Outside the Comfort Zone

I sometimes wonder what my 20 year-old self would think of my 50 year old-self.  Aside from being astonished at how fat I had gotten (and saddened but not surprised by the male pattern baldness), he would probably be saddened by all the compromises I have made along the way.  That's just life grinding you down, I would probably reply.  I've stuck to a fair number of principles but not all.  I was much more an avid socialist in my youth, and more than anything else, I've come to realize that there is no democratic path that will lead to a more equal society (for all kinds of reasons, but at root, most North Americans still have a kind of lottery-based thinking that leads them to think that if they hit it rich then they want to keep their earnings, which is then amply reinforced by the money that the actual rich throw at the politicians -- but if the masses didn't fundamentally cling onto their dreams then they could easily vote in socialist politicians).  And then I basically lost interest in trying to change a system that was impossible to change: Don Quixote, I am not.  (Though I have finally launched into reading the newish Grossman translation of Quixote, so that's something.)

I was also much more attuned to racial equality (and anti-police brutality) campaigns in my youth.  I'd say with more experience under my belt, I am just too pessimistic about positive change in this area to be more than a passive supporter of these initiatives.  I am also extremely wary of people with massive white privilege explaining how much they "get it" and plastering a big black square on their blogs and Facebook pages and Twitter feeds.  The whole point is to listen and reflect, and not try to interject and show what a woke supporter you are.  But it's obviously a fine line because if you don't say anything at all, then that also looks like you are opposed to the cause of the day.

I'll just stop there to try to keep from interjecting myself even further into someone else's cause, but I will first provide a link to stream Burnett's Killer of Sheep, and then a short discussion of Spike Lee's Pass Over and finally below that provide the links that the Theatre Centre has pulled together.

Killer of Sheep - not free but only $8.50 for a 3 day rental, which is not too steep given what an important film this is.

Spike Lee's Pass Over is a filmed version of Antoinette Nwandu's play Pass Over, which is basically a reworking of Waiting for Godot mixed with discussion of police brutality against minorities.  It should be available on Amazon Prime.  There is a short review of the film in the Guardian.  In fact, Pass Over just played in Toronto a few months ago, basically just down the street from me, and I debated going and ultimately passed.  My younger self absolutely would have gone and doesn't really understand and would have upbraided my older, jaded self for not being interested and open enough to go.  Honestly, I don't really have a good comeback to that.

Theatre Centre links:

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