Andrew Klavan is a talented writer of crime and thriller novels. He's also a Christian who was born a Jew. The added bonus is that he's funny and thoughtful at the same time.
In the YouTube video linked below he asks, and answers, the question, Does Islam Suck?
Klavan on the Culture: Does Islam Suck?
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Dig It
A man who is a much better writer than your faithful correspondent has a few words to say about the anger of the citizens on the nation. Read it and dig it:
The Sources of American Anger - Article - National Review Online
The Sources of American Anger - Article - National Review Online
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Islamic Sunday
The big controversy regard Sheik Obama this week concerns the belief among about 25% of the American populace is a Mohammedan and not a Christian. Every paid talker and writer has commented on this matter and those of the liberal bent scratch their beards and mumble something about the American population being, at root, racist and Christianist. Conservatives mutter something about the fact that The One made a verbal faux pas during an interview with Bill Clinton's resident dwarf in which he stated that he was a Muslim, only to be corrected by the ABC flak that, no, Obama was not a Muslim, but is, in fact, a Christian. At which point The One stated something to the effect of, "Oh, yeah. I forgot."
Even Franklin Graham has gotten in on the game and stated half the truth. Rev. Graham stated that Obama was, by Islamic Law, born a Muslim because his father was a Muslim. Where Rev. Graham missed the boat was when he stated that now Pres. Obama is a Christian because Mr. Obama had made a statement of faith in Jesus Christ.
The truth of the matter is that, while The One may have made a statement of faith and attended a Christian church of sorts while in Chicago, the fact remains that Mr. Obama, in his behavior and statements and policies has shown that he is not, in fact, a Christian except in the most liberally applied cultural sense.
This writer has never made, as a public person, referred to Our Lord in a speech. In fact, he's not referred to God the Father.
It is the opinion of this writer that Mr. Obama is a secularist. He has no religion but himself. He may be an atheist or an agnostic, but his religion, if it can so be called, seems to be based on that old poem that was so popular among self satisfied high school boys, Invicticus. It's a silly poem based on the narcissism that one can only find among adolescents.
The tussle about the mosque at Ground Zero (also known as the Cordoba Project) goes on. Today and yesterday many, many New Yorkers of various races and religions ranging from Christians and Jews to Hindus, turned out to protest the building of this insult to the West. While we here at the Manor will admit that the building of the mosque is protected by the Constitution, we think that it is a bad idea and intended insult to the West.
One thing to keep in mind is that the mosque building project is called the Cordoba Project. The cathedral at Cordoba Spain was turned into a mosque in the 8th century. The transformation was a force transformation. The Orcs considered the Cordoba mosque as the center of Islam in the West. It was their foothold before El Cid and Roland drove them back to their desert paradise. One thing to note is that the Muslims claimed the edifice as their despite the fact that they did not build it. They also claim, to this day, the former Saint Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople and the only changes they have made to the building was to strip the alters and iconostasis and build four minarets around the perimeter. The Orcs used Saint Sophia's as their headquarters during the Ottoman Empire and denied, while expanding their empire, the right of Christians to worship at the buildings they had, in fact built. The same will happen if the mosque at Ground Zero is built. The best reaction among Christians and Jews is to buy building or spaces near the mosque and establish churches and synagogues -- many churches and synagogues. The idea being that the mosque will be a freak and the Orcs will be freaks among a group of Christians and Jews who pray for the conversion of them to either Christianity or Judaism.
One finds oneself wishing for a new El Cid:
Gates of Vienna: El Cid Versus the Mosque, Part 1
Meanwhile, as we enter the election season, ask yourself if your candidate for Congress is as straight talking as this man, Lt.Col. Allen West:
YouTube - Allen West on Islamic Fundamentalism.wmv
Even Franklin Graham has gotten in on the game and stated half the truth. Rev. Graham stated that Obama was, by Islamic Law, born a Muslim because his father was a Muslim. Where Rev. Graham missed the boat was when he stated that now Pres. Obama is a Christian because Mr. Obama had made a statement of faith in Jesus Christ.
