Category Archives: Night Writer

Friday Fundamentals in Film: The Red Badge of Courage

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The Red Badge of Courage is a John Huston Civil War classic starring Audie Murphy and Bill Mauldin (yes, the WWII creator of the “Willie and Joe” cartoons). Barely over an hour long, the movie pretty much sticks to Stephen Crane’s novel and features multiple passages read outloud by the film’s narrator. While clearly a war movie about “courage”, I found the most interesting embedded message here to be about the untested soldier Henry Fleming’s struggles to match his confidence and self-image with what he wanted it to be or hoped it could be and with his perception of the expectations of others. Battle happens to be the ready setting for this story, but the essential conflict could have been depicted in many ways.

At the beginning of the story Fleming and his Union comrades in arms have never been in battle and are bored with military life and useless drilling. Itching to fight (each other if they can’t get at the Rebels) the men talk boisterously of the feats they will perform under fire and young Fleming joins in while alternately withdrawing into his doubts. He struggles because he’s afraid he will be afraid, and because the realization of his fear appears to confirm the worst. Yet he doesn’t want to consider himself a coward, or be considered a coward by his fellow troops or his family. He speaks and writes in ways meant to show that he will stand firm, but he has to question himself.

Battle looming or not, untested young men have to deal with the same concerns and hope they will rise to be among the best while fearing they will be among the worst, and the fear of failure can be more motivating than the fear of death itself. This movie is a good opportunity to look at the nature of courage, the influence of others around us in inspiring our best or most craven characteristics, and even to examine the role of faith in giving us a workable handle for grabbing hold of the world. It is also good preparation for young men (or older men) who have not been tested so that they know their doubts or thoughts are not unique to them.

Point to Ponder:
After the Rebels’ first brief attack and retreat, and then after the last battle, Fleming and the others saw the world – and appreciated things – in a different way. Imagine yourself in those same moments; how would you describe the sensation?

Questions to ask:

  1. Fleming was embarrassed first to have run, and then embarassed to be recognized for his fighting. Why do you think both were embarrassing to him?

  2. What was the philosophy of the “happy soldier” (played by Andy Devine) that Fleming met the night after the first battle? Did this have an affect on Fleming?

  3. Was it courage or another kind of fear that propelled Fleming into battle on the second day?

  4. What effect did the actions of the soldiers who ran and the soldier’s who stayed and fought have on Fleming? What consequences did his actions have on others on the first day and then on the second? Which behavior do you think was closest to his true character?

  5. The narrator said, “He had performed his mistakes in the dark so he was still a man.” If nobody sees what you do does it make a difference?

  6. Even when Fleming confessed the truth to his friend he couldn’t bring himself to tell the whole truth. Was this another kind of fear? How well did he confront and overcome this challenge? All in all, would you say he was brave, or a weasel, or something in between? Why?

Great quote:
“So it came to pass as he trudged from the place of blood and wrath his soul changed. He had been to touch the great death…and found that after all it was but the great death. Scars faded as flowers and the youth saw that the world was a world for him. He had rid himself of the red sickness of battle.”

About Fundamentals in Film: this series began as a class I taught to junior high and high school boys as a way to use the entertainment media to explore concepts of honor, honesty, duty and accountability. The movies were selected to demonstrate these themes and as a contrast to television that typically either portrays men as Homer Simpsons or professional wrestlers, with little in between those extremes. I wrote questions and points to ponder for each movie to stimulate discussion and to get the boys to articulate their thoughts and reactions to each movie. I offer this series here on this blog for the benefit of parents or others looking for a fun but sometimes challenging way to reinforce these concepts in their own families or groups. As the list of films grows each week, feel free to use these guides and to mix and match movies according to your interests or those of your group. I’m also always open to suggestions for other movies that can be added to the series.

12 Thingama-whatevers Meme

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Kevin the meanie tagged me with a meme.

1: Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?
Colorful.

2: What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?
Listening to discussions about wars in other countries.

3: MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?
CDs. And vinyls so I can kick it old-school.

4: You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going … Ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?
Heck yeah, I’d take it. I won’t tell them where I’m going, but once I get there, I’ll tell them where I am.
I’m so clever, I can’t even believe it! heeheehee!

