HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (and a couple of excellent movies)
I have long wanted to post a blog on the subject of Halloween and a brief discourse on the subject of evil. Now that I'm home on vacation, I finally have the chance (and a timely one at that -it's Halloween). Here goes...
Happy Halloween, everybody! ("Shine on, October moon..." - Uriah Heep - from their 1970s magnum opus - "Demons and Wizards") For most of us, this holiday conjures up images of trick or treaters (and our own time as young and enthusiastic trick or treaters!), Harvest Festivals (especially at church and a more recent phenomenon for those who do not want their kids celebrating Halloween in the way of contemporary American culture, which is pretty much as a type of "Christmas" for pagans), costume parties, scary movies, apple cider, crisp cool autumn air (if you're originally from the Midwest, like me), and "Homecomings" at our high schools and colleges. What a lot of fun, which leads on into a very festive time of year that most of us now just refer to as "the Holiday Season" here in America. I used to have so much fun as a youngster at this time of year; trying out my various costumes (I made a pretty good pirate), going trick or treating from house to house in our little town of Payne, Ohio and hauling in a huge pile of tasty Halloween candy that might just last several weeks if I was lucky! Oh, how greedy for the good stuff we little ones were! (Not to mention the occasional incidences of using paraffin on people's windows; the toilet-papering masterpieces we would make of people's houses, etc.!)
And then, of course, came the sinister side to Halloween. It was in my generation that Halloween trick or treating had to be regulated by the municipal authorities due to the rising incidences of things like razor blades being found in apples, not to mention other nasty things that sick people used to perpetrate on innocent little children just out for a night of fun. Evil made its appearance in these isolated events, but they nevertheless dictated change in the way youngsters could safety celebrate this fall holiday. Mostly it meant going round the immediate neighborhood with our parents! Not to mention going on hayrides, acting awkwardly around attractive young girls, and finally going to the much safer and more wholesomely focused church "Harvest Festivals."
As if we don't have enough events at the moment to scare the daylights out of us all: an economy seemingly submerging like the Titanic, a monster bear market (now a year old) and and its terribly sick stock market on a roller coaster ride from hell, a country that has not prospered at all in 10 long years (our "lost decade"), and a very scary election - replete with a choice between a cleverly disingenuous socialist who has indeed "pal-led around" with terrorists, various left wing lunatics, and hate-filled clergy; and one who, while honorable and decent, would (I fear) tend to keep us mired in interminable, catastrophically-unaffordable wars "liberating" lunatic wretches who, like many of our other wonderful "friends" in this sorry world, will have unbelievably short memories and zero gratitude in the end. Scary indeed!!
Oh - did I also mention that it's incredibly scary that half the population these days believes in various lunatic conspiracy theories, such as those proffered by the highly-talked about Internet film "Zeitgeist Movie"? (almost up there in intellectual respectability with "The Da Vinci Code," alien shadow governments, etc.)
So most folks can at least lay on their couches this time of year and plop in a good scary movie to take their minds off the really frightening stuff going on in the real world and spend some time "being scared" at home - just for fun! I think it must be human nature to either want to be or enjoy "being scared" every now and then, or at least sharing various scary stories. Halloween is a time for the inundation of cable TV with the multitude of "evil/Halloween" themed movies.
Tell you what - skip the junk and let me recommend a couple of really excellent ones for you - classics, perfect for Halloween, and thought-provoking at that:
1.) "Macbeth" (Roman Polanski version) - I chanced upon this at my local library. I'm talking about the late-1960s black and white version bankrolled by Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire, back when Hefner was into making films. I think he got smart long ago and quit this business, but fortunately this one was made and survived. If you get the chance to find this, rent it - it's outstanding. It is absolutely the best film version of the Shakespeare classic extant. Directed by Roman Polanksi, and with just a slight bit of nudity (the witches - you know - "Double, double, toil and trouble - fire burn and cauldron bubble"!), this late '60s classic features the Macbeth tale of "vaulting ambition" and "sound and fury signifying nothing" in a very, very dark, moody, and "scary" setting, with outstanding period music, and a superb acting job from the European players in this very apropos to Halloween story. I've read all of Shakespeare, and am a big fan (especially the Tragedies - my favorites - such as"Julius Caesar," and "Hamlet"; along with "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" ). I'd have to say that "Macbeth" is probably my favorite Shakespeare piece though, a wonderful work I first became acquainted with in high school. It is so pertinent to human psychology and still relevant to the way humans behave; a brilliant, timeless story.
