A Few Thoughts on Loyalty, part 1: “We’re Lookin’ into It.”

Recently, I was asked what makes a marriage work for 32 years (and counting). My response: loyalty

and compromise…and, of course, love. The Beatles sang “All You Need Is Love”—but without compromise and loyalty, love can be fleeting, after all Tina Turner implored “What’s Love Got to Do With It”; it’s just “a second hand emotion.”

A brief look at how loyalty is defined in politics is part of the political paralysis. Crossing over ‘party lines’ is viewed as disloyal, rather than a posture that shows compromise. Thus, loyalty to one’s donors, regardless of the consequences, finds Republican politicians mute as they wait for orders from the NRA, especially when parents of murdered children demand a total ban on military assault weapons, increased age limits for gun purchases, and other innocuous solutions like a “universal background check.” So they repeat the phrase “we’re looking into it…”; as if we haven’t been looking at mass murders year after year.

Mr. Trump made people swear an oath of loyalty to him when they entered a rally in Vermont (see source below). He fired James Comey when he would not be loyal—even though the FBI Director replied that he would be “honest.” That is his job description. Sasha Chapin in her New York Times Magazine article of November 15,2017 explained: “There are shades of this thinking in the title of the coming book by the former F.B.I. director James Comey: ‘A Higher Loyalty.’ It’s with Comey, of course, that Trump reportedly made his boldest call for fealty, telling the director, ‘I expect loyalty’ — the obvious implication being that Comey should shy away from legal inquiries that might harm the president.” Even Republican senator Jeff Flake, announced that: “A segment of his party, he said, had come to believe that ‘anything short of complete and unquestioning loyalty’ to the president was unacceptable.”

Loyalty has been easily demanded by Mr. Trump; however, two divorces led to two broken oaths. “Stormy” times are brewing in his third “till death do us part” marriage. Do what I say, not what I do—seems to be the order of the day. Somewhere in the order of 34 White House employees have left. Three of his top administrators have taken an oath that if one is fired they all go, does not portend a long tenure for any of them.

However, there is one person Mr. Trump seems unshakably loyal to—Mr. Putin. In spite of all three major investigative forces, Mr. Trump simply asked his friend Mr. Putin if the Russians “meddled in our election”. Mr. Putin said “No” and that is good enough for Mr. Trump. This is contrary to the most paramount oath he has ever taken: to preserve, protect and defend the United States …”—the Oath of Office. When the truth gets out, and it will (it always does thanks to the Freedom of the Press, the FBI and CIA and NSA), Americans will find out that Mr. Trump’s rise to power (from bankruptcy) will eventually be a ‘deal with the devil…so to speak.’ Tom Friedman latest column in NY Times explores the likely scenario.

Part 2--Baseball--it is a much lighter subject!

Gang: Here is the latest update on Chicago's public schools (Part 3 of 3)

Gang:This is The NY Times editorial for 2/13/2018 that I mentioned earlier about...Chicago’s schools.


David Leonhardt ‘s essay is, in my opinion, the more balanced review of the situation in Chicago's Public schools.Some others say school closings are a disaster. I think when something just repeatedly fails, then it is time to re-evaluate and make progress:


 “Chicago school progress. Some of the most impressive educational gains in the country have been happening in Chicago. Students — of all races — have made striking progress in reading and math. They’re spending more time studying the arts. High-school graduation rates are up. Chicago still has a long way to go. Its math and reading scores remain below the national average, for example. But its recent progress is exciting, especially given the city’s diverse population and relatively high poverty rate.


The city’s students 'appear to be learning faster than those in almost every other school system in the country, according to new data from researchers at Stanford,' Emily Badger and Kevin Quealy of The Times recently wrote.


In The Washington Post last week, Karin Chenoweth wrote, 'If we as a country are really serious about wanting to improve schools and education, we should be studying Chicago.'


The gains haven’t come easily, though. They have involved, among other things, greater accountability for school leaders and the closure of some underperforming schools. In a Times op-ed today, Tamar Manasseh makes the case against the next round of Chicago’s school closures, calling previous ones 'a fiasco.'


