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Lone Ranger Baffled Re: Sexual Assaults in the Military by James Bowman
President Obama, in the midst of scandal to the right of him (the IRS) and scandal to the left of him (the AP wiretaps), scandal behind him (Benghazi) and scandal ahead of him (Obamacare implementation) is outraged about — sexual assaults in the military, which has apparently reached "crisis" proportions. And who can doubt it when Sally Quinn is, in her own words, "sputtering with outrage" about it — always an infallible indication of crisis. Yet she also professes to think that "sexual assault is part of the military culture." Well which is it? If it’s a crisis, it can hardly be part of the military culture, which has been around for a very long time, and if it’s part of the military culture, it can hardly be a crisis. by James Bowman
In a poll by Time Out London of “101 industry experts,” David Lean’s Brief Encounter of 1945 has been voted the most romantic film ever — in spite, says Matilda Battersby of The Independent, of its having “no sex and no happy ending.” In fact, the movie’s extreme romanticism — echoing that of Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto which accompanies so much of it — is more likely because there is no sex or happy ending. The same would be true, more or less, for the first six of the top ten on Time Out’s list (after Brief Encounter they are Casablanca, In the Mood for Love, Annie Hall, Harold and Maude and Brokeback Mountain), in all of which the lovers must part. And even in numbers seven through ten (The Apartment, A Matter of Life and Death, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Punch Drunk Love) at the end of which they are together, the happiness of the united pair is shadowed by doubt or other emotional hangover from those movies’ darker sides. It’s a reminder that most of the greatest of classic romances from the pre-cinematic era — Abelard and Eloise, Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere, Romeo and Juliet — are also tragic. by James Bowman
. . . Or words with the power to create their own reality. Take for instance "Women." A now notorious tweet from Amanda Marcotte about the Gosnell trial reads: "Man, the feeding frenzy over Gosnell is a sobering reminder of how much hatred there is out there towards women." She means that outrage over the MAN who (allegedly) murdered numerous women and new-born babies should be seen as a manifestation of hatred towards WOMEN. How does that work, exactly? Because the word "women" as she (and many others) use it has the ideologically specialized sense of "women who believe in an absolute right of abortion at any stage of pregnancy and even after it." Of course the word is used as if it meant what it used to mean, and still means to most people, in most contexts, namely a female human being of adult years. This allows the feminist ideologue to portray women who have a different opinion on the subject of abortion as, somehow, not proper women. In the same spirit, Gloria Steinem once called Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson "a female impersonator" for being insufficiently zealous in supporting legalized abortion. This would be incomprehensible without our knowledge of the alchemical process which the word "women" has undergone with the help of feminist ideology. by James Bowman
Both the celebrations in parts of Britain of Lady Thatcher’s death and the media controversy they have spawned suggest one reason why civility is as endangered as it is these days: namely, that people don’t understand what it is for or what the value of it is. Tribalism is a permanent part of political life in a democracy, but the form of manners known as civility is an attempt by the political culture to contain its primitive passions and loyalties within a framework which will allow the different tribes to live and work together peacefully. It’s not surprising to me that there remains in Britain a hard-left faction, many of the members of which were not born or politically aware while Mrs Thatcher was prime minister, who consider it a point of pride to stand outside that framework in order to proclaim their undying hatred, shocking though some of those expressions are — and are meant to be. A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good by James Bowman
Oh, goody! I knew that if I waited long enough it would come and now it has: scientific evidence — scientific evidence, mind you — that not only is fat good for you but so is beer. A bona fide doctor, Dr Kathryn O’Sullivan — says that the "beer belly" is a myth. In fact, drinking beer is actually good for you, as it "contains vitamins, fibre, and antioxidants and minerals such as silicon which may help to lower your risk of osteoporosis." My patience with good old science has already been rewarded in the case of red wine, chocolate and, most recently, salt, three things that I dearly love and that "science" in its sterner days used to tell me were very bad for me and should be ruthlessly cut out of my diet. I resisted doing so, as I did so many other forms of nutritional prudence, and now each of these things has been rehabilitated, which is what persuaded me — rightly, as it turns out — that, if I only waited long enough, beer must be sooner or later added to the no-longer-proscribed list. Cheers, science! “Harsh truths” kept artificially alive are no longer truths by James Bowman
