The Grapes of Wrath

Photos are from the May 1999 performance at
The Theatre School at DePaul University

Last night, some friends of ours and Gaby and I went to see City Rep's production of  The Grapes of Wrath at the Burg Theater at OCU.  This story, whether we're talking about the book or the movie, has always had an emotional impact on me (I frequently tell people that Chapter 15 is my favorite short story,)  But this was the first time to see the play.  I have to say, the play is better than the movie.
    There are so many things that go through my mind when I think of this story. This morning I was telling Gaby about wanting to write this blog post, and expressing my worry that I wouldn't be able to completely convey the thoughts and feelings it stirs within me.  It happens a lot that I think of writing something, and by the time I get to it, much of the inspiration has faded, and the words along with it.  But I'm going to give it a shot, realizing that I may have to come back to revise it later.
    My uncle, my Dad's brother, who happens to be a Baptist preacher, came to town to visit just after the 2012 elections, and my Dad and he were complaining about the results of that election, my uncle saying that Obama had duped all the blacks and all the Mexicans ("And the gays," my aunt chimed in,) and that's why he'd won, with all of his deceptive campaigning.
    Now, I'm not out to anyone on my Dad's side of the family, just out of respect to my Dad, and I didn't care to participate in the conversation, but the things that were said have all been stuck in my memory, and I've pondered them frequently.  To begin with, I voted for Obama in both elections, but I don't remember a single thing that was said in his campaign that made me want to vote for him either time.  Instead, all of my attention was on his opponent. In 2008, I voted for him because he wasn't McCain; in 2012, it was because he wasn't a Republican.  In 2008, my understanding of economics had changed: by 2012, it was my understanding of politics.  He's actually the first Democrat I've ever voted for in a major election.
    Later that night, we went out to dinner, and for some reason, the movie The Grapes of Wrath came up, and I mentioned that I had just gotten the DVD.  My uncle wanted to watch it, so I went back to my house and got it.  We watched it on the big screen TV at my parents' house.  I've wondered sometimes how my Dad and his brother see the social, economic and political premise of the story.  It's certainly opposed to their politico-economic views in ways that are obvious to me.

Watching the play last night, certain scenes brought a lot of this back to me.  I can see and hear some of my friends playing certain roles, saying certain lines very convincingly because they've said it all before on Facebook.  Every time someone was called a "red" or an "agitator" because they banded together to demand more than starvation wages, I saw Facebook posts critical of unions and raising the minimum wage.  Michelle Bachman has said that if the minimum wage was eliminated altogether, “we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.”  She seems to have no understanding that more workers would simply end up with lower wages and less purchasing power, causing the economy to slow and generate fewer jobs. Steinbeck addresses this notion in several chapters, but one in particular tells about people being hired to pick peaches and being paid two and a half cents per three gallon bucket -- "You know what two an' a half is---that's one ton of peaches picked an' carried for a dollar... You can't get your food for that.  Can't eat for that."  As economist Robert Reich points out, "It is no great feat for an economy to create a large number of jobs paying very little. Slavery, after all, was a full-employment system."
    The most heart wrenching scene, though, in the play, the movie, and the book takes place in a camp in New Mexico.  A "ragged man" is describing in graphic detail watching his wife and children starve to death because he couldn't find work.  "I can't tell ya about them little fellas layin' in the tent with their bellies puffed out an' jus' skin on their bones, an' shiverin' an' whinin' like pups, an' me runnin' aroun' tryin' to get work---not for money, not for wages!  Jesus Christ, jus' for a cup a flour an' a spoon a lard.  An' then the coroner come."  The man running the camp described him as a "troublemaker" and a "labor faker," saying, "Man wants to work, O.K.  If he don't--the hell with him.  We ain't gonna let him stir up no trouble."  SOH John Boehner said recently, "I think this idea that’s been born out the last – maybe out of the economy last couple of years that, 'you know, I really don’t have to work. I don’t really want to do this, I think I’d just rather sit around.' This is a very sick idea for our country."  This is the attitude toward the poor and unemployed that's been propagated in recent times, and even voiced by my Dad.  It seems that a lot of people think that the solution to the ragged man's problem was that he just needed to get up off his lazy ass and find a job, and if he didn't, to hell with him.  In an economy where there are more people looking for work than there are jobs, that makes no sense, but a lot of  people seem to believe that if we take away their unemployment insurance and force them to look for work, the jobs will magically appear. 
    People will do what they need to do to survive, of course, but not everyone will understand what drives them to do what they do.  After the Joad family left a sevice station in Needles, and set out across the Mojave Desert, one of the service station attendants said of them, "Them goddamn Okies got no sense and no feeling.  They ain't human.  A human being wouldn't live like they do.  A human being couldn't stand it to be so dirty and miserable.  They ain't a hell of a lot better than gorillas... You know, they don't have much trouble.  They're so goddamn dumb they don't know it's dangerous.  And, Christ Almighty, they don't know any better than what they got.  Why worry?"  There's no understanding  here that sometimes there are circumstances beyond the control of the individual; there are larger forces at work.  But like Shakespeare wrote, "Everyone can master a grief but he that has it."
    Anyway, these are just some of the things I see when Steinbeck speaks to me.  I don't really understand why my Dad and his brother don't see the same things, but I guess they just watch the movie for the nostalgia.

