Nature or shall we say evolution has played many a mean trick on us whether it was intentional (intelligent design, or in this case unintelligent design) or just random acts that seemed to work at the time but that take a long time to change. Chistos di Destino, jokes of destiny ( that was a good movie by Lena Wertmueller who was a protege of Fellini). Here are a few other bad destiny jokes that I have been thinking about.
1. We have a brain that understands perfection and can never, never even approach it.
2. We have a brain that understands immortality but can't have it either.
3. We have a brain that often mistakes lust for love. Messy bit of business there, wouldn't you say?
4. We have a brain that remembers things we want to forget and forgets things we want to remember.
5. We have a brain that thinks enough is never enough and then we have a brain that makes a rule against thinking like that.
(Thou shall not covet) It is one of the 7 deadly sins so it must be bad.
Back to Lena Wertmueller. She was quite popular in the 1970's. My favorite film of hers was "Swept Away" with Giancarlo Giannini. Just saying his name was such a pleasure, watching him was beyond pleasure (see #3 above). This was an adaption of "The Taming of the Shrew" mixed with the struggle of the working class (him). Not to mention that it was really, really romantic. They are shipped wrecked on a deserted island so naturally any class structure crumbled. This is definitely a date movie (film) but no Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks this. It has raw ribald humor mixed with biting political satire. American movies don't do this. Why? Does this lead us to #6? We are born one place but our brains think like we were born in Italy.
I realize I am blaming all of this on the brain and/or the mind. You know that massive chemistry lab you carry on your shoulders that often makes more problems than it solves. The Lab that is open 24/7 and works overtime at 3am when it releases the most thought disturbing chemicals and then is mad at you because you didn't give it enough sleep. The Garden of Eden was when we didn't have a brain except the one that makes you breath and eat and mate. Eve obviously got the human brain first because she had a brain that thought enough was never enough and life has never been the same and several millennia later I am up at 3am thinking that enough is never enough and then feeling bad about it.
1. We have a brain that understands perfection and can never, never even approach it.
2. We have a brain that understands immortality but can't have it either.
3. We have a brain that often mistakes lust for love. Messy bit of business there, wouldn't you say?
4. We have a brain that remembers things we want to forget and forgets things we want to remember.
5. We have a brain that thinks enough is never enough and then we have a brain that makes a rule against thinking like that.
(Thou shall not covet) It is one of the 7 deadly sins so it must be bad.
Back to Lena Wertmueller. She was quite popular in the 1970's. My favorite film of hers was "Swept Away" with Giancarlo Giannini. Just saying his name was such a pleasure, watching him was beyond pleasure (see #3 above). This was an adaption of "The Taming of the Shrew" mixed with the struggle of the working class (him). Not to mention that it was really, really romantic. They are shipped wrecked on a deserted island so naturally any class structure crumbled. This is definitely a date movie (film) but no Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks this. It has raw ribald humor mixed with biting political satire. American movies don't do this. Why? Does this lead us to #6? We are born one place but our brains think like we were born in Italy.
I realize I am blaming all of this on the brain and/or the mind. You know that massive chemistry lab you carry on your shoulders that often makes more problems than it solves. The Lab that is open 24/7 and works overtime at 3am when it releases the most thought disturbing chemicals and then is mad at you because you didn't give it enough sleep. The Garden of Eden was when we didn't have a brain except the one that makes you breath and eat and mate. Eve obviously got the human brain first because she had a brain that thought enough was never enough and life has never been the same and several millennia later I am up at 3am thinking that enough is never enough and then feeling bad about it.
posted by Anne Coe | 6:08 AM
3 Comments:
Well, there was a remake of "Swept Away" starring Madonna. The general idea of the movie was still there, but wow, was it trashy! One's treasure is another's trash, I suppose.
And I agree that the brain often seems to try to vex itself. Maybe the dynamic is essential to genius. I always seem to sleep through the three o'clock stuff while running in my sleep like a dreaming dog. My luck.
Geode, you should see the Wertmueller "Swept Away" only an Italian/German could do this so well. That is what I like about Wertmueller. She has strong influences in both cultures. A little Wagner, a little Fellini never hurt anyone.
well, in an important sense, the brain did both, but I would argue that the primitive brain (whatever that is) brings the lust and the wisdom brings the rules limiting the expression of lust.
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