5: Seriously, what do you consider the world’s most pressing issue now?

Well, since there are so many, I’ll pick one that doesn’t depress me too much:

So many people don’t know how to dress themselves.
…okay *sniff*, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry…

6: How would you rectify the world’s most pressing issue?

I’d give those people my personal shopper business card.

7: You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?
Can I bank this one for later when I’m older?

8: You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?
Adam screwing it all up for the rest of us.

9: A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole’ Opry –Which do you choose?
I don’t know. Both would be good places to see and be seen! (I am the Diva, after all.)

10: What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you’d like to solve?
The question to the answer of life, the universe, and everything, i.e. 42. Even though that’s not a crime. Oh, well.

11: One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?
Lileks!

I’d serve lunchables and Hi-C.

12: You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky — what’s the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?
I’d move out of my parents’ house, smoke a pack of cigarettes, get a tattoo and have my belly-button pierced aaand….

I’d make Kevin buy me two beers.

Bonus! Random act of the week: I counted all of my shoes and the census came in … 33 pairs! (Can you guess who my role model is?)

An ethical challenge

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Great post from Andy at Residual Forces yesterday, deboning the celebration of those hailing the decisions of three Californian anesthesiologists who refused to execute a convicted murderer and rapist on ethical grounds.

These doctors in California who have suddenly gotten ethics and won’t assist with the Death Penalty may be the best example of hypocrisy ever.

Here we have Legislatures demanding that Doctors prescribe the morning after abortion pills, against their will.

That Walmart must sell the Morning After abortion pill against their will.

The Supreme Court says that Doctors in Oregon can euthanize people. (That means assisting them to die)

Abortion are considered a medical procedure worthy of public financing.

Partial birth abortion is still acceptable round most parts.

But these doctors in Cali won’t help rid the world of a convicted x murderer and rapist because of their ethics.

Personally, I may not agree with the decisions these anesthesiologists made, but I respect their right to do so. I endorse so-called “conscience clauses”. And as Andy points out, those who are happy by these particular actions might not be so supportive in other circumstances.

If they can stand up to a court order and refuse this, can other doctors refuse court orders and laws and protect other forms of life? Can doctors and pharmacists refuse to abort the unborn now? Will the ethics of every doctor be tolerated now?

On a related topic, go back and check out this classic from Craig Westover.

SPAM SPAM SPAM and SPAM

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I had a little lunch with the Llama Butchers today and found this intriguing link to the SPAM-ku page; a web-site devoted to haiku about SPAM®. No, not the annoying email, but the delightful pork particle product from our own Austin, Minnesota!

Reading through the site which features more than 19,000 poems to SPAM really got the creative (and other) juices flowing. Mmmm, SPAM – the smell, the slimy gelatin coating, the light pink color! Lord help me, but I love it! Here are some of my own SPAM-ku, touched by the processed pig muse:

How I Like It
One quarter inch thick,
Fried crispy on both sides with
toast, lettuce, mayo!

Pilgrimage
The Spam Museum,
a temple to temptation;
revelation comes.

The Monty Python diet
Egg spam spam bacon!
Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
I like spam a lot!

The Next Generation
Sharing processed pork,
the Mall Diva likes it, too!
My work here is done.

The Food Capital of Southern Minnesota
Go to Austin, MN,
proud city of pork shoulders;
keep your Green Giant.

They did burn down the White House, after all

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“After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward,” Bush told reporters who had traveled with him on Air Force One to Washington. “I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, `We’ll treat you fairly.‘” (Breitbart/AP)

Um, okay, Mr. President. How about, “Because the British haven’t attacked us since 1812?” Not that that has to be the precedent, of course. Hey, I’d be willing to reconsider selling control of six of our largest ports to a Middle Eastern company in, say, maybe half that amount of time.

Update:

Related posts from other blogs: The Impudent Finger, Blogizdat, Bogus Gold, the Psycmeistr and Hammerswing.

I hear you; I just haven’t heard enough

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Farheen Hakeem, 30, the Green Party candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, pointed out the large number of children at the rally who attend Twin Cities-area schools and said, “We are as much a part of society here as anywhere else in the world. We demand to be heard.”

