Golden Globe Winners Spark Righteous Anger (Rightwing Tantrums)

[ruggerson]

Notice how misleading the first line is. They say "Christian" groups. Not RADICAL, RIGHTWING Christian groups, which would have been far more accurate.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1990992,00.html

The Times January 18, 2006

Golden Globe winners spark righteous anger
From Chris Ayres in Los Angeles

Christian groups led a furious campaign against Hollywood yesterday, accusing the Golden Globe Awards of promoting films with gay or “leftist” themes to serve a political agenda.

The criticism was made after Brokeback Mountain, a film about the forbidden love between gay Wyoming cowboys, won four awards. Other winners included Philip Seymour Hoffman, named Best Actor for his portrayal of the homosexual writer Truman Capote; and Felicity Huffman, the Desperate Housewives actress who played a transsexual with a gay prostitute son in Transamerica.

“Once again, the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit,” Janice Crouse, of Concerned Women for America, said. “None of the three movies — Capote, Transamerica or Brokeback Mountain — is a box office hit. Brokeback Mountain has barely topped $25 million (£14.2 million) in ticket sales. If America isn’t watching these films, why are they winning the awards?”

The criticism from the American heartland carried more weight than usual this year because Hollywood suffered the biggest decline in attendance in two decades last year. Some of the few box office hits of the year were films such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which appealed strongly to Christian audiences.

[xultar]

1. AWWWW STFU!---Geez...I can't stand the fucks.

[Champion Jack]

2. Isn't it about Time

For that damned rupture yet?
I'd like to see all of those fuck heads burst into flames

[Warpy]

11. I'm certainly ready for the rupt..er, rapture

because if they're wrong, we'll get sucked up to heaven while they get left to clean up after themselves, and if they're right, we'll finally be rid of them.

It's a win-win. I just wish it would happen soon.

In the meantime, those dummies never did "get" art, anyway, so let em howl. There is no such thing as bad publicity in showbiz.

[pokercat999]

52. Gee, think we could talk them all into "self-rapture" ala

Jimmy Jones? That would be soooooo kewl. Matter of fact there are a huge number of RW Fundies among the suits where I work, I may start suggesting that they self-rapture when I'm asked if I'd like to participate in their pre-meeting, prayer meetings. I always leave the room when they pray so I'm 100% positive I've already sealed my corporate "fate". The upside is unemployment would give me more free time to do the things I like, screw the bills I have too much shit anyway.

[ismnotwasm]

3. You know what?

I'm fucking sick of them. They're so full of hatred as well as shit they can't see with the eyes their God gave them, hear with their gift of working ears or speak without the most foul vile spewing out.

They can kiss my ass. Fuck them.

I was listening to the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar. That's the Jesus I would pay attention to, the one who would denounce these worth- less- than- used- asswipes for who and what they are--hypocrites of the most disgusting variety. As well as some of the most evil fuckers who walk the planet.

I'm not taking anymore of their shit. I'm not.

[megatherium]

4. They're whining because none of the winning movies made much money?

What do they worship -- money or God?

And besides, since when is mass market appeal a good measure of artistic value?

[stevietheman]

6. Exactly.

They're openly admitting that they have zero appreciation of art, and that awards should be based on popularity. Wow... more reason to believe they are nuts.

On top of that, Brokeback Mountain is still in release, and we haven't seen its full worldwide returns yet, not to mention DVD sales.

The Concerned Women for America are really fascist bitches who hate America. I had to throw that in. :)

[jackpan1260]

28. They would prefer movies like Dukes of Hazzard and Saw II win awards

since they made more money that Brokeback and Capote. I am sure Jesus would agree, profit is the best way to judge artistic merit.
:eyes:

[wordpix2]

5. I saw Capote--a great film

[Skittles]

47. Mr. Hoffman better get that Oscar

while Brokeback and Goodbye and Good Luck were excellent, Philip absolutely NAILED Capote - no easy feat

[HuffleClaw]

7. what a bunch of crybabies

must still be bitter about 'the passion of the christ'

[megatherium]

9. Passion of the Christ? That snuff film?

It was gratuitously violent (e.g., showing a raven pecking the eyes of the bad thief). It wasn't based on the scriptures, and its antisemitism was thinly disguised (the crowd shouts "let his blood be upon us and our descendents" but this was left un-subtitled after complaints from the test screenings). Completely morbid.