2.) "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" - this is another excellent film, an American adaptation based upon a "true" story about a young German woman who had some sort of extremely unsettling spiritual experience. This film came out in 2005, and features some superb acting, most especially by the outstanding actress Laura Linney (one of my favorites). She portrays the defense attorney who is called upon to defend the Roman Catholic priest on trial for the inadvertent death of "Emily Rose," who was supposedly possessed by demons (not of her choice or making). I researched this entire episode on the Web, and there is a bit of literature devoted to the actual story of the German girl upon which this film was based (with actual recordings of her shrieks, etc.). The essentials of the story, as portrayed in the film, are true, so though it is indeed an adaptation in the strict definition (with locale, setting, language, culture, etc. changes; not to mention overly-dramatic representations of the possession events, demonic activity, etc.), it nevertheless portrays in an outstanding way the events in this young woman's life that led up to her untimely death at a young age.
With a brilliant twist on the usual exorcism stories, this film is set in the courtroom with dueling lawyers sparring back and forth regarding the culpability of the priest in Emily's untimely death. He is being tried for involuntary manslaughter, since the medical authorities have testified that the removal of Emily Rose from her medication (under the alleged influence of the priest to successfully perform the RCC exorcism rites) was thought to be the direct cause of her death. The priest is defended by "Erin Brunner" (Laura Linney's character, whom she portrays brilliantly in an Oscar-worthy role), the self-proclaimed "woman of doubt." The prosecution lawyer is a self-professed person of Christian faith and church-goer who nevertheless is a defender of pure reason in this affair and the anti-supernatural side of the argument. The exorcism rite is pure nonsense to him. Together in the courtroom, they go through many of the prominent philosophical themes in human history - faith vs. reason/doubt/skepticism, nature vs. super nature, objectivism vs. mysticism, the nature of divine scripture (literal? figurative?), and the alleged existence of sentient "beings" other than ourselves.
Brilliantly, this very question is offered up in the closing summation to the jury by Erin Brunner (the "woman of doubt") and encapsulated in a very succinct statement: "Are we alone - or are we not alone in this life? - EITHER THOUGHT IS ASTONISHING." This statement, juxtaposed at is was in the beginning of her summation, captured a brilliant moment in the film. She delivers a masterful and very convincing speech to the jury, which - well - if I give away the ending - that would ruin the film for you!
Thinking about the statement, however, within the context of religion, philosophy, and cosmology, is "astonishing" in and of itself. It is so true... It reaches to the root of all of human thought for millennia - why are we here? who are we? are we alone? is there a God/Creator? are there some kinds of malevolent "forces" active in the human continuum? - etc.
"The Exorcism of Emily Rose" also addresses - albeit in a sensationalistic way (remember - it is a Hollywood film, so every film exorcism cliche is represented) - the question of evil. It is "astonishing" to me that thoughtful people can doubt the existence of evil. It is a deep philosophical problem. Why is there evil? Why should it exist? Where does it come from? What is its antidote?
I believe that evil is indeed real - it is ontologically real. There are indeed malevolent, dark forces at work within the realm of human existence that do not have the best interests of humans at heart. How can anyone really doubt this if they reflect for just a few minutes? The 20th century was one of the darkest and bloodiest chapters in human history. After a relatively "peaceful" 19th century, more human beings met grisly deaths in catastrophic and thoroughly destructive wars in the 20th century than at any other previous time in earth's history. Think about it... Why did these things happen? For what purpose?