Fast Forward

    I'm reading Gone With The Wind for the third time, and I've reached the point in the book where Scarlett has discovered the expanse of dead and dying Confederate soldiers in the train yard at Five Points.  In the movie, this was a famous scene just because of the crane shot that zoomed back from Vivien Leigh to the Confederate flag flying over the yard.
   I had been resisting, but today I got out the DVD (I have the 70th Anniversary Box Set in the red velvet box), and plugged it in thinking that perhaps I would watch just up to that point.  But Gaby came in to watch with me, and we wound up watching the whole movie.
    I probably only noticed this because I'm reading the book, and the chapters in the book are several pages long and only really cover one plot point at a time, but the movie is actually pretty fast paced.  That's not something I'd expect to say about a movie that's more than three hours and forty-five minutes long, but they really did cram a lot of story into those four hours.
    Meanwhile, back in the book, Melanie has been in labor for three chapters, and she's not going to have this baby till I get back to reading, which won't be until tomorrow.  Sorry, Mellie.

Just To Be Clear...

A&E is a television network, not an extension of the government, and this private enterprise decided to suspend an employee who said dumb things to a reporter. But note, Phil Robertson is still free to say whatever he wants to say, to whomever he wants to say it, whenever it suits his fancy. His free-speech rights remain entirely intact.  A&E isn’t censoring anyone; it’s simply distancing itself from a man on their payroll who said offensive things – and since private companies are not required to tolerate bigotry from their employees, the company’s actions are hardly outrageous.

 

The freedom of speech does not mean the freedom to have someone pay you for your speech. And with this in mind, Phil Robertson’s First Amendment rights have not been infringed, by his employer or anyone else. -- Steve Benen
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"...Freedom of Speech: The legal means to say almost anything you want. Meaning that as private citizens, we’re allowed to say nearly anything (with a few exceptions of course) that we want without fear of legal prosecution for it.

Unless I’ve missed something, Mr. Robertson faces no legal ramifications for what he said. That’s what freedom of speech means.

Freedom of speech does not mean we can say anything we want without ramifications for what we say from our peers or employers.

We’re free to be racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic — pretty much anything we want. We can be these things, no matter how ignorant, because that’s what the Constitution gives us the right to be.

But that doesn’t mean within a society we won’t face consequences for those “freedoms.”

The suspension of Phil Robertson is not an attack on Robertson’s right to believe how he wants. It’s a consequence from an employer for him expressing an opinion which A&E feels represents them in a negative light.
When he signed his contract, it almost certainly included a clause that says he’s a representative of A&E and is expected to act accordingly. All public figures, whether they want to be or not, are representatives of something. Be it a company, a brand, a sports team or league – it’s the price that comes along with fame.

So, yes, he was free to say what he said – and now he’s paying the consequences for it.

Just ask Alec Baldwin or Martin Bashir, two gentlemen who were fired (well, Bashir “resigned” but it’s clear he was forced to do so) for expressing their “freedom of speech” rights."  -- Allen Clifton

Superstar

I finally figured it out.
I have, for a while now, and more often in my head than out loud, refered to the relationship that FOX, Tea Partiers, et al have to President Obama as "he's the star of their show."  But the way to expound on that, if ever I should need to, had eluded me.  It came to me as I was driving to work the other night.

