Alex Jones, Part Two:
The Jarheadian Escapades Continue.
Many years ago i saw Alex Jones on Tee Vee for the first time. At first i thought he was just a big lug who liked to rant and scream for the sake of laughs. Like a daytime drama that takes itself too seriously, he was melodramatic, over the top and he was so full of himself that it was funny.
Then he started imagining organizations, using only heresy and his own conjecture as proof. He started adopting a Mc Carthyist attitude towards anyone who questioned him, he started using Austin Access as his favorite venue for propigating his own mythologies, conjectures and half baked theories for the sake of promoting his website, infowars.
Oh... did i mention that he sells videotapes on his site? They're pretty funny actually, even though he does manage to describe some serious issues in the process.
For those of you who don't know, Jones is an ultra right wing Uber-Patriot who preys upon the feeble minded by instilling half truths, lies and paranoia into them. He then tells them that if they don't believe in HIS and ONLY his way, then they are leftist puppets being used by the United Nations, Secularists, Liberals, the "Elite Bankers" (be careful not to say "Jewish" there!), the "Hollywood Elite" (whatever that's supposed to mean), even Satanists (uh, free clue: there is no such thing as "Satan" except for number 18, Miroslav Satan, who plays for the Buffalo Sabres), and anyone else who's not a fantical right wing conspiracy nut. To get his maximum bandwidth, Jones has befriended many people who have become producers, most of whom allow him to show videotapes of him on their time. It is commonly believed that Jones takes it upon himself to monitor us "Leftist" producers and press charges on them for the most minor and trivial infraction. See the The Show With No Name debacle.
Hopefully you've already read the first part of the Jarheadian Escapades. If not, take the time to do so. You won't be disappointed (unless you hate to read).
Jones is a tireless self promoting popular personality here in Austin. But just because he's popular, that's not to say that he has any endearing qualities such as likeability, intelligence or leadership ability. Popularity just means you're known. Heck, David Duke is popular, Lydon la Rouche is popular, that child loving pop star, Michael Jackson, is popular. Even the suspected cross dressing J. Edgar Hoover was popular. So yes, even i have to concede that Jones is popular.
His tactics remind me of the Mc Carthyist witch hunts of the 50's, or of the Red Guard in China during their revolution or more presently, of the Taliban of Afghanistan. And as he's gotten older, he's become more outrageous, incomprehensible, fantical and frankly, i think he's become dangerous. No... i do not believe he has the courage nor ability to plan an attack like someone like Eric Robert Rudolph, but i believe he is capable of influencing a feeble minded individual into doing so.
But all of this aside, the reason i'm writing this is to let everyone know what's happened as of late.
Some months ago, the Austin Chronicle ran an in depth article on the affairs of Austin Community Television . The opening editorial was in regard to Alex Jones. Of the many outstanding points that were made, Jones is a "tarbaby". No, that's not a racist comment for those of you who think like that. A "Tarbaby" is a journalistic and political term used to describe a scenario where the subject at hand is more likely to stick with you regardless of what you do to shake it. Typical tarbaby topics are generally abortion, gun control, etc... You can read the article here, or read below.
July 14, 2000: The time has come to talk of Alex Jones. When the Chronicle editorial staff first considered how to cover the ongoing controversy at Austin Community Access Center (ACAC) regarding Jones, there was almost a consensus not to do it. The feeling was that regardless of what we said about Jones it would empower him, helping to further define him as a spokesperson in our community. There was also the tar baby concern -- once you got into it with Jones, you could never get out. The feeling was that despite his beliefs, his overriding goal was self-promotion. It was solely to his advantage to extend any interaction. The staff did not want to participate in any support, promotion, or ongoing dialogue with Jones, but the ACAC story is important to our community.
