A Rambling, Sentimental, Political Response to M

In her most recent post on Separation of Spheres, m wonderfully discovers herself as a Bette Davis figure, and ruminates on what it all means.

What's serendipitous about this is that, while reading the Post, Harrogate was also listening to what he considers to be--STRONG STATEMENT COMING--the Kinks' Greatest Song: "Celluloid Heroes," which points out how very much we ask of our Movie Stars, the Grandiosity of the Mythos that surrounds them, and the often terrible toll this role takes on the much-envied Hollywood Class (here we might pause to reflect on megs' warning that in our hunger for gossip and glee at celebrity's expense, we too-often venture into Really Hurting Real People territory). [LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!} {heh}

And, not to go too far into politics with this post, because Lord knows we've got enough of that going on in the Situation. But it does strike Harrogate as somewhat disturbing, how much zest the Right takes in pillorying "Hollywood." Don't get Harrogate wrong: nobody is a harsher--often to the point of intentional unfairness--critic of our most cherished stories than he.

But Rhetorics suggesting that Moviemakers count less, not only as thinkers but even as "Real Americans" (or for that matter even as human beings) is really ridiculous, considering how much, and on how many moral, practical, and imaginative levels the entire nation relies on them and what they do.

Hmmmm ... Leave it to a British Band to nail the American Pathos Harrogate is trying to get at, here. "Celluloid Heroes" includes the following verse:

You can see all the stars as you walk down hollywood boulevard,
Some that you recognise, some that youve hardly even heard of,
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.
Rudolph valentino, looks very much alive,
And he looks up ladies dresses as they sadly pass him by.
Avoid stepping on bela lugosi
cos hes liable to turn and bite,
But stand close by bette davis
Because hers was such a lonely life.