Andrushka

Thanksgiving is over. Fun was had by all, with the probable exception of the turkey. And the various plants that were sacrificed, assuming plants ever have fun. I doubt it. They seem a bit dour to me. We had the ritual meal chez moi then I went to Omaha for the weekend. Laundered. Churched. Zooed. Laundered. Anyway. Recently I've seen a couple films worth mentioning. The first was The Other Side of Heaven. It's based on the true story of a missionary who went to the Tongan Islands in the 1950s. It's absolutely wonderful IF you can forget he's Mormon (and don't get me started on that institutional insanity). When my Mom first watched it she thought he was Adventist because it deals with health message issues. The themes that attracted me were cross-cultural living and hybridity. Naturally, that invites a post colonial reading, but more important personally was the reminders of my own othered moments. Ukraine and Poland have very little in common with Tonga, and I'm thankful for the differences. For example, I was never truly starving. I always had ways of communicating with my friends and family at home. But still, there are plenty of commonalities of situation that made it hit home. I was drug through memories of Poland especially: the idiotic mistakes I made, the goodbyes I said. The naive idealism I came with. If you've been a student missionary and you watch it at a vulnerable moment, you might end up crying in the fetal position. Or not. Either way, you'll probably like it. The second was The Human Stain, another one of those fun-with-post-colonial-theory films. It deals with issues of age, race, and the general human condition in the US, both in the 50s and "today" using the lens of an ethnically-confused classics professor. There is also the requisite love story. If that isn't enough to convince you of its merits, it's got the Anthony Hopkins I enjoy--more Meet Joe Black than Silence of the Lambs. Anyway. Another week awaits. It will be tiring. I can't wait until the next break . . . assuming I get everything done that I need to.

Posted by Scott on 28 November 2005 at 11/28/2005 12:12:00 AM | Permalink