R. Emmet Sweeney's Power of Articulation

THE NUMBERS

Author Empathy:8

Characterization:9

Didacticism:10

Catharsis: 7

Sophistication:9

OVERALL: 8.6


When I read film reviews, I operate under the assumption that the critic I'm reading knows more about the general subject of cinema than I do. It's how things should be and even when I've seen the movie in question and think I've caught a slip-up on the reviewer's part it doesn't change my assumption. E.g. in here I pointed out that I didn't think a certain naked sunbathing neighbor was as drop-of-a-hat available as David Denby insisted. Yet my sureness about the scale of knowledge of movies that D.D. possesses remains unchanged. This is how reputations (D.D.'s, The New Yorker's) work and it makes my reading life easier.

So I'm not phased by little discrepancies that run contrary to my assumption simply because of that assumption. Trusting your critic is important. But there is a way to abuse my relative ignorance. By pointing it out. Like a jerk.

Isn't that hypocritical? Accepting that I know less but then becoming angry when someone who knows more articulates the same exact sentiment? How can I increase my knowledge--which I might want to do if I'm going to be such a big baby about it--if I can't stand to witness an authority flexing her brain?

Well, no, it's not hypocritical. I'm only asking that the authority be a bit gentler about flaunting the old grey matter. This negotiation--of trying to show some of your voluminous knowledge for my benefit while not intimidating me into frustration by the very same display--is, I think, the core struggle of teaching. In the terms of this blog it is the struggle to score well in both DIDACTICISM and AUTHOR EMPATHY.

Recently I read a piece that negotiates this exchange sooo fucking well. R. Emmet Sweeney's article for IFC.com, "The Most Subversive Performances of 2009," may actually have tightrope walked my personal limit for how smart an author can show himself to be without costing me an ounce of reading pleasure.

The craziest part, for me, is the beginning: he quotes and summarizes a 1966 essay by some likewise genius movie critic. "EW! GROSS!" was the reaction I expected from my sensibility until I realized how compelled I was by the idea Sweeney has presented. (I'm a big proponent of keeping quotes from decades-old peer reviewed articles trapped in the ghetto of academic writing, you see.)

 It's in delivering on the promise of an idea from 1966 that Sweeney really whirls. Here is a section you might expect in an a very good film review:

Hall oozes his way on-screen with an ingratiating tenor that drawls out corporate double-talk with an ease and smirk that makes everything he says sound like a dirty joke.

That is a description that piques my interest in a movie that I would have maybe seen for free before reading it, maybe. With some brief appraisals of the movie beforehand, Sweeney has done the expected job of recommendation well. But, continuing, he elevates his description to match his pronounced goal:

The key to his performance, though, is the whiplash-inducing quality of his movements. He continually starts in a relaxed position, echoing the molasses-slow speed of his voice, until he lands on a point of emphasis, when he curls up his lip or wields his hands like a pen knife, slashing the air like he's slicing open a patient. These pinprick movements pay off in an astonishing fashion in the final sequence,

It's a methodical breakdown in language with just the right amount of precision. When Sweeney says "the key to his performance, THOUGH," (emphasis via me) he is passively pointing out that THOUGH he just delivered a totally satisfying explanation of Hall's acting he is going to go further. He'll present a sample of what he saw with his professional's eye in the most direct way possible with no critical jargon--just great writing.

Now I would actually pay to see "Gamer." But that's only a side effect of Sweeney's purpose, which is way cooler. More importantly, he rewarded an individual performance with a righteous description of why it is so good. That he helps his reader understand what that quality actually consisted of has the potential to actually further the cause of rewarding good acting by educating people on what that might look like.

And then he does it again with another actor, four more times. This is smart writing with a purpose, and both those combine for a 10 in DIDACTICISM, something unachievable if Sweeney didn't level with the audience he was writing to (i.e. empathize from that authorial place).

As a counterexample, check out this article, which effectively disregards AUTHOR EMPATHY in favor of DIDACTICISM. Even though I initially came to White's review in search of a things to tell my friends regarding why I so disliked "District 9," I know that if I brought up his points in conversation, especially if I used his tone, I would end up punched in the face. (NB: I read this awesome NY Magazine article about White and want to reiterate that it is the hypothetical ME who would be slugged for using his "District 9" argument, NOT HIM.)

All I'm saying is that if I was a betting man and if DIDACTICISM and AUTHOR EMPATHY could be converted into physical weapons and if fights involving such weapons could be arranged and if R. Emmet Sweeney and Armand White could be persuaded into such a bout...well then, I'd put my money on R. Emmet knowing that the odds would bring it back to me tenfold. Hype is a known killer--but White has a true reputation, not hype. Unfortunately, dissing your audience's intelligence can be just as lethal.