Think about these facts, as well: the "National Socialist Party" (that is, the Nazis - yes - they came under the initial guise of "helping" out the common man with "socialistic" economic policies) came to power in Germany in 1933 as a freely ELECTED party. Indeed, Adolph Hitler was elected. (As was today's Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, and any number of other various lunatics who hate us. Do you still think democracy is the be all and end all of human political experience?) The German people, among the most cultured and scientifically advanced of Europe, CHOSE this man as their leader. And that is just one short example...
A few simple and mundane examples, which I always throw back at my skeptical friends: why do you lock your doors (your car, your home, etc.)? Why are their police working their beats in your cities? Human beings do very bad things. We have centuries of legal tradition to witness that all societies had to deal with the bad elements, who - yes indeed - would do not only bad things, but very vindictively evil, murderous, and harmful things. They had to be incarcerated and locked up; sometimes executed for the good of society. Now think about a "force" of evil on a national or global scale, such as the Nazis, or the Communist Chinese, or the Russian Communists (Stalin, especially) - all representatives of a rogues gallery of monstrous, murderous evil on scales never before seen in human history. All in the "enlightened," scientific 20th century...
Might some of our vaunted human "progress" be simply an illusion? Is evil merely the absence of good? Or might these evil folks just need a little more "education"; perhaps a class with some of the various corporate "consultants" to enlighten them on workplace issues, such as sexual harassment, anger management, and conflict resolution? (Saddam could have used some enlightenment on those issues, don't you think?) Or perhaps some new government-administered program could be envisioned which would enable the rehabilitation of some of these murderous characters? You get my point, hopefully.
Without giving away the entire plot to the "Exorcism of Emily Rose," let me just say that you must see it - especially for the brilliant and very thoughtful courtroom scenes and battles. It is an outstanding and provocative film, especially for this time of year. At the very end of the film, the priest and his attorney - Laura Linney's character, "Erin Brunner" - visit Emily's grave to pay their respects. Emily's gravestone features a key Biblical quote (chosen by Emily) which succinctly encapsulates the experience of the film and makes an apropos closer for my post. It is an exhortation and comes from the Apostle Paul's epistle to the Philippians, chapter 2, verse 12: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling...
TTC
Happy Halloween, everybody! ("Shine on, October moon..." - Uriah Heep - from their 1970s magnum opus - "Demons and Wizards") For most of us, this holiday conjures up images of trick or treaters (and our own time as young and enthusiastic trick or treaters!), Harvest Festivals (especially at church and a more recent phenomenon for those who do not want their kids celebrating Halloween in the way of contemporary American culture, which is pretty much as a type of "Christmas" for pagans), costume parties, scary movies, apple cider, crisp cool autumn air (if you're originally from the Midwest, like me), and "Homecomings" at our high schools and colleges. What a lot of fun, which leads on into a very festive time of year that most of us now just refer to as "the Holiday Season" here in America. I used to have so much fun as a youngster at this time of year; trying out my various costumes (I made a pretty good pirate), going trick or treating from house to house in our little town of Payne, Ohio and hauling in a huge pile of tasty Halloween candy that might just last several weeks if I was lucky! Oh, how greedy for the good stuff we little ones were! (Not to mention the occasional incidences of using paraffin on people's windows; the toilet-papering masterpieces we would make of people's houses, etc.!)
And then, of course, came the sinister side to Halloween. It was in my generation that Halloween trick or treating had to be regulated by the municipal authorities due to the rising incidences of things like razor blades being found in apples, not to mention other nasty things that sick people used to perpetrate on innocent little children just out for a night of fun. Evil made its appearance in these isolated events, but they nevertheless dictated change in the way youngsters could safety celebrate this fall holiday. Mostly it meant going round the immediate neighborhood with our parents! Not to mention going on hayrides, acting awkwardly around attractive young girls, and finally going to the much safer and more wholesomely focused church "Harvest Festivals."
