Redemption

"...and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

I didn't give it my full attention because I was grading papers, but last week I finally rented Broken Flowers. The movie is what may have started this depression. I liked the extra footage of Jim Jarmusch talking about the "film" (he called it that) better than I liked the film. Bill Murray needed to be resuscitated. There were bright spots, like Sharon Stone's daughter, or Jessica Lange's dog, who told her Murray had a hidden agenda. "He said that?" The sets were so strong and stylistic and demanded so much attention, it was like Murray's house wore him.

I saw The New World last week, too. It was longer than hell, or so it seemed. The audience breathed a communal sigh of relief when it was over. It did, however, make me ponder that idealized version of native americans that was portrayed, and our conflicted desires... to live in harmony with nature and to have dominion over it. "Civilization" represents how far we can fall, how degraded and shrill we can become when are in discord with nature. And how far away are we now from respecting and caring for our home (the earth)?

I finally finished Drop City yesterday, hovering over the last hundred pages or so, wondering what TC Boyle was going to do with these characters, whether there would be redemption... and I've got to say, the ending was what I needed.