Preserving What?

One of the joys of my adult life is that I married a man who, in addition to great calves, has great understanding. I am always learning from him. In politics especially he is very temperate, very thoughtful, whereas I tend toward extremes.

A recent challenge came from his column in the Abereen American News.

This paragraph was particularly striking to this stick-in-the-mud conservative that I often am:

"We often look at the arts and humanities as luxuries. This is especially odd coming from so-called conservatives who sometimes deride these subjects because of their lack of economic utility. But what precisely are we conserving if not our culture and civilization? And if the arts are important to the cultivation of our souls, thus the cultivation of virtue, should not those who worry about cultural decline advocate hardest for the promotion of the best in the arts?"

But what precisely are we conserving if not our culture and civilization?

That struck me to the core. How do we raise our children to be somewhere between robotic-like fascists and lovers of those squishy, voyeuristic excuses for art that are so popular today?

girlfriday to Walden Media: Make Us Care

I'm BORED, Walden Media.
(Spoilers ahead, blah, blah, blah.)

Dare to imagine (you're filmmakers after all), that Lewis' fan base (that means the people who pay to see the movies) actually love the stories (even the weaker ones). We're shocked and sad with the children when they discover they're exploring the RUINS of their own beloved Cair Paraval. We thrill at Aslan's first apperance and wince when Lucy doesn't follow him. We wonder at the dumb beasts the talking animals of Narnia have become (not because they were TREATED like dumb animals but because they were corrupted). We're pleased when the true Narnians use the horn in the hour of deepest need, not when they fell off a horse.

Characterizations of Peter and Caspian are completely off. Honorable, humble, and wise young men are reduced to bickering, arrogance, and selfishness.

We want to really know Corneilus, punch Nikabrik, root for Caspian, admire Lucy, love Peter, loathe the hag, yearn for Aslan.

We do not want to see Lord of the Rings Lite. We're going to these movies because we're devoted to C.S. Lewis and his Narnia. Battle scenes with giant birds and clashing swords. Yawn. Mythical creatures, angry trees, magic water, old man, drown the baddie...oh, sorry, I drifted off.

[It]ignores this theme completely and shows none of the joy and beauties of Narnia. The Telmarines want to keep control of Narnia; the Narnians want to overthrow them. That's the only story-- no underlying nobility or goodness is evident.

Caspian the Spaniard, oops, Telmarine, is the rightful heir of Narnia. Who is he and why do we care? The Pevensies were called back but to what end? (To claim superiority, squabble and get kissy face, the movie suggests.)

Whatever the movie was, it wasn't Lewis' Prince Caspian.

This film is essentially a vehicle for PG-rated fantasy action, with very little causing you to root for the good guys. Douglas Greshem needs to exert better quality control on any future Narnia projects.

This review was written by me (large letters) and this guy at NarniaFans.com. (in bold).

GO THERE and post your review. You can read my husband's here, Hob's at White Noise here.

Indication #47 that you might be yelling at your child too much

This is Audrey's depiction of me, post this morning's outburst. What can I say? I was trying to focus on my core and do my pilates?! My aforementioned daughter of four years kept asking me question after question. As a result I might have slammed down the TV remote and asked for 15 minutes of non question asking time. Maybe the volume of my voice was elevated and maybe my blood pressure was soaring. Did guilt follow immediately? Yes. Why can't I just take a few deep breaths before I react. That is my new goal.

Do we laugh enough on this blog?

I don't know. But I do know that if I post things that I think are funny, but no one else finds amusing, then it doesn't really fulfill the purpose of making our readers laugh. I'll try anyway.

Don't know why I'm so obsessed with this site, but I am. More from xkcd.com

Is The Crucible still relevant as a cautionary tale?

For those who do not know what I do in my regular existence, I am a professional actor, a writer and dramaturg. I also do windows and laundry, when necessary. Most recently, I finished a short run as John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and I think it worth noting that Miller's show is, in its own way, a small slice of genius. If you have never read it, I highly recommend you do so; if you have never seen it played, run, don't walk, to the theatre. It is that powerful, and for theatre, that important.

The Crucible, essentially, is an exploration of the nature of hysteria. If the general public begins to bleat like sheep and start searching for reasons to explain their lot in life or their fears, there are those who will be all too ready to take advantage of the situation. The Salem Witch Trials were as much about evening scores and acquiring land as they were about searching out any putative witches and doing away with them. As is true in most human endeavors, it is always useful to follow the money or discover who stands to gain when this or that happens. And is someone does show profit or gain, you can be fairly certain that it was intentional. For myself, reading the play brought to mind immediately the McMartin PreSchool cases in the early 1990s. For those going "er, what?," please check here.

The echoes with Salem and the way in which the law and the courts were manipulated is uncannily similar. At any rate, however much the Witch Trials had to do with religion on the surface, they had almost nothing to do with God, the Bible, or much of anything else pertaining to Heaven...in much the same way that the Inquisition had more to do with power than saving the souls of its victims.

The lesson of The Crucible is simple, but interestingly powerful: we must be on our guard. Hysteria and the lust for power it provokes are historical in nature, yes, but they are also as immediate as yesterday's headlines or today's arrest blotter. People seek scapegoats, and, if necessary, those in power will supply them.

Unless we stop them. Immediately. Without qualm, pause or wasted motion. We have far more to fear from hysteria than we do from anything that might serve to cause it.