The truth of the matter is that, while The One may have made a statement of faith and attended a Christian church of sorts while in Chicago, the fact remains that Mr. Obama, in his behavior and statements and policies has shown that he is not, in fact, a Christian except in the most liberally applied cultural sense.
This writer has never made, as a public person, referred to Our Lord in a speech. In fact, he's not referred to God the Father.
It is the opinion of this writer that Mr. Obama is a secularist. He has no religion but himself. He may be an atheist or an agnostic, but his religion, if it can so be called, seems to be based on that old poem that was so popular among self satisfied high school boys, Invicticus. It's a silly poem based on the narcissism that one can only find among adolescents.
The tussle about the mosque at Ground Zero (also known as the Cordoba Project) goes on. Today and yesterday many, many New Yorkers of various races and religions ranging from Christians and Jews to Hindus, turned out to protest the building of this insult to the West. While we here at the Manor will admit that the building of the mosque is protected by the Constitution, we think that it is a bad idea and intended insult to the West.
One thing to keep in mind is that the mosque building project is called the Cordoba Project. The cathedral at Cordoba Spain was turned into a mosque in the 8th century. The transformation was a force transformation. The Orcs considered the Cordoba mosque as the center of Islam in the West. It was their foothold before El Cid and Roland drove them back to their desert paradise. One thing to note is that the Muslims claimed the edifice as their despite the fact that they did not build it. They also claim, to this day, the former Saint Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople and the only changes they have made to the building was to strip the alters and iconostasis and build four minarets around the perimeter. The Orcs used Saint Sophia's as their headquarters during the Ottoman Empire and denied, while expanding their empire, the right of Christians to worship at the buildings they had, in fact built. The same will happen if the mosque at Ground Zero is built. The best reaction among Christians and Jews is to buy building or spaces near the mosque and establish churches and synagogues -- many churches and synagogues. The idea being that the mosque will be a freak and the Orcs will be freaks among a group of Christians and Jews who pray for the conversion of them to either Christianity or Judaism.
One finds oneself wishing for a new El Cid:
Gates of Vienna: El Cid Versus the Mosque, Part 1
Meanwhile, as we enter the election season, ask yourself if your candidate for Congress is as straight talking as this man, Lt.Col. Allen West:
YouTube - Allen West on Islamic Fundamentalism.wmv
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The Liberal Mind Part 2
After a bit of thought your faithful correspondent has come to a conclusion regarding the liberal mind.
To be short, the liberal thinks that their positions are those of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Consider how many times liberals (even those who self-identify themselves as atheists and agnostics) refer to Christ and the Sermon on the Mount.
They do not seem to realize that Our Lord addressed himself to the poor and common in a different way than He did toward the wealthy and privileged. Christ was winsome toward the poor. He was rough and hard against the privileged. But He did not cut anyone slack. He knew an idiot and He knew a sinner. And He was against them both.
Liberals misunderstand Jesus in that they see Jesus excusing bad behaviour if the actor was poor and under-privileged. He held all me to the same standard.
Our Lord saw sin as sin, no matter the position of the sinner. The Liberal sees sins as a sliding scale.
In other words, the Liberal sees himself as more a Christ than Christ Himself.
To be short, the liberal thinks that their positions are those of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Consider how many times liberals (even those who self-identify themselves as atheists and agnostics) refer to Christ and the Sermon on the Mount.
They do not seem to realize that Our Lord addressed himself to the poor and common in a different way than He did toward the wealthy and privileged. Christ was winsome toward the poor. He was rough and hard against the privileged. But He did not cut anyone slack. He knew an idiot and He knew a sinner. And He was against them both.
Liberals misunderstand Jesus in that they see Jesus excusing bad behaviour if the actor was poor and under-privileged. He held all me to the same standard.
Our Lord saw sin as sin, no matter the position of the sinner. The Liberal sees sins as a sliding scale.
In other words, the Liberal sees himself as more a Christ than Christ Himself.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Liberal Mind
After many years of pondering your faithful correspondent has finally figured out what the liberal mind is all about.
