only good thing that is coming out oftl | colorization boom is that many old films are restored. “It’s a Wonderful Life” was origiitt; more than two hours long but usually televisi™' stations cut it down so that it — and about 20 utes of commercials — will fit into a two-hour tin m ' h< slot. Years of use and abuse have damaged pmill of the film to the point where it is almost imposiV ble to find a good copy. The colorization compa# 11 found the best copy of the film and restored it.B its original length before coloring it. Colorization is a computerized process by which old black-and-white films are turned into color films. The process costs about $300,000 for a full- length feature film. Two companies, Colorization Inc. and Color Systems Technology, are dedicated to adding color to old movies. The colorization process has been used in the re-release of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” and Michael Curtiz’s “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” It’s funny to think that it probably cost more to colorize “Night of the Living Dead” than Romero originally spent when he made the film. Hundreds of films, including Cur tiz’s “Casablanca,” John Huston’s “The Maltese Falcon” and others, are scheduled to be colorized. The other film is Orson Welles’ masterpiece “Ci tizen Kane,” probably the best film ever made. Di rector Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland filmed a movie in 1941 unlike any movie before or since. The starkness of the blacks, whites and greys of the film are representative of the blacks, whites and greys of Charles Foster Kane’s life. Color simi- ply would destroy the film. “It’s a Wonderful Life” has been one of my fa- One of the arguments for colorization is that most early filmmakers didn’t use color because it wasn’t available or was too expensive. That may be true in some cases, but not in all. During the ’30s, when color first was introduced in film, many filmmakers opposed the use of color — just like they opposed the use of sound during the ’20s — because they felt it would take away from the aes thetic values of film. Colorizing films just to see what they would look like if the director used color makes as much sense as defacing the “Mona Lisa” The American Film Institute, the Writers Guild of American and the Directors Guild of America have issued statements opposing colorization. Since the owners of the films’ copyrights have the final say in colorization, these organizations have no legal right to stop colorization. The AFI says it is working to rally public opinion against the color izing of old films. The main reason companies are colorizing mov ies is money. Television stations prefer color over black-and-white films and are not willing to show too many old films. Many television stations believe that most young people will not watch old black- and-white movies and are trying to pull in larger audiences by colorizing the old movies. According to Rob Word, senior vice president in charge of product development at Hal Roach Stu dios, the company that released the colorized ver sion of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Night of the Living Dead,” sales of films to television stations have jumped 90 percent now that the films have been colorized. So far it’s hard to say if the increase reflects a new interest in the old films or is because of colorization’s novelty. Those who favor colorization, those whoareirp" ing to make money off the process, answer criul/ by saying that films will be available in boththecJE orized and the original version. Those films be available in both forms but it will be sillynv think most video stores would carry both st)le| Since only a few stores carry movies in both VlPj' and Beta formats, I doubt they would cairy movllp 1 in both color and black and white. r According to Word, colorization should:| ' bother those who want to see the old movies ^ black and white because all they have to do is tuiffio the color down on their television sets to de-coloffiis ize the movie. But that is not the point. Futus^ 1 ' generations may not realize that the films oriel nally were done in black and white when theyJr the colorized versions. This is nothing more than®, rewriting of history that distorts our rich filmherl ] tage in favor of a f ew' dollars. Vandalism of art is a crime that affects thever soul of man. Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journalism major d a columnist and film critic for The Battalion. She’s running’ ' e a bit sluggish Check the battery, test Spark Freshmen persevere for the good of A&M Once upon a time a fa m o u s American wrote something about these being the Jeff L. Brady (ritest Colinnntsl Foolproof way to get kids to study A University of Georgia professor has thought of a brilliant idea con cerning how to make high school students, many of whom have the ambition of a frog, bear down on their studies. Forget “no pass, no play,” he says. Lewis Grizzard and I agree. Given the choice of going out to football practice every day and being hit on the head and thrown on the ground or being able to neglect school- work like always, most high school stu dents will choose to give up extracurri cula. But the professor has realized how to get to high school kids where it hurts them the most. He has suggested, “No pass, no drive.” It will work this way. High school students who don’t main tain a certain average can’t get a driver’s license at 16. They must wait until the creaking age of 18. Now, we have hit the little devils square in the belly. No pass, no drive. No drive, and I speak for the boys here, no girlfriends. No drive, no girlfriends, no parking in the woods. No parking in the woods, no life whatsoever. There are a number of milestone Mail Call Facts confused EDITOR: Leon Luxemburg’s impassioned denunciation (Tuesday’s Mail Call) of Olivier Uyttebrouck’s article (Oct. 31) was impressive, but he had some of his facts confused. We must be careful not to confuse the Palestine Liberation Organization with the Palestine Liberation Front and other splinter groups that operate without the control or sanction of the PLO’s leadership. It is these splinter groups that have been responsible for most of the “Arab terrorism” of late, along with the Shiite fundamentalist groups who have completely different motives for their actions. Regarding Menachem Begin, the former prime minister of Israel, we shouldn’t forget the bombing of the King David hotel in the 1940s, with which he was involved. Innocent lives were lost. Wasn’t that an act of terrorism? Luxemburg’s final point was the most disturbing, since it was the farthest from the truth. In all fairness to the Soviets, their treatment of the Jews in their country has nothing to do with racism. The persecution of the Russian- Jewish community is caused by their choice to practice their religion in an atheist state. After all, a good percentage of the Supreme Soviet is composed of Jews. Oh, and speaking of apartheid, how about the Palestinians on the West Bank who are kept