And they think a sad movie about two cowboys in love is obscene!!!

[ruggerson]

8. Memo to Janice Crouse: keep your day job

Brokeback is STILL the number one movie on per screen average 6 WEEKS after its release. It's playing in about 1/6th the theaters Narnia is playing in, and its winning per screen everywhere it's playing, including the heartland.

I know telling the truth is not the forte of the religious rightwing, but this lame meme they spout that Brokeback is not a hit is a total, utter, grasping, pathetic lie.

[Peace Patriot]

10. How about "self-styled Christian groups"? It's time reporters started

questioning who these people are.

The prominence given to these bigoted, fascist, murder-of-Iraqis-loving, so-called "Christians" in articles like this is part of an intentional propaganda program, by the war profiteering corporate news monopolies, to convince you that you are a member of a minority group--Americans who loves fairness, justice and equality, and who hate unjust war and bigotry. The truth is that we progressives and leftists are the MAJORITY. I could prove it to you a hundred different ways. (Read the issue polls. You will be amazed.) But just trust me on it. Americans despise Bush, despise Bush's war, see through it all, and reject this rightwing garbage.

Many of us--the members of the great progressive American majority--DO see through crap like this, but what we don't fully get (or get at all) is the more insidious message of this piece that these wacko minority groups are deserving of this kind of space in a newspaper. The corporate news monopolies promote rightwing views way, way out of proportion to their numbers.

Keep that thought in your head, the next time you read an article like this or watch TV news. They are messing with your head in ways that go deeper than the content.

[The Roux Comes First]

37. Well said, PP! (eom)

[Pithy Cherub]

12. So these wingnuts would be overjoyed with Harry Potter

and the Goblet of Fire? That film raked in the most cash according to the pharissee logic they use. Just sayin':shrug:

[killbotfactory]

13. 25 million isn't good for a "gay cowboy" movie?

WTF planet are these people on?

And it's about artistic merit, not profit, you dumb bigots.

[rainbow4321]

40. "criticism from the American heartland "

Guess they have not visited Plano, TX. Because in this city, in a bright neon red glowing part of Texas (one of the top three repuke counties in the state), the theaters are still packed for this movie. I went to a matinee show to see it on Monday, and the theater was still full. These people need to get in better touch with the "heartland" before spewing their hate.

[Skittles]

46. ditto here

the theater was full and it was very diverse

[VegasWolf]

14. Be careful, fundies mouth foam carries diseases. nt

[sakabatou]

15. Just because a movie doesn't make money,

doesn't mean it's not going to win an award. So STFU.

[Charlie Brown]

16. They gave the music/comedy award to Walk the Line

which seemed a very religious oriented "red state" film to me (I actually really liked it).

Aw, well, this bitching from the Fristian Right during awards season has become a tradition now, just like the War on Christmas. If the Golden Globes have succeeded in pissing these people off, I tip my hat to them.

[rodeodance]

17. by her comments this concerned womon of America is only interested in $

“Once again, the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit,” Janice Crouse,

[IndianaGreen]

18. Let's watch that fine film about torture and human sacrifice, The Passion

Nothing like corrupting young people's minds with their poisonous crackpot dogma that they pass off as religion. Religion my ass!

[dsewell]

19. Yeah. Crap like "Moby-Dick", for example, gets the awards.

I love this line: "If America isn’t watching these films, why are they winning the awards?"

In 1851, Herman Melville published Moby-Dick. Between the U.S. and the U.K. (where it was entitled The Whale), it sold around 2500 copies during its first year. A couple of years later, in 1853, Sarah Willis aka "Fanny Fern", a popular comic New York newspaper columnist, sold 100,000 copies of her book Fern Leaves from Fanny’s Port-Folio. So I guess this means Fanny Fern is roughly 40 times better than Melville.

[sweetheart]

20. They need to imagine having gay sex

If they imagine being voraciously shagged by an eager
partner with a huge schlong, they will better understand
what they are afraid of. Maybe all straight people should have
gay sex until they learn to enjoy it, and then they will be
not such paranoids about rubbing their bodies around.

