The Austin Atheist posted this strange documentary about life in Austin, Texas. I’m pretty sure this can’t possibly be satire, but since I’ve never been to Austin, I could be wrong.
Maybe it’s a mistake, and this is actually a documentary about Orange County. Is there an Austin in California?
This must be satire. The style is clearly a sendup of 1950s anti-Red “documentaries”; but it was obviously made much more recently (there were no F-15s in the ’50s).
Yeah, and it’s weird too. But at least they don’t get yellow snow there.
Well sure it is a satire. What I can tell you however is that it represents in a very precise way, the way that a non-trivial population of conservatives think about the world. Its breathtaking when you think about it really.
The Austin American-Statesman newspaper replaced by the Soviet Weekly. It is an Austin Texas paper.
Austin TX=uberliberal
also, excellent music scene
Definitely satire. If you look up some of the names-Juli Eason and Webster Lewin, for example-on IMDB, they seem to have been involved in some other movies on a fairly low level. Webster Lewin who’s listed as one of the documentary producers was a production assistant on the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple. I’m betting that this was some kind of student film from the early 80s.
“Keep Austin weird” — it’s not just a bumper sticker. ;-)
Much of Texas tried to maintain the fifties in 1983, the film’s purported date. Austin is not Texas. I grew up behind the Orange Curtain, in the Nation-State of Disneyland. Once I was 18 (in ’73), the ‘rents relocated themselves and my siblings to a trailer on 20 acres of dirt 20 miles outside of the nearest sticks 20 miles outside of Lubbock, because Orange County was too decadent an environment in which to raise up a fambly.
I used to hear Ray Breem on the late night ABC talk station, sounding a lot like the narrator. He shows up sampled on a Negativland album, Escape From Noise
Long live Bolshovicia!
Offered the choice late in the film ” … this family, or THIS family.” They both seemed creepy.
I just checked my sitemeter, and boy howdy is it spiking like crazy from all the hits comming from science blogs. First the 59th COTG and now Pharyngula!
Thanks, PZ!
Now back to keepin’ it weird…
Sorry. “Coming” not “comming.” And “ScienceBlogs” not “science blogs.” I wouldn’t want to reinforce and stereotypes, now would I?
austin is weird – but in a good way. it was cool seeing some of the old footage of the city, thanks!
Sorry, again! “Any” not…aw, screw it!
To paraphrase the great Tom T. Hall, Austin’s a groovy little town. I currently call Athens, GA, home – though I’m looking to move and am open to suggestions – and the two are definately similiar in spirit. Great music scene, thriving arts scene, politically and socially liberal, right in the middle of redneck hell. Athens is a bit more given to the whole college frat thing, I think, but I’ve only been in Austin during South By Southwest, which takes place during Spring Break. Plus, I stayed incredibly drunk and/or hungover most of my time there, so I may’ve just missed it.
Still and all, cool people, cool vibe and some truly screamin’ Mexican food joints. And the bats under the bridge, that’s just cool as hell.
Creepy… But, yeah, it looks like Austin, TX to me. If nothing else, I’ve only ever seen HEB grocery stores in Texas.
(Like Ken Cope, I grew up behind the Orange Curtain; we moved there in 1984, oddly enough. I got out at 17 (1997) and haven’t looked back…)
The best line: Being an American means more than being able to cast your vote for the Christian Republican of your choice . . .
Perhaps an austinite can answer this – did the book burning scene happen in the little garden at Guero’s? Or am I just crazy?
Definately Austin TX, not that I think there was ever any real question of that… definately not of the vintage it claims (some significant anachronisms, and the the film quality doesn’t match the era).
“Vote for the Christian Republican of your choice” – priceless.
“Being an American means more than being able to cast your vote for the Christian Republican of your choice.”
Damn straight!
I haven’t tried dating the film. I doubt anyone can read the date on that Austin American Statesman. But there is now a metal sculpture in front of the Austin Public Library, which doesn’t appear in the film, though it could just be out of frame. I’ll see if I can date that.
I just got off the phone with a reference librarian there and she said it’s a sculpture by David Deming which was installed in December of 1981. But I’m pretty sure it’s to the left, just out of frame.
And I’ve never been to Guero’s, so I wouldn’t know what the garden looks like. I’ll go check it out and report back about your sanity, Evan.
Silly me. At 1:08 you can see the corners of the sculpture. So the film has to have been made sometime after December 1981.
Oops, again! The damn thing counts backwards, so it’s at 1:13.
Or I could have just paid attention to the credits for the copyright date of 1983.
Stupidity comes in spurts.
Bro, you’re picking up one of Weapon’s traits. Think before you post. ;)
FWIW, today is another beautiful spring day in Austin, 66* under sere skies. I took a walk in short sleeves, and even saw some trees beginning to bud. I think the redbuds will be out early this year.
How’re things up in Minnesota, PZ?
:-)
I did think. I just thought wrong and got ahead of myself. And it seems to me like Evan was disputing the copyright date. So trying to date the film myself wasn’t entirely a lost cause.
It was -18°F when I got up this morning. The upside of it, though, is that when the temperature rises to 20°, that’s when Minnesotans break out the short sleeves and the bermudas and the sandals (with socks, of course). At 66° we melt.
It’s been a particularly chilly winter in Austin this year — we usually get a few days of 70 degree weather from time to time, but it’s been decidedly lacking this time around. I seem to recall that one February a few years back we hit 99 degrees one time.
I guess that must mean the global warming deniers are right. It’s all just a vast conspiracy by the globalist elite, as uncovered by Austin’s very own conspiracy theorist — Alex Jones.
