Swimming to Cambodia

"i was told to check this one out, and now that i've watched it i wonder if i was recommended this one because spalding's delivery is similar to my irl pressured speech. with a face like sam neill and a voice like tom lehrer, he has a LOT to say about the state of cambodian politics in the 20th century (a subject i know little about beyond the fact that there were killing fields and many refugees in thailand). i can't speak on my own undereducated perspective of the politics of the time (thanks american schooling system for conveniently ending our history lessons after WWII), except that holy SH!T is/was america the coked-up ambassador of evil with regards to operation breakfast (thanks spalding, im never gonna forget that one thanks to your maps), sex tourism, and paranoid men with a button waiting to kill the planet because they're told they'll be spared. a very dark sort of sit-down comedy, and it hasn't aged too badly (aside from digs at cambodia's entomophagy cuisine, which existed long before the rise of the khmer rouge). in many uncomfortable ways, and because we live in interesting times, it hasn't aged ENOUGH."

"This is a must watch film. Spaulding Grey gives a monologue about his part in the the movie, The Killing Fields. It was made in 1984 while Cambodia and SE Asia were under the violent reign of the Khmer Rouge. Grey talks about his personal memories and experiences. It’s a powerful movie, a true story that most of us were never taught, by a man who tells his story with sincerity and comedy. Spaulding Grey died in 2004. Look him up. Watch the movie. Read his books."