Isn't it a christian prayer, "Oh lord, please don't
fuck me as badly as the romans fucked jesus." And if all
people can visuallize jesus getting shagged from behind by
a large roman soldier, they can understand why his back
was broke on that mountain. ;-)

[stillcool]

21. Like chalk on a blackboard....

Shrill, rabid, soul-less, wench...righteous my ass...

[lenegal]

22. Wtf do they watch at the movies?

In Red State land, what the flying fuck do they watch at the movies?

[ninkasi]

23. I cannot express

how very, very sick I am of these narrow-minded, hateful, venomous people. Just because they are consumed with self hatred, and with hatred of humanity, is no reason to inflict their bile and spite on the rest of us. I'm not gay...but...I recognize and respect that there are gays, and lesbians, who are just as human and deserving of love and respect as anybody else. They are like anybody else, except for the gender they love, and that's something that is born in all of us.

Brokeback Mountain is a story of love, and loss, and what happens to people who experience those feelings. The love a gay, or lesbian AMERICAN CITIZEN feels for his/her partner is just as beautiful, and just as legitimate as the love I feel for my husband. I would die for him, and he for me, and I know and cherish gay friends who feel 100% the same about their partners.

When I look at the news, all I see is the many stories of war, and corruption, and death...what is wrong with accepting, and embracing, people who carve out a little bit of love and sanity in their lives, by finding someone to love, and live with? Are these right-wing zealots so lacking in any spark of humanity, that they will fight to the end to prevent a love they will never understand, but would deny to others?

I feel like going up to these narrow minded bigots and shaking them, and asking them why they can't accept other people, and their feelings? There are no G/L/B/T groups I'm aware of who are waging war against heterosexuals, or marching against us, or trying to legislate whether we can or can't marry, or have equal rights.

Sorry for ranting, but I'm just fed up with these people and their hate. Love is ALWAYS better than hate, and when I think of my gay friends, it's always a warm feeling, the enjoyment of sharing a meal with them, or getting an e-mail, or talking on the phone. The very last thing that has ever occurred to me is their sex lives. I don't try to imagine the sex lives of my straight friends, maybe it's because I'm so self-absorbed that my own sex life is the only one that holds interest for me, but it seems that the act of sex is the thing that these wingers harp on. 

Focus on the love, the families they create, the good they do for the community, the positive side of having loving, caring people dedicate their love and lives to each other. For the right-wingers who would demonize them, all I can say is that I'm sorry that you will never know the healing power of real love. The mere fact that you would deny it to others means that you are incapable of feeling it yourself. Rot in your own poison, if you wish, but don't deny me, and my friends, gay or straight, the simple human right of loving each other. Go to your own hell, with those of your own kind.

[ruggerson]

26. Thank you! Beautifully, beautifully written.

:patriot:

[NVMojo]

24. I wish whatever god they believe in would remove them NOW!

Take them home, wherever that is!

[fujiyama]

25. CWFA are fuckin nuts!

These awards aren't given for profit. If they want to hand out awards, they should go create some dumb fuck award and see if any stars attend them or make some more blood lust snuff films...

What is it with their obsession with Hollywood?

[gunsaximbo]

27. I sure hope Hollywood

doesn't bow to their pressure. The entertainment world would be represented by creative like Davey and Goliath, Gumbo and Bob the Builder not to mention Barney. God help us if they lose their spine.

[pinniped]

29. Glad I didn't hear about until today, it would have ruined...

my viewing of the GG awards show.

--Christian groups led a furious campaign against Hollywood yesterday--

Just because money is her god, that may be the case with others.

--“Once again, the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit--

[Skip Intro]

30. "I don't like you doing that, and I demand you stop it!"

Fuck them.

[GOPNotForMe]

31. Bwa ha ha ha, these people are irrelevant and don't even know it! nt

[blueblitzkrieg]

32. I was very happy Felicity Huffman won for Transamerica.

It is a great film and she gives an awesome performance. Highly recommended (fuck the bigots).

[Cha]

33. Fuck you, HYPOCRITES!

Your fucking agenda is KILLING people so I think movies about love can stand on their own without your snoop noses.

