Summary:Â Myths reflect how a people see themselves and their aspirations. Great peoples have great myths. We, early 21st C Americans, see our myths on the big screen, the spectacles of our day. They reveal much about our nature. It’s not a pretty picture. For example, see “Captain America: the Winter Soldier”. See links to …
Captain America: the Winter Soldier – high-quality indoctrination for sheep Read More »
Summary: A people’s myths reveal much about them. Today we look at our myths as shown by Hollywood on the big screens. It shows a people with powerful fantasies, but they point to a dead end instead of a viable future. “All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.” — Max Beerbohm’s novel Zuleika Dobson (1911) Contents …
Are our film heroes leading us to the future, or signaling despair? Read More »
Summary: On 16 December 1773 angry patriots dumped tea into Boston harbor. Two centuries later, in the film “Network” Howard Beale yells that “he’s mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore.” But unlike the patriots of 1773 he’s unable to effectively apply his anger, and so becomes an exemplar for Americans today. Individual action does little; collective action …
In “Network”, Howard Beale asks us to get mad and do something. He’s still waiting. Read More »
Summary:Â We can learn about ourselves from our art, even from mass market movies. Sometimes they reveal unspeakable insights about ourselves. Here Loki speaks of our unwillingness to bear the responsibility and effort of self-government. It is the glory and good of Art, that Art remains the one way possible of speaking truth … — …
Summary: The long series of posts about the evolution of The New America has examined our gullibility, our eagerness to believe what we’re told, and how that affects our politics. Today marks a change in focus, shifting to look at how we have changed. How do our ruling elites see us, the people of the …