AustinAtheist wrote:
Sorry. “Coming” not “comming.”
No doubt your fingers are accustomed to typing “commie,” so the double-m was automatic.
My guess is the 1983 date is correct — because the scariest choice of the President of a Christian theocracy they could come up with was Billy Graham! We’ve come a long way…
Obviously satire. Hilarious, too.
The title and nominal copyright date are, I suspect, just part of the satire — a reference Orwell’s novel. Instead, although some of the footage may be quite old, I’m sure the film was made much more recently than 1983 or 1984.
My favorite part:
‘A liberal is a communist. And a communist is a soviet spy!’
I liked how the 2 troopers stormed in, & confiscated ice cream. (Probably part of their ‘verboten’ stash, hehehehe).
if you look up “Camera Nine” on google, the first hit you get is Webster Lewin’s resume which contains this entry
Which means that it is plausible the film was made in 1983 and that it definitely was completed by 1985. So now we know when it was made after 1981 and before 1985 approximately anyway. Also, definitely a satire!
“The ‘4 R’s’?”
?!
This is just bugging the hell out of me. Reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic, and … Republicanism? I guess?
My story is almost the reverse: Lubbock to California, and fundy-ism to rationalism. Always fun to hear about a fellow Bible Belt de-convert.
And yeah, Austin is pretty weird. Shame I only ever got to experience it in the company of Xians; I’d love to go back someday.
Scott Simmons wrote:
“This is just bugging the hell out of me. Reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic, and … Republicanism? I guess?”
I assumed the fourth was “Religion”.
PZ says: It was -18°F when I got up this morning. The upside of it, though, is that when the temperature rises to 20°, that’s when Minnesotans break out the short sleeves and the bermudas and the sandals (with socks, of course). At 66° we melt.
I don’t suppose any scientific Americans are planning to mount a campaign in favour of Proper Temperatures? In the grand scheme of things, I suppose it’s not one of the most important issues. On the other hand, I would argue that Celsius (or even better, Kelvin) are the scales for rationalists, based on natural physical behaviour, as opposed to the very human-centric Fahrenheit.
[Interestingly, I can take PZ’s numbers as Celsius instead: Here, the high today was about -18(C). When it hits 20C, I break out the short sleeves (I guess I’m not as tough as folks in MN.) And I think I really would melt at 66C.]
“-18°F”? Wow, that would be uncomfortable. It was a chilly 80 to 85°F here in inland So. Cal. today. I almost wore my shorts.
Must suck to be you…[GD&R]
Theo Bromine writes:
The metric system lost. For a while, the French made compasses with 100 degrees to the quadrant, 100 minutes in the degree, and their navigator measured distance using the kilometer, which is the arc of 1 of those metric minutes on the great circle. Today, every compass has 360*, divided into 60 minutes, and airlines and ships use the nautical mile to measure of distance. If the ship navigator didn’t go metric, why should the meteorologist?
;-)
Yup, it’s satire. Mind you, if you are a rightwing religious nutball, you would agree with everything on it. lol
The film may have 1981 on it, but the fashions are from the 70’s.
That’s my childhood HEB, right across from my old junior high. Austin was the home of Madalyn M O’Haire, the most hated woman in Austin and an atheist pioneer. Their office was about 10 blocks from the house I grew up in (and a short walk from that HEB!) The big Americana theater in the same half-mile is now a library — I worked there in high school.
Austin is the heart of the district DeLay the Ripper gerrymandered almost to death, a little blue spot in the middle of a sea of red. Austin is a smart place, a liberal place (even the Repubs tend towards confused Libertarianism), and there’s always room for all kinds of nuttiness… I live in Germany now and only get to visit.
This seems to be a satire based on real Cold War propaganda like this.
There are many more of these films you can find on Youtube. A couple more.
Notice in that one that the kind policeman safely brings the kid home.
This next one is interesting because of the relatively good explanation of the origins of Soviet power. Then it goes into an involuntarily ironic criticism of Stalinism.
“Children are taken early and molded to fit the machine.”
“Children are taught to accept communism as their fate without question.”
“The Kremlin runs all elections, and the outcome is always the same.”
“If anyone disagrees, he is given a speedy trial, without the benefit of jury.” — Well, at least it was speedy.
“All the people of Russia gained little, the rulers gained mightily in power. They built up a giant war machine.”
One funny thing is the map of after WWII. It shows the Soviet Union occupying China!
The producer, Coronet Films, made many such propaganda films.
I love watching old Coronet Films. There was one on YouTube called “Propaganda Techniques,” but it has since been taken down. A propaganda film about propaganda techniques. Weird.
Austin Atheist, you might also be interested in films made by Harding College, like this one.
Ah, yes. I came across that one a while back at the Internet Archive. They’ve got a lot of hilarious “educational” films there. I love the internet.
>One funny thing is the map of after WWII. It shows the Soviet >Union occupying China!
Not an oversight on the creator’s part; Mao, Stalin…all part of the “World Communist Conspiracy” whose headquarters was deemed to be Moscow, in the opinion of that filmmaker. Everyone then knew that “real” China meant Taiwan, a.k.a. “Nationalist” China, under Chang Kai Shek and the Kwomintang (sp?). The PRC wasn’t recognized and given a seat at the UN until a good while after its founding.
And, reflecting the promises made by Stalin to the Western Allies, the Soviets did start to engage Japanese land forces in mainland China at the tail end of WW2 and would’ve participated in an eventual invasion of the Japanese home islands if things weren’t drawn abruptly to a close by the atom-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.