Identity is More Than a Label

I mention in the previous post that what what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable epithets can change. Likewise, identity can change, not only with time but with context. 

A Numb3rs episode delivers a scene where David and Colby walk into a bar filled with Asian businessmen and scantily clad Asian women serving drinks. 

Colby says, "We're the only white people in here." 

Alimi Ballard's David chuckles and says, "Yes. Yes, we are."

Identity is more than a box on a survey form. In this context, the two FBI agents have more in common with each other than with anybody in the room. "White" isn't a slur or a brag; it's an acknowledgement of a culture--for good or for bad--tied to a particular institution.

Books to Movies: Return of the King and Emphasized Moments in Film

A common approach with film is for the scriptwriters to select out one minor reference and make it a focus. So, the lighting of the beacons is referenced in passing in The Return of the King. In the movie, it is a major moment (see below). In the book, Pippin is asked if he can sing but doesn't while in the movie, Pippin (Billy Boyd) renders a sad and beautiful dirge. (Another lovely moment in the movie is citizens of Gondor spreading flowers under the hooves of Faramir's doomed soldiers.) 

I find these moments particularly indicative of the difference between movies and books. A movie is about imagery, and the scriptwriters will focus on certain images precisely because of their charismatic quality. The lighting of the beacons is a fantastic example!

The only problem is that such a focus can take over. Jackson is quite skilled at investing each scene with "now, the characters must make a choice!" but too many scenes with choices distracts from the scene that really matters. Theoden has good reason to object to riding out to help Gondor but he keeps going over the decision again and again in the movie. Good theater but it runs the risk of detracting from the final decision.

One of the most thrilling scenes in all movies is when Mandy Patinkin's Montoya says to Count Rugen, "I want my father back, you son of a bitch."

Because there is no other swearing in the movie, the moment stands out and makes an impact.   

Barney Miller Memorable Moment: James Gregory

James Gregory shows up in a great many classic television shows, including Columbo. I love him best, however, in Barney Miller where he plays the "old-school" Frank Luger. 

Frank Luger underscores the true tolerance of Barney Miller--not tolerance for a select group but tolerance even for the loud, tactless, old-school, supporter of corrupt politicians, fundamentally decent Luger.

What I love the most with Gregory is his physical acting. Barney Miller reminds me of The Closer; when rewatching The Closer, I often get the impression that James Duff, the producer, told a guest star, "Just do whatever you want! What character type do you want to play?" 

I feel the same with the guest stars on Barney Miller. 

The images are when Luger discovers the panties that a male shoplifter stole. He calls the man a pervert, asks him who is going to vote for, waves the panties around, and then nearly walks off with them. 

The entire sequence is utterly hilarious, made more so by rapidly changing expressions on Gregory's mobile face. 

 

More About Giving Audiences What They Want: Great Quote

Church

I write in Don't Give Audiences What They Think They Want that authors run the risk of putting out stories with beloved tropes and then...ending up with dissatisfied audiences since viewers/readers want those tropes but they also want more.

(When Tolkien became hugely popular in America in the 1960s, a great many fantasy series by others followed. Some were quite good. Some...feel like a wizard, small person, dwarf, elf, and king were shaken up together in a bag!)

Scene from Murdoch Mysteries

I suggest that the best writers have a vision and that the best visions are by authors who love what they are writing. In American Visions by Robert Hughes, Hughes makes this point regarding painting and Frederick Edwin Church:

Like Dickens, indeed like any artist who becomes both great and popular, he hadn't reach this position [of being America's 'national artist'] by figuring out what the public wanted and then giving it to them. He wanted what the public wanted, and was rewarded by its unstinting gratitude.

Hollywood, like Google Search, often come across as unbearably cynical because they seem to think they have "figured out" the public. 

But only a willing member of the public can truly succeed at capturing a zeitgeist.  

Horse Rescue Day & Shadowfax

The holiday refers to rescuing horses from slaughter. However, this post refers to a rescuing horse. 