The liberal is a person who thinks that he, or she. is a person who is putting into action the comfortable parts of the Sermon on the Mount. By "comfortable" this writer means those parts of the sermon that the liberal sees as societal instead of personal. They see your money as expendable and their behavior as excusable.
And as far as federal, state and municiple employees go, we at the Manor have only two words to say:
F*** You!
The bastards seem to win while the rest of us suffer.
The liberal is a person who thinks that he, or she. is a person who is putting into action the comfortable parts of the Sermon on the Mount. By "comfortable" this writer means those parts of the sermon that the liberal sees as societal instead of personal. They see your money as expendable and their behavior as excusable.
And as far as federal, state and municiple employees go, we at the Manor have only two words to say:
F*** You!
The bastards seem to win while the rest of us suffer.
Consider This
If you want to see what the Islamization of a nation is like, read this and all three installments:
France Becomes Africa, Part 1
Is it any question why Prime Minister is cracking down on illegal immigration in La Belle France?
France Becomes Africa, Part 1
Is it any question why Prime Minister is cracking down on illegal immigration in La Belle France?
Mosques, Proposition 8 and Liberals
By now, unless the reader has been living in a cave in Tibet, he or she is aware of the Ground Zero mosque controversy. In a sentence, the controversy involves the building of a mosque by the Orcs within a half block of the site of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001. The instigator of this sacrilege against the memory of the those murdered by Orcs (his name doesn't matter because Orc leaders are interchangeable) states that the building of this edifice is an act of peace-making and compassion by the Mohammedan community in the United States (oddly, the money for this insult is being provided by Saudi Arabia; the home country of 14 of 19 of the highjackers).
There have been, understandably, protests against the building of the mosque by right thinking people. The answer by the Orcs and their factota has been that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees their right to build said mosque.
Nobody denies that the Islamists have the right to build the mosque. The question has been the propriety and sensitivity of building the mosque. The building of the mosque has been compared to the building of a Shinto shrine at Pearl Harbor or the building of a memorial to Jefferson Davis across the street from the NAACP.
But the Muslims have no care for the sensitivity of anyone but themselves. They cry "insensitive!" whenever anyone walks past a halal market while eating a ham sandwich. It's always a one way street with them.
This part Friday The One, at a White House celebration of Ramadan) stated that he supported the building of the mosque. Then a few hours after his statement when there was a public outcry against the wisdom of his comments, his mouthpieces stated that he did not necessarily support the building of the mosque, he thought it was Constitutional though not sensitive. Well, The One is a dissembler of the most base sort and it is probably best to regard his first statements as his true thoughts and feelings instead of his corrections. After all, The One was trained as a lawyer and a speaker and is articulate in the way that most of us aren't.
Others, much more talented in expressing thought than this writer have addresses this issue, and links are listed below:
Obama Backs Ground Zero Mosque at Ramadan Celebration - HUMAN EVENTS
Palin Blasts Obama on Ground Zero Mosque Endorsement - Atlas Shrugs
Gates of Vienna: If You Don’t Build It, They Won’t Come
This past week, in California, the home of Nib Manor, there has been a bit of an excitement concerning Proposition 8. Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition voted on by voters in California that banned the marriage of gay people to one another.
Two weeks ago a federal judge (a gay man) overturned the stated wish of the voters by saying that the proposition was unconstitutional. Needless to say, there was celebration in San Francisco, West Hollywood and Long Beach. This past week there were a number of homosexuals of both sexes at county courthouses expecting to get marriage licenses, only to be denied while the federal court ponders the matter.
As usual, the liberal press and yakkers have come out in favor of gay marriage and have called opponents of gay marriage "insensitive."
In other words, the homosexual lobby and the Orcs have both twigged onto the same argument for bad behavior: those Who are against us are "insensitive."
