Beth Kaplan's Blog, page 184
January 14, 2016
Alan Rickman
Oh no! As I wrote, I was sorry to hear about David Bowie's death but not profoundly moved. I was sorry to hear about the deaths of William Needles and Brian Bedford, two wonderful actors who graced the stage at Stratford for many years.
But this death makes me deeply sad. There was a time I wanted to marry this man and Googled to find out his marital status. He was already married, darn it. To a woman he'd been with for nearly 50 years. In show business, that is more than a record, it's a miracle.
Alan Rickman, only 69, such a wonderful sense of humour, so sublimely unforgettable in Sense and Sensibility, and particularly as the malevolent and sly Snape in Harry Potter. Too sad.
What's going on, January? Enough already!
But this death makes me deeply sad. There was a time I wanted to marry this man and Googled to find out his marital status. He was already married, darn it. To a woman he'd been with for nearly 50 years. In show business, that is more than a record, it's a miracle.
Alan Rickman, only 69, such a wonderful sense of humour, so sublimely unforgettable in Sense and Sensibility, and particularly as the malevolent and sly Snape in Harry Potter. Too sad.What's going on, January? Enough already!
fab gear
I cannot help sharing this - to show what success as a writer looks like. LOL. FB just sent this about the page set up for All My Loving, my memoir. Imagine, my page visits are down 100%! My weekly total reach down 50%. And someone Un-liked the page. My poor sweet book. Oh well. Only one word for this: sigh.
nsights For Your PageSee All InsightsMETRICLAST WEEKPREVIOUS WEEKTRENDPage Visits01↓100.0%Weekly Total Reach12↓50.0%People Engaged00↑0.0%Total Page Likes6768↓1.5%Thanks,
The Facebook team
nsights For Your PageSee All InsightsMETRICLAST WEEKPREVIOUS WEEKTRENDPage Visits01↓100.0%Weekly Total Reach12↓50.0%People Engaged00↑0.0%Total Page Likes6768↓1.5%Thanks,
The Facebook team
January 12, 2016
Obama!
What a State of the Union address - so eloquent. Yes, some bullshit, but his call to the essential decency of Americans, for the engagement of citizens in its democratic process - inspiring. Now the Republican is responding and I have to turn off the TV - though while dissing Obama, she does also seem to be refuting Trump... Hmm. Amazing. A tiny ray of hope.
As someone tweeted:
I love @BarackObama. We were so lucky that someone this intelligent, elegant, down to earth and self aware wanted this job at all.
As someone tweeted:
I love @BarackObama. We were so lucky that someone this intelligent, elegant, down to earth and self aware wanted this job at all.
ROOM FOR RENT - pass it on
A gorgeous snowfall out there - I can appreciate it because I don't have to fly or drive anywhere. So I'll go for a walk and enjoy the thick white blanket.
I'm posting this in case someone out there can help: this year I am going to go away for my usual five week writing/eating/escaping winter retreat, not to Europe, but to Vancouver. I want to attend the Creative Non-Fiction Collective's AGM, which this year is in Banff at the end of April - I'll stop in on my way back. And I'm beginning to make a point of checking out other places I might consider, eventually, spending the winter, like Victoria and Vancouver. My dear Brucie has offered me his apartment in the West End, so I'll be gone from about March 24 to about April 26. Carol, my tenant and friend, will be here in her attic room, holding down the fort.
But I would like to rent out my room, if possible. Here's a huge, beautiful house in a great location, perfect for someone making a jaunt to Toronto who needs a temporary downtown place. Carol is kind, easy-going and private.
So: ROOM FOR RENT IN BEAUTIFUL CABBAGETOWN HOUSE, WEEKLY, MARCH 24 TO APRIL 26. Private bathroom, sole use of living room, shared kitchen. High-speed wifi, flat screen TV with cable etc.
Please let me know if you know someone who might be interested. I will send pictures and details.
And if you want to depress yourself on this snowy day, here's Gerry Caplan's article about Trump. Horrifying.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trump-is-the-embodiment-of-the-worst-of-america/article28111767
The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. -Hermann Göring, Nazi military leader (12 Jan 1893-1946)
I'm posting this in case someone out there can help: this year I am going to go away for my usual five week writing/eating/escaping winter retreat, not to Europe, but to Vancouver. I want to attend the Creative Non-Fiction Collective's AGM, which this year is in Banff at the end of April - I'll stop in on my way back. And I'm beginning to make a point of checking out other places I might consider, eventually, spending the winter, like Victoria and Vancouver. My dear Brucie has offered me his apartment in the West End, so I'll be gone from about March 24 to about April 26. Carol, my tenant and friend, will be here in her attic room, holding down the fort.
