As if it never happened

Not long ago I watched "Eyes on the Prize," the inspiring, agonizing documentary about the U.S. civil rights movement. I'm a native of Nashville, Tenn., and I paid close attention to the parts about the lunch counter sit-ins that roiled downtown Nashville in 1960.

Those nonviolent protesters are national heroes, but when I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I didn't hear much about them. I certainly don't recall any commemorations befitting the significance of what happened. There is some of that now, including the downtown public library's marvelous civil rights collection, which was dedicated in 2004.

I have wondered whether I missed out on this history simply because I was a kid who wasn't paying attention. But yesterday I came across evidence suggesting that Nashville indeed had a case of amnesia. In a library at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, I was looking at old issues of the Nashville Banner newspaper on microfilm. (Yes, that is how I spent my winter vacation.) The lead story of the Jan. 10, 1986, Lifestyles section is about luncheonettes, a bit of old Nashville that was fading away.

"I mourn the decline of the luncheonette," the writer muses, and he singles out the counters at establishments like Harvey's and Woolworths -- where the sit-ins took place, not many years before. It's very curious that the writer makes no mention of the protests, of this crucial Nashville history that's so profoundly entwined with his subject. I've wondered whether the rancor of the sit-ins even hastened the demise of the Nashville luncheonette, but there's no mention of that in this article about the demise of the Nashville luncheonette.

Market conditions

Unions are so gay

Anti-gay website: Here is proof that unions are gay.

Commenter #1: Gays are Nazis too.

Commenter #2: WTF, how can you say gays are Nazis.

Anti-gay website boss Julaine Appling: We have reviewed the comment and determined it does not say gays are Nazis. And, free speech.

Commenter #1: Except gays are Nazis.

FIN

Good word

"Madonna’s message boils down to a complex truce between love and narcissism."

-- Jonathan Rosenbaum

Sentence from a blog: That reporter

Oct. 4, 2004: "Franken referred to me as 'that reporter with the bike helmet.'"

Sentence from a diary: Wayne's specialty

Aug. 16, 1995: "Dad brought a plate from Wayne and Joyce's cookout, which included burgers, deviled eggs, beans, and Wayne's specialty, grilled squash."

You want a white-winged horse, or don't you?

I've always loved Judith "Miss Manners" Martin's fussy Washington Post review of the original Clash of the Titans. It's one of my favorite movies from childhood, but Martin's glibly withering pan is appropriate. Here it is, just in time for the remake that comes out April 2.

***

The Washington Post

June 12, 1981, Friday, Final Edition

O, 'TITANS'! O, CLASHES!

BYLINE: By Judith Martin

SECTION: Weekend; Weekend At The Movies; Pg. 19

LENGTH: 451 words

CLASH OF THE TITANS -- At the Flower Twins, Hampton Mall, Riverdale Plaza, Roth's Mount Vernon, Roth's Tysons Corner, Tenley Circle and Towncenter Sterling.

A wonderfully movie-ish spirit pervades "Clash of the Titans," a hilarious outrage in which the special-effects boys take on Greek mythology. Far from being offered as criticism, therefore, the following points are mentioned in a spirit of admiration for the moviemakers' imagination and breadth of vision (compared, for instance, to Homer's) and in belief that the conferences in which these matters were settled must have been even more fun than the movie.

There are no Titans in the film, not even any mentioned. It's about Olympians, heroes and Gorgons. But "Titans" is a good, strong word for a title.

Thetis was a Nereid and her son was Achilles. Obviously, neither of them is dramatic enough, so she has been made an Olympian diety and given Caliban (Hellenicized to Calibos) for a monster-son. Caliban is from Shakespeare's "The Tempest," of course, but who will notice?

Danae and her son Perseus were put out to die by her father because he knew his grandson was destined to kill him, not because he was morally outraged at the illegitimate birth, and Perseus did eventually kill the king with an accidentally mis-tossed discus. However, by having king and kingdom destroyed immediately, by nature on the rampage, you get a great disaster scene.

Pegasus couldn't have helped Perseus on his quest to slay Medusa, because Pegasus was Medusa's posthumous son. It was Bellerophon who rode Pegasus. Look, you want a white-winged horse, or don't you? But you know you don't want a hero with a name like Bellerophon.

Andromeda was chained to a rock, naked except for her jewels, to be attacked by a female sea-monster. This is a little kinky. Leave her clothes on, and make it an aquatic King Kong. That's still sexy, but at least the audience will feel it has the sanction of tradition.

Speaking of cinematic mythology, you got to have an R2-D2, a cute little piece of metal that loves the hero and makes bringing noises. How about Athena gives him a mechanical owl?

Cerberus had three heads, not two. Listen, the visual-effects people are doing a serious job here -- will you keep the pedants out?

And let's not forget the job done in the casting department. A classy old guy for Zeus -- Laurence Olivier. Then Hera's got to be classy, too -- Claire Bloom. Aphrodite? Ursual Andress (snicker, snicker). And Maggie Smith at Thetis. You want good hefty ladies who would look good in marble. Naw, it doesn't matter that they both look like they've been around -- they're immortals, aren't they?