Being There

I saw Being There, starring Peter Sellers, when it was first released in 1979. I only saw it once, but it was the kind of film that makes a lasting impression.  I recall that at the time it was quite an intriguing film. It highlighted the influence of television on our society, and the artistic quality of the film created a unique environment in which to explore the dynamics of human perceptions and relationships.  

The story follows a simple-minded gardener named Chance who is thrust out into the world at midlife after having lived his whole life on a wealthy estate where he knew nothing of the world except gardening and what he saw on television.  When the wealthy estate owner dies, Chance is on his own for the first time.  His initial encounter with an urban street gang prompts Chance to point his TV remote at them, as though to try to change the channel. That moment, as much of the film, evokes both humor and a poignant sense of pity. 

Chance soon finds himself taken into the family of a well-to-do senator in Washington after the senator’s wife bumps into him (quite literally with her car). Chance’s simple observations about the only thing he knows, gardening, soon make him the toast of the town as the people and the television media put their own spin on the words he speaks. 

There is one scene that stood out as a significant side commentary and surprised most of the audience where I saw the film. It is a scene where the black former housekeeper from the estate where Chance had lived saw him on television and gave a pointed soliloquy about how “You only have to be white to make it in America.” (see below)

I happened upon an article from 2017 that speaks of the continued relevance of Being There:  “Being There: Still funny, but newly grim and topical,” by Ben Sachs.  A couple of quotes from the online article are in order:

“Many have called Being There, both the book and the film, a premonition of the Reagan revolution, which came to power, in part, on the strength of Reagan's ability to communicate on TV. The deathlike air of the film certainly connotes the end of something big, while the humor comments on the timeless human desire to be deceived by something that sounds good. These opposing elements give Being There an enduring complexity, although sometimes it's too bleak in its outlook to be laugh-out-loud funny.”

“In its deep cynicism about American media and politics, Being There may also have a renewed topicality in 2017. The film's penultimate moment finds a D.C. insider proposing the idea that Chance runs for president himself. I suspect that … at least one audience member will want to discuss what a Chance the gardener administration might look like and whether it would be preferable to the one that's currently running the country.”

Being There was Peter Sellers final role (he died a year after the film was released).  It was also Hal Asby’s last cinematic success as a director, having made his mark with previous films such as Coming Home, and Harold and Maude.

For those who want to see a little bit of what we’re talking about in Being There, below are some clips and film commentary on the movie.  The second clip is the soliloquy about "You only have to be white" that I referred to earlier. 

-

The Play Is the Thing

[From my archives ~ a post from my first year of blogging,June of 2010]

There is something about a good drama. Live theater can have a remarkable effect upon members of the audience. The power of drama and its influence was brought home to me recently while watching a film biography of Pope John Paul II. I learned that the young Karol Wojtyla was a member of an underground drama company, the Rhapsodic Theater, in Poland before he began considering the priesthood. His mentor had been encouraging him toward the priesthood when at one point young Wojtyla realized the he could make a positive change in the world by being a priest. Prior to that point he had been assuming that drama would be the way to effect positive change in his world.

Drama During Hard Times

Upon hearing that drama had been Pope John Paul’s first choice for positive change, I tried to imagine what drama must have meant to him and his colleagues living in Poland under Nazi occupation. Immediately I remembered hearing about an acting company in Serajevo during the Bosnian War in Yugoslavia. Even amid the fighting and bombing that completely disrupted that once grand city, the actors were determined to continue, and the people were determined to see that the plays went on. Furthermore, consider Czechoslovakia. When the communist Soviet Bloc fell apart, whom did the Czechoslovakians choose as their first democratically elected president? It was a playwright, Vaclev Havel.

What is it about a play? Why is drama so important? I think that a good play helps us to visualize what life can be like. It is one thing to talk about how things are, or how they could be, but it is another thing to illustrate life with a good drama. For the ancient Greeks, drama was a central act of community religious life. Their plays provided both instruction and catharsis (Now it’s making more sense that a noble young aspiring actor would eventually become Pope).

Widespread Appeal

Drama has a universal appeal. Every culture has its own unique forms of dramatic re-creation. When Black Elk, the Lakota medicine man, was young, he had dream that was a visionary message to his people. As was the shamanic custom among his people, Black Elk staged a play. He called the community together and directed the people in acting out his dream in order to bring the power of the vision into the world. It seems that everyone knows that the play is the thing.

