An interesting way to differentiate great movies from good movies is to have events occur in real life which draw one back to a specific scene where a certain facial expression, hand gesture or wordplay rings the memory bell. One of my favorite movie scenes is from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest where the patients are attending a morning therapy session in which R.P McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) learns that most of the patients have not been committed to the asylum by the State, but are voluntary residents.
R.P. McMurphy: "Cheswick, you're voluntary?
Cheswick: (nods yes)
R.P. McMurphy: "Scanlon?"
Scanlon: (nods yes)
R.P. McMurphy: "Billy, for Christ's sake, you must be committed, right?"
Billy: "N-n-no".
R.P. McMurphy: "You're just a young kid! What are you doing here? You ought to be out in a convertible bird-dogging chicks and banging beaver. What are you doing here, for Christ's sake? (laughter) What's so funny about that? Jesus, I mean, you guys do nothing but complain about how you can't...stand it in this place, and then you haven't got the guts to walk out? What do you think you are, for Christ's sake, crazy or something? Well, you're not. You're not. You're no crazier than the average asshole walking around on the streets. And that's it. Jesus Christ, I can't believe it!
Nurse Ratched: Those are very challenging observations you made, Randall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc0_Xnvl3t4
This scene came to my mind as I learned of the terrorism attack at the Boston Marathon today. Do I feel badly for the people who were injured, maimed or killed? Yes, very much so. Was I surprised by the news? No, not at all. I'm not in denial about threats to our country. I know who and what we are up against. When I first heard the news report out here on the West Coast, I expected the "normal" media exploitation of the victims and bystanders and the media did not disappoint because, after all, "if it bleeds, it leads".
I remember the coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and how the media made it look like San Francisco burned to the ground and that the land was rubble. Yes, there was some real damage in the area, but most of what the country saw through their TVs were a few events which were shot from different camera angles and the requisite eyewitness stories.
The coverage today made me think of the people of Boston and I wondered if they really were as frazzled as the media made them appear. You see, I grew up in the suburbs of Boston. My town wasn't the wealthiest of suburbs, but it also was not a ghetto. It was a typical blue collar town which I left in 1987. The Boston I knew was Bobby Orr and the Big, Bad Bruins. It was the J. Giels Band and Aerosmith. It was Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. It was the curse of the Bambino and Bill Buckner. It was one corrupt Kennedy after another always riding the myth making machine only to eventually expose their true human characters. It was before Michael Dukakis ran for President. It was before the Big Dig. It was before Whitey Bulger went on the lam. It was before Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won Oscars. Before the Tom Brady Superbowls. Before the 2004 Red Sox embarrassed the Yankees. Before Chara hoisted the Cup. It was rough and tumble Boston. If the people of Boston are still the way I remember them, they are not frazzled.
To the contrary, they are rightly pissed off, ready to kick ass and take numbers. However, my guess is that we have had a few generations who have been on the receiving end of Conflict Resolution 101 courtesy of our mommified education system. Instead of being pissed, identifying the enemy and seeking to take them out, there's a good chance many will seek to understand WHY someone could hate us and our way of life and what WE can do to make our behavior more acceptable in order to prevent future attacks by our enemies. This second approach will be championed by our feckless political leadership which will try to show command presence in the near term, but will do very little in the long term as they seek out conflict resolution on a global scale. Sophistry on parade!
How is this like Cuckoo's Nest? Well, I definitely identify with McMurphy - incredulous that the people around him would self inflict their time in prison. I feel our society is following this same model by shackling ourselves via political correctness and avoiding to state the obvious. Evil exists and it always will. We cannot ignore it. We must deal with it. Conflict resolution, political correctness and speech codes are driving societal passivity. Nobody wants to get out of line and disappoint the dear leader.
Folks, we are in big trouble if we do not wake up, call the threat what it is, terrorism, and aggressively respond. This is not an "overseas man-made disaster", it is terrorism. The terrorists who are coming after us do not plan to stop if the US continues to show weakness with its responses. Weakness to them is opportunity. Please realize that some day, the target will be Mickey Mouse. The Boston I grew up in would, no doubt, go right to the source of the problem and "solve" it. The current Boston leadership is a reflection of the electorate and if Bostonians sit by and watch the political leadership wash over this event like the administration washed over the Benghazi terror attack, then they are voluntarily committing themselves to the metaphorical asylum. I will then echo McMurphy: "What do you think you are, for Christ's sake, crazy or something?"