But I would like to rent out my room, if possible. Here's a huge, beautiful house in a great location, perfect for someone making a jaunt to Toronto who needs a temporary downtown place. Carol is kind, easy-going and private.
So: ROOM FOR RENT IN BEAUTIFUL CABBAGETOWN HOUSE, WEEKLY, MARCH 24 TO APRIL 26. Private bathroom, sole use of living room, shared kitchen. High-speed wifi, flat screen TV with cable etc.
Please let me know if you know someone who might be interested. I will send pictures and details.
And if you want to depress yourself on this snowy day, here's Gerry Caplan's article about Trump. Horrifying.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trump-is-the-embodiment-of-the-worst-of-america/article28111767
The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. -Hermann Göring, Nazi military leader (12 Jan 1893-1946)
January 11, 2016
Monday visit, Globes, Jobs and Bowie
Newly learned game with my grandson: He knocks on my back. "Knock knock," he says. "Who's there?" I say. "Eli," he says. "Eli who?" I say. Slight pause. "Eli," he says. We played that for quite a while.
"There's seals under my bed," he says. "They only come out when it's bedtime."
Lucky lucky Glamma. The hurricane family came to visit today, and though my house was trashed when they left, it was beyond wonderful to see them.
Here's another kind of beauty that tugs at my heart:
Brad and Ryan - little old Canadian Ryan, more than holding his own with a superstar - at the Golden Globes. Mmmm - Mr. Pitt is getting better looking as he ages, as some men and almost no women, SO UNFAIRLY, do. (Has he had work? Is not that brow supremely smooth for a father of six or however many they have? Gosling is nearly 20 years younger and looks the same age!) A crowd gathered here last night to watch Downton and some of the Globes before and after. After an hour or so of awards, I was thrilled to turn it off and go to bed, grateful the show has saved me hours of time - after last night, I've resolved never to watch the Oscars again. I thought Ricky Gervais was horrible (though sometimes funny), the speeches mostly inane, the whole thing lame, self-serving and faintly disgusting. Except for an occasional glimpse of a beautiful man or two, like these two and classy Brits like Eddie Redmayne and Mark Rylance - and beautiful Helen Mirren - it was a complete waste of time. And anyway, I disagreed with most of the awards and hadn't seen or heard of the others, maybe that's why I was so crabby. Anyway, enough. Who cares? Hollywood, just do your job and shut up.
The other night, a documentary on Apple's Steve Jobs - I didn't see it all but what I did see was shocking. I'd heard rumours before but hadn't heard details of what an unpleasant human being he could be - a brilliant, overbearing bully who was worth millions when he reluctantly agreed to pay $500 a month child support for his daughter - and worse, the devious, tax-evading corporate citizen that Apple, unlike Microsoft, continues to be. Almost made me want to trade in my Mac. Almost. But not quite. Please don't make me do it - I love this thing. It can't help who its father was. Jobs did do good in the world, creating this fantastic stuff, even if he was flawed. And aren't we all. But the tax avoidance is unforgivable, especially when compared with what Bill Gates has done with his billions.
I thought I'd be preparing for my first class at Ryerson tonight and at U of T tomorrow, but not till next week. A whole week more to sort out my life and get my own work done: a gift from the universe, which also provided a mighty cold day today. I'm grateful I don't have to go anywhere tonight. But the cold didn't bother a small young man this afternoon, who went outside joyfully to eat snow.
P.S. I feel I should comment about David Bowie, who died this morning, but I'm not sure what to say. The immediate outpouring of love and respect has shown me that I missed something important, but the fact is, I was not a fan. I wasn't a NON-fan, but his chameleon style, his androgyny and costumes just never hooked me, not remotely. Perhaps it's because he came into prominence in the Seventies when I was an actor unsure of my career and eventually trying to get out, trying to become my honest and real self rather than wearing costumes and makeup, so I just was not interested in a musician, however talented, who was constantly trying on new personae.
He was amazingly good at what he did, and I just saw his last video, Lazarus, which is mesmerizing and very brave. He was always mesmerizing and very brave, and I'm sorry I didn't open to him.