That was from one of the speakers at Sunday’s peaceful (and isn’t that front page news) Muslim rally in Minneapolis to protest the publication of caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. To their credit, many of those in attendance called for people of different faiths to live in peace, which might be construed as an apparent but gentle rebuke of the more violent Muslims who seem to have no quibble with the caricature they’re making of their “religion of peace”.

For Imani Jaafar-Mohammed, the sight of more than 1,000 Minnesota Muslims packed into a south Minneapolis gym Sunday for a noisy, emotional rally was exhilarating.

“We are living here among people who don’t know anything about us, and we have come together to educate them peacefully,” the 26-year-old activist and Woodbury attorney told the crowd, which erupted into passionate, in some quarters tearful, chants of “Peace! No more violence!” and “Allah-u-Akbar!” (God is great!)

OK, you’ve got my attention, educate me. In particular, tell me what your faith teaches about the character of God and whether grace, mercy and forgiveness are Godly traits mankind is supposed to emulate. Tell me if you believe it is easy to love those who love you, but more sacred to love your enemies or those who persecute you. And while you’re at it, answer these questions for me:

  1. What do you really think of the efforts this country and other western countries made on behalf of your Muslim brothers in Bosnia?

  2. If insulting God is a capital offense, why does God need men to carry it out?

  3. If this behavior is required by your religion, why do your brothers kill people who had nothing to do with that insult, in a part of the world that had no connection to the affront?

  4. Do you condemn or condone this behavior?

  5. Why do you rally now to protest those cartoons, but not earlier to protest the things done in the name of your faith?

Lest this be a one-sided conversation, permit me to offer some information that you might not know. For example, one of the speakers at the protest, Hassan Mohamud, an imam and director of the Islamic Law Institute at the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, had this to say:

“We want to show solidarity with every Muslim feeling pain,” Mohamud told the crowd. “We want the U.S. government to take a position on this matter.”

You see, the U.S. government already has taken a position on this matter, more than 200 years ago when our Constitution was written. It’s the reason why you were able to hold your protest last Sunday with the expectation that the police not only wouldn’t attack you, but that they’d protect you. One last question: could I expect the same respect in downtown Teheran, or Riyadh, or in Nigeria?

Don’t you dare question their patriotism, unless…

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Readers outside of Minnesota might not be aware that this state is the first place where a group called Midwestern Heroes is running a series of ads featuring Iraq war veterans and families of soldiers killed in Iraq. The vets and families speak out in favor of America’s involvement and positive accomplishments in Iraq in an effort to counter the typical reporting and commentary on most MSM outlets.

The local Democratic party is reacting as predictably as Islamists to the publishing of cartoon Mohammeds – and using the same tactics, demanding that the ads not be shown and urging the faithful (the Party faithful, that is) to protest. (The ads can be viewed here.) As succinctly reported on Powerline:

Brian Melendez is the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Party. This past Thursday Melendez called a press conference and condemned the first of the two advertisements — the one featuring the veterans — as “un-American, untruthful and a lie.”

That ad features Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson, who is the co-chair of Minnesota Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission. This is a man, Powerline notes, who has 10 years of active duty experience and is being called “un-American” for publicly supporting the U.S.’s foreign policy.

Apparently, daring to question someone’s patriotism is okay after all as long as that person (or persons) disagrees with you. (This will be a great relief to Jeff, who also has this post detailing the advertising controversy and the parties involved.)

Gemini rising

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The Minnesota Twins, like their spiritual counterparts Faith and Hope, opened training camp today as pitchers and catchers reported. Of course it is all just so much wasted effort according to the team’s own Cassandra, Strib columnist Patrick Ruesse, has read the augers and pronounced doom for the lads this season.

This is not unusual for Reusse except that the prophecy comes so early. Usually his storm crow warnings don’t begin until around Memorial Day and then hit full-caw around the All-Star break. It seems that the earlier he can make his pronouncement, though, the better he likes it. Last year there was a note of pent-up triumph in his mid-summer requiem, stemming from his failed predictions of the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Fortune-telling is a difficult business, however, and typically an unwelcome one so I won’t heap further coals on Patrick’s head, especially since he typically produces a good column as often as Nick Coleman produces a bad one.

