Daily Dialogue — August 7, 2016

Speaker: Now tonight we have with us the son of Margaret and the late C.J. Reed of Portland who has witnessed this war first-hand. And I for one see no reason why we here at the liberal club shouldn’t listen to what Jack Reed has to say. [applause] What would you say this war is about, Jack Reed?

Jack stands. Pauses, then —

Jack: Profits.

With that, he sits back down.

— Reds (1981), written by Diane Keaton, Trevor Griffiths

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Activism.

Trivia: While filming on location in Finland, Warren Beatty encountered several problems with the local authorities. It turned out that Finnish authorities had been asked by the Soviet Union to make shooting this film as difficult as possible, which, in order to keep good relations with their much larger neighbor, they agreed to do.

Dialogue On Dialogue: This is how Jack Reed is introduced, a one-word side of dialogue in which he succinctly describes the U.S. motivation for its involvement in the Spanish-American War. His attitude presages his move toward Communism and his subsequent activist efforts.

I have seen this movie only one time, yet here it is some 35 years later, and I still remember that line of dialogue. Sometimes… less is more.