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Giuliani Gets Worked Over in a Doc
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 12, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 12, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The documentary isn't coming out for a month, but there's speculation about the upcoming Giuliani Time and what it could mean for the former mayor/possible Republican presidential candidate. Director Kevin Keating is trying to show the other, non-September 11 Giuliani - you know, the Gooliani we all remember from such events as the Abner Louima beating, the Amadou Diallo shooting, and the Sensation show debacle. The Times points out the film is being distributed by Cinema Libre, which is "known for its slate of leftish films, like 'Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism' and 'Uncovered: The War on Iraq.'" And the Daily News cuts to the chase and says for New Yorkers, it'll "offer few revelations." But it'll be a trip down memory lane!
It should be interesting to see what Middle America thinks of this, though we suspect some will be attracted to his hardline, hush-his-critics stances (one quote from Ed Koch on the Giuliani Time website: “He uses the levers of power to punish any critic. He doesn’t have that right. That’s why the First Amendment is so important and why I, on occasion, have referred to him as Pinochet, Caligula, maybe it’s a combination of the two.”) but what might be most revealing are his attitudes about the poor (subtext being minorities) - former schools chancellor Rudy Crew says, "There's something very deeply pathological about Rudy's humanity. He was barren, completely emotionally barren, on the issue of race." Giuliani is a complicated guy - right before September 11, he was probably at the nadir of his mayorship, what with his horrible separation with Donna Hanover and the city seeming to be fed up with him. Robert Polner, who edited America's Mayor: The Hidden History of Rudy Giuliani's New York, tells the Times, "He almost existed to manage a crisis. But there is far more to him than that."
Which Giuliani do you believe in? The cranky mayor who did good and bad or Giuliani the saint? And here is a Giuliani pumpkin carving pattern (though it looks more like Pig Vomit)!
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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