My father is a fan of Tolkien but not a huge fan of movies. However, when Jackson's Lord of the Rings: Two Towers came out, he went to the movie with family members. Afterwards, he said,

"That movie was all about the horse!"

He was referring specifically to the scene where Shadowfax comes to Gandalf's call. Shadowfax arrives in slow motion. I don't honestly understand Jackson's choice here--except, okay, he is a beautiful horse.  

I suspect that this is one place where the visual film maker takes over from the storyteller. If a photographer can get an animal to do what the animal is supposed to do...

The photographer doesn't waste that moment. 

Shadowfax was played by Domero and Blanco. 

The Canny Thug

A hilarious variation on the canny dope and canny jerk is the canny thug.

The canny thug is the mugger/thief/drug dealer who has a streak of philosophical insight. My favorite is Marcus Oliver Kemp in Major Crimes' episode "Tourist Trap." He is a Cockney thug, paid to follow a couple to America and kill the husband (those Americans and their guns!). 

When he turns "state's evidence," he reflects on various factors that can end a marriage/relationship, including "even a little bit of success." Lieutenant Tao takes these reflections to heart and determines to stop showing off his television award (he is an advisor on a made-up television show Badge of Justice).

I love how unembarrassingly contemplative Kemp is, even when admitting that he and his ex had "their differences."

Elias in Person of Interest is a more complex variation of this type.

A Cop Can Be a Gentleman: Crabtree in Murdoch Mysteries

One of my favorite examples of a cop being a gentleman is Crabtree in Murdoch Mysteries. He is kind, honorable, chivalrous, and fair-minded. 

One of my favorite examples of Crabtree's gentlemanly behavior occurs in "Game of Kings." Station House 4 needs someone to go "undercover" at a chess tournament. Crabtree immediately bemoans that women aren't allowed to play since his girlfriend, Nina Bloom, is brilliant at the game.

Crabtree, in fact, attends the tournament with Nina whispering instructions in his ear using Murdoch's up-to-date technology. 

At the end of the episode, Crabtree brings Nina to the Station House to play against her real opponent, the female relation of a Russian master, who has suffered a lessening of his mental faculties. He gleefully sits on the cot beside the master. He is thrilled to watch two virtuosos at work. He demonstrates no sense of emasculation at witnessing the women's skill.

Humans Connect Emotion to Everything

Humans have the capacity to anthropomorphize EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. Years ago, when I worked at the University of Maine Law School as a receptionist/copy monkey, instructors would swear to me that the huge copier in the building disliked them. It chose THAT moment--THAT moment 5 minutes before class--to stop working. And I came to believe that the machine could sense rush (the logic side of my brain pointed out that rushing led instructors to do dumb things like not remove staples from pages about to be copied). 

The Baskerville robot dog in Elementary--that falls through a tarp and injures its leg--always makes me very, very sad. Poor killing machine! Poor, limping, killing machine! Someone take it home, fix it up, and give it a bath...in motor oil, of course. 

Spelling Comedy Moments

Spelling in front of people or dogs is a comedy trope. 

In Psych, "Spelling Bee," the humor arises from Shawn providing very easy words from the Spellmaster's grocery list. 

In Frasier, the characters spell b-a-t-h in front of the dog. Later, Niles and Frasier speak French to avoid alerting Eddie to his upcoming surgery. (Viewers learn later that Eddie doesn't take in much except his name.)

In Castle, Esposito spells out an expletive in front of Alexis, who has visited the police station to help with the murder of her favorite pop star. Everyone in the room stares blankly at Esposito. 

"She can spell, Detective," Castle says blandly. 

My favorite example comes from O, Brother Where Art Thou? when the father spells out R-U-N-N-O-F-T in front of his son. He is referring to his wife running off. Later, the son helps the three fugitives escape. He states, "I'm going to R-U-N-N-O-F-T."

