Braindrops

Man's Humanity to Man

So all of the usual suspects are in tizzies (that pluralises poorly) about Paradise Now, because it humanises suicide bombers. (On a somewhat related note, the Rabbi recommended that I not see The Passion of the Christ because it would create an inappropriate empathy for the fellow whose followers ultimately branded my grandparents a while back, just outside of Oswiecem.)

I kind of think that humanising suicide bombers is important, though. This is not the standard exonerating pablum about how desperate their lives must be, which is mostly warmed-over Jew-hatred, as best I can tell. But it should not be overlooked that this is human behaviour, and for folks hoping to understand what it means to be human, this is a part of it.

I'm not sure what to do with that point, exactly. Perhaps the flip-side is that if modern science has made any progress in understanding humanity (insert maudlin reference to infinite complexity, blah blah blah), then one could devise an effective response. I know we can track bin Laden's cell phone - but do we know enough about societies to guide them? Or do we just wait and hope the Muslim baby bubble explodes before we do?

Also, do we know what the heck happened to Barry Miller? There's one cardinal rule for movie-watching in the Potemkin household, namely, that one should only watch movies with ugly people in them, because those folks must actually know how to act. (The penumbra to that is, of course, to avoid Julia Roberts films. She's nowhere near as charismatic as she thinks she is, but she's somehow fooled enough people to not have to rely on her talent.)

Senor Rodriquez from Boogie Nights might be the requisite exception, but Steve Buscemi's actually really good, so he's in. Frances McDormand; always, always, always Stockard Channing; Jack Klugman; John Turturro (we're heavy on Coen, apparently). One gets the drift. (Or else, one watches Brad Pitt movies, which are punishment enough.)

Anyhow, Barry Miller was (is, I think, at least he should be, according to the actuaries), a goofy-looking fellow who could pass for Jewish (duh), Puerto Rican, or Italian, brilliant or hopeless, and he seems to have completely disappeared, once ties went narrow in the early '80s. Seems a shame.

- Moishe Potemkin

Posted by MoisheP at January 22, 2006 07:35 PM | TrackBack