As if we don't have enough events at the moment to scare the daylights out of us all: an economy seemingly submerging like the Titanic, a monster bear market (now a year old) and and its terribly sick stock market on a roller coaster ride from hell, a country that has not prospered at all in 10 long years (our "lost decade"), and a very scary election - replete with a choice between a cleverly disingenuous socialist who has indeed "pal-led around" with terrorists, various left wing lunatics, and hate-filled clergy; and one who, while honorable and decent, would (I fear) tend to keep us mired in interminable, catastrophically-unaffordable wars "liberating" lunatic wretches who, like many of our other wonderful "friends" in this sorry world, will have unbelievably short memories and zero gratitude in the end. Scary indeed!!
Oh - did I also mention that it's incredibly scary that half the population these days believes in various lunatic conspiracy theories, such as those proffered by the highly-talked about Internet film "Zeitgeist Movie"? (almost up there in intellectual respectability with "The Da Vinci Code," alien shadow governments, etc.)
So most folks can at least lay on their couches this time of year and plop in a good scary movie to take their minds off the really frightening stuff going on in the real world and spend some time "being scared" at home - just for fun! I think it must be human nature to either want to be or enjoy "being scared" every now and then, or at least sharing various scary stories. Halloween is a time for the inundation of cable TV with the multitude of "evil/Halloween" themed movies.
Tell you what - skip the junk and let me recommend a couple of really excellent ones for you - classics, perfect for Halloween, and thought-provoking at that:
1.) "Macbeth" (Roman Polanski version) - I chanced upon this at my local library. I'm talking about the late-1960s black and white version bankrolled by Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire, back when Hefner was into making films. I think he got smart long ago and quit this business, but fortunately this one was made and survived. If you get the chance to find this, rent it - it's outstanding. It is absolutely the best film version of the Shakespeare classic extant. Directed by Roman Polanksi, and with just a slight bit of nudity (the witches - you know - "Double, double, toil and trouble - fire burn and cauldron bubble"!), this late '60s classic features the Macbeth tale of "vaulting ambition" and "sound and fury signifying nothing" in a very, very dark, moody, and "scary" setting, with outstanding period music, and a superb acting job from the European players in this very apropos to Halloween story. I've read all of Shakespeare, and am a big fan (especially the Tragedies - my favorites - such as"Julius Caesar," and "Hamlet"; along with "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" ). I'd have to say that "Macbeth" is probably my favorite Shakespeare piece though, a wonderful work I first became acquainted with in high school. It is so pertinent to human psychology and still relevant to the way humans behave; a brilliant, timeless story.
2.) "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" - this is another excellent film, an American adaptation based upon a "true" story about a young German woman who had some sort of extremely unsettling spiritual experience. This film came out in 2005, and features some superb acting, most especially by the outstanding actress Laura Linney (one of my favorites). She portrays the defense attorney who is called upon to defend the Roman Catholic priest on trial for the inadvertent death of "Emily Rose," who was supposedly possessed by demons (not of her choice or making). I researched this entire episode on the Web, and there is a bit of literature devoted to the actual story of the German girl upon which this film was based (with actual recordings of her shrieks, etc.). The essentials of the story, as portrayed in the film, are true, so though it is indeed an adaptation in the strict definition (with locale, setting, language, culture, etc. changes; not to mention overly-dramatic representations of the possession events, demonic activity, etc.), it nevertheless portrays in an outstanding way the events in this young woman's life that led up to her untimely death at a young age.
With a brilliant twist on the usual exorcism stories, this film is set in the courtroom with dueling lawyers sparring back and forth regarding the culpability of the priest in Emily's untimely death. He is being tried for involuntary manslaughter, since the medical authorities have testified that the removal of Emily Rose from her medication (under the alleged influence of the priest to successfully perform the RCC exorcism rites) was thought to be the direct cause of her death. The priest is defended by "Erin Brunner" (Laura Linney's character, whom she portrays brilliantly in an Oscar-worthy role), the self-proclaimed "woman of doubt." The prosecution lawyer is a self-professed person of Christian faith and church-goer who nevertheless is a defender of pure reason in this affair and the anti-supernatural side of the argument. The exorcism rite is pure nonsense to him. Together in the courtroom, they go through many of the prominent philosophical themes in human history - faith vs. reason/doubt/skepticism, nature vs. super nature, objectivism vs. mysticism, the nature of divine scripture (literal? figurative?), and the alleged existence of sentient "beings" other than ourselves.
