Old news or eternal truths? You decide!

It's taken me awhile to get my thoughts together on Madeleine Albright/Gloria Steinem "mispeakings".  At first I was too shocked to comment.  Ms. Albright scolded women who supported Bernie Sanders rather than Hillary Clinton and threatened them with "a special place in Hell for women who don't help other women."  Really, Madeleine?  Seriously?  Even in the early days of the resurgent women's movement, when I was a beginning feminist, my friends and I, who considered ourselves pretty hardcore, voted and worked for candidates based on their records and not their genders. 

I don't remember Ms. Albright calling for support of Sarah Palin in 2008.

But Ms. Steinem may have hit on something when she said that young women might be flocking to Bernie Sanders's campaign because that's "where the boys are."  In an interview with Bill Maher, the "feminist icon," as she is known, said,  "When you're young, you're thinking, 'Where are the boys?The boys are with Bernie'.  (Naturally, this brought indignation from feminists young and old.  prompting Ms. S. to tweet that she "misspoke" and declare Senator Sanders "an honorary woman,")

I'll be honest.  Years ago, when I joined the Young Democrats, one of the reasons was to meet guys.  The Equal Rights Amendment, LGBT rights, and reproductive freedom were important, of course, but I have to admit now (and I might have admitted then) that "finding someone" and having a relationship were more important.  And I can't have been the only one.  These are not bad things to want.  But we sometimes act like they are.  How can we be thinking about hooking up when we have to save the world or at least the country?

I have no idea how we can, but we do.

And actually, it's not that important.  It's sort of like church;  whatever gets you in the door, whether it's to meet someone, make business connections, or to get a good sugar buzz from the doughnuts at coffee hour, it's a first step.  Keep coming back and the important aspects of Christianity or Judaism or Unitarianism or whatever, can click in. 

So let's think of our political goals.  A lot of people have come in the door.  In spite of our differences, maybe we can work together together to achieve them.

OMG! Have I been politically offended?

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I was waiting for something to turn up to write about..  And it did.  January 16 was the birthday of writer Susan Sontag.  The reason I know this is that I read it on Facebook in a post from Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac.  In addition to reporting that Ms. Sontag read at three, graduated from high school at fifteen, and earned Master's degrees in English and philosophy from Harvard, the post talks about her eight-year marriage.  What it did not talk about was Ms. Sontag's longterm relationship with photographer Annie Liebowitz, begun in 1989 and ending with Ms. Sontag's death in 2004.

Why was only the shorter relationship mentioned?  Was it because it was a Lesbian relationship?  Was this omission due to prudishness (After all, even if they couldn't get married, they could have had a commitment ceremony.) or heterosexism?  If Ms. Sontag's final relationship had been with a man, would he have been mentioned?

Am I becoming one of those PC Police people who enjoy being offended and judge the broadmindedness of others by how often they are offended?

Do I need to get a life?  (In my defense, I have been recuperating from a hip replacement and haven't been getting out much.) 

I felt better when I read comments from other readers who had the same reaction   Then I was annoyed at myself because I needed to be validated.  Then I was annoyed because I was beating myself up for needing to be validated.  (If you have trouble following this, you are better adjusted than I am.)

I wondered what Ms. Sontag and Ms. Liebowitz would think about the post and people's reactions.  Maybe (OK, probably) they would ignore it and go on with their lives.    Or maybe Ms. Sontag might have written about it and more importantly, people's reactions to it.

Well, it's something to think about.  So Happy Belated Birthday, Ms. Sontag, and Happy Unbirthday, Ms. Liebowitz.

(PS  I know this is late, but insightful, witty writing take time.)

When We All Watched -- The People and O.J.

 

Anyone in the United States over thirty (and some under) probably has memories of the O. J. Simpson murder and subsequent trial.  We relished O .J. jokes (What did Ron Goldman say to Nicole Brown Simpson when he met her in heaven?  "Here's your f***ing sunglasses.")  and gathered in front of the television set eating potato chips and following the LAPD's pursuit of the white Bronco, much as we would observe the 911 events five years later.

It was all O. J. all the time as the entire trial was televised.  We got to know everyone, the Brown and Goldman families, Marcia Clark, Johnnie Cochran, Judge Ito.  When the verdict was rendered, my co-workers and I were allowed to watch it on a TV in the conference room.  The whites were indignant and the blacks were indignant at their indignation.

So I looked forward to the FX miniseries The People v. O. J. Simpson (Tuesday nights, ten o'clock Eastern).It has everything, a beautiful victim with equally gorgeous sisters, a beloved sports hero, a comic sidekick, and even a loyal dog.  Not the mention the Kardashians. (O. J. nearly shot himself in Kim Kardashian's bedroom.)

And there are more serious issues -- interracial marriage, spousal abuse, the legal system -- so you don't have to feel too guilty for watching it.

So I got comfortable on the couch with the afghan and the cats and a diet soda.

The show began with footage of the 1994 riots caused by the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King, then cut to "two years later", when a dog is whimpering on a deserted street, while haunting, if not menacing, music plays.  That was nice.

But at times the show degenerated into a Saturday Night Live sketch.  Marcia Clark, played by Sarah Paulson, is the ultimate Hard-driving and Hard-driven Bitch, sending her sons to school without breakfast when they turn down their cereal, saying they can "Starve"  (For heaven's and their school performances' sakes, give them some Nutrigrain bars to eat in the car!) and smoking continuously, even in the house!  John Travolta's Robert Shapiro (O. J's first defense lawyer) is a namedropping smarm meister who looks like he had work done -- bad work. Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) stands in front of his enormous closet with a rainbow of shirts and discusses what color to wear to a meeting.  (I think he picked yellow.) As Robert Kardashian, David Schwimmer seems to be reprising that lovable sad puppydog Ross from Friends, but with a white streak in his hair.  Kato Kaelin (Billy Magnussen) is a permanently bewildered Jeff Spicoli.

Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays O. J. straight, unaware of the absurdity that is going on.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I wonder if those involved with the movie were hoping that the audience would find it a hoot and a half.

I'm sure there are lot of observations to be made about crime and its depiction, audience demand and reaction and even Art, but this is Woodstock Churchlady, not The New Yorker or some intellectual journal. I will say, however, that I'll be watching.  How about you?

(For those who want something churchladyish --  Jesus loves Marsha Clark and Kato Kaelin and you can too!)