[Scooter24]

34. As of Jan. 16- the film has made over $32 million

in only 683 theaters. The movie only cost $14 million to make so it has done very well for an independent feature.

Also, the film has done remarkably well considering it's very limited release. First week, it opened in only 8 theaters. The following week it opened in 69 theaters. The following weeks, 217, 269, 483, and 683 respectively.

Now compare this to 2,500+ theaters where Glory Road, Last Holiday, Hoodwinked, Hostel, Cheaper By The Dozen 2, etc. are playing at. And the 3,000+ theaters where you will find Narnia, Fun with Dick and Jane, and King Kong at.

Also to note, out of the top 20 weekend grossing films, Brokeback Mountain was the ONLY film to increase in revenue from the previous weekend.

If ticket sales had determined "the best," then the top 2 films of the year would have been Star Wars Ep. III and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire earning $380 million and $281 million respectively.

The religious right will never understand the complex art that is filmmaking because they continue to be wrapped up in their own self-absorbed world. As for Brokeback Mountain, I wouldn't worry because it is still doing fine despite the critics and their boycotts.

[boilinmad]

35. GUESS WHAT......

Just because a film makes alot of money, doesnt make it a movie that warrants awards!!!!!..............just look at all the crap that Americans watch on television, and at the theatres........These ridiculous, hateful right wing christian groups need to shut up and wait for the new season of reality shows. That way, they can watch what they like best; a bunch of fake people being hateful to each other, their favorite past time. Watching a group of dumbos humiliating each other, and rooting for the meanest, most ruthless contestant. I dont get it.....................................(just needed to have a rant!)

[Skittles]

48. welcome to the DU, boilinmad

I concur; yes INDEED!!! :hi:

[northzax]

36. anyone else think that maybe Hollywood funds these assholes?

I mean really, isn't this just oodles of free publicity? This is Hollywood we're talking about, as long as people are talking about you, you are fine. The single worst thing that anyone could do to a movie is simply ignore it. Don't talk about it, don't write about it, ignore it. How much free publicity did "Book of Daniel" or "Brokeback" get from all this sound and fury?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

42. Hollywood funding a rightwing group. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

[northzax]

43. every time they talk about something like this

it gives it tons of free publicity. remember the old adage: there is no such thing as bad publicity. No one who listens to these groups seriously was even in BBM's target audience. If it wasn't for the outrage, the movie wouldn't have broken 20 million, or opened outside of major metropolitan areas, it was never supposed to, but as soon as the wingnuts start bitching, BAM! people start going to see it just to piss off the wingnuts.

Think about the premiere of "Dook of Daniel" how many people watched that show just to see what all the fuss was about? I never would have, until I was told it was dangerous, since I rarely watch TV on Friday nights. But I was home, and heard about it, so I did. good news for them. Have these jokers ever stopped a movie from being made? ever stopped one from making money? Ever stopped one from being shown somewhere where it was actually going to be shown, based on demographics? I doubt it. Reminds me of the "Parental Advisory" stickers Tipper Gore was so fond of, all it does is attract attention to something that would otherwise be passed by.

[Bridget Burke]

56. Concerned Women for America has no need for Hollywood funding.

Beverly LaHaye founded CFAW to fight the Equal Rights Amendment. Her husband, Tim LaHaye, co-wrote the Left Behind books. They met at Bob Jones University & are pillars of the Religious Right.

www.cwfa.org/main.asp

Check out the site for the Right Wing causes soon to be pushed by weak-minded journalists. They were doing War on Christmas in 2003! CFAW is good at mobilizing their public--to write & to send money.

[northzax]

60. so it's even more ironic, ain't it?

that all those checks go to make money for the evil hollywood machine?

[rainbow4321]

38. Um... hey, fundies, even if it "only" made $25 mil....

and it cost $14 mil to make, they've almost doubled their $$. And that was before the awards show.

The below link lists movies and how much they cost to make, how much they have brought in, etc...According to this info, it's made $34 million worldwide. Does "Production Budget" mean how much they spent to make it? Cuz this page says $14 million.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=brokebackmountain.htm

[rooboy]

39. By Janice Crouse's logic, a Big Mac should be given culinary awards. n/t

[Milspec]

70. WHAT the Big Mack has won no awards!

Shocking!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

41. People aren't going to the movies because they can't AFFORD to go!!....

.....The rightwing Concerned Women of America are playing fast and loose with the facts just like every rightwing group.