The moment is so brilliant because the SOUND of spelling out the word has become the WORD. The son knows exactly what those sounds mean. 

As Stephen Pinker points out, the brain comes ready not only to learn language but to problem-solve it.

Great Prop in a Show: Chalk

I love watching shows and movies where someone has bothered to pay attention to a small detail. 

In Elementary, the police station conference room has a chalk board. Whenever people meet in the conference room, different things are drawn on the chalkboard. Most of the time, it is blank (for obvious continuity reasons) but it is rarely entirely blank. 

Many times, it has a note in the bottom left hand corner: Do not take chalk. 

I love it!  

Loid: Relaxed Tough Guy

Loid from Spy X Family is a great relaxed tough guy.

He falls more into the Scarecrow (Scarecrow and Mrs. King) category of spies than the James Bond category: less man about town and more clean-cut, family guy at heart who happens to also be very good at his job. 

He ends up with a family: wife, daughter, dog, who are all as odd as he is--granted, he is the most reasonable and level-headed though only to a point. As the interview at his daughter's school indicates, the more attached he gets to his unexpected family, the more important they become: more than anything else. 

As of Season 3, he isn't quite there yet, but he is getting closer. 

He's a great laid-back hero since he takes extreme physical action and then immediately assesses his situation: Wait, did I upset her? What did I do wrong? 

So when his drunk wife nearly takes him out with her assassin skills, he parries her but doesn't fight back. He's too busy trying to figure out, "What is happening?!" 

A thinking action man!  

Cats in Manga: The Weirdness of Cats and Cat Owners

One of the reasons I love cats in manga so much is that manga doesn't glorify cats. Yes, it does shower them with an inordinate amount of love. But the love is attached not to cats' mysterious, supposedly worshipable natures but to how freakin' weird they are--

And how weird we are to put up with them. 

Man and His Cat by Umi Sakurai--an alluring series which has turned into a community/family/talent manga--showcases the two elements of cat ownership. I love the cat who is sleeping on the bed and then leaves but the human remains contorted into a weird position: I've done this!

Tough Guy with Cats

As I mentioned with Don Matteo, my boss--head of the English Department--at the local community college has a wall of pictures of Tough Guys with Cats. He is a big (sweet) guy whose cat, Ruby, roamed the campus for years. (I was privileged to have Ruby visit my classroom.) 

Consequently, I always keep an eye out for tough guys with cats. I was amazed to find one such scenario with, of all people, Chris Noth! 

As a tough guy on Law & Order, no less! 

Don Matteo & Cat

My boss at Southern Maine Community College has a wall of Tough Guys with Cats. 

When I first started working at the college, his cat, Rudy, had free run of the campus. One evening, Rudy showed up in my English Composition class, walked casually across the tables, and then sauntered out. 

When I saw the picture of Terence Hill, Don Matteo, with a cat, I thought of my boss, his wall, and his cat. 

Great Chivalrous Moment: Nero Wolfe Again!

In A&E Nero Wolfe's "The Silent Speaker," Mrs. Boone, played by the talented Debra Monk, confesses to Wolfe that she kept information to herself at the request of her husband's secretary, Phoebe Gunther. She feels guilty for keeping her promise to Phoebe: if she had given the police the information, Phoebe would not have been killed. 

Nero Wolfe agrees--Phoebe wouldn't have been killed--but adds that since Phoebe elicited the promise, the consequences of that action belong to her, not to Mrs. Boone. 

He isn't blaming Phoebe, whom he admires for her intelligence and steadiness of purpose. He is according Phoebe and Mrs. Boone the same chivalrous intent one would accord men who honor their promises. In a world of many principles, the obligation to protect can overlap with the obligation to keep faith. Mrs. Boone chose to keep faith. She behaved chivalrously, and Nero Wolfe chivalrously defends her decision. Choice matters.

Great moment! 

Christmas Icons in Mystery Shows: Due South

Strolling reindeer in the background.

