US Hollywood "Stars" Zane and Busey Spreading America-Hate Worldwide

(By Ray D.)

No Consequences for Gary Busey and Billy Zane in America?

The big movie blockbuster in Turkey today is "Valley of the Wolves Iraq." The film, which vilifies Jews and Americans, has become so controversial in Germany that Bavarian Governor Edmund Stoiber has called on movie theaters to stop showing it and unleashed a nationwide debate. In just ten days the film has attracted 200,000 primarily young Turkish immigrant viewers.

So what makes the film so controversial? For starters, American soldiers are portrayed as violent, brutish, trigger-happy, civilian-murdering, hyper-religious, sadistic gun-nuts. The star villain is an arrogant, murderous character named Sam Marshall (played by American actor Billy Zane), who is killed by the Turkish protagonist at the film's end. Another stereotypical villain is a Jewish doctor (played by American actor Gary Busey) stationed at Abu Ghraib prison who extracts human organs from prisoners for export to Israel, England and the USA.

The Epitome of Anti-Semitism: Busey's "Doctor" Character From "Valley of the Wolves Iraq" Website

Zane's Character "Sam William Marshall": Let Us Guess: Allusions to Simplistic Bush Stereotypes?

The movie is the most expensive and one of the most successful ever made in Turkey. Some supporters have defended the movie by comparing it to Rambo or other violent US action flicks. Of course one major difference is that that Turkey is an ally of the USA, the Soviet Union was not. And since when did America's First Lady or Congressional leaders heap praise on violent, racist films? The Washington Times reports:

"A new film riding on a wave of anti-Americanism is attracting record audiences in Turkey and has drawn approving comments from the wife of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
    Gum-chewing U.S. soldiers shoot Iraqis in cold blood at a wedding in one scene from the movie. In another scene, set at that the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, a Jewish-American doctor harvests Iraqi prisoners' kidneys for sale to Israel and the West. (...) "I feel so proud of them all," said Emine Erdogan, wife of the prime minister, comfortably ensconced in a seat next to the actor playing Alemdar.
    Although Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul insisted that the film was no worse than some of the productions of Hollywood studios, Turkish parliament leader Bulent Arinc praised its "realism."

Above all, American audiences should be aware that two relatively well-known Hollywood actors, Billy Zane and Gary Busey, are profiting from a film that is spreading hate of Americans and Jews to a massive, worldwide audience. Johnny Depp and Whoopi Goldberg have taken heat for far less harmful deeds.

Endnote: See this earlier post on the same topic. Also check these Islamic demonstrators in Pakistan with the "God Bless Hitler" sign.

Update: CBS, ABC, CNN and MSNBC have posted articles on Busey and Zane so the media has picked up on the story. However, the coverage has not been particularly prominent nor has it sparked much attention. Perhaps Busey and Zane are too pathetic (washed-up) for a scandal? The New York Times reports of Zane:

"Mr. Zane, who got his start in "Back to the Future" and has a great number of grade B credits since then, said he was not bothered by the movie's anti-American tone, adding that the horrors of war should be exposed. "I acted in this movie because I'm a pacifist," he said in a televised interview. "I'm against all kinds of war."

This gossip column report indicates Busey has a few screws loose as well...

Update #2: Here's a report from the New York Daily News (scroll down):

"A Busey-Zane career massacre?

Who knew Gary Busey and Billy Zane were so hard up for roles?

Even Hollywood liberals may be shocked that the American actors took part in a Turkish film that portrays U.S. troops as savages who slaughter Iraqi civilians.

"Valley of the Wolves: Iraq" shows G.I.s crashing a wedding, where they gun down dozens of innocent guests, shooting the groom in the head and blasting away at a boy in front of his mother.

The soldiers drag the ones who live to Abu Ghraib prison, where a Jewish-American doctor (played by Busey) disembowels them - explaining their organs will be sold to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv.

Zane plays a rogue American officer who calls himself a "peacekeeper sent by God."

Zane and Busey aren't known as outspoken critics of White House policy. So why did they take the parts?

A rep for "Titanic" star Zane didn't return our call.

A rep for "Buddy Holly Story" star Busey told us: "It was basically a payday for him."

Anti-American feeling has been brewing in Turkey since a 2003 incident in which U.S. Army troops held Turkish special forces officers captive because the G.I.s thought they were Iraqi insurgents."

It was "basically a payday" for him? How much did he get...30 silver pieces?

Comments

[Assistant Village Idiot]

This post, plus the previous one, plus so many others you have brought forward. Do Germans, or Europeans in general, not even suspect that there's another side to the stories they are told?

I shouldn't criticize, I suppose. We have plenty here in the US that considers it plausible that the Right controls the economy and the politics through a long series of conspiracies and back-room deals. But it does seem that the percentage of people who believe the outrageously silly is higher in Germany.

[Don Miguel]

I guess the careers of these guys have tanked so much that they can't even get on "Ice Skating With Celebrities" or whatever the current reality show is for 3rd rate actors.

[J.T.]

Of course sterotyping people from other countries is nothing Hollywood is familar with.

