Daniel's review
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee, Nelle Lee
Daniel,
I was moved to read your commentary about your life in the South. I agree with you completely about Gregory Peck and the way he conducted himself on and more importantly off the screen! I guess in some ways things have changed. Everything seems so rushed that people feel the need to acquire a lot in a short time lest they might not have time to enjoy and in the process somehow we have lost that very aim we set out to achieve.
Raj
"Rushed". There I think you hit upon it, Raj. That's interesting that today I heard this from you. I just read that the German religious reformer, Martin Luther said in the 1500's (?) "Haste is not OF the devil. It IS the devil." I don't know where you are theologically and I certainly did not intend to write this today, but I also read where Jesus said in the New Testament that we only have one choice to make and that is; who is our master? And he only mentions two possible choices. Jesus or Mammon. I began to dig a little deeper and Mammon is defined in the Oxford English dictionary as the "semi-personification of covetousness or unrighteous riches." I've searched and searched and I cannot find anywhere in the christian bible where Jesus describes anyone or anything else as a potential "master." I thought surely, pride, lust or one of those other "sins" or "demons" would be mentioned as a potential master that we spend or mis-spend our lives and careers serving, but I can't find any other mention of another possible choice. Looking at my country today, I'd say we have pretty clearly chosen mammon as our 'god.' We're banking everything on how much we have or can get. And it appears that we are reaping the dividends of that decision right now. On the other hand, the people who call themselves 'christians' appear to be more like the characters in the bible called "Pharisees" than anyone else in the book. Very judgemental, unloving, filled with religiosity and ritual and very little love. I'm sorry this has little or mothing to do with "To Kill" I guess, except for the fact that I guess Atticus Finch was not in his career as a lawyer for the money and neither was the actor who portrayed him. I don't know if I mentioned "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit", another Gregory Peck movie that dealt with Anti-Semitism and the advertising industry in NYC. (It's been a long time since I saw that so check me. I may be confusing my movies.) Looking back on my own life, I know I made far too many decision based on what I thought I could "afford" or what I would "get" out of it. Now I realize that giving is actually better than getting. But it's never too late. You are the first to write me and I am not sure exactly how to connect with you further, but I'll try. Thank you for your comment. I have been reading "The Illustrated Rise and Fall of the British Empire." The parallels between the mistakes my country is making now and the bad imperialism of England are shocking. And there taking place in Afghanistan and Iraq, the same places! I want to scream to my fellow citizens, "Hey guys! Look, somebody tried this before and look what happened to them! The army mutinied and asked for more pay and the people that they/we "conquered" brought them/us to their knees. And it was a skinny, little man wearing one piece of cotton that he spun himself! And all he commanded his followers to do was "sit down. be still" I'm constantly amazed.
Daniel's review
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Nelle Lee
Daniel's review
rating:
This is a classic in every sense of the word. The movie, of course, was amazing and Gregory Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch was, I believe, his greatest role. If you have the time look at his career, Gregory Peck that is. In our day of celebrity-hood and celebrities endorsing causes, Peck has a great lesson to teach them. He chose his roles based on the importance of the message in the script. You can go to imdb.com and review his career or probably netflix, but here was a "star" who never took on the silly trappings of celebrity, but used his power to get scripts produced into films just so the public could hear the message, the little bit of truth embedded in that story that could change hearts and minds and even go right to the audience's soul and touch them in a place where the cinema rarely goes in this day and age. The book was a must for everyone in the South especially in the 50's and 60's when I was growing up, but perhaps even more so today and perhaps globally it...more
Daniel,
I was moved to read your commentary about your life in the South. I agree with you completely about Gregory Peck and the way he conducted himself on and more importantly off the screen! I guess in some ways things have changed. Everything seems so rushed that people feel the need to acquire a lot in a short time lest they might not have time to enjoy and in the process somehow we have lost that very aim we set out to achieve.
Raj
"Rushed". There I think you hit upon it, Raj. That's interesting that today I heard this from you. I just read that the German religious reformer, Martin Luther said in the 1500's (?) "Haste is not OF the devil. It IS the devil." I don't know where you are theologically and I certainly did not intend to write this today, but I also read where Jesus said in the New Testament that we only have one choice to make and that is; who is our master? And he only mentions two possible choices. Jesus or Mammon. I began to dig a little deeper and Mammon is defined in the Oxford English dictionary as the "semi-personification of covetousness or unrighteous riches." I've searched and searched and I cannot find anywhere in the christian bible where Jesus describes anyone or anything else as a potential "master." I thought surely, pride, lust or one of those other "sins" or "demons" would be mentioned as a potential master that we spend or mis-spend our lives and careers serving, but I can't find any other mention of another possible choice. Looking at my country today, I'd say we have pretty clearly chosen mammon as our 'god.' We're banking everything on how much we have or can get. And it appears that we are reaping the dividends of that decision right now. On the other hand, the people who call themselves 'christians' appear to be more like the characters in the bible called "Pharisees" than anyone else in the book. Very judgemental, unloving, filled with religiosity and ritual and very little love. I'm sorry this has little or mothing to do with "To Kill" I guess, except for the fact that I guess Atticus Finch was not in his career as a lawyer for the money and neither was the actor who portrayed him. I don't know if I mentioned "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit", another Gregory Peck movie that dealt with Anti-Semitism and the advertising industry in NYC. (It's been a long time since I saw that so check me. I may be confusing my movies.) Looking back on my own life, I know I made far too many decision based on what I thought I could "afford" or what I would "get" out of it. Now I realize that giving is actually better than getting. But it's never too late. You are the first to write me and I am not sure exactly how to connect with you further, but I'll try. Thank you for your comment. I have been reading "The Illustrated Rise and Fall of the British Empire." The parallels between the mistakes my country is making now and the bad imperialism of England are shocking. And there taking place in Afghanistan and Iraq, the same places! I want to scream to my fellow citizens, "Hey guys! Look, somebody tried this before and look what happened to them! The army mutinied and asked for more pay and the people that they/we "conquered" brought them/us to their knees. And it was a skinny, little man wearing one piece of cotton that he spun himself! And all he commanded his followers to do was "sit down. be still" I'm constantly amazed.