Triumph of the (second thoughts about) the Will

Hollywood mega-director Steven Spielberg has turned his back on China by withdrawing as the director of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Reuters reports today.

By Bob Tourtellotte and Paul Eckert

LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg withdrew on Tuesday as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing over China's policy on the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

"I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual," Spielberg said in a statement issued on a day when Nobel Peace laureates sent a letter to China's president urging a change in policies toward its ally Sudan.

"At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur," he added.

Perhaps there were too many parallels with another standards-defining film auteur, Heroine* of the Third Reich Leni Riefenstahl, who also spent the final arc of her career focused on the Sudan.

* Fixed, though I kind of liked the metaphoric appeal of "heroin."