So young - 69. And so very well read.
http://www.davidbowie.com/news/bowie-s-top-100-books-complete-list-52061
"There's seals under my bed," he says. "They only come out when it's bedtime."
Lucky lucky Glamma. The hurricane family came to visit today, and though my house was trashed when they left, it was beyond wonderful to see them.Here's another kind of beauty that tugs at my heart:
Brad and Ryan - little old Canadian Ryan, more than holding his own with a superstar - at the Golden Globes. Mmmm - Mr. Pitt is getting better looking as he ages, as some men and almost no women, SO UNFAIRLY, do. (Has he had work? Is not that brow supremely smooth for a father of six or however many they have? Gosling is nearly 20 years younger and looks the same age!) A crowd gathered here last night to watch Downton and some of the Globes before and after. After an hour or so of awards, I was thrilled to turn it off and go to bed, grateful the show has saved me hours of time - after last night, I've resolved never to watch the Oscars again. I thought Ricky Gervais was horrible (though sometimes funny), the speeches mostly inane, the whole thing lame, self-serving and faintly disgusting. Except for an occasional glimpse of a beautiful man or two, like these two and classy Brits like Eddie Redmayne and Mark Rylance - and beautiful Helen Mirren - it was a complete waste of time. And anyway, I disagreed with most of the awards and hadn't seen or heard of the others, maybe that's why I was so crabby. Anyway, enough. Who cares? Hollywood, just do your job and shut up.The other night, a documentary on Apple's Steve Jobs - I didn't see it all but what I did see was shocking. I'd heard rumours before but hadn't heard details of what an unpleasant human being he could be - a brilliant, overbearing bully who was worth millions when he reluctantly agreed to pay $500 a month child support for his daughter - and worse, the devious, tax-evading corporate citizen that Apple, unlike Microsoft, continues to be. Almost made me want to trade in my Mac. Almost. But not quite. Please don't make me do it - I love this thing. It can't help who its father was. Jobs did do good in the world, creating this fantastic stuff, even if he was flawed. And aren't we all. But the tax avoidance is unforgivable, especially when compared with what Bill Gates has done with his billions.
I thought I'd be preparing for my first class at Ryerson tonight and at U of T tomorrow, but not till next week. A whole week more to sort out my life and get my own work done: a gift from the universe, which also provided a mighty cold day today. I'm grateful I don't have to go anywhere tonight. But the cold didn't bother a small young man this afternoon, who went outside joyfully to eat snow.
P.S. I feel I should comment about David Bowie, who died this morning, but I'm not sure what to say. The immediate outpouring of love and respect has shown me that I missed something important, but the fact is, I was not a fan. I wasn't a NON-fan, but his chameleon style, his androgyny and costumes just never hooked me, not remotely. Perhaps it's because he came into prominence in the Seventies when I was an actor unsure of my career and eventually trying to get out, trying to become my honest and real self rather than wearing costumes and makeup, so I just was not interested in a musician, however talented, who was constantly trying on new personae.
He was amazingly good at what he did, and I just saw his last video, Lazarus, which is mesmerizing and very brave. He was always mesmerizing and very brave, and I'm sorry I didn't open to him.
So young - 69. And so very well read.
http://www.davidbowie.com/news/bowie-s-top-100-books-complete-list-52061
January 9, 2016
"Carol" and "The Danish Girl"
A day of pure self-indulgence - it was very mild but dark and gloomy, and I'm suffering from my usual January insomnia. It hits every year, I guess having to do with the lack of light, maybe thinking about the past year and the one to come - who knows? It means hours in the night, flipping from side to side. So I'm not much good till it passes. Luckily this morning, I had a haircut booked with my beloved Ingrid, like having coffee with a best friend who just happens to be cutting your hair really well as you chat and doesn't mind your bleary bloodshot eyes.
And then I decided to make a big push to get caught up with my movies, and rode my bike to the Varsity, where for free, thanks to the accumulated points on my Scene card, I saw Carol at 1.10 and then snuck into The Danish Girl at 3.10. I haven't done that before - I like to savour a good movie after I leave - but I'm so far behind in my films, the day called for emergency measures. And what excellent movies, both, beautifully shot and stunningly acted. What actors these mortals be! Rooney Mara, Alicia Vikander and the incredible Cate Blanchett and Eddie Redmayne - these people were born to be on camera, so natural are they as they work, so talented and so beautiful, all of them. I spent a gloomy afternoon in the movie theatre watching four gorgeous women make eyes at each other, only one of them was Eddie Redmayne.