And here is where is all comes together. Those who advocate bad behavior have placed themselves as spokesmen for Our Lord Jesus Christ. An Orc, who wants to kill you, argues that he is more of a Christian than you are because you are insensitive to his needs. And a queer claims that he is more a Christian than he is because you are insensitive to his needs. You, as a Christian, are expected to give and give and give while those who insult you or who behave badly and take and take and take, are called a bigot, a homophobe, and Islamophobe despite the fact that Jesus Christ said that the only Way to Him was though Him (not some crazy epileptic Arab who contradicted himself regularly) or that Christ condemned homosexuality and wanton sexuality.
You're the bad guy for wanting to preserve the soul of the United States. They are the good guy for wanting to destroy what made this nation great.
We here at the Manor have only two words to say. F*** 'Em.
There have been, understandably, protests against the building of the mosque by right thinking people. The answer by the Orcs and their factota has been that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees their right to build said mosque.
Nobody denies that the Islamists have the right to build the mosque. The question has been the propriety and sensitivity of building the mosque. The building of the mosque has been compared to the building of a Shinto shrine at Pearl Harbor or the building of a memorial to Jefferson Davis across the street from the NAACP.
But the Muslims have no care for the sensitivity of anyone but themselves. They cry "insensitive!" whenever anyone walks past a halal market while eating a ham sandwich. It's always a one way street with them.
This part Friday The One, at a White House celebration of Ramadan) stated that he supported the building of the mosque. Then a few hours after his statement when there was a public outcry against the wisdom of his comments, his mouthpieces stated that he did not necessarily support the building of the mosque, he thought it was Constitutional though not sensitive. Well, The One is a dissembler of the most base sort and it is probably best to regard his first statements as his true thoughts and feelings instead of his corrections. After all, The One was trained as a lawyer and a speaker and is articulate in the way that most of us aren't.
Others, much more talented in expressing thought than this writer have addresses this issue, and links are listed below:
Obama Backs Ground Zero Mosque at Ramadan Celebration - HUMAN EVENTS
Palin Blasts Obama on Ground Zero Mosque Endorsement - Atlas Shrugs
Gates of Vienna: If You Don’t Build It, They Won’t Come
This past week, in California, the home of Nib Manor, there has been a bit of an excitement concerning Proposition 8. Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition voted on by voters in California that banned the marriage of gay people to one another.
Two weeks ago a federal judge (a gay man) overturned the stated wish of the voters by saying that the proposition was unconstitutional. Needless to say, there was celebration in San Francisco, West Hollywood and Long Beach. This past week there were a number of homosexuals of both sexes at county courthouses expecting to get marriage licenses, only to be denied while the federal court ponders the matter.
As usual, the liberal press and yakkers have come out in favor of gay marriage and have called opponents of gay marriage "insensitive."
In other words, the homosexual lobby and the Orcs have both twigged onto the same argument for bad behavior: those Who are against us are "insensitive."
And here is where is all comes together. Those who advocate bad behavior have placed themselves as spokesmen for Our Lord Jesus Christ. An Orc, who wants to kill you, argues that he is more of a Christian than you are because you are insensitive to his needs. And a queer claims that he is more a Christian than he is because you are insensitive to his needs. You, as a Christian, are expected to give and give and give while those who insult you or who behave badly and take and take and take, are called a bigot, a homophobe, and Islamophobe despite the fact that Jesus Christ said that the only Way to Him was though Him (not some crazy epileptic Arab who contradicted himself regularly) or that Christ condemned homosexuality and wanton sexuality.
You're the bad guy for wanting to preserve the soul of the United States. They are the good guy for wanting to destroy what made this nation great.
We here at the Manor have only two words to say. F*** 'Em.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Ann Rice
The author Anne Rice, the writer of the 1980s series of vampire novels beginning with The Interview With the Vampire, and who, several years ago claimed that she was a new born Christian of the Roman Catholic type, has, this week, declared that she renounces her identity as a Christian and that she is simply a follower of Christ.
Her declaration, imparted to the world at large via Twitter, states that she is upset with the infighting and anti-gay sentiment among those she calls Christians. Her statement shows that she knows little about the Faith.
To get down to cases, Anne Rice really has no idea about what a Christian is. A Christian is a person