Jones is an articulate, sometimes hypnotic, often just annoying conspiracy theorist -- black helicopters over our cities, Clinton's storm troopers rampaging through our streets, the Y2K computer crash used as an excuse for martial law (oh wait, that didn't happen, but the rest will). Through his ACAC show Info Wars, his canceled KJFK radio show, and such stunts as building a chapel at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Jones has gained notoriety. Unlike a journalist or historian, a conspiracy theorist starts out with an assumption, garners all information that supports their theory, and ignores or discredits information that disagrees with it. Jones seems driven more by getting media attention than any ideology. There are conspiracies everywhere and the forces of evil are sweeping our country: Smart Growth, free trade, light rail, Social Security, world government. Nefarious, usually unnamed, international conspiracies are busy controlling our lives. Jones does not offer specific political solutions (Jones' only solution actually is to encourage an ever-increasing paranoia about everything).
I used to listen to Jones on the radio but eventually stopped because any participation -- even just listening -- supported the show. Jones loves to rant. Jones is the hero of most of his rants. There has never been anything he supported except freedom and the Constitution. I can imagine him roaring, "That is exactly the point!" -- except Jones uses them as straw men, props against which to place all the conspiracies invading our daily life. Still, I was sorry when KJFK took him off the air. I really think the society is richer for having many different voices. I thought it was a cowardly decision.
Unfortunately, a number of ACAC producers think that Jones' respect and support for freedom of speech ends with those voices with which he personally agrees. The most recent controversy concerns Charlie Sotelo's The Show With No Name, which has been suspended by ACAC. At least partially at issue is Jones' role in The Show being taken off the air. Jones denies he had anything to do with it, and ACAC Board President John Villareal backs him up. There is also the concern, however, about how active Jones has been in monitoring other shows, especially those he doesn't like. Read Lee Nichols' piece on Jones and ACAC ("Mad TV," p. 34) and Marc Savlov's piece on Charlie Sotelo ("Access Denied," p. 36) and decide for yourself. On behalf of the staff, I ask that this not become a catalyst for becoming part of Jones' audience.
Charlie Sotelo works for us at SXSW (us being managing director Roland Swenson, Nick Barbaro, and myself). Specifically Sotelo works on the film conference and festival. On Austin cable access, he has hosted The Show With No Name. Currently he is facing a 90-day suspension for showing a Nike commercial directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, The Game). Complaints were filed against Sotelo because access shows can't show commercials. Even though this Nike commercial was old and for a product no longer manufactured and clearly shown as an early work of an interesting director, it was decided that The Show violated this rule and should be suspended.
Sotelo hosted this show long before he came to SXSW. In fact, one of the reasons he came to our attention is because he hosts the show. I've never seen it. At home we don't have cable. This is from no high moral anti-TV stance but because I'm a hopeless addict. Give me a remote control, and I'll go all night, never watching more than a minute of anything. So I haven't seen the show. Most everyone I know raves about it.
Obscure beginning works by now-established talents are treasures to the film enthusiast. Sotelo has given me many tapes, and I get a special thrill from bits like Andy Kaufman's appearance as a contestant on The Dating Game for reasons that have nothing to do with The Dating Game.
One can respect the ACAC board on this. It seems absurd to acknowledge this as a commercial rather than a rare work in a director's filmography, but if they make an exception this time, what happens when some group shoots some "arty commercial" for a local event and wants to run it on access because of their enthusiasm for it? The Sotelo exception could wreak havoc. Still, the shoes are not even on the market any more, and shouldn't ACAC be a place to showcase obscure but interesting works?
The board is trying to reach some compromise with Sotelo on The Show and establish greater clarity regarding their policies. We'll see what happens. But what is shocking is that Alex Jones, the anti-authoritarian guerrilla freedom fighter, a champion of liberty, isn't leading the charge to reinstate Sotelo. What is more shocking is the notion that he freely admits to filing complaints against other broadcasters over the years. Vigilance and freedom, he reminds us on his shows, are the main defenses of liberty, but he doesn't seem to respect his own opinion, or anyone else's.
(Borrowed from The Austin Chronicle )
For the most part, i have nothing to add to this. I felt that it was a well placed, thoughtful and accurate essay that should be heeded by all who are intelligent enough to listen... and ponder. In terms of ACAC policy, i do disagree that we, as producers, should be unable to give critical review for works of people, even if those people produced commercials, but that's an esoteric discussion not meant for these pages.
That was just the editorial. Then came the article...