Unfair Fight: Two Takes on a Teen Assassin: 2.8 vs 8

THE NUMBERS

Ayse Wieting on Rosalio Reta:

Author Empathy: 4

Characterization: 3

Didacticism: 2

Catharsis: 4

Sophistication:1

OVERALL: 2.8

Rusty Fleming on Rosalio Reta:

Author Empathy:5

Characterization: 10

Didacticism:9

Catharsis: 9

Sophistication:7

OVERALL: 8

“The Day I Met a Cartel Assassin” by Ayse Wieting.

Ayse is a documentary film maker who works for the FOX series “War Stories.” (Incidentally, her name is also the product of either some kick ass parental cleverness or something far more lame.) Strangely, as a film maker who focuses on violence and those who commit it, Ayse leads her account of meeting Rosalito Reta by stating that she never thought she would “end up in prison,” especially the maximum security ones where authorities keep…most of the criminals who are convicted of violent crime. Well, despite Ayse’s ignorance about what her chosen profession would entail, she selected a great subject in this instance. Rosalito Reta is a compelling figure of terrifying significance. He was a professional killer who started work at 13. He is also an American citizen.

“Drug Wars: The Next Generation” by Rusty Fleming

As it happens, another documentary film maker covered Reta’s story for another major news outlet. Rusty Fleming penned his account for CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 website. Two film makers with snappy names sniffed out the same story and went in with directorial minds and burning questions and came out with two written accounts. Let’s strap razorblades to the legs of these two articles, lay our money down, and through them into the ring! In a metaphorical sense!

Rusty scores the first blow quickly by leading with a rendering of the event that is at the heart of this story, Reta’s story: the boy’s first kill. Compared with the puzzling introduction that Ayse dropped, apparently blind to her own résumé, anyone betting on her breaks into a profuse sweat at exactly this moment.

Oops. Rusty loses purchase with the reader when he plugs himself in a dedicated paragraph, all but musking Reta and screaming “I found him first!”

***

GOOD MOVE/ BAD MOVE

This is Rusty after introducing his subject but before moving onto why Reta is relevant RIGHT NOW:

Since Reta and I spoke last year, he has been featured in numerous news stories. But I spoke with him about his experience before the mainstream media even knew his name.

Major points here are lost in the author empathy category. Simply relating the facts of your several encounters to speak more profoundly than other reporter’s first encounter is enough. This is a blow to the reading experience after a great lead.

THE VERDICT: BAD MOVE

***

Rusty would have dealt his article a deathblow if his reporting wasn’t so singularly excellent. He moves onto a story of Reta falling out of favor with his cartel (it’s wild, read it) that I could not find covered after hours of scouring every article I could find on Rosalio Reta or his compatriots.

Rusty emerges quickly from the crapper of his vanity because of his massive authority on the subject and a genuine talent for clear writing. Ayse, however, mires herself in contradiction in an attempt to force the story into a prefigured mold. The three paragraph sequence from “Born in Houston…” to “That’s all there is down there” is a phenomenal blueprint for WHAT NOT TO DO as a writer. Against all other facts THAT SHE WRITES in the article, Ayse tries to portray Reta as having a normal childhood—the underlying assumption being that his inherent monstrosity drove him to become a hitman. Yet she leaves Reta’s claim that where he’s from you’re either a cop, a drug dealer, or a cartel man unevaluated. She actually positions this quote, one that contradicts her claim, in such a way that it seems meant to punctuate the story of his life of rejected opportunity. Any claim to logical progression is lost. Ayse simply proves herself wrong about her subject with her own reporting. It’s THE WORST MOMENT in either article.

***

THE WORST MOMENT

From Ayse Wieting:

Born in Houston to a hairstylist mother and father who worked construction, Reta said he had a good childhood as one of 10 children. He grew up like any other kid…

…"Where I'm from, if you're not a cop, you're a drug dealer," said Reta. "If you're not a drug dealer, you work for a cartel. That's all there is down there."

BECAUSE: The way Ayse subtly manipulates the way she paraphrases Reta before the ellipsis is exposed by him saying something quite the opposite of what she puts in him mouth. A silly lead is forgivable but this is grossly irresponsible.

***

Being a thorough liar is important to being a writer. Ayse Wieting, however, delivers here a combination of untruth and un-thoroughness that is shameful. It even makes me think her name is made up!

It was this genuine inability for any story I read—Rusty’s being the thankful exception—to adequately provide coverage of the case of Rosalio Reta that makes his story so engrossing. I’d submit that a reason for Ayse’s atrocious coverage is not just her incapacity as a writer and reporter but her inability to envision a reality in which an American teenager becoming a highly trained professional assassin (and who loves it) is not just one isolated incident. For Ayse, Reta just has to be inherently bad because he was born into the opportunity to be good. This blinder and a reluctance to ask questions on Reta’s terms pervades all substantive coverage of this case that I found (i.e. this, this, this, this, this, this and this). All except Rusty’s for CNN.

Not only is Rusty Fleming’s article on Rosalio Reta the best on the matter, it is the only coverage worth reading. There should have been more.