We live in such a pathetically wierd culture.
I just turned on the computer to read "Famous American Writer Dies -- He Was Married to Marilyn Monroe."
What does that mean?????????
I guess it means that Arthur Miller's marriage to a celebrity who didn't live long enough to accomplish much of anything herself is of more significance to most Americans than his plays Death of a Salesman or The Crucible.
Dustin Hoffman put in a wonderful perfomance as Willy Loman on a televised Death of a Salesman a few years ago. And I'd guess that many Americans have learned more about the Salem Witch Trials from The Crucible than from musty history books.
So I'm going to place the blame for the dumbing down of America right at the feet of the media. If it wants to identify one of the supertalents of our era by the superstar he once married, then it can hardly criticize its readers for their interest in the drivel that passes for much of entertainment today. I guess we deserve all of the Brad and Jen that we can stomach.
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OK, I will now get off my soapbox long enough to acknowledge that I, too, enjoy drivel, especially in the form of Desperate Housewives. But I have to share my paraphrase of and elaboration on what I thought was a hysterically funny "overheard conversation" relayed in the New York Times awhile back:
"I am SO grateful that George Bush has been re-elected President. We need a God-fearing man to lead our country out of its moral quagmire."
"I couldn't agree more. There is SO much immorality in our country -- Janet Jackson, gay marriage, extramarital sex --"
"Yes! I am so glad that we will continue to have real moral leadership at the top! Hey -- did you catch Desperate Housewives last night?!"
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PS (Later): Did anyone catch ER last night? ER doc Kerri Weaver finally finds her birth mother, only to be rejected because she is gay. I thought the performance by the woman who plays Kerri was beautifully done -- just the right blend of curiosity, anger, sadness, vulnerability, and strength.
10 comments:
Yes, Arthur Miller was a great playwright. When I was in school his plays were required reading in lit class. Are they still?
Yes, they're both still required reading in HS. My son read both books this year in 11th. ~Sie
I am an ER junkie...good show last night.
Love the conversation. It would be funny if it wasn't so likely! Lisa :-]
I heard he died on NPR, so it was all about his Pulitzer, MM never came up. OTOH, I am a confirmed Desperate Housewives addict . . .
Actually, I never knew he was married to M Monroe. I just knew he was a Author/Playwrite. I was very fortunate enough to view Death Of A Salesman(the play) on PBS. It was brilliant.
Tami
http://journals.aol.com/rivercitygirl1/PicturePages
Arthur Miller was sure one of the greats. It's too bad that so much of his "fame" is derived from his marriage to MM, herself a tragic figure. Part of her own tragedy was that she wasn't respected for her more serious work, just as Miller isn't so much respected for his serious work but for being married to a "sex symbol." I agree; it's royally messed up.
Did you ever see "The Misfits?" Monroe was quite wonderful in that. An excellent movie, it was written by Arthur Miller for Marilyn, and starred her, Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, and Thelma Ritter. They were all superb in it, and it was Gable's last movie. He died very soon after they finished shooting.
Miller was a great man. The country is the poorer for his passing.
Vicky
http://www.livejournal.com/~vxv789/
Oh my yes. Vicky mentioned THE MISFITS to me not long ago. As I hadn't seen it in years, I watched it again. It really spoke to me this time around; I thought about it for days and am still thinking about it. I used to teach a course on the American Frontier Myth, and Miller's screenplay captured the idea of the myth perfectly, or should I say the end of the myth. My argument, when I taught that course, was that we're still trying to live according to the old myth of imperialism and acquisition, we're still living like the world has unlimited possibilities. But times change, and we need a new mythology. THE MISFITS definitely shows how we need a new myth because even the best aspects of the old one have become polluted.
I, too, am caught between disgust at the media's "dumbing down of the culture" and my own addiction to TV mindless drivel. Something about those alpha waves at the end of the day that helps me get to sleep...whereas if I'm reading a good book I'll stay up all night.
My thoughts exactly on that inappropriate Arthur Miller headline. judi
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