Welcome to the Lessons Taught

 …but didn’t sink in.

Have y’all ever wondered how much media is out there about World War 2. I have - mostly because while cleaning out my one parent’s apartment, I came across so many books and movies about World War 2. Books about ships and weaponry, books about major battles, mysteries that took place during the war, thrillers and spy novels mostly set in Europe, multiple copies of the same movie (why were there three versions of Tora! Tora! Tora!?), and documentaries galore. 

I ended up getting rid of a lot of it, but I still wanted to take my time and appreciate some of the books and DVDs. I am also still finding multiple copies of the some movies that I didn’t catch earlier. 

This is an old photo of the Mighty Mo where World War 2 officially ended.

World War 2 was a major event - there is no denying that. It shaped a lot of media in the mid- to late- 20th century. From the early propaganda films to turn of the century miniseries like “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific”, there isn’t a lack of shortages in documentaries, TV shows, books (fiction and non), art, and video games.

Tons of which are still coming out today.

I’ve even won a few books seeped in World War 2 influence from GoodReads giveaways. Three to be precise. One is a post war mystery thriller featuring Julia Child as a side character - the first in a series I’d like to keep reading - called Mastering the Art of French Murder. Another is the non-fiction account of the writer’s grandfather’s tank unit called Task Force Hogan: The World War II Tank Battalion That Spearheaded The Liberation of Europe. That one is worth the read if you enjoyed stories like “Band of Brothers” or if you had a family member who served in a similar setting. The third was a strange thriller called Her Father’s Daughter which focused on recovering stolen art and finding Nazis who escaped justice. Sadly, it was not as good as the summary might suggest. I don’t recommend that one.

Because of its cultural significance, World War 2 was a major part of my education. History classes would focus on how appeasement didn’t work to keep the Nazis from their expansionist goals and how Japan wanted to join in on colonialism since it worked so well for western countries (though much less so for all colonized people). Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and Hiroshima were studied inside and out. We watched parts of movies and miniseries like “Saving Private Ryan”, “Barefoot Gen”, and (of course) “Band of Brothers”. Our English teachers had us read A Thousand Paper Cranes, Night, and The Dairy of a Young Girl (i.e. Anne Frank’s Diary). We visited the Holocaust museum in 12th grade for a field trip and discussed the results of the Nuremberg Trials.

Yet with all this history and media, the current state of the world has me questioning if anything was actually learned. I grew up knowing the Nazis were bad guys, not only because Indiana Jones fought them, but because we learned about the Holocaust and how their actions compounded into one of the greatest mass murders in world history. Yet now, an Indiana Jones game comes out and there are people mad that Nazis are the bad guys. We also have people denying the Holocaust happened.

I could argue that there’s a similar over saturation of media about the American Civil War. Again, it was a major event that killed hundreds of thousands and ended the horrific practice of slavery. Except it took another century for the Civil Rights Act to take effect - that was during my parents’ childhood.

About two years ago, I was fortunate enough to see a stage performance of “Cabaret” at my local theater. I loved it and wrote a post about it. In the post, I noted that we lived in interesting times and that if you didn’t think they were interesting, then you weren’t paying attention. Well, I hope you are paying attention now.

I continue to hope for better times, but the lessons I was taught in my history and English classes indicate that things are likely to get a lot worse. What will be the new “normal” is up in the air.

But if we can’t learn the lessons from World War 2 (like how appeasement never works), why should more and more media about that time period keep coming out? There have been other wars, other world conflicts, and genocides that could and likely should be studied. Is it because many Americans view themselves as the ultimate “good guys” during that time (at least in the European theater - the Pacific is a lot more complicated)? 

On another hand, World War 2 media often tops the lists of banned books. Two books I’ve read, Night and The Diary of a Young Girl. Others include Maus and Number the Stars - both of which I’ve been recommended. All of these books were either written by people who experienced the Holocaust first hand, had family who survived the Holocaust, or conducted on site research.

Everyone wants to be a hero in some capacity. I often wondered what I might have done during some of history’s biggest events. Where I’d have been or how I might have contributed. You, dear reader, likely have as well.

The answer is, whatever you are doing right now. History is happening. The ordinary and nameless are who make the biggest impact. What stories are you leaving behind? In 20 or 30 or 50 years from now, someone might ask you what you were doing today. Will you be proud of your answer?

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post or it really pissed you off, please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you all like hearing from me.

Welcome to Coming of Age

Before I begin this week's post, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I will be taking next week off from all of my writing projects (both blogs, webcomic, and other personal projects) as I will be going on a crazy adventure with my cousin. So I'll be dropping off the face of the Earth for a long weekend.

This past weekend I was invited to the Bat Mitzvah of a family friend's daughter. It was my first time going to a Bat Mitzvah and I thought it was a beautiful ceremony as well as a fun party. Our friends were extremely proud of their daughter and were thrilled to celebrate with family and friends.

A Bat Mitzvah is an important religious coming of age. Our friends' daughter had to attend Hebrew School and devote a lot of her free time to get ready for it. The closest I have ever experienced (and I don't feel it compares as much) was my confirmation. It was my religious coming of age in the church.

I think all kids both crave and fear adulthood. Adulthood is the freedom to do whatever you please (at least to a child it seems that way), but there are a lot of complicated feelings that come with growing up. There are many different religious and cultural events that indicate when a child has reached adulthood, but just because society deems someone an adult doesn't mean that that someone feels like one.

I know I sometimes still don't feel like an adult and I'm in my mid-twenties.

