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. . . about Chaos,
Reason, and Hope

 

Time for some introspection from the Brits...who always seem to be able to put things in their proper perspective...such as:
No more heroes
People have been complaining for years that the British honours system is an anachronistic charade, designed for elitist days of empire, when patronage and status were very important. To remedy this, in recent years honours have been awarded to 'ordinary people'... This is meant to inject a little democratic spirit into the whole affair. ...another change? Rather than rewarding heroism, the honours system is seemingly becoming about celebrating victimhood.

Do mention the War
In the week 22 to 28 December, on terrestrial [British] TV alone, moviewise we had The First of the Few, Operation Daybreak, In Harm's Way, Films Hell is for Heroes, They were Expendable, Action in the North Atlantic, Dad's Army, The Great Escape and Casablanca. Documentaries included Glenn Miller's Last Flight, The Battle of the Hood and Bismarck: Sink the Bismarck! and The Battle of the Hood and Bismarck: Mighty Hood. Channel 5 had a 'Heroes of World War Two Night', and throughout, and still going as I write this, two instalments of The World At War every morning.

and finally...

Is it a bird, a plane - or a bore?
There is at present a new Superman movie in the pipeline. Called the Death of Superman, it will herald the Man of Steel's long-awaited return to the big screen. And what a time to do it. 'Now, more than ever, we need our heroes', said Jim Hambrick, a collector of Superman memorabilia, in The Times (London) last week. 'Since September 11 the appreciation for those who protect others has had a tremendous impact on [the image of] Superman, because he is directly associated with all that.' I disagree. The last thing we need now is the return of that airborne social worker in fancy dress telling us how to live our lives. The Superman I remember from comics and films was a dull, pious man who went around telling people not to drink and smoke. While one of his greatest foes was Nick O'Teen (surely coded anti-Irishness?), in Superman III, when he turns bad, the audience knows things are wrong because he is shown, gasp, drinking whiskey in a bar and making advances to a woman. Superman is the embodiment of Puritan America.

posted by A Curmudgeon 9:06 AM