In yesterday’s Washington Post Ann Hornaday has a provocative piece on "Why Tarantino is better than Spielberg at portraying slavery." She refers, of course, to the rival nominees as Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, Mr Spielberg’s Lincoln and Mr Tarantino’s Django Unchained. Readers of my reviews of these two movies might not be surprised if I were to characterize Ms Hornaday’s critical judgment, as expressed in the headline, as disordered to the point of insanity. It would be uncivil of me to do so, though she herself does not scruple to use the word both of Mr Tarantino’s Grand Guignol and of America herself, said to have become "a global power on the backs of chattel" — which is historical nonsense of a Tarantinian degree. But perhaps we can understand her point of view with the help of the thumbnail sub-head of the website’s link: "Django and the pain of slavery: How an over-the-top film rings true." She doesn’t actually mention "the pain of slavery" in the article, but perhaps she means to call Django "better. . . at portraying slavery" on the grounds that its over-the-topness is a better representation not of slavery as it actually existed in America’s past but of how it was experienced by the slaves — that is, of its pain. by James Bowman
Things are in a bad way for British Conservatives, apparently. Here’s what Jake Wallis Simons, blogging for the Daily Telegraph writes about their plight after a series of failures, U-turns and broken promises partly provoked by opposition from their Liberal Democrat coalition partners: The overriding impression seems to be that this is a government which announces something, or promises something, or tries to implement something, or says it believes in something, safe in the knowledge that these are mere words. It is as if they are still in the mentality of opposition, three years on. Meanwhile, voters are being pushed into deep cynicism, an attitude of "I’ll believe it when I see it." There are few things that will be more damaging than this in an election. Campaigns are built on the ability to put across a credible vision, and a plan for change which the electorate can believe in; the Conservatives are handing Labour free attack lines on a weekly basis, all of which will be saved under Favourites with a gimlet eye on the ballot box. With the government falling over itself to bamboozle its own policies and pledges, the Tories will stand no chance in 2015. They’re Trying Really Hard, You Know? by James Bowman
More evidence, if evidence were needed, that shame and the celebrity culture are like oil and water — or like crucifixes and vampires. Now Lance Armstrong suggests he is the scapegoat for drug-taking among his fellow cyclists. "As much as I’m the eye of the storm, this is not about one man, one team, one director. This is about cycling, and to be frank it’s about all endurance sports. Publicly lynching one man and his team will not solve this problem." So now his punishment for cheating amounts to a "lynching"? You’ve got to admire the man’s chutzpah. Of course, it is all part of the smokescreen effect: when you can say that lots of other people did what you did, you diminish your own culpability. But Mr Armstrong aspires to world-class status as a smokescreener, as he once did as a cyclist. Ideologues Demand that we Hand Over our “Reality” by James Bowman
Prince Harry is home from his latest tour of duty as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan, apparently, and is once again in trouble with the media. In a television interview given while he was still in Helmand province but only broadcast after his return to Britain, he made the huge mistake (a) of admitting that, in the course of his duties, he had had occasion to kill one or more Taliban fighters and (b) of comparing the process of doing so to a video game — one that he had played and that he was rather good at. He thought there might have been some transference of his skill at one to skill at the other. Even the conservative Daily Telegraph thought this more than a little imprudent of him, and the left-wing press went berserk. “Prince Harry might think war is just a game,” thundered Tom Latchem in The Independent “but as a propaganda tool he has [put] his safety, Afghanistan's future, and the lives of British soldiers at risk.” Can He Win the Yellow Jersey of Victimhood? by James Bowman
"Corleone apologises for decades of Mafia murders," read the headline in yesterday’s (London) Daily Telegraph. Corleone, the Sicilian hill town that is synonymous with the Mafia through books and films, has asked forgiveness for the murders, shootings and intimidation committed by its godfathers. The appeal was made by the mayor of the town on the 20th anniversary of the arrest of a Corleone-born mafia leader, Toto Riina, nicknamed "The Beast" for his ruthlessness and brutality. Leoluchina Savona apologised to victims of the Mafia’s vendettas, bombings and killings on behalf of the inhabitants of the town, which was immortalised by The Godfather book and subsequent films starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. "I apologise in the name of all the people of Corleone. I ask forgiveness for the blood that was spilled," the mayor said on Monday during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of Riina’s arrest. |
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In the Aeneid, the Roman poet Virgil sang of "arms and a man" (Arma virumque cano). Month in and month out, The New Criterion expounds with great clarity and wit on the art, culture, and political controversies of our times. With postings of reviews, essays, links, recs, and news, Armavirumque seeks to continue this mission in accordance with the timetable of the digital age.
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