I disagree. For too long, school systems have been unwilling to crack down on failing schools. As traumatic as closures can be, they can lead to real progress, as has happened in Chicago. In most other parts of society, after all, institutions aren’t allowed to fail year after year, without consequence.


For more on Chicago, I wrote about its schools last year, focusing on the role that principals have played. You can also read the Stanford University study. And The Chicago Tribune explained the latest development yesterday: a three-year phaseout, rather than a 2018 closing, for three high schools.




As usual, I encourage you to read both sides of the debate.”

I concur!

Gang: Update Films: "Three Billboards, etc." and"The Big Sick"—one nominated for Best Picture and one that should have been:

Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri: 

(Major spoiler alert!! Do not read if you have not seen and plan to unless you want to be spoiled.) It is powerful, dark and intriguing; however, there is far too much that is utterly implausible and some events that are downright ridiculous. So as to not give you a laundry list, I’ll mention some of the obvious stuff.

For starters, a young man beaten up and  tossed him out of a window of a two story building…and then kicked him in the face for good measure. All while in from of a new police chief, no less. And that doesn’t get him jailed! But that’s not the crazy part, No. The guy who beat him practically to death is brought into the same hospital room as the man who beat him up! Why is that guy in the hospital all bandaged up (so the beaten man doesn’t know that he is the attacker)? Because the attacker ( now an the ex-sheriff—at least he lost his job!) who wants to be a detective someday is so unobservant that he is unable to hear or see four huge fire bombs going off and flames everywhere while he is trying to read a letter! (This is difficult for him because he cannot read much more than a comic book. Not a good look for a policeman…and it turns out he’s not even the worst of the cops.)

Then there is the mother who tells her daughter she hopes she does get raped on her walk on the night! Naturally, she is raped that very night, figures, huh. In Hollywood, be careful what you wish for. I asked myself after the movie ended—really? Didn’t the mother she feel tortured enough?

I could go on and on, but let’s touch on the important thematic elements. “Hate begets hate”; Oscar Wilde reminds us via a extremely dumb stereotyped 19 year old blonde. Hate is a clear and present danger in this town. It appears to be a cesspool of racism and violence.  This small town American “Show Me State” ubiquitous with racism {think Ferguson}, not to mention homophobia, and backwoods cops that makes me think either the police there are really that terrible or that the police would really be insulted by this film—I am not sure which is true—likely both.)

There is the generational hatred; good-old boy racism and bias and we are hammered with domestic violence. On a positive note, there is one good cop—a black commander who just can’t seem to figure out who threw the bombs at his own police office—or he does know, but is too ‘wise’ to pursue charges. And remember, these are just three really head scratching events. This will likely win Best Picture due to way over-the-top performances by a fine acting ensemble—but isn’t that often the way it goes? High drama gets the nod. {Think Leo De Capra and the Bear film.}The movie has the subtlety of a sawed off shotgun…and that’s also a hint of what’s to come.

 So, what does it all mean for me? It is a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it has all the right messages in a time in this country when domestic violence is a daily headline, when  ignoring women’s voices as truthtellers, and maybe more importantly, when people refuse to speak up when things are evil. People so afraid to call out injustice that it takes a burned and  raped victim’s mother to splatter it on three billboards. Yes, the letters that the dying sheriff played by Woody Harrelson (my favorite performer in the movie) writes are powerful, but he never has the courage to say those things to the people who matter while he is alive.

So upon reflecting, there are just too many coincidences, unrealistic events including the mysterious ‘reveal’—or not reveal, that makes the characters {and yours truly}drive off into the sunset and say what I felt about this film…”I just don’t know.”

 

The Big Sick: 

I loved this film last summer, and when I wrote the first blog about the films of the year2017,  I overlooked this autobiographic gem. Based on events in the life of star Kumail Nanjiani  and his wife Emily V. Gordon are up for an Oscar for Original Screenplay. Holly Hunter and Ray Romano add so much to the film, but so do the characters that play Kumail family—funny and heartfelt. This is a movie that means even more today as the Muslim ban and prejudice directed at ‘foreigners’ seems to be the target of Trump’s fear filled America.

