"Art is not the mirror held up to reality but the hammer with which we shape it"
That is the quote from Berthold Brecht which introduces the documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
I have to admit the only time I laughed at Brecht was during Christopher Durang and Sigourney Weaver's Das Lucitania Songspeil. It was a laugh riot- especially when Mr. Durang playing the nurse to Ms. Weaver's Juliet walked across the stage with a sign inscribed "Rich People are mean to servants" They had fun with me because I was in the front row wearing a cowboy hat.
At Friday's cocktail talk for Mountainfilm at the wheeler introduced me to a new anthropological term. "Third Culture". This refers to a child whose parents are from two different cultures. The premise is that children who grow up in multi-cultural households or live in multiple cultures have more in common with other "third culture" kids than with either culture.
Yep. That would be me, except that you could probably make that about 6 different cultures. At least....
I know that's why I felt comfortable in Aspen from the first time we visited in 1962, because the majority of kids I met here were also TCK. It felt like home.
I've always liked to put people into situations where they have to interact with others outside their normal social group. I invited a young Republican to a meeting on Education hosted by our local Democratic Party leader. I invited cattlemen to play poker with hippies. I love to mix young and old, black and white, rich and working class.
It shakes things up and forces people to talk to each other. I particularly enjoy when they find points of commonality, even if that's only a cup of my rather potent egg nog for Christmas.
It's like an Andrew Goldsworthy stone fence... where he "trespasses" equally on both sides of the boundary by making the stones do the slalom.
That is the quote from Berthold Brecht which introduces the documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
I have to admit the only time I laughed at Brecht was during Christopher Durang and Sigourney Weaver's Das Lucitania Songspeil. It was a laugh riot- especially when Mr. Durang playing the nurse to Ms. Weaver's Juliet walked across the stage with a sign inscribed "Rich People are mean to servants" They had fun with me because I was in the front row wearing a cowboy hat.
A quote from Brecht wasn't likely to get more than a smirk and an avant garde eye roll. But I was wrong... this time it opened a door.
At Friday's cocktail talk for Mountainfilm at the wheeler introduced me to a new anthropological term. "Third Culture". This refers to a child whose parents are from two different cultures. The premise is that children who grow up in multi-cultural households or live in multiple cultures have more in common with other "third culture" kids than with either culture.
Yep. That would be me, except that you could probably make that about 6 different cultures. At least....
I know that's why I felt comfortable in Aspen from the first time we visited in 1962, because the majority of kids I met here were also TCK. It felt like home.
I've always liked to put people into situations where they have to interact with others outside their normal social group. I invited a young Republican to a meeting on Education hosted by our local Democratic Party leader. I invited cattlemen to play poker with hippies. I love to mix young and old, black and white, rich and working class.
It shakes things up and forces people to talk to each other. I particularly enjoy when they find points of commonality, even if that's only a cup of my rather potent egg nog for Christmas.
It's like an Andrew Goldsworthy stone fence... where he "trespasses" equally on both sides of the boundary by making the stones do the slalom.
Tom started us all off by having the audience say "Pussy Riot!" ... twice.. 2nd time with fists in air.
You don't need by to review Maxim Pozdorovkin's film other's have done that: NY Times Mother Jones.
What the film did extremely well was humanize the 3 women on trail for their demonstration. Three distinct personalities came through, each with their own passion and intelligence. That was a joy. I would also like to add if your lawyer's idea of a joke is "They've already planned to kill you in Siberia." maybe it's time to get a new lawyer.
The coffee talk had some great highlights not the least of which was Marty Martin (one of the main players in "Manhunt") giving the insider's view of what kind of surveillance Pussy Riot supporters and members would face in Russia, and how to circumvent that surveillance. Tom Shadyac- who can certainly stray off into his own polemic with a featherweight flick of encouragement- did a stellar job orchestrating audience Q&A while inserting broader viewpoints including quotes from one of the Pussy Riot convicted Nadia Tolokonnikova.
One of the most humorous moments was when Maxim described the confusion on the part of HBO executives when they were confronted with a group which was anti-copyright- to the point they wouldn't even sign a paper saying there was no copyright.
Maxim gave even more background on the three Pussy Riot members with a spot light on Nadia who is an A+ student and devours philosophical theorems like candy. She is now in prison and housed in the same block as a woman who... and I'm quoting Maxim here.... killed and ate her husband.
Bottom line, if *anything* proves that the best thing which can happen to a protestor is the Government pushing back- this is it. Their stage went from 100's to 100's of thousands overnight and they have the Orthodox Church to thank for that.
Which brings me back to
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction
The harder you push, the harder you fall.
Shake it up a bit. Take people outside the comfort zone. Change the point of view. In other words, be an artist.
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