The Crucible by Arthur Miller – my other note on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-crucible-by-arthur-miller.html where I have posted thousands of other reviews, not that it makes sense to get there - 8 out of 10

 

The Crucible by Arthur Miller – my other note on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-crucible-by-arthur-miller.html where I have posted thousands of other reviews, not that it makes sense to get there

 

8 out of 10

 

The Crucible was aired again, last night, in a version adapted by the author, majestic Arthur Miller, for the big screen, with a spectacular cast, the only male thespian with three Academy Awards, all for leading roles, Daniel Day Lewis as John Proctor, Wynona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield aka Thomas Danforth…

 

Joan Allen was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John, Arthur Miller has also been listed as the 1997 Nominee for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, this being indeed a memorable film, which has messages for the present

After almost four hundred and fifty years, America seems about to elect an Orange Felon who keeps whining about the ‘witch hunt’ which targets him, referring to the efforts to have him accountable for trying to overturn an election, stealing secret documents – and then talking to hoi polloi about war plans and nuclear submarines…

 

The frauds he committed when he lied to banks and tax officials about his assets, inflating or minimizing them, depending on where his financial interests lay, this is the paradigm of the crook, and he complains that some folks want to see him on trial for that, his sycophants from the Supreme Court gave him immunity

So much for the witch hunt, where the supremos protect you and say you do not have to answer, no matter what, you could send the Seal Team to execute your political rival, in the words of one of the sane justices, and then still be above the law, this is disgusting and atrocious for yours truly, reason why I move from the Crucible

 

In 1692, we have this group of young women having some fun in the woods, where they bring a poor hen, invoke some spirits maybe, but in jest, playing games, only to be discovered by Reverend Parris, one of the girls is dancing naked, and this outrages the pastor, and it gets catastrophic from there, ending in tragedy

No need for spoiler alert, since The Salem witch trials are now so infamous, indeed, this Orange Jesus is using the term because it is so familiar, it has entered the lexicon, and then why not lie, when a criminal has to answer before the law, he is instructed to deny everything, I was told that is the elementary strategy…

Applied here, and everywhere, so the would-be despot pretends he is not the one who tried to steal elections, they tried to cheat him, the women he assaulted (as per his confession, on that Hollywood bus, grab them ‘by the pussy’) are in fact out to get him, when he made his apartment three times bigger than it is, it is a genuine mistake

 

In The Crucible, two children fall sick, with the same, inexplicable symptoms, mind you, medical since was not advanced, and so the explanation given became a ‘conspiracy theory’, some witches have conspired to bring sickness, and hence the persecution begins, bringing in an authority on the dark arts and their plague

Judge Thomas Danforth is the one to investigate and then punish, it he finds sins, witches, the role belongs to Paul Scofield, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for A Man For All Seasons https://realini.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-man-for-all-seasons-by-robert-bolton.html and he has a solid performance here as well

 

Under pressure, the girls, and maid involved would start making confessions, in fact saying whatever the judge and others wanted to hear, and in a twist of the plot, Abigail Williams has had coitus with John Proctor and there are consequences, because she tries to have the man for herself, while he rejects her with vigor

A merit worthy book, play needs to have some complexity -perhaps not on the level of Ulysses, which is beyond my powers, however much celebrated as the best book ever – and here we have on the one side, the fact that Abigail will push with her vengeance, lust, disingenuous behavior to the absurd point

 

On the other hand, though, using maybe a woke reading for this, John Proctor was and is married, he is older, should have known better, and perhaps he is the one to blame for the affair, and the notion that he now had his way, and wants to be ‘pure, repentant and all that’ does not take away the blame, he made her do it

These would be extremes and the better way is advocated by Aristotle https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/aristotle-in-ninety-minutes-by-paul.html with his Golden Mean, the moderation principle, you have virtue in the middle, and flaws, excesses on both sides, and we need to take the middle course

 

Elizabeth Proctor is on trial, just because she is the spouse of John, and Abigail wants him for her, and this is not going to happen for as long as they have the matrimonial vows between them – a vicious, diabolical thought strikes me, she should have waited, after all, the man had sinned, it is possible he would have been tempted again…

Then there are many women, old and very young, that are found guilty of being witches, there was a ruling recently, I am not sure if it was not in the legislative body, something official was issued anyway, to the effect that they declared the victims innocent

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”