Who was the star of "Superman: The Movie" (1978)?

Obviously, Chrisropher Reeve, right?  Someone might say Gene Hackman.  If they give a list it would probably include Margot Kidder.

But who got top billing?

The surprising answer to that question is Marlon Brando.  Marlon Brando?  Seriously?  Was he even in that movie?  Oh,yeah; he played Superman's real father.  Yeah,that guy.  Top billing seriously?  Musta had a good agent.

Despite having top billing, no one who's seen the movie would ever think of him as the star.  Yes, he played an essential character, but no one would judge the quality of the film based on his performance.  He wasn't even part of the ensemble.

I have friends on Facebook on both the right and the left, and it's interesting to me to see how each side views Presidential power.  Those on the right see President Obama using his power for evil.  One of the things that the right gets ridiculed for is their assertion that things are all going wrong in this country because Obama.  No other explanation needed.
(Facebook is reporting that Obama is closing the Vatican Embassy.  A quick Google search revealed that the Embassy is not closing; it is moving to a place with cheaper rent, better security, and it's closer to work. A lot of people and businesses move for the same reasons.  But Google is obviously wrong because, you know, Obama.)
    Meanwhile, those on the left think he's failing to use his power for good.  The President was speaking at an immigration reform rally recently, and was heckled by a student who asked why he didn't use his executive power to change things.  The President had to remind him that he is constrained by both the Constitution and the balance of powers.  There's only so much he can actually do without the consent of Congress.  It's been pointed out before, usually in discussions about gas prices, that he's the president, not the King of the World.
    I read recently that George Bush was asked what surprised him most about being President.  His answer was, "How little power I actually have."  Of course George Bush didn't have to deal with a Congress where a substantial portion of its members had decided to block everything he wanted to do -- not because they were opposed to the policies in question, but because he was George Bush.  When he was President, the filibuster was a tool to give the minority in the Senate a strong voice.  It was not a weapon to oppose and block anything and everything the President might support like it is now, and has been only in the last five years.  As a result of such tactics, President Obama has been effectively marginalized since just after the passage of the ACA in 2010.  As President, he still gets top billing, but he's no longer the star of the show because all of the action is taking place (or not) in Congress.
    So in my opinion, all the railing against Obama for the last few years has been pretty pointless.  Maybe things will change in 2015, but that's still a year away, and anything can happen between now and then.  In the meantime, pay close attention to what's going on in Congress.  They're the real story, and that's where you'll find the real stars of the show.
.

Inside Job Insider

At the Oscars back in February, the movie that won the award for best documentary was a film by Charles Ferguson called "Inside Job," which detailed the causes and effects of the 2008 economic crisis. By coïncidence, I had begun trying to understand the whole crisis and macroeconomics through my own reading. One book, which I am currently in the middle of, is entitled "All The Devils Are Here," which covers the same topic.
I really wanted to see this film with my Dad, but I missed it in the theater when it was showing at Quail Springs. Later I found the DVD at SunCoast, and then at Target, but I never had the money to buy it when I was there.
Then last Wednesday I found four copies at the Edmond Library. I checked it out and watched it that same morning. It blew me away.
Saturday night I took it over to my parents' house, and we watched it as a family. When it was done, my Dad said, "Everyone in the world needs to watch this movie." The next morning, my Mom called to ask what the title was again because my Dad was going to Target.
The movie, essentially, is about how deregulation over the last 30 years has allowed powerful banks to grow more powerful by breaking basic rules of sound finance. So I thought it was funny, and I know my Dad would think so too, that The Financial Times reported in a front page article that Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, was balking at new banking regulations, calling them "un-American." Too bad, Jamie.
Tonight I saw on my blogroll that Paul Krugman has something to say about it, too:

"September 12, 2011, 9:32 am
Satire Is Dead

"Last month I had a little fun with Jamie Dimon, putting in his mouth the words of the corrupt, embezzling banker in John Ford’s Stagecoach:

"I don’t know what the government is coming to. Instead of protecting businessmen, it pokes its nose into business! Why, they’re even talking now about having *bank* examiners. As if we bankers don’t know how to run our own banks! Why, at home I have a letter from a popinjay official saying they were going to inspect my books.
"I have a slogan that should be blazoned on every newspaper in this country: America for the Americans! The government must not interfere with business! Reduce taxes! Our national debt is something shocking. Over one billion dollars a year! What this country needs is a businessman for president!