A number of mystery shows have included a Santa Clause or Santa Clauses as suspects: Diagnosis Murder, Bones, and Due South are a few. 

Due South stands out because it is full of Christmas icons that simply happen--there and gone. 

For instance, at one point, Constable Fraser sees a reindeer in the police station. It could be the reindeer that a prior Santa says he lost but no one else seems to notice, so it could be a hint of what is to come: 

Fraser's dead father, played by the marvelous Gordon Pinsent, shows up to give him advice...and remind him of the bond between fathers and sons.

 

Great Comic Moments: Playing all the Parts

In My School President, Gun complains about having to play a part in the school play, adding, "Why can't Tiw do it?" 

Tiw replies by listing off all the parts he has to play. (He is also the director.)

In Frasier's "Ham Radio," Niles shows up to help with the radio play, only to discover that the professional actor that Frasier hired quit due to Frasier's over-directing. Niles is now expected to play multiple characters, such as Hans, the German butler; O'Toole, the gardener; Prudence McAllister (and her sister), and Pepo the Dwarf. 

I'm short on bullets.

Frasier, of course, then attempts to over-direct Niles, who sabotages the play by killing off all his characters (and everybody else's).  

And years ago, in London, I saw The Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged). The performance is supposed to be managed by 3 people. That night, it was managed by 2!

There is something about people rushing about being more than one person that is terribly funny--it probably goes back to French farces and single people in different disguises leaping out of closets and cupboards. 

Who will we see and hear this time?

Great Quote about History: Last Man Standing

Outdoor Man is putting on a Buffalo Bill show except Mike--who runs the PR department--rejects the use of historically accurate terminology. He isn't being politically correct. He simply doesn't mistake the event for anything other than what it is: an advertising campaign. 

Ed protests. The original script is "authentic."

Mike replies, "Yeah, but protestors are rarely interested in facts. And unfortunately we don't get picketed by angry historians."

I love this line because...Wouldn't it be great if venues did get picketed by angry historians?! 

Instead of whining because something is offensive, these picketing historians would march about demanding, "Uncertainty! Offensive material! Archaic terms! Ambiguous historical personages! Wrongheaded perspectives! Actual documentation rather than slathering contemporary theories that don't take reality and human nature into account! NO 'right side of history.' Context! Full context! Real history now! Love it!!"

Great Ustinov Quote

I don't consider Ustinov as Poirot to be definitive--that compliment belongs to Suchet, for perfection, and Finney, for artistry. 

Ustinov strikes me as rather like Branagh--it's enjoyable to watch them for who they are, not for the part they occupy. 

About once a year, I get out Warner Bros Agatha Christie Classic Mystery Collection, the "updated" Agatha Christie's, starring, amongst others, Peter Ustinov, Helen Hayes, Bette Davis, Anthony Andrews, Jean Stapleton, Faye Dunaway, and David Suchet (as Inspector Japp).

Ustinov has fun as Poirot, and I enjoy watching him have fun. And he has a gift for comedic timing. His sidekick, Jonathan Cecil as Hastings, sometimes gets bypassed, but the Ustinov-Cecil-Stapleton's scenes in Dead's Man's Folly are quite funny and excellently paced. 

Favorite Castle Line: Beckett's Clone

Beckett allows an actress, Natalie Rhodes, to visit the precinct and follow her around--so Rhodes can get in touch with the character, Nikki Heat. 

Since this is the type of behavior that Beckett usually protests, either Castle wore her down or she is taking him down a peg or two. 

The decision backfires when the actress proves to be a "method" actress! She adopts Beckett's mannerisms and dress to an obsessive degree. 

Hence, Ryan's line delivered in Seamus Deaver's deadpan way: "We should have a code word, so we all know which Beckett to kill when her clone army attacks." 

Beckett responds, "Unless we make a preemptive strike."

The episode is extremely well-written. In the end, despite her obsessive behavior, the actress and the precinct part on good terms. Unfortunately, as we learn later, personal matters prevent her from taking the role.