I watched They Might Be Giants, the 1971 movie starring George C. Scott as former New York City judge Justin Playfair, who has a psychotic break and thinks he's Sherlock Holmes. Joanne Woodward plays Watson, a psychiatrist tasked with committing him, who is drawn into his delusions. It's a satire of the absurdity of modern life, and holds up quite well as a piece of timeless fantasy. This quote, by Playfair/Holmes, stuck with me:
“I think if God is dead he laughed himself to death. Because, you see, we live in Eden. Genesis has got it all wrong. We never left the Garden. Look about you. This is paradise. It's hard to find, I, I'll grant you, but it is here. Under our feet, beneath the surface, all around us is everything we want. The earth is shining under the soot. We are all fools. Ha ha. Moriarty has made fools of all of us. But together, you and I, tonight... we'll bring him down.”
In context, he's saying that the supposedly same have chosen a world of madness, that exists because we allow it. That paradise is possible, if we don't.
Thoughts?
I highly recommended the movie. It is available for rent on the usual services.
This movie was introduced to me by my dear departed friend Mary Brasseur, who died in 1999.
As a random aside, They Might Be Giants (the band), despite starting as alt-rockers, has found a niche as one of the few geek rock bands in the Gen X era. If you liked Star Trek and anime in the 1990s, you played TMBG as sort of a coded signal. (It's not clear the band was all that fond of this initially, but people have to eat.) Given your writing on older male friendship, I thought it an interesting coincidence.
Under the category of "theses I will never write," I have kind of a collection of -- I don't even know what to call it? Art that hints at our collective notion/desire/belief that we do in fact live in a world that's full of abundance and that could more than satisfy all of our needs if only we were better stewards. From Ben Johnson's "To Penhurst":
Then there's all those old Dutch still lives of abundance. Oh, and then there's the ones where people are actually made of food! Compare that to hip hop boasts about fur coats, etc. I think it all probably comes from the same place -- a sense that we do live in a world of plenty, but also I think people tend to write more about this from a place of poverty. I think they tend to see how badly things have gone wrong when it's gone wrong to them personally.
Agreed. I teach a class called "THE TAKE" and the first thing I make them do is watch about five takes on Sherlock Holmes, of which this is one. Also put it I the category of Time After Time .
Love love love this film. Am always recommending it to my students and really interesting to watch right now in light of the Newman/Woodward doc. Thanks for posting!
As a random aside, They Might Be Giants (the band), despite starting as alt-rockers, has found a niche as one of the few geek rock bands in the Gen X era. If you liked Star Trek and anime in the 1990s, you played TMBG as sort of a coded signal. (It's not clear the band was all that fond of this initially, but people have to eat.) Given your writing on older male friendship, I thought it an interesting coincidence.
I'll have to see the movie.
Under the category of "theses I will never write," I have kind of a collection of -- I don't even know what to call it? Art that hints at our collective notion/desire/belief that we do in fact live in a world that's full of abundance and that could more than satisfy all of our needs if only we were better stewards. From Ben Johnson's "To Penhurst":
Each bank doth yield thee conies; and the tops,
Fertile of wood, Ashore and Sidney’s copse,
To crown thy open table, doth provide
The purpled pheasant with the speckled side;
The painted partridge lies in every field,
And for thy mess is willing to be killed.
(https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50674/to-penshurst)
Then there's all those old Dutch still lives of abundance. Oh, and then there's the ones where people are actually made of food! Compare that to hip hop boasts about fur coats, etc. I think it all probably comes from the same place -- a sense that we do live in a world of plenty, but also I think people tend to write more about this from a place of poverty. I think they tend to see how badly things have gone wrong when it's gone wrong to them personally.
Ooooh! Sounds interesting and I am curious. Will check it out. Thanks!
Superb premise.
Agreed. I teach a class called "THE TAKE" and the first thing I make them do is watch about five takes on Sherlock Holmes, of which this is one. Also put it I the category of Time After Time .
Love love love this film. Am always recommending it to my students and really interesting to watch right now in light of the Newman/Woodward doc. Thanks for posting!