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Some Monday Thoughts
Jul. 21st, 2003 10:59 am- Kobe Bryant: The forthcoming trial of Kobe Bryant will not, as far as I can tell, reveal the location of Osama, Saddam or the WMDs. It will not fix the economy, or the environment, will not address ticklish issues of homeland security and civil liberties, will not engender an opne debate about gay marriage or abortion. And certainly, Kobe Bryant will not be appearing in debate with Lieberman, Dean and Kerry.
Yet I can't shake the feeling that it will serve as a mirror on our nation. Issues related to the celebrity culture, related to the role that anti-social behavior in pro athletes plays in shaping high school and college athletes, related to matters of race and gender, related to the media, will all surface in the coming months. As a news story, tragic though it may be, the trial of Kobe Bryant will not be that important. As a snapshot of the times, it might have lasting value. Alas, I think it will take a select few to see this. Sportwriters are lousy at reporting anything with subtlely; the sensationlists of TV news will simply milk this, hoping for a November trial to pump ratings; and everyone with an axe to grind about rap music, basketball, race relations, women's rights, the state of Colorado, or our civilization in general will get their bullhorns.
Many years ago, following the OJ Simpson trial - which set the standard for celebrity trials - Henry Louis Gates wrote a brilliant article for The New Yorker, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man" (since reprinted in an essay collection of the same name). Gates stepped outside the story to look at it dispassionately in terms of how the African-American community treated the OJ verdict. If a journalist or essayist wants to go beyond what are likely to be cliches, platitudes, and stereotypes of all sorts in this case, and to find what may matter in the trial, the coverage, and the reactions, he or she should read this essay. (And I do not mean to say that the racial element of this new case is a dominant thing, only that Gates shows how to write on such sensational matters from a better POV.)
But until we can get to that stage, we will have to endure the trial. Odds are that if the trial is in January or February, any hope that any Democratic candidate for president has of being noticed will evaporate in a puff of breathless pseudojournalism.
- Read "The Lathe of Heaven" over the weekend. Not the greatest book I've ever read, but interesting enough. LeGuin has a spare but poetic style that stands out among SF writers. I saw the 1980 film before reading this, and have to give PBS vast amounts of credit for keeping the bulk of the tale intact. At the same time, though, I wonder who decided to make a film oout of this. It is a very talky book, and does not seem like a natural choice for a movie at all. Maybe the small cast in the book appealed to PBS, working on a low budget. If nothing else, both book and film are worthwhile, and PBS cast the parts perfectly.
Yet I can't shake the feeling that it will serve as a mirror on our nation. Issues related to the celebrity culture, related to the role that anti-social behavior in pro athletes plays in shaping high school and college athletes, related to matters of race and gender, related to the media, will all surface in the coming months. As a news story, tragic though it may be, the trial of Kobe Bryant will not be that important. As a snapshot of the times, it might have lasting value. Alas, I think it will take a select few to see this. Sportwriters are lousy at reporting anything with subtlely; the sensationlists of TV news will simply milk this, hoping for a November trial to pump ratings; and everyone with an axe to grind about rap music, basketball, race relations, women's rights, the state of Colorado, or our civilization in general will get their bullhorns.
Many years ago, following the OJ Simpson trial - which set the standard for celebrity trials - Henry Louis Gates wrote a brilliant article for The New Yorker, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man" (since reprinted in an essay collection of the same name). Gates stepped outside the story to look at it dispassionately in terms of how the African-American community treated the OJ verdict. If a journalist or essayist wants to go beyond what are likely to be cliches, platitudes, and stereotypes of all sorts in this case, and to find what may matter in the trial, the coverage, and the reactions, he or she should read this essay. (And I do not mean to say that the racial element of this new case is a dominant thing, only that Gates shows how to write on such sensational matters from a better POV.)
But until we can get to that stage, we will have to endure the trial. Odds are that if the trial is in January or February, any hope that any Democratic candidate for president has of being noticed will evaporate in a puff of breathless pseudojournalism.
- Read "The Lathe of Heaven" over the weekend. Not the greatest book I've ever read, but interesting enough. LeGuin has a spare but poetic style that stands out among SF writers. I saw the 1980 film before reading this, and have to give PBS vast amounts of credit for keeping the bulk of the tale intact. At the same time, though, I wonder who decided to make a film oout of this. It is a very talky book, and does not seem like a natural choice for a movie at all. Maybe the small cast in the book appealed to PBS, working on a low budget. If nothing else, both book and film are worthwhile, and PBS cast the parts perfectly.
