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Between Art and Life

We, the lineal representatives of the successful enactors of one scene of slaughter after another, must, whatever more pacific virtues we may also possess, still carry about with us, ready at any moment to burst into flame, the smoldering and sinister traits of character by means of which they lived through so many massacres, harming others, but themselves unharmed.
-- William James

Wednesday, May 21, 1997

A bit of an argument broke out in the ms singles public folder today. A public folder (pf), in this case is sort of like a mailing list and sort of like a newsgroup. I wouldn't call today's tussle a flame war; that would be going too far. But electronic, text-only communication can mean that a sarcastic comment that would slide in a real-life discussion gets taken more seriously than perhaps even the author intended. I stayed out of the fray and tried to put into practice the advice that I passed on to one of the participants.

When the thread had devolved into meta-comments about how the thread was off-topic for the folder, , I sent private mail to a friend, to say that a pf, like a mailing list or newsgroup, is what you make it. If the content isn't to your liking, the most effective countermeasure is to start some new threads that are about topics that do interest you. Then, if others feel the same, they'll join you and ignore the annoying thread. Commenting about the off-topic or aggravating thread or participating in it or starting threads asking folks to stop it just fans the flames. Of course, this advice is by no means original with me; I think I have read it in several newsgroups that I follow.

So I revived an old thread, about meeting people on the net and people getting to know you through a personal web site, and revealed the existence of this diary and pointed to Archipelago for examples of the variety of journals that exist on the web. I asked if anyone else was doing anything similar. I wonder if anyone will have followed up tomorrow?

Then off to the festival! We were back at the Harvard Exit tonight.

  • Every Sunday
    This was in place of Bolshe Vita, which turned up with one reel missing. Every Sunday, from Hungary, follows a young woman from before World War II when she first starts as a maid and begins a relationship with the (married) older man next door, through the war and into the post-war communist takeover. The heroine was pretty, but seemed pretty dim to me. She takes a job as a prison guard at a political prison, never seeming to realize the consequences to people she knows, or what they might think of her. Maybe this was intended to reflect how most people go through life? Worth a look, anyway.
  • North x Northwest
    This is a compilation of short films by filmmakers from the Northwest. Part of what makes these interesting is looking to see what people or locations you can identify. Sometimes themes seem to emerge, when similar images appear in different, unrelated movies. This happens on a larger scale over the entire festival! Short programs are a mixed bag, but the odds are that at least a few will be good, and if you don't like one, maybe the next one will be better. I'll only comment on the ones that I especially liked.
  • Ferry
    Semi-surreal rendition of a car horn symphony on the ferry dock. Fun! Jessica Wilson directed.
  • Jack Be Quick
    A man depressed over an unrequited love goes to a Halloween party. I really liked the cast in this, and the script was very good! A mix of dramatic moments and comedy. Lowell Press wrote, produced, directed and edited.
  • It's Only Temporary
    We contract workers can really sympathize with this one! What sort of jobs would you take? The hero arrives at a very strange agency, fills out a mountain of paperwork, and goes on his first assignment. Tamra Paris wrote and directed.

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