"But today I read this: Jamie Dimon, CEO Of JPMorgan Chase, Calls International Bank Rules ‘Anti-American’.

Satire is dead."

Precious

We went to see the movie "Precious" tonight. Heavy film with incredible performances. It reminded me that everybody is a product of his environment and circumstance, even the antagonists, but that doesn't mean that we're stuck where we are. Precios, the title character, had every reason to become a person exactly like her abusive mother, but started on a different path that gave her some self worth. We definitely reccomend it.

Iowa Day 4 - On the Road Again

We've had breakfast in the hotel restaurant every morning during our stay, and we've befriended the waitress, Ilma, a beautiful lady from Columbia. Yesterday, she was the one who took our picture before we left for the courthouse, and today, we showed off our rings.

We were mostly pre-packed, but we still got out of the hotel an hour later than I had planned. I had hoped to get out by 9:00 because I didn't want to be late for the surprise. I found out later that I had over-estimated our travel time, and we could have slept in for another hour.

The Surprise!

Most of the trip was rainy, and I was glad that my mechanic had talked me into replacing my windshield wipers before we left. It was raining hard when we got to Wichita. We were so glad that there was a parking garage attached to the Century II. I made Gaby change out of his sweats, and put on his dress shoes before we went inside.

I'm not sure what tipped him off, but he realized at some point while walking through the convention center that we were there to see the play Wicked. We had missed it in Oklahoma City last spring, and though the last performance of it's run in Des Moines was the night we arrived, I couldn't guarantee we'd be there in time for the 6:30 show. But the opening night in Wichita was on the way home, so I had ordered tickets - which arrived at the box office an hour after we did. Because I had over-estimated our travel time, we wound up waiting 2½ hours for the show to start.

If you ever have the chance to go see this play, do so. Gaby told the waitress at Denny's that it was the best play he had ever seen. Marcie Dodd, as Elphaba, has one of the most powerful voices we've ever heard. She actually had Gaby in tears at the end of the first act just from her quality of voice. And Heléne Yorke, another great singer, as ditsy blonde Glinda ("the Guh- is silent") kept us laughing through the whole play. The Wizard was played by Tom McGowan, who used to play Frazier's boss, Kenny, on TV.

The venue was not that great. I don't know how old the Century II is, but it's due for renovation. It reminded me of OKC's Civic Center before it was redone. The acoustics made some of the dialogue and lyrics difficult to understand, and our seats were far, far away. next time we see this play --and we definitely will-- I hope it will be in a better place.

We got home about 2:30 in the morning. It was a good trip.

Showtime

We went to see "Brüno" this afternoon. Funny, but not as good as "Borat", and definitely not worth $9. Even if you like rude gay humor, wait till this one goes to the dollar theater.

Earlier this week we went to see a play at the Civic Center called "The Little Dog Laughed." It's about an actor who is on the verge of real stardom, if only his agent can keep him in the closet. Things get complicated when he falls in love with his latest rent boy. Cleverly written in a way that introduced characters that didn't exist onstage (like Maris on "Frazier"), and alluding to real life situations and people without ever naming them, the humor was too snappy for Gaby to keep up. On the way home, we were dicussing the play and figured out that it was actually about the writer, He-Meaning-Him, and not really about any of the four characters depicted onstage. Also, the reference to "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in the agent's opening monologue had a lot more to do with the story than was stressed, though some in the audience might remember that the character Patricia Neal played in the movie was a man in the novella.

Gaby has be"friend"ed one of the actors on Facebook.

"The Lion King" Onstage

The are not enough superlatives to express my amazement at "The Lion King," which my family and I saw Tuesday night. We already knew the music and story from the movie, but that didn't prepare us for the amazing costumes, lighting and visual effects that brought this stage production to life.
On top of that, I had the personal satisfaction of having been the one to plan and pay for an outing of this sort for my family for the first time. I had never had the opportunity before just because I was too poor to do so. It made me feel like a grown-up. Nice feeling.

