today, october 29 2002 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the strange
arrival of charlie chaplin in france. the circumstances of his arrival
were his expulsion from the united states (for anti-american activities,
tied in with tax issues and a sham paternity / morality trial). what makes
his arrival especially notable (rather than his departure) is the greeting
he got from the lettrists, who “intervened” at a press conference held (by
chaplin) for the movie “limelight”, and distributed an inflammatory tract
entitled “
more flat feet“, which engendered an attack from within, which
engendered a clarifying
/ fuck you. i’ve always liked chaplin, and was confused when i first
discovered this. but it was a productive confusion.
more:
of the spectacle.