Both highly recommended, but if I had to choose, I'd pick Carol - grittier, more powerful. And I was in New York in the Fifties myself, I was born there in 1950 and we visited often, so I wondered which of those atmospheric scenes I'd actually experienced though too young, of course, to remember. Both films about gender identity, the agony of swimming against the social current. The Danish Girl, wonderful as it is, feels like a crusader movie, pointing out and teaching with a bit too much weeping on the pretty sets, whereas Carol is a human story about love, which happens to be between two women at a time when that was not permitted.
I will carry them both with me - but I'd be surprised if either of them haunt me the way Room still haunts me. One of the things I think about at 4.30 a.m. is Room, the details, the unforgettable story. It will live in me for a long time. How lucky we are to have such phenomenal artistry on view a few blocks away, for just a few dollars. I LOVE GOOD MOVIES!
And now cooking and cleaning to Randy Bachman's music.
Here's an inspiring story for writers: Dr. Seuss' First Book Was Rejected By 27 Publishers. On His Way Home To Burn It, His Life Changed Forever
http://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/1207/Dr-Seuss-First-Book-Was-Rejected-By-27-Publishers-On-His-Way-Home-To-Burn-It-His-Life-Changed-Forever#ATg7I00Tp4uVGgKX.01
And then I decided to make a big push to get caught up with my movies, and rode my bike to the Varsity, where for free, thanks to the accumulated points on my Scene card, I saw Carol at 1.10 and then snuck into The Danish Girl at 3.10. I haven't done that before - I like to savour a good movie after I leave - but I'm so far behind in my films, the day called for emergency measures. And what excellent movies, both, beautifully shot and stunningly acted. What actors these mortals be! Rooney Mara, Alicia Vikander and the incredible Cate Blanchett and Eddie Redmayne - these people were born to be on camera, so natural are they as they work, so talented and so beautiful, all of them. I spent a gloomy afternoon in the movie theatre watching four gorgeous women make eyes at each other, only one of them was Eddie Redmayne.
Both highly recommended, but if I had to choose, I'd pick Carol - grittier, more powerful. And I was in New York in the Fifties myself, I was born there in 1950 and we visited often, so I wondered which of those atmospheric scenes I'd actually experienced though too young, of course, to remember. Both films about gender identity, the agony of swimming against the social current. The Danish Girl, wonderful as it is, feels like a crusader movie, pointing out and teaching with a bit too much weeping on the pretty sets, whereas Carol is a human story about love, which happens to be between two women at a time when that was not permitted.
I will carry them both with me - but I'd be surprised if either of them haunt me the way Room still haunts me. One of the things I think about at 4.30 a.m. is Room, the details, the unforgettable story. It will live in me for a long time. How lucky we are to have such phenomenal artistry on view a few blocks away, for just a few dollars. I LOVE GOOD MOVIES!
And now cooking and cleaning to Randy Bachman's music.
Here's an inspiring story for writers: Dr. Seuss' First Book Was Rejected By 27 Publishers. On His Way Home To Burn It, His Life Changed Forever
http://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/1207/Dr-Seuss-First-Book-Was-Rejected-By-27-Publishers-On-His-Way-Home-To-Burn-It-His-Life-Changed-Forever#ATg7I00Tp4uVGgKX.01
January 7, 2016
New York Times loves Toronto
The New York Times has listed 50 places you should visit in 2016 - and Toronto is #7. Come one, come all. We're fun we're fab we're ... we're Hogtown no more. And the beautiful Gulf Islands off the coast of B.C. are there too. I guess I'll just have to visit them in 2016, if the New York Times tells me to.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/07/travel/places-to-visit.html?_r=2
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/07/travel/places-to-visit.html?_r=2
January 6, 2016
a note from a former student
I am immersed in the past - spent the morning connecting to myself in 1974 via stories, diaries and letters, and had the pleasure of tea this afternoon with an old friend whom I have not seen since about that year. What struck me most was how extremely glad I am to be more than 40 years older. Almost everything is so much better - except my skin and hair, my memory and my joints. But otherwise - WAAAAY BETTER.
Just got this email, below - heartening on a sunny but cold January day.
I took your course back in the winter of 2012 - which seems approximately forever ago - and during that semester you introduced us to the Globe and Mail's "Facts and Arguments" column, encouraging us to send in pieces.