Local Astronomy

This morning I started reading a Lauren Bacall's autobiography. In the first chapter, she describes meeting Bette Davis for the first time when she was a young teen. She was completely star-struck, but Miss Davis was as gracious as she could be, even sending young Miss Bacall a handwritten letter thanking her for her visit.

Where I work, I have occasion to meet celebrities from time to time. Although I am not star-struck, there are a few whose company I really enjoyed: Jane Seymore, Natalie Cole (and her delightful personal assistant,) and Martin Landau, in particular. But Miss Bacall's book got me to thinking about James Marsden.

On a quiet night just after Christmas, Amanda, one of the waitresses, came out and told me that James Marsden was in the bar. When I could, I wandered in, and sure enough, there he was. A smaller person than I had imagined (I found out later that his prince costume included a lot of padding), and I was struck by how ordinary (though extremely handsome) he looked. Just a guy hangin' with his buds.

Later I came in to return some glasses that had been left outside. I stood listening to something the bartender was saying, and when I turned around to go, Mr. Marsden was standing right behind me. I smiled and nodded hello in a profesional manner. He stuck out out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm James." Just a regular guy. So cool.
"Hi, James. I'm Ron. What brings you to town?"
"I'm actually from here. I'm visiting family over the holidays. I didn't know about this place. My friends brought me to see it." (Later I wished that I had offered him the tour.)
I responded with some kind of acknowledgement, and then told him a story having to do with one of his movies that had been amusing my family for a couple of weeks. He laughed, but I couldn't tell how amusing he actually found it.

After he had gone, I looked up his bio online. His page on Wikipedia made it sound like one day he just packed up and left for Hollywood and became an immediate success, though I know that's probably not true. I started thinking about all the things I would have liked to have asked him, all of which can be summed up in one broad question: "How did you get where you are today?" Tom Cruise is eight days older than me, and I'd like to ask him the same question.

Looking back on my life, I'm realizing more and more that the life I'm living now is the result of choices I made when I was in my teens and twenties. Same for them. And although one is from the same place I'm from, and the other is the same age, our lives are astronomically different. So how much of that difference, and the decicions they made, resulted from planning, persistence, knowledge, discovery, or pure dumb luck? Many of the choices I made in life were a result of my own self image. Is it the same for them? Has it ever held them back?

Of course I'm just using them as examples. I actually wonder the same things about everyone I meet. It's probably the reason I enjoy biography so much. I've often said that the only difference between any one person and any other person in the world is their life experience. One's nationality, religion, race, occupation, celebrity or obscurity, etc. are just components of that experience, so evaluating another person based on those things is a pretty worthless exercise. Everyone is a fascinating person if you can find the time to hear them. We're all stars waiting to be discovered.

WINslett

See! I told ya!

German Expressionism

Shadie the schnauzer is en celo. We don't want schnachsunds, so we put Fritz the dachshund in the garage all day, and blocked up the doggie door with a window screen held in place by a couple of gallons of paint. Shadie was in the backyard. They could look at each other, but they couldn't touch. This afternoon we decided to go see a movie. We didn't want any strays jumping the fence to get at Shadie while we were gone, so we put her in the garage, and put Fritz in the house. I thought she would probably be able to punch through the screen if she wanted to, so I replaced the screen with a sheet of masonite.

When we got home, Gaby let Fritz out, and went out to check on Shadie. That dog had knocked over one of the full paint cans, spilling it in a big puddle in front of the doghouse. Furthermore, there were little white pawprints all over the garage. Needless to say, it was bathtime for Shadie, but it was too cold and too late to hose out the garage. Maybe tomorrow if it's warm.

The movie, btw, was "The Wrestler." Well acted, well produced and directed, but oh so depressing. Mickey Roarke deserves the nomination, but I think the Oscar will still go to Sean Penn.

Page 2

Kate Winslet is going to win the Oscar. I believe that I can speak with some authority here, because I have seen "The Reader," and I haven't seen a performance as perfect as this one since Gealdine Page in "The Trip to Bountiful." Such a sad, complex character conveyed with so little dialogue. She remains a mystery through most of the film, and then in that moment when you understand, you realize you've known her all along. Masterful.

"Slumdog Millionaire" will win best picture (as it should --awesome film!), but "The Reader" is definitely worth the nomination.