Catholic Worker Letter About Nazi Resister And Death Camp Martyr, Franz Jägerstätter
Thanks for this Alan. It's added to my list. Just wrote this...
Die Dreigroschenoper, not so old in this New Year
Just watched the newly remastered "the threepenny opera - full 1931 movie - english subtitles" on YouTube* and saw what an epic, picaresque masterpiece it is, every bit as good as any Charlie Chaplin but darker. Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, and Charlie Chaplin, all, were socialists of their time. Both the alluring material benefits (stolen from London's Selfridges dept. store) and grave social costs of capitalist production (masses living in grinding poverty) are on display. True to Brechtian theatre, the characters are not so attractive as illustrative of the social conditions creating them. The audience does not identify with them but is forced to think about how they got that way. Best lyrics are from a chorus mysticus setting the stage at beginning and recapping what we've just seen at end.
The dark view of capitalism and humanity portends what is to come historically. Part of what makes fascists ("national socialist" after all) and now neocons so deplorable is that they basically accept and embrace this world view but, rather than trying to improve anything, they exploit it for themselves and band of buddies, determined to live in the limited "light" of such a society while pushing everyone else further into the "dark". We see the fascist and neocon view of liberals represented in the character Jonathan Peachum, an outwardly pious and law abiding citizen who organizes and exploits an army of beggars. Turn on the subtitles and enjoy the timeless music.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?
In the Comments section... "The actress playing Polly Peachum (Jonathan's daughter and Victorian gangster MacHeath's young bride) died in Russia under German invading forces' imprisonment after being locked up and tortured by the communist government beforehand. She had actually gone there as a political refugee from her own country. Sums up the whole horrible, tragic background of this terrible time."
Lest you think all that grinding poverty's "long ago and far away" see Deutsche Welle (Germany's BBC) 40 minute docu* on poverty in America now: 40 million people, 30 without health care, must choose between living without housing or living without work.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Just watched the newly remastered "the threepenny opera - full 1931 movie - english subtitles" on YouTube* and saw what an epic, picaresque masterpiece it is, every bit as good as any Charlie Chaplin but darker. Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, and Charlie Chaplin, all, were socialists of their time. Both the alluring material benefits (stolen from London's Selfridges dept. store) and grave social costs of capitalist production (masses living in grinding poverty) are on display. True to Brechtian theatre, the characters are not so attractive as illustrative of the social conditions creating them. The audience does not identify with them but is forced to think about how they got that way. Best lyrics are from a chorus mysticus setting the stage at beginning and recapping what we've just seen at end.
The dark view of capitalism and humanity portends what is to come historically. Part of what makes fascists ("national socialist" after all) and now neocons so deplorable is that they basically accept and embrace this world view but, rather than trying to improve anything, they exploit it for themselves and band of buddies, determined to live in the limited "light" of such a society while pushing everyone else further into the "dark". We see the fascist and neocon view of liberals represented in the character Jonathan Peachum, an outwardly pious and law abiding citizen who organizes and exploits an army of beggars. Turn on the subtitles and enjoy the timeless music.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?
In the Comments section... "The actress playing Polly Peachum (Jonathan's daughter and Victorian gangster MacHeath's young bride) died in Russia under German invading forces' imprisonment after being locked up and tortured by the communist government beforehand. She had actually gone there as a political refugee from her own country. Sums up the whole horrible, tragic background of this terrible time."
Lest you think all that grinding poverty's "long ago and far away" see Deutsche Welle (Germany's BBC) 40 minute docu* on poverty in America now: 40 million people, 30 without health care, must choose between living without housing or living without work.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?
No comments:
Post a Comment