Someone please right a story based on this image...

Society has set the bar high when it comes to these events too. Shows like My Super Sweet 16 or the insane prom stories that pop up on Facebook in April and May have caused many teenagers to want big over-the-top parties and try to out do their friends. It can make a person envious.

Then there are the coming of age novels or movies that adults love to show teenagers. I remember having to watch Now and Then as well as Stand By Me when I was going through my confirmation classes and reading To Kill a Mockingbird  and House on Mango Street in school. These books and movies were meant to help us understand that there would be a point were you just couldn't be a child anymore. The loss of childhood innocence was inevitable.

What all of these stories, movies, and shows didn't mention was that coming of age wasn't necessarily one event in your life time.

Some days I look back and don't feel I ever went through a coming of age event. There wasn't one moment that I instantly knew I wasn't a kid anymore.

Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of moments where I lost that "childhood innocence" adults try to protect. But I didn't have that big adventure that spanned one amazing summer that was a popular narrative in these stories.

I think that's true for a lot of people, especially people my age.

We're stuck in a weird limbo where we still feel like kids and wish we didn't have to face the cold world of adulthood. Childhood was fun and carefree, even if our parents and teachers had final say on everything. Adulthood is a mess of never ending responsibilities, so many uncertainties, and mixed emotions.

Childhood was full of possibility. Adulthood just feels overwhelming.

However, I couple of weeks ago, I was at a guest lecture event for one of my writing groups. While the author was describing the book he had written (The Ferryman Institute by Colin Gigl), he said that it was sort of a coming of age story for adults and that anyone can go through a coming of age story no matter how old they are.

It was a message that I think I needed to hear.

There are a lot of different adventures that I can go on throughout my life and I can learn and grow during each of them. Coming of age stories aren't just for children becoming adults, they're for everyone.

I hope everyone has a fun Halloween. Get dressed up, eat a ton of candy, and act like a little kid. I have several costumes picked out for the next couple of days.

Until next time!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to the Front Page

This past weekend, I went into New York City. I (unfortunately) wasn't there for the Women's March, but I did get to see and speak with many of the protesters on their way in. I was actually in town to see the Broadway play, "The Front Page", starring Nathan Lane, John Slattery, and John Goodman.

The play is about a journalist who is trying to get married and escape his crazy boss, but he somehow gets pulled into investigating one last story when a man scheduled to be hanged the next morning escapes from jail. It's been adapted into a few movies. My personal favorite version is the movie "His Girl Friday" (where Hildy is played by a woman instead of a man and Cary Grant is the crazy boss). The 1930 version and "His Girl Friday" are both on Amazon Prime and I highly recommend checking them out if you can.

It's interesting to see how a play written nearly 100 years ago still holds up for modern audiences.

The journalists openly admit to writing inflammatory headlines, exaggerating facts, and twisting people's statements just so they can get in edge to sell more newspapers. They compete with each other to get the best scoop for their stories. Politicians in particular are a popular target for the journalists to poke fun at.

That's not to say that the sheriff and mayor in the play don't deserve the nasty things that are being written about them, they do. See they happen to be up for reelection very soon and they want to guarantee as many votes as possible.For example, they scheduled the man to be hung a couple of days right before a major election in the hopes that it would get them more votes. They also do everything in their power to make sure nothing prevents the hanging from happening, including bribing a man, who brings a reprieve for the condemned man, with a position of power in the city.

The journalists are all aware of the mayor and sheriff's motivations, which is a key reason why they enjoy tormenting the sheriff and mayor with their exaggerated stories. They especially love reporting on the incompetence of the sheriff's men, who are mostly made up of the sheriff's family (and were appointed by the sheriff).

The more scandalizing the story on the front page is, the more likely people are going to buy the newspaper. Doesn't this sound familiar?

With social media eclipsing traditionally printed newspapers, the front page stories are the ones we see while scrolling through our Facebook and Twitter feeds. The more the headlines pulls at our emotions, the more likely we are to click on and share them. Journalists know this, so they will purposefully write their headlines in a way that is both eye catching and inciting a power emotional response.

Journalists aren't the only people who can report on current events. Now, anyone can take photos and videos of events and include a brief caption, then share them with millions of people. We have more access to information than ever before and can easily research current events.

And yet, fact checking still remains a huge problem and media bias certainly helped shape this past election. We probably wouldn't have known that Bernie Sanders was running for the DNC if people on social media hadn't rallied behind him. Then there's the media circus surrounding Donald Trump's latest tweet. (Seriously why hasn't someone confiscated his phone yet? It seems like it's going to turn into a huge security risk sooner rather than later.)

There are some who are claiming we now live in a post-fact world, where opinions matter more than factual evidence presented. I'd make a "Whose Line" joke, but personally I find this idea to be unsettling.

The media has always walked a fine line between reporting the facts and sensationalizing a story so they can sell as many papers as possible (or clicks). They are in the business of making money after all. Bias will also always be a problem. That doesn't mean we should disregard the importance of freedom of the press, having evidence based arguments, and challenging those in power.

The biggest thing I took away from seeing "The Front Page", is that even though we the audience know the journalists are purposefully using questionable tactics to sell their papers, we're on their side. We want them to expose the crooked politicians because if the journalists don't, who else will? We want the journalists to get their stories.

And please remember this is my just my opinion. I'm sure somewhere in the dark recesses of the Internet, there's an analysis of this play that says we should really be siding with the crooked politicians.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week.