<VV> that Ralph Nader documentary

[Wrsssatty at aol.com]

Today was the Manhattan premiere of "An Unreasonable Man", that Ralph Nader 
documentary and I was there.  I had purchased my tickets on-line weeks ago and 
as I stood in line to pick them up at the box office an older man and woman 
were in line in front of me.  I heard him tell the ticket vendor that his name 
was Grossman and that the director had left comp tickets for them to pick up.  
Later, in the film, I saw the same man interviewed.  Turns out he was THE 
Grossman of Grossman Publishing which published "Unsafe At Any Speed."  There 
really wasn't much in the film about Corvairs.  Maybe we can be thankful for that. 
 They covered a lot about auto safety in general.  The only part that 
specifically mentioned the Corvair was some cheesy footage using one of those 
Franklin Mint models.  It looked like a stop-action piece showing the car going into 
a tail-spin and then flipping over.  They had superimposed animated graphics 
over the Franklin Mint model purporting to show the action of the swing axle 
and to show the rear location of the engine. The film is 2 hours and 2 minutes 
long and it's defintely a paean to Ralph Nader.  The New York audience was 
highly sympathetic and cheered for Mr. Nader throughout the movie and hissed and 
booed the few interviewees who dared take a position against him.  I would say 
the average age of the audience was skewered toward those who would have been 
young and idealistic in the '60s.  After the movie there was a Q&A session 
with the directors and Mr. Nader.  His sister, Claire Nader, who was interviewed 
in the film, was in the audience and was introduced to us.  The Q&A session 
reminded me of those hand-picked rallies that Bush attended during the 2004 
election in that most of the "questions" consisted of audience members taking 
turns saying; "I just want to thank you for being you."  I was seated on the aisle 
in the third row and after the session ended I rushed the stage with a pen 
and my French translation of "Unsafe At Any Speed,"  "Ces Voitues Qui Tuent," 
which, I believe translates back into English as "Those Automobiles that 
Slaughter."  Ralph has, on previous occasions, already signed both of my English 
copies of "Unsafe At Any Speed."  He raised an eyebrow when he saw it but spoke 
not a word.  He signed, "For Auto Safety, Ralph Nader" as he had in my English 
language copies.  Gee, I was kinda hoping he'd at least write; "Pour la 
securite des automobiles."

~Bill Stanley