in concentration camps and are allowed few, if any, rights? Brian Petruskie ’83 Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer. ages in a person’s life. There is 21, for instance, when an individual allegedly becomes an adult. I had a friend who still lived at home when he turned 21. Just after midnight, when his birthday became official, he jumped out of bed and went running through his house screaming, “There’s a man in the house! There’s a man in the house!” Frightened, his father got out of bed, fetched his shotgun and fired twice into the living room at what he thought was an intruder. Fortunately, his aim wasn’t that good and all he hit was the velvet painting of the bullfighter on the living room wall. Twenty-one is nothing like 16, how ever. Sixteen and you have wheels! You’re free! Before you’re 16, your mother has to drive you on dates. Little else in life is ever more humiliating than that. Or, as dangerous. Your mother is constantly trying to watch the road and the rearview mirror at the same time, and you could be in a serious accident. I counted the days before my 16th birthday. Finally the day I had longed for arrived. I passed the driver’s test easily. That night I took Kathy Sue Loudermilk to the drive-in. To this day, every time I see a 1958 Chevrolet my lips pucker and I lose complete control of my hands. The professor’s idea to make kids hit the books or face no driver’s license when they reach 16 may be the best thing to hit our nation’s educational sys tem since the invention of the black board. The libraries and study halls would be packed. Most of the students actually would know the name of our president as well as the capital of Idaho. Some might even be able to quote Shakespeare and Disraeli. Think of it. Literate teen-agers. American youths hit the books. Even Ferris Bueller. The mind boggles. times that try men’s souls. The “these” he refers to are those desperate days preceding the colonists’ declaration of autonomy — the brood ing calm before the stormy revolution, the rumbling cloud about the silver lin ing, the hardship, the frustration, the anger. And today I, a not so famous Ameri can, declare that these are the times that try freshmen souls. Particularly fresh men in the Corps of Cadets. They are hit hard on many fronts this time of year. Between Halloween and Yuletide in College Station a bonfire is assem bled, the weather turns wicked, sopho mores get more demanding, an aca demic crunch hits before that last round of exams, final projects are due and, of ' course, the ever-illustrious Corps brass is to be earned. These are the bleakest of times for freshmen retention. Corps brass is to a class of freshmen what diplomas are to a class of seniors. It symbolizes the end of a long, grueling trek toward recognition and acceptance. It represents success. It symbolizes a coming of age and an end to youthful ir responsibility. It is like the gold medals won by an Olympic team — a mark of unity and cohesion of purpose. It stands for the strength of one small group of Aggies working tightly to earn a right to remain. It represents unity from dispar ity and harmony from discordance. And it’s hard to earn — so hard that some freshmen never do. They never see the day of reward, never trade in their A.M.U. fish brass for the Per Unit- atem Vis of full-fledged cadet Corps col lar brass. Because they drop out. They quit. They lose the vision, stop the hunt and accept defeat. Who outside the Corps has never bailed out before time is up, never stopped with less than an ultimate ef fort, never cut corners on work that could be done better, never missed a chance, hedged a dream or clipped a goal short of glorious fruition? The as sociation isn’t difficult. In the Corps, the reasons are many. Some drop by the wayside because the academic pressures become too in tense. Inadequate high school prepara tion, he says, has left him awash in colle giate assignments that demand too much, and he wants out. This is the towel pitcher. Persevere, Fish Jones. “It Another claims the Corps is simp] not designed for his particular taste.Ii| either too restrictive, too hokey, toodfl meaning or too demanding. Enoughj enough. 1 le wants his freedom. This is the squeaking wheel. Persevere, Fish Jones. From time to time a freshman w| dive overboard for perceived Imam limits. Money is tight, he says, and com party dues, dry cleaning costs, Corp trips and Brasso expenses devour wallet. He is usually too frugal tot row and too proud to explore grants. This is the end-of-the-roper. Persevere, Fish Jones. And finally, there is a species offe that literally defeats himself before am one has a chance to toss him a rope.Ht just not measuring up, he says, buddies catch on, manage their have radiant brass an spit-shined shoe: but I just can’t keep up. Let mego.Li me slip out so as not to slow down rest. Let me slide.” This is the wrist slitter. Persevere, Fish Jones. Earning Corps brass HAS to begruc! ing. It HAS to be turbulent. It HAS be a gritty, sweaty, red-hot job dialiu sists on shedding tears, busting a gH and parting with one’s diapers. It is an odyssey that prepares one life. So persevere. Persevere and thereby remind alH us that certain things ARE worth busttf guts. That real reward comes ool through hope, effort and dogged detei mination. And the realization thati 1990 there still will he a Corps at Teio A&M. So there still will be blocks of loui! buzz-headed Aggies running througi campus tin Friday afternoons, still beas sociations of riflemen clad in whiten perforin at Silver Taps and Musteraitt still be a uniformed, historical preseni' on this campus reminding onlookers!)' what we Aggies are and from whentf we came. We all have dreams — hopes and at pirations, well-patterned goalsan* long-sought plateaus that we imagia* one day reaching. They seem preU 1 tough. They seem far-off and hard reach right now. But we want to see you reach yo goal, Fish Jones, to remind us thato# are possible too. So DO bust a gut. DO go the longest yard. DO dig deepaw hang tight, even in these trying times And persevere for the good of Agj land. Jeff L. Brady is a senior journalism $ jor. The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwestjournalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Copyright 1986, Cowles Syndicate Cathie Anderson, Editor Kirsten Dietz, Managing Editor Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor Frank Smith, City Editor Sue Krenek, News Editor Ken Sury, Sports Editor Editorial Policy The liaualioti is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper°r ated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-Colleg (V (ion. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of thed |,( board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the °P |: ' of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Rege 1 "*,. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaperlorst 111 '' in reporting, editing and photography classes within iheDT ment of Journalism. 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