#604 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday March 10)
Good morning,
A potpourri today…
SCRIPTER BEST ADAPTATIONS
The 35th annual USC Scripter Awards are now “in the books,” with Slow Horses winning as episodic entertainment (i.e., television or streaming) and Women Talking winning for motion picture adaptation.
A word about Women Talking. It was a great book and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. As Bradley Tabach-Bank notes, it is not a “typical” movie, really constituting more of a stage play that is filmed. I concur that this movie, in the style of 12 Angry Men or several adaptations of August Wilson, this movie was a well-filmed stage play. It is comprised of a great deal of dialog and not a great deal of action. But this format is consistent with the nature of the story. The telling of the story, through the debates of women meeting in the loft of a barn, is reflective of the claustrophobic environment within which the women lived. They are trying to determine, in a strict Mennonite community that does not give status, voice, or even education, to the women. And in this community, abuses occur and, through this claustrophobia and lack of agency, the women debate indoors and ultimately stride out into the light and on to a new journey—both physical and metaphorical. If you’re looking for lots of action and CGI, look elsewhere!
The Oscars are this Sunday, so we’ll see how Scripter (and my vote) fare.
SILLY MONIKER
The other day, I drove past the Howard Hughes Center on the 405. The movie theatre had a sign that said “Extreme Digital Cinema.” I understand the idea of what digital cinema is, but isn’t it a binary denotation? Isn’t it either analog or digital? How does it become extreme digital?
THE WAY OF ALL FLESH
Ed Nahmias asked about the meaning and derivation of my use of the phrase, “gone the way of all flesh,” in referring to the hobby of stamp collecting. The phrase means to die, as in “all living things come to an end and return to the earth.” The phrase was the title of a book by Samuel Butler. It is a misquotation of the Bible:
In the Bible, the reference to dying is “to go the way of all the earth.” (I Kings 2:2; Joshua 22:14).”
Having now provided greater definition to the phrase, I’ll stand by my conclusion that stamp collecting as a hobby is dying—“going the way of all flesh.” In the meantime, Steve Mossholder points out that the thin blue foldable notes that were pre-printed with postage, were called “aerograms.” And he’s old enough to know!...
TOPOL, THE FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
I’ve been noting the rash of deaths of the famous and the near famous from music, theatre, and the arts. This week we learned of a “lesser” star’s passing. Topol, the Israeli star of the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof, died at age 89. The film version did not supplant the seminal performance of Zero Mostel on stage (or even Luther Adler, who followed Mostel—whose first stage appearance in the Yiddish theatre was Schmendrick). It nonetheless was a cultural moment, particularly for a Jewish kid growing up in a more-or-less saccharine Ozzie & Harriet community. Fiddler gave context and voice to an ethnic group only a generation or two away from immigration and the uncertainty, violence, and marginalization of Russia, Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe that they left behind.
As I’ve related before, my father, a casual theatre lover, remarked upon leaving a performance of Fiddler, “it’ll never take off—only Jews will l come.” How wrong he was, with its performances around the world, in multiple languages, telling the story of a people that could relate to the stories of so many others. The film was the highest grossing movie of 1971. It is one of the most-often presented plays in high school and community productions and is the subject of an all-Yiddish production in New York.
Norman Jewison was the Director of the film version of Fiddler. He spent much of his career noting that, notwithstanding his last name, he was not Jewish!
Not everyone loved Fiddler. Philip Roth called it “shetl kitsch” and admonished the production for making the Russian officer look sympathetic. Fair enough—there wasn’t much sympathetic one could say of the Cossacks pillaging small villages. That said, I would argue the nuanced treatment of the “bad guys” makes the story more approachable and hopeful.
MAKING THE SYSTEM FAIRER
There is a difference between worth and achievement. Everyone has the same worth as everyone else. The system must be modified (as it currently is) to increase accessibility for those who might otherwise be excluded due to ethnicity, socio-economics, connections, etc. Everyone deserves to be positioned to succeed. What should not be lost in the equation is to maintain quality and value merit.
Today it seems the word “merit” has a bad connotation. I think it’s nuts. Math problems have only one correct answer—how you get there is important, but in the end doesn’t replace that correct answer. Critical thinking and analysis of the written word are essential to communication, logical reasoning and good citizenship. At some point, everyone needs to be tested to some degree. Doctors need to recognize systems in their area of expertise. Effort isn’t enough. Same for lawyers, accountants, engineers, and contractors. Accuracy matters. There always will be unequal results from merit exams. If we can establish the fairest system possible for access, the game is on. There still must be a measure of achievement.
SPORTS BOOKS AS REFLECTIONS OF THE TIMES—JIM BOUTON AND BALL FOUR
Steve Mossholder notes, “Don’t forget the book that was scandalous at the time - Jim Bouton's Ball Four. I read it when out (in paperback) around 1970. I recall that a number of the players, and MLB in general, did not like the dirty laundry made public. I remember that it was a crack-up.” It also reflected the need for labor’s collective bargaining in an industry that controlled the number, nature, and business model, of employers.
Mark DiMaria adds, “…most have forgotten (or never realized), in the wake of his success as an insightful and candid author, that he once was regarded as the best pitcher in the American League (remember that Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, et al., then were plying their trade in the National). As a very young and newly minted fan of the very inept and newly minted Mets in New York during the 1963 and 1964 seasons, the last two years of the Yankee dynasty that dated back to 1947, and thus despising those Yankees and their incredible run of success, I regarded Jim Bouton as a lead villain, based on his level of superior skills that were beyond even the hopes of anyone who ever might don the uniform of my heroes. As such, I never was truly able to accept on a visceral level that Bouton had been no more than a journeyman through the remainder of his career.”
MAJOR LEAGUE RULES CHANGES
The pitch clock and other new rules to speed up games have been reported to shorten the average Spring Training game by 25 minutes or so. This means the average nine-inning game should clock-in at 2 ½ hours. A faster, higher scoring, more fan friendly product may bring back some of the glory of baseball this season!
Happy day,
Glenn