Even today in modern U.S. society, drama plays a vital role. While we have an abundance of live theater, perhaps most people are more familiar with the drama in film and television. We have seen how drama can highlight social concerns and can illustrate our hopes and values. A few years back, it was said of the TV drama West Wing, “This is the President we wish we had.”

The Continuing Role for Drama

I think we can still find instruction and catharsis in our modern drama. There is still that hope that through dramatic illustration, we can make a positive change in the world. There remains the idea that if we act out the vision, we can make it a reality. The medium still works for us today. Unfortunately, whereas in the past drama may have been used to illustrate the tragedy of hubris or misplaced honor, today on our TV sets we often use drama to illustrate the tragedy of carrying cash instead of traveler’s checks.

-

The People's Climate March: Effective Change, or Day of Reckoning?

People's Climate March, NYC (Photo from Twitter)

Historical Precedent

There was a time when science, the television media, government, and the public all came together to address environmental issues and make a positive change in the way we do things – but that time rests in the past as a dim memory. That time needs to be resurrected. I am thinking of that time when I was growing up in the 1960s. Environmental pollution was becoming a problem. I can remember public service ads on television warning of the effects of pollution and educating the public on things that we could do to avoid dying in a polluted land. I recall seeing on the nightly news well-known news reporters speaking from the hills somewhere outside Los Angeles California where trees were dying on the mountainsides as a result of heavy automobile pollution. “Smog” was a new word that entered into our vocabulary to describe conditions in the city in which fog combined with air pollution to create health hazards for city dwellers.

As a result of the science of the day, the media attention, and a concerned public, legislation was passed in Washington, D.C. that resulted in the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. Regulations came into place that restricted the pollutants being emitted by industry. We saw in a relatively short time a reduction in pollution that allowed trees to begin to grow again outside of Los Angeles. The air and water became cleaner, reducing health risks to people in urban areas. The nation was confronted with a problem, and we came together to make some positive improvements.

The Current State of Affairs

Fast forward to present day, and we see a confounding social circumstance in which many are not believing the best science of the day,  elected government officials are paralyzed and ineffectual having become pawns of big corporations and servants to Wall Street. The television media has become a balkanized industry catering to the whims of advertisers and public consumers and demonstrating no investment in or commitment to the common good. This was particularly evident last Sunday when hundreds of thousands gathered in New York City to demonstrate their concern about climate change. The huge event received very little television coverage (see “Sunday News Shows Ignore Historic Climate March”).

By some estimates, there were 300,000 people participating in the People’s Climate March. The streets were filled with protesters calling attention to our failures to address the significant negative impact we are having upon the environment. It was a huge event, but barely even noticed – much less heeded – by the television media. Compare this to past events in our recent history. In 1964, approximately 250,000 people participated in the march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to hear Martin Luther King's “I Have A Dream” speech. On April 15, 1967, 300,000 marched in New York in the "Spring Mobilization" to protest the Viet Nam War. These events rocked the nation with television coverage on the nightly news.

The silence on TV regarding the People's Climate March last Sunday was perhaps indicative that TV is now controlled by a few corporations which don't want to be bothered with real news, especially news that calls for effective change. When corporations are calling the shots, and when those corporations are where significant change must happen if we are to reduce environmental damage, you can be sure that those corporations will stand in the way of any changes or legislative action. Some say we have already passed the tipping point and that the reversal of the effects of climate change is no longer possible. There is still time, however, to make some progress toward sustainability, yet few in power want to hear or do anything that would challenge the status quo.  

Time of Reckoning

We can pay now, or we can pay later. There was a time when we paid attention to the science that warned us of the destruction we were causing to the environment. There was also a time when legislation could effectively regulate industries to reduce environmental degradation. Moreover, there was a time when the people’s voice could eventually be heard. Today we see how corporations are  controlling both the government and the media more and more. The corporation changes the way we address matters of injustice, health, and safety. When government was effective, changes could be made through legislation. That is how we historically made improvements in the workplace, in the environment, and in civil rights. Without effective government, however, we do not know how to stand up to the ever-growing corporation. Unfortunately, our best hope now may be in catastrophe. It may take a true catastrophe to convince us that change is necessary.

For anyone wanting more information about climate change, here is an article addressing some of the top issues and questions: Eight Pseudoscientific ClimateClaims Debunked by Real Scientists

-