I finally sent in a short essay this past fall, and it is running on Monday, January 11th. I wanted to let you know and say thank you once again for teaching and encouraging and affirming me (and the others in our class). As I was writing and rewriting this piece, I often thought of different tidbits from the class - I cut out a runway, avoided unnecessary luggage I didn't have time to unpack, and limited my adverbs as much as I could.
Your course continues to be a highlight in my creative history, and I hope I'm able to take another class with you in the future.
I'm glad it worked for her.
And here's a beautiful note from my dear friend Lani:I see your vacation from blogging is over.You tried that once before, did you not? And it didn't last long either. I wonder if it's like quitting smoking? I'm glad you're back at it - I love to know what's going on with you without having to bore you with what's going on with me - these one-way conversations with you are like an anchor for me.
Yes, it seems to be as hard as quitting smoking, except that blogging isn't quite as bad for the health. I love that this is an anchor for you, my Lan. The thing is - it's an anchor for me too. That's why I do it.
Just got this email, below - heartening on a sunny but cold January day.
I took your course back in the winter of 2012 - which seems approximately forever ago - and during that semester you introduced us to the Globe and Mail's "Facts and Arguments" column, encouraging us to send in pieces.
I finally sent in a short essay this past fall, and it is running on Monday, January 11th. I wanted to let you know and say thank you once again for teaching and encouraging and affirming me (and the others in our class). As I was writing and rewriting this piece, I often thought of different tidbits from the class - I cut out a runway, avoided unnecessary luggage I didn't have time to unpack, and limited my adverbs as much as I could.
Your course continues to be a highlight in my creative history, and I hope I'm able to take another class with you in the future.
I'm glad it worked for her.
And here's a beautiful note from my dear friend Lani:I see your vacation from blogging is over.You tried that once before, did you not? And it didn't last long either. I wonder if it's like quitting smoking? I'm glad you're back at it - I love to know what's going on with you without having to bore you with what's going on with me - these one-way conversations with you are like an anchor for me.
Yes, it seems to be as hard as quitting smoking, except that blogging isn't quite as bad for the health. I love that this is an anchor for you, my Lan. The thing is - it's an anchor for me too. That's why I do it.
January 5, 2016
"Trumbo"
I've mentioned that friends have started a Facebook page in the name of our beautiful, brilliant friend Robert Handforth, who died of AIDS in 1989. It has brought joy and profound sadness to remember him on-line with many others, as we all honour his memory. Yesterday I sent Constance, one of the women who founded the site, the article I wrote in the Globe about Robert, and she posted it on the site.
Beth Kaplan article about Robert Globe and Mail, March 23 2005
ROBERThttps://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=159495524417349&id=100010707066514
As I tell my students, you never know where your words will end up and what they will mean to the world.
Speaking of which, I saw another fine film today, another honouring a writer: Trumbo, about Dalton Trumbo, one of the screenwriters who survived the devastating blacklist in the Fifties in Hollywood and won two Oscars under an assumed name until the blacklist was broken. Not a perfect film, a bit plodding, but a great story, one I'm particularly interested in because of my family history - my father was a left-wing Jew in New York in the late Forties and wisely took a job in Canada rather than live through the hysteria. I have his files from the FBI, a huge stack of documents showing the amount of time and money wasted on just this one man - gumshoes, under the supervision of J. Edgar Hoover, interviewed everyone who might have known my dad including his high school teachers and the doormen and neighbours in the apartment buildings where his family lived during his teens. They continued to supervise every visit he made to the States in the early Fifties, at one point noting that he has grown a beard and is a supporter of the British National Health Service. Obviously an extremely dangerous radical. So absurd. A horrible time.
So, an important film about an important writer, which highlights those who buckled, like Edward G. Robinson, and those who did not, including one of the film's heroes, Kirk Douglas, who saw it recently at the age of 98 and was miffed that the director didn't cast him as himself. (He was joking). What matters in these kinds of films is not just understanding a vital piece of history but also forcing yourself to ask - what would I have done? Who knows?
Beth Kaplan article about Robert Globe and Mail, March 23 2005
ROBERThttps://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=159495524417349&id=100010707066514
As I tell my students, you never know where your words will end up and what they will mean to the world.
