Javert
Tony Perkins
Alan: There "should" be an Oscar for "Most Prophetic Film" in the original sense of "prophetic" which derives from propheteia, Greek for "the gift of interpreting the will of the gods."
In secular terms, prophecy arises from an individual's harmonic alignment with The Good.
In secular terms, prophecy arises from an individual's harmonic alignment with The Good.
What criteria would be used?
I suggest The Academy focus those movies that best illustrate the conflict between good and evil, and the "winner" will be that film which best harkens "the better angels of our nature."
I suggest The Academy focus those movies that best illustrate the conflict between good and evil, and the "winner" will be that film which best harkens "the better angels of our nature."
Naysayers will argue the thorny difficulties defining "good" and "evil," a conundrum made more dicey by the prevalent sense of moral relativism and justifiable misgivings that "intended good" often morphs into monstrous evil.
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.”
"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Father Thomas Merton
More Merton Quotes
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
Not always, but often.
Not always, but often.
The intrinsic muddle-of-morality makes an Oscar for "Most Prophetic Film" fertile ground for the exploration of "virtue," "vice" and the moral hazards accompanying each.
If the word "vice" conjures the prissiness of "church ladies," recall the other word rooted therein: "vicious." http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=vicious
If the word "vice" conjures the prissiness of "church ladies," recall the other word rooted therein: "vicious." http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=vicious
In the absence of aspiration informed by inspiration, homo sapiens can only "progress" in the aimless sense of "moving forward" without lodestar, direction or goal.
In large part we find ourselves in continual moral muddle because we presume the impropriety of probing first principles, preferring instead the indolence of ignore-ance.
In large part we find ourselves in continual moral muddle because we presume the impropriety of probing first principles, preferring instead the indolence of ignore-ance.
In this milieu, Rugged Individualism wins by default, its crazed supporters representing The Common Good as a socialist plot.
Fear has become America's default "virtue."
"The Paranoid Style In American Politics," By Richard Hofstadter
"We are all in this... alone."
Fear has become America's default "virtue."
"The Paranoid Style In American Politics," By Richard Hofstadter
paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/
The United States Of Paranoia
Donald Trump: The Paranoid Style In American Politics And The Ongoing Festival Of Hatred
"We are all in this... alone."
Enter The Academy. http://oscar.go.com/
Despite its fondness for bloodlust, degradation and edgy antinomianism, Hollywood might wisely conceive the "morality play of cinema" with an eye to "where we are going" and "why."
Remember.
Nothing is certain, not even an end to Holocaust.
Indeed, it is an inconvenient truth that ethnically "pure" societies run more smoothly than ethnically diverse ones.
And so we hush the monstrous "reasonability" of Hitler's Final Solution.
Despite its fondness for bloodlust, degradation and edgy antinomianism, Hollywood might wisely conceive the "morality play of cinema" with an eye to "where we are going" and "why."
Remember.
Nothing is certain, not even an end to Holocaust.
Indeed, it is an inconvenient truth that ethnically "pure" societies run more smoothly than ethnically diverse ones.
And so we hush the monstrous "reasonability" of Hitler's Final Solution.
We are not noble savages.
Routinely we are savages of the worst sort.
Devout Christian, Blaise Pascal
To be clear, the nature of The Good is not self-evident.
Rather, its definition is obscure and uncertain, recalling "angels on pinheads" and contentious debate.
Lest we forget...
A sizable percentage of American citizens would eliminate Social Security and Medicare.
An even greater number would repeal Medicaid.
***
Two nights ago, "my" Danny and I saw "Les Miserables" presented by The Gallery Players in Burlington, North Carolina. http://www.burlingtonnc.gov/
The abiding appeal of Hugo's epic -- like the attraction of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Cervantes' Quijote, Hamlet, Madame Bovary, Moby Dick, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, The Idiot, The Stranger, Things Fall Apart -- is its unrelenting emphasis on the moral nub of the human condition.
Where do our hearts lie?
Do we seek vengeance, vindictiveness, retribution and retaliation? http://www.britannica.com/
Or do we seek, mercy, compassion, love, forgiveness and service?
The abiding appeal of Hugo's epic -- like the attraction of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Cervantes' Quijote, Hamlet, Madame Bovary, Moby Dick, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, The Idiot, The Stranger, Things Fall Apart -- is its unrelenting emphasis on the moral nub of the human condition.
Where do our hearts lie?
Do we seek vengeance, vindictiveness, retribution and retaliation? http://www.britannica.com/
Or do we seek, mercy, compassion, love, forgiveness and service?
It is true that these perennial concerns are not the only ones but they are The Foundation.
"Business!" cried Morley's Ghost, wringing his hands, berating Scrooge. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business: charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop in the comprehensive ocean of my business!" http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/
"Business!" cried Morley's Ghost, wringing his hands, berating Scrooge. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business: charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop in the comprehensive ocean of my business!" http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/
Unlike the titillating vagaries of Pulp Fiction and Fargo, humankind's moral concerns are indispensable.
The questions themselves are so important that we should, at least, have opportunity to "get them wrong."
Chesterton observed: "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly."
The questions themselves are so important that we should, at least, have opportunity to "get them wrong."
Chesterton observed: "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly."
Whether we laud or lambaste a "Prophetic Film Oscar," such an award would have a huge following and provoke widespread debate. Such an Oscar might even displace "Best Picture" as The Academy's most closely watched and ardently discussed award.
Even those who hold prophecy in contempt will indulge it as a "guilty" pleasure.
Even those who hold prophecy in contempt will indulge it as a "guilty" pleasure.
- We love our chains
- A Christmas Carol: Dickens' Inquiry Into The Conservative Psyche
- In closing, note that "The Great Novels" -- unlike The Academy's "Best Movies" -- grapple with the conflict between good and evil and more to the point with the nature of "the good." The Academy, on the other hand, is disproportionately dedicated to the prurient "description" of evil, a perverse and ultimately desperate manifestation of American exhibitionism which is - and always has been -- the most seductive form of pornography.
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