Brilliantly, this very question is offered up in the closing summation to the jury by Erin Brunner (the "woman of doubt") and encapsulated in a very succinct statement: "Are we alone - or are we not alone in this life? - EITHER THOUGHT IS ASTONISHING." This statement, juxtaposed at is was in the beginning of her summation, captured a brilliant moment in the film. She delivers a masterful and very convincing speech to the jury, which - well - if I give away the ending - that would ruin the film for you!
Thinking about the statement, however, within the context of religion, philosophy, and cosmology, is "astonishing" in and of itself. It is so true... It reaches to the root of all of human thought for millennia - why are we here? who are we? are we alone? is there a God/Creator? are there some kinds of malevolent "forces" active in the human continuum? - etc.
"The Exorcism of Emily Rose" also addresses - albeit in a sensationalistic way (remember - it is a Hollywood film, so every film exorcism cliche is represented) - the question of evil. It is "astonishing" to me that thoughtful people can doubt the existence of evil. It is a deep philosophical problem. Why is there evil? Why should it exist? Where does it come from? What is its antidote?
I believe that evil is indeed real - it is ontologically real. There are indeed malevolent, dark forces at work within the realm of human existence that do not have the best interests of humans at heart. How can anyone really doubt this if they reflect for just a few minutes? The 20th century was one of the darkest and bloodiest chapters in human history. After a relatively "peaceful" 19th century, more human beings met grisly deaths in catastrophic and thoroughly destructive wars in the 20th century than at any other previous time in earth's history. Think about it... Why did these things happen? For what purpose?
Think about these facts, as well: the "National Socialist Party" (that is, the Nazis - yes - they came under the initial guise of "helping" out the common man with "socialistic" economic policies) came to power in Germany in 1933 as a freely ELECTED party. Indeed, Adolph Hitler was elected. (As was today's Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, and any number of other various lunatics who hate us. Do you still think democracy is the be all and end all of human political experience?) The German people, among the most cultured and scientifically advanced of Europe, CHOSE this man as their leader. And that is just one short example...
A few simple and mundane examples, which I always throw back at my skeptical friends: why do you lock your doors (your car, your home, etc.)? Why are their police working their beats in your cities? Human beings do very bad things. We have centuries of legal tradition to witness that all societies had to deal with the bad elements, who - yes indeed - would do not only bad things, but very vindictively evil, murderous, and harmful things. They had to be incarcerated and locked up; sometimes executed for the good of society. Now think about a "force" of evil on a national or global scale, such as the Nazis, or the Communist Chinese, or the Russian Communists (Stalin, especially) - all representatives of a rogues gallery of monstrous, murderous evil on scales never before seen in human history. All in the "enlightened," scientific 20th century...
Might some of our vaunted human "progress" be simply an illusion? Is evil merely the absence of good? Or might these evil folks just need a little more "education"; perhaps a class with some of the various corporate "consultants" to enlighten them on workplace issues, such as sexual harassment, anger management, and conflict resolution? (Saddam could have used some enlightenment on those issues, don't you think?) Or perhaps some new government-administered program could be envisioned which would enable the rehabilitation of some of these murderous characters? You get my point, hopefully.
Without giving away the entire plot to the "Exorcism of Emily Rose," let me just say that you must see it - especially for the brilliant and very thoughtful courtroom scenes and battles. It is an outstanding and provocative film, especially for this time of year. At the very end of the film, the priest and his attorney - Laura Linney's character, "Erin Brunner" - visit Emily's grave to pay their respects. Emily's gravestone features a key Biblical quote (chosen by Emily) which succinctly encapsulates the experience of the film and makes an apropos closer for my post. It is an exhortation and comes from the Apostle Paul's epistle to the Philippians, chapter 2, verse 12: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling...
TTC
posted by thoughtful conservative at 11:54 PM
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