When is ignorance not just bliss, but rather simply ignorance?
Many boxing fans happily accept Floyd Mayweather’s claim that he is the GOAT, as in the greatest of all time. What does that mean? Simply that they’ve never seen Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Archie Moore, Jose “Mantequilla” Napoles, Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, or scores of other greats, despite Youtube.
The same lack of historical perspective, or dare I say cultural illiteracy, exists in other artistic realms as well. There are those who are proud to state that rock & roll begins with Elvis, or the Beatles, or maybe Springsteen. That means an unawareness, willful or otherwise, of guys named Chuck, Bo, Ike, Ray, Fats, Richard, and Jerry Lee.
But perhaps nowhere is obliviousness more apparent than in conversations about film. Movies – and performances – are touted as wonderful by those who have never seen many of the cinematic milestones. Can someone call Wonder Woman, Black Panther, The Green Book, or Roma great without a knowledge of Fritz Lang’s M, Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion, Carne and Prevert’s Children Of Paradise, Ernst Lubitch’s Ninotchka, Howard Hawk’s Scarface, The Big Sleep, and His Girl Friday, Preston Sturges’ The Lady Eve, Billy Wilder’s The Apartment, Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou, Alain Resnais’ La Guerre Est Finie, or Woody Allen’s Annie Hall? I could add films by Ingmar Bergman, Claude Sautet, John Cassavetes, and others, but the point is simple. People who speak in superlatives about this or that film without being steeped in film history are no different than those who watch the NFL and think they can outcoach Bill Belichick or Sean McVay.
Are those movie-watchers entitled to their opinions? Sure. But more to the point, do those opinions have any value other than as a reflection of their personal prejudices and taste?
Fond of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love?” Then listen to the song from which it was… ahem… borrowed: Willie Dixon’s “You Need Love,” sung by Muddy Waters. Are you a fan of the Stones “Mercy, Mercy?” Then listen to the original version, written and sung by Don Covay.
Want to see what a funny movie really is? Watch Lubitch’s original version of To Be or Not To Be. Or a great buddy film? Watch John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King. How about a far more interesting take on the West than the Coen Brothers give us in their new film? Try Red River, The Wild Bunch, or McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Want to see a great performance? Watch Maurice Ronet in Louis Malle’s The Fire Within, or Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence.
Or watch a terrific new documentary like The Panama Papers or Three Identical Strangers.
There’s great stuff out there. Thanks to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other cable services, most of it is readily available.
About Alan
Alan Swyer is an award-winning documentarian, award-winning and prolific author of fiction, radio personality, producer, and the list of his contributions to the world of art is extensive. A true embarrassment of accomplishments. I’ve read many of his short stories, of which too many for me to count have been published. I read his first novel, The Beard (published by Harvard Square Editions), admired and enjoyed it and plan to write a review to post on this website, my social-media platforms, on BookBub, Goodreads, and Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Beard-Alan-Swyer-ebook/dp/B01C9AK8G4/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1546964622&sr=8-5&keywords=alan+swyer
Alan has been writer, director, and/or producer on films ranging from HBO’s award-winning Rebound, The Buddy Holly Story, Alfred Hitchcock, and the award-winning Spiritual Revolution. Among his other work are the documentaries Beisbol—Imagen Award winner for best feature-length documentary, The Diabetes Epidemic—named Best Network Documentary for 2008, the recent festival hit El Boxeo, as well as numerous music videos and commercials. Relevant links:
Alan’s inestimable wife, Ronni Kern, has published two of Alan’s books, Too Close and Fever. You can learn more about them, and purchase them at her website Farm Fresh Press: https://www.farmfreshpress.com/ A hallmark of Alan’s fiction (indeed all of his art) is his humor. Another is his extensive knowledge of literature, film, and music. This guest blog addresses an expression of Alan’s passionate concern about taste in and knowledge of films: his take on what is literary and what is, well maybe a bit short of that accolade.