[lakeguy]

44. you know, if these "christian" groups put in the same amount of

time and energy into actually doing some good instead of trying to force their will upon people, the planet would be a better place. imagine if they put as much force behind child trafficing or the sex trade (i guess those could be one in the same). no time for that though because the golden globe awards are going to actors playing "sinners".

[Skittles]

45. but, they are not interested in doing good

they are interested in everyone thinking in the same hateful, small-minded black and white way THEY do

[Solly Mack]

49. You have to be fairly stupid to not know the difference between critical

acclaim and something being "popular" - between breaking down barriers and spoon feeding the masses.

Not everything worth seeing is popular...and not everything popular is worth seeing.
Critical acclaim and "appeals to the masses" is seldom going to be one and the same.

Course, that fuckwad has an agenda so she's blinded by her own hate. And it is hate to rant against the importance of projects that break through the silence of bigotry and prejudice - especially when it's your own bigotry. Guess her bogus logic was all she had to cloak her hate in...

She was confronted with her own hate filled prejudices and came out the bigot she has always been

[Ian David]

50. "The Lesbian, The Witch and Her Wardrobe" won a Stiffie Award, too!

It's the first movie in "The Chronicles of Sluttia" series

[Zech Marquis]

51. fucking rightwing zealots!

It's not like someone is MAKING them go see these movies, so why the fuck are they always, ALWAYS trying to tell everyone else what to like, what to eat, what to wear, etc? :shrug: i suppose it's ok to watch tortue, death and destruction, but love? Oh no, tha's a sin ;evilgrin:

[Bridget Burke]

53. How does ONE Religious Right Group become "Christian Groups"?

The article mentions the harpies at CFAW, but NO other groups. And it mentions "Right-wing radio talk show hosts"--but only quotes ONE!

Let's look at this gem: "The criticism from the American heartland carried more weight than usual this year because Hollywood suffered the biggest decline in attendance in two decades last year. Some of the few box office hits of the year were films such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which appealed strongly to Christian audiences."

When did one press release from CFAW become "criticism from the American heartland"? Besides the Narnia flick, why are none of the other hits that Christians like mentioned?

"Oscar pundits are now questioning whether the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will also reward Brokeback Mountain, potentially souring Hollywood’s relationship with the American ticketbuying public even further."

Any quotations from those "Oscar pundits"? Nope.

"Religious groups also pointed to the alleged political agenda of winners including George Clooney, who won for his supporting role in Syriana, a film about the ethical pitfalls of the oil business; and Mary Louise Parker, who was rewarded for her performance in Weeds, a television comedy about a suburban mother turned marijuana dealer."

Again--which religious groups bitched about Clooney? Not a hint.

What a pisspoor excuse for journalism.

[Bridget Burke]

55. Answering myself: The source of this pisspoor journalism!

Chris Ayres writes the Times column "Hollywood Notebook." Another column reveals his anger at being left out of the HFPA, sponsors of the Golden Globe Awards.

You can imagine my frustration then, at never having been invited to join the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the shadowy yet hugely powerful group of non-American journalists that hands out this week's Golden Globes.....

In fact, the HFPA has one of the trickiest application procedures yet devised by Man. It's probably easier to join the Saudi Arabian Royal Family. On paper, for example, my own credentials for membership would appear impeccable: I live in Hollywood, and, as a correspondent for The Times of London, I’m a member of the foreign press. In reality, I stand about as much chance of becoming a member as my great aunt. New applications are limited to only five per year, and all names must be approved by, well, everyone. Which means they are generally not approved.....