There is something about baseball however that often leads writers toward the mystical. It’s a game of innumerable numbers that somehow still defies statistical prediction, opening the door to divination and talk of curses, hexes and can’t miss phenoms. The facts, however, do appear grim for the Twins at this stage.

Their division has gotten better, at least on paper (but we know what happens when that paper gets wet with tears). They had definite, well-known needs coming out of last season and seemingly little to show for the off-season machinations. Where is the power-hitter the team has needed since Kent Hrbek traded his cleats for bowling shoes and fly balls for fly rods? Where is the reliable, cool-headed hand for the hot corner who can both make plays at third and get runners home from there as well? How can the offense strike fear in the hearts of pitchers not already on its own team?

Ah, but faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (see Hebrews 11:1), and we’re certainly hoping for a lot and seeing little at this stage so maybe that’s a good sign. Rondell White should replaced Jacque Jones’ numbers for less than half the price and may act as if he’s actually seen a strike zone and not just heard about it. Tony Batista might have the range of a fireplug at third base, but the durability of one as well – something missing from Corey Koskie’s resume. A Kyle Lohse for Hank Blaylock trade was very intriguing to me, but Lohse, for all his maddening inconsistency, is still young and has both experience and upside. With this presumably being Radke’s last year the Twins had to think long and hard about parting with such a commodity even with guys like Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano breathing fire and throwing smoke in the wings.

As others have said, the key to the Twins improvement this year will be the improvement of it’s existing young core. Guys like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Bartlett have to improve but part of baseball’s allure for me is that it is a game where you can see steady improvement. This might be the year that power springs from Mauer’s bat the way it suddenly burst from Kirby Puckett’s after his first couple of slap-hitting years. As for Morneau, baseball has definitely become a year-round game and a healthy and active off-season should serve him better than his ill-fated and illness-plagued 05 off-season. Bartlett is still an unknown quantity but he reminds me a little of the way Greg Gagne played when he got his first opportunities with the team and perhaps he’ll emerge as a confident and capable player. Jason Kubel is intriguing but I don’t expect much from him this year. He may have recovered from the knee surgery but he can’t get back the at-bats he missed last year and with few exceptions you have to have hundreds of these to become a factor.

But, as the poem says, “somewhere the sun is shining…” and right now that is Florida. Baseball season is coming, and I can’t wait.

Challenging Word of the Week: petard

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Petard

(pi TARD) n.



A petard was a heavy explosive engine of war, filled with gunpowder and fastened to gates to blow them in or to walls, barricades, etc., to smash them and form a breach. The soldier whose job it was to fire the device was always in danger of blowing himself up as well, in which case he would wind up hoist with his own petard. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Act III, scene 4) the prince says to the queen:



…’tis the sport to have the engineer

Hoist with his own petar…

But I will delve one yard below their mines,

And blow them at the moon.



(Shakespeare spelt it petar, possibly influenced by the French pronunciation of petard in which the -d is silent.) Hamlet was speaking of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, commissioned by King Claudius to escort him to England and see to his death; but as the play develops, it is they who will be done in, and thus hoist with their own petard. To be thus hoist is to be caught in the trap laid for someone else. This was indeed the fate of certain inventors of torture devices and dreadful places of imprisonment, like the Bastille built by Hugh Aubriot, Provost of Paris c. 1360, where he was the first to be imprisoned. In the Book of Esther 7:9 Haman was hanged on the high gallow he had devised for the hanging of Mordecai, and the witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins, tried for witchcraft under the rules he had set up, was himself executed as a wizard in 1647. Petard has an amusing derivation: via Middle French petard, related to peter (to fart), from the Latin peditum (breaking wind), neuter form of peditus, past participle of pedere (to fart). In this age of jet propulsion, doesn’t that derivation give hoist with one’s own petard a new twist?



From the book, “1000 Most Challenging Words” by Norman W. Schur, ©1987 by the Ballantine Reference Library, Random House.



My example: The Democrats may have been hoist with their own petard in 2004 when they turned the Wellstone funeral into a campaign rally.



I post a weekly “Challenging Words” definition to call more attention to this delightful book and to promote interesting word usage in the blogosphere. I challenge other bloggers to work the current word into a post sometime in the coming week. If you manage to do so, please leave a comment or a link to where I can find it.