 

This was a feel good,

feel bad,

feel worse,

feel good… at last movie.

Get Out:---still to come....here at the Metaphor Cafe

Gang: Here’s my take on the 2017 films !

Let’s keep it short and semi-sweet: my favorite films from top to bottom (Blade Runner 2040-whatever is the bottom)

Top of the Line:

The Post: Could not be a more important film about the need for a free press and the courage to blow the whistle on the liars {regardless of political party}. I realize that if Nixon had his own network (which he wanted when he talked to Roger Ailes) things may have worked out differently for Nixon and the nation. Quick note: I heard someone famous on NPR speak to the need for real news and that young folks need to decipher the difference. That person said that the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal are the two great levelers. Why? Because they are upholding journalistic standards, the rule of law and are not insulated from libel or prison {for not revealing sources}. The Washington Post is no slacker either.

The Shape of Water:  So if you are not into magical realism—this is not for you—but it was for me. It is a parable of what we fear and how we treat those things/ ideas we fear; verses, those who are open to seeing things that are both different in even perhaps threatening (because they are so different). The most creative picture I saw all year.

Lady Bird: And now for the opposite—stark realism. This is a mother, daughter, andculture ( I use that word loosely) that is high school. Lady Bird is a rebel with a cause, she just doesn’t quite know what it is, but she knows it is not community college in Sacramento. It is about the adult realists who don’t want to see dreams quashed vs. a dreamer who sometimes needs to be quashed to learn what is what and what really is ‘the best’ she can be.

father slice of life for a senior in high school who feels trapped by the expectations presented to her by a mother who never knows when to stop pushing and chiding, and an adolescent world populated by the cool

The Darkest Hour and Dunkirk: This is a twofer in the best way. I am not sure which to see first, but I know they are both necessary. I, for one, really didn’t know that much about all this drama ( I know, I should have.)  The two films show the psychology of facing defeat and what kind of enormous courage it takes when all seems lost (Atticus Finch speaks of this in Mockingbird). Sometimes that bravery comes from the common folk, and cowards are the ones who have much to lose. Dunkirk shows its audience the spectacle of what those same ordinary people can do in extraordinary circumstances. A side note: Our wars today are not at all like this. There are no clear battle lines, no uniforms, no white flags of surrender, no real nations at war—today, wart is far more dangerous. It is about a religious fanaticism that claims death is a ticket to nirvana and leaders who will gas their own people to stay in power. {Oh, wait! I guess there are similarities to WWI and II.}

Call Me by Your Name: Again, this takes the audience into a world that until the last 20 years, (okayBrokeback Mountain. However, this film follows a very different path. It explores sexual identity—especially when that identity is just blossoming. For many people there is a clear answer to that question of sexual orientation—in this film, that answer is not so clear. The only way to know is to live both lives…for a while.

maybe 10) many folks would not feel comfortable seeing (think

The Phantom Thread: You know, sometimes everything about a film is wonderful: the actors, the setting, the intrigue of the plot…it all seems to be quite beautiful. But the sum of its parts equals a unbalanced equation. If you have ever read Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” the gothic tale will seem familiar. As a teacher, I wanted my students to ‘experience’ the wicked, tortured nature of Emily, but as a filmgoer—well—I just think it is all so terribly sad. Not ‘sad’ in a Trump way, just pathetic. I guess, there are people like those portrayed in this film—lots of them, I suppose. And it is worth discussing—just not over dinner.

I want to add two other films that I liked besides Star Wars, which I like because it is ‘the force’ in me.

Marshall: This gem came in the summer, and I just felt that it was overlooked. Too few understand what Thurgood Marshall overcame to become one of the most revered lawyers and eventually Supreme Court judges in recent American history. It is not about Brown v. Board of Education; it is what happened right before…Oh—and a last entry:

Roman J. Israel, Esq.: Not the best film Denzel Washington has been in, but a very interesting one. He plays a man who is obsessed with the details. Stuck in his ways—it just so happens his ‘ways’ are the moral high ground too many people avoid because it is just too steep a journey.