The real problem, of course, is that the HFPA is too powerful for its own good. For many in the “red states” of America, the organisation literally stands for everything that has gone wrong with the country since Pearl Harbor: foreigners, Hollywood and the press. That it has the power to celebrate a film about gay cowboys, and promote it to the rest of the world as an example of American artistic excellence, must feel like cultural hijacking — the equivalent of the National Rifle Association being put in charge of Gay Pride. Even liberal Americans are annoyed that such a small group of outsiders wields such a large influence.

www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20910-1988720,00.html

Gosh, wonder why they haven't asked him to join? (Previously, he reported from Wall Street. And he did a stint as an embedded reporter with the US Marines in Iraq. So WHY is he covering entertainment?)

[muriel_volestrangler]

68. The Times is Murdoch-owned - has 20th Century Fox done badly this year?

Maybe the company just wanted the opposition badmouthed.

[Eurobabe]

54. I can't wait to get the PHUCK out of the heartland

sorry, ya'll, I am at heart an East Coast liberal elitist.

Keep back 300 feet!!

[donheld]

57. Oh the poor fools -- cry me a river

Actually I kind of like seeing them weep.

[CBHagman]

58. Janice Crouse said concerning Hurricane Katrina debacle...

....the following, which, as Dave Barry would say, I am not making up.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/13/AR2005121301764.html

"And Janice Crouse, a senior fellow at the Christian group Concerned Women for America, said religious conservatives 'know that the government is not really capable of love.'

"'You look to the government for justice, and you look to the church and individuals for mercy. I think Hurricane Katrina is a good example of that. FEMA just failed, and the church and the Salvation Army and corporations stepped in and met the need,' she said."

Uh, did this clown notice the CANADIAN MILITARY going into Louisiana to help those in the suburbs of New Orleans?

I'll bet Crouse isn't so capable of rejecting the government's "love" when it comes to putting her money in a federally insured account or driving on a federally financed road.

So I'm not particularly interested in what she has to say about anything, including entertainment.

[StaggerLee]

59. Free publicity

Now I know what movies I HAVE to see!

(or rent when they come out on DVD)

[lumberingbear]

61. I'm sure the Hollywood Foreign Press Association ....

who vote for the awards could care less about the Rightwingnuts. So there....

[customerserviceguy]

63. Actually,

the louder the fundamentalist nutjobs scream, the more I like it. It's fun to see them display mass hypocracy after all of their "Passion of the Christ" crap. I didn't see that snuff flick, and wouldn't even if you paid me to, but I fully support their right to view it (adults only, I feel the same about hardcore porn, so I have to be consistent here).

I plan on seeing Brokeback with my girlfriend in NY this weekend, maybe the theme of going out and doing what you need to do for yourself, no matter what others may think, will give us food for discussion. I'd love it if she'd let me move in with her before the end of the year!

[Straight Shooter]

62. That should be "self-righteous anger" not "righteous anger."

Or maybe "self-righteous bombastic ludicrous anger."

[goodboy]

64. I DON'T REMEMBER ANY COMPLAINING ABOUT THE 'PASSION'

GFY

[f-bush]

65. I love it

I probably would not have gone to see the movie had the right wing not made such a stink about it. And it was a good movie so in a back handed way the wing nuts did me a favor!

[BlueInPhilly]

66. I saw the movie too...

and honestly, I don't know what the big deal is. It was beautifully shot, shoo-in for Best Cinematography. But it's just another story; heck, half of the time, I couldn't even understand what Heath Ledger was saying. It is not a "homosexual movie", it's just another movie.

[Robbins]

67. Movies

I am glad the right wing Is upset but I have no Intrest In seeing any of these movies. I am tired
of feeling like a freak for liking Star Wars(with Kerry Supporter Natalie Portman,Liberals Samuel L
Jackson and Jimmy Smits and possible compassions to Bush) Batman Begins,The Fantastic Four,and
Serenity(from Liberal Joss Whedon) just as I can't stand Law and Order,CSI,and all reality shows,and
I prefer the West Wing,Alias,24,The Simpsons,Smallville,and reruns of Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel.

[MADem]

69. In reply to these upset fundies, I think a Chimp quote serves well

"Who cares what you think???"

The Golden Globes are put on by the Hollywood Foreign Press. They are very civilized, with food and drink.

The fundies should put on their own show, maybe Pat Robertson will give them air time. They can serve lemonade and have Pat's secretaries and groundskeepers accept the awards for the people they hand them out to, because even those who make money off them don't want to go near them with a twenty foot pole....