Speaking of which, I saw another fine film today, another honouring a writer: Trumbo, about Dalton Trumbo, one of the screenwriters who survived the devastating blacklist in the Fifties in Hollywood and won two Oscars under an assumed name until the blacklist was broken. Not a perfect film, a bit plodding, but a great story, one I'm particularly interested in because of my family history - my father was a left-wing Jew in New York in the late Forties and wisely took a job in Canada rather than live through the hysteria. I have his files from the FBI, a huge stack of documents showing the amount of time and money wasted on just this one man - gumshoes, under the supervision of J. Edgar Hoover, interviewed everyone who might have known my dad including his high school teachers and the doormen and neighbours in the apartment buildings where his family lived during his teens. They continued to supervise every visit he made to the States in the early Fifties, at one point noting that he has grown a beard and is a supporter of the British National Health Service. Obviously an extremely dangerous radical. So absurd. A horrible time.
So, an important film about an important writer, which highlights those who buckled, like Edward G. Robinson, and those who did not, including one of the film's heroes, Kirk Douglas, who saw it recently at the age of 98 and was miffed that the director didn't cast him as himself. (He was joking). What matters in these kinds of films is not just understanding a vital piece of history but also forcing yourself to ask - what would I have done? Who knows?
Trumbo
I've mentioned that friends have started a Facebook page in the name of our beautiful, brilliant friend Robert Handforth, who died of AIDS in 1989. It has brought joy and profound sadness to remember him on-line with many others, as we all honour his memory. Yesterday I sent Constance, one of the women who founded the site, the article I wrote in the Globe about Robert, and she posted it on the site.
Beth Kaplan article about Robert Globe and Mail, March 23 2005
ROBERThttps://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=159495524417349&id=100010707066514
As I tell my students, you never know where your words will end up and what they will mean to the world.
Speaking of which, I saw another fine film today, another honouring a writer: Trumbo, about Dalton Trumbo, one of the screenwriters who survived the devastating blacklist in the Fifties in Hollywood and won two Oscars under an assumed name until the blacklist was broken. Not a perfect film, a bit plodding, but a great story, one I'm particularly interested in because of my family history - my father was a left-wing Jew in New York in the late Forties and wisely took a job in Canada rather than live through the hysteria. I have his files from the FBI, a huge stack of documents showing the amount of time and money wasted on just this one man - gumshoes, under the supervision of J. Edgar Hoover, interviewed everyone who might have known my dad including his high school teachers and the doormen and neighbours in the apartment buildings where his family lived during his teens. They continued to supervise every visit he made to the States in the early Fifties, at one point noting that he has grown a beard and is a supporter of the British National Health Service. Obviously an extremely dangerous radical. So absurd. A horrible time.
So, an important film about an important writer, which highlights those who buckled, like Edward G. Robinson, and those who did not, including one of the film's heroes, Kirk Douglas, who saw it recently at the age of 98 and was miffed that the director didn't cast him as himself. (He was joking). What matters in these kinds of films is not just understanding a vital piece of history but also forcing yourself to ask - what would I have done? Who knows?
Beth Kaplan article about Robert Globe and Mail, March 23 2005
ROBERThttps://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=159495524417349&id=100010707066514
As I tell my students, you never know where your words will end up and what they will mean to the world.
Speaking of which, I saw another fine film today, another honouring a writer: Trumbo, about Dalton Trumbo, one of the screenwriters who survived the devastating blacklist in the Fifties in Hollywood and won two Oscars under an assumed name until the blacklist was broken. Not a perfect film, a bit plodding, but a great story, one I'm particularly interested in because of my family history - my father was a left-wing Jew in New York in the late Forties and wisely took a job in Canada rather than live through the hysteria. I have his files from the FBI, a huge stack of documents showing the amount of time and money wasted on just this one man - gumshoes, under the supervision of J. Edgar Hoover, interviewed everyone who might have known my dad including his high school teachers and the doormen and neighbours in the apartment buildings where his family lived during his teens. They continued to supervise every visit he made to the States in the early Fifties, at one point noting that he has grown a beard and is a supporter of the British National Health Service. Obviously an extremely dangerous radical. So absurd. A horrible time.
So, an important film about an important writer, which highlights those who buckled, like Edward G. Robinson, and those who did not, including one of the film's heroes, Kirk Douglas, who saw it recently at the age of 98 and was miffed that the director didn't cast him as himself. (He was joking). What matters in these kinds of films is not just understanding a vital piece of history but also forcing yourself to ask - what would I have done? Who knows?