[John-Paul Pagano]

I'm going to guess that people aren't up-in-arms about the misdeeds of Billy Zane and Gary Busey because, unlike Depp and Goldberg, they are irrevocably banished to the deeply subterranean, Gary Coleman/Steve Urkel circle of Hollywood.

[jlwb]

And more US soldiers and/or marines will loose a leg or arm or be killed because people in the Middle East do believe this film is accurate or are just influenced by it. One more IED planted on a road....or a person who might have warned about the IED keeping quiet.

We had a young soldier to dinner this weekend. He's just 21 years old. Any parent would be proud to call him "son". Honorable, kind, bright (and as all 21 year old males, HUNGRY! I cooked 2 steaks for him! He ate both of them!:-)

Will it be him?

[Mike H.]

This is being reported on in the states. The actors are identified by name. Maybe these two slugs can move to turkey.

[Rowntree]

Do Germans, or Europeans in general, not even suspect that there's another side to the stories they are told?

This is a Turkish Film. Turkey is NOT in "Europe". Why do Europeans have to be concerned about a film in Turkish ? Do Americans have opinions on Mexican films shown in Spanish to Hispanics ?

Why should Germans get worked up about a film shown in 65 cinemas across Germany to Turks ?

[LouMinatti]

Thank you for writing about this, Ray. I cannot tell you how much these to a**holes disgust me. What they did is far, far beyond what the standard Hollywood lefty does. In fact, I will be very surprised if the usual suspects (Clooney, et al) support Busey and Zane in any way.

Scumbags, both of them.

[LouMinatti]

Ray,

There's more:

http://louminatti.blogspot.com/2006/02/chronicle-misses-point-about-billy.html

My local paper wrote about this piece of filth movie today for the first time (only because of Stoiber) and COMPLETELY overlooked the most objectional part of it. The way they wrote the story it sounds like the Turks just made a movie about the Abu Ghraib scandal and who could object to that?

[Rowntree]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493264/

Go read the review of the film.

Actually I thought these Turks were bagged by US forces because they were operating undercover in the Kurdish area and were found with explosives etc. The Turks have been stirring trouble in Kurdish areas of Iraq and stirring up the Turkmens as well as working with the Iranians. Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq were always scared stiff that the Kurds would create Kurdistan and slice a bit off each country - the Turks did not want the Kurds to get the Kirkuk oilfields.

That is what this is really about - Turkish hatred of Kurds and US support for Kurds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4700154.stm

The movie opens with a real-life incident: the arrest in July 2003 of Turkish special forces in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq.

(Istanbul,Turkey-AP July 5, 2003 UPDATED 6:20 PM ) _ The United States released some of a group of 11 Turkish special forces whose detention by U.S. troops in northern Iraq angered Turkey and threatened to further strain already tense ties between the longtime allies.

U.S. officials remained silent over why the Turkish troops were seized in a Friday night raid by American forces on an office in northern Iraq. A Turkish newspaper said the detentions aimed to foil a Turkish plot to kill a senior official in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=1348431

Turkish government officials said about 100 American troops raided a Turkish special forces office in the town of Sulaymaniyah, detained 11 soldiers, and took them to Kirkuk.

The Hurriyet newspaper said the detentions followed reports that Turks were planning to kill a senior Iraqi official in Kirkuk. While there was no word on the identity, the city recently elected a Kurdish lawyer, Abdulrahman Mustafa, as its mayor amid concerns that the new administration may favor one ethnic group over another. The city is divided between Arabs, Kurds, ethnic Turks and Christians and has been the scene of ethnic tensions.

In April, the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade caught a dozen Turkish soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes and trailing an aid convoy. U.S. forces suspected that the Turkish team was sent in to inflame local ethnic Turks, who already have tense relations with the city's Kurds and Arabs.

[Pam M.]

Zane and Busey have no careers to speak of at the moment, so the bottom line is likely to be more important to them right now than any backlash by (nonexistent) fans at home. And look to their Hollywood pals to defend their right to "artistic freedom" if anyone suggests any kind of boycott when the movie hits the States. I posted about this last week and got a comment from someone (presumably in Turkey) who said, "It says realy things and we got proofs (the pictures and confessed soldiers.)" (grammatical errors from original).

Perhaps when the movie is released here more hue and cry will be raised. Until then, the MSM has Dick Cheney's hunting accident to further dissect.

[Assistant Village Idiot]

Well rowntree, that's a fair point. It would be stronger if the film were getting no coverage in Germany at all, but point taken. I may have turned the volume up too high.

[Claudia Al]

Hollywood has been portraying Arabs as villains from the early days of Rudolf Valentino in film noir.Even today they release movies with strong anti middle east/Arab messages and in an age when prime time american TV is host to series such as Sleeper Cell and 24...all those high and might critics of this Turkish move should really just shut up and take the truth as it comes to them.
It seems that when it hits close to home the hypocritical nature of some people shines at it's best.
I think we had enough of Hollywood productions portraying anyone as they see fit,sending whatever messages they see fit, vilifying who they see fit.It's about time "the other side" show a little truth of their own,whether the american audience likes it or not.
So it's ok to come up with movies and TV shows who portrays Arabs and Muslims as terrorists and savage beast but outrageous when a foreign production reveals a fraction of the things done in Iraq?
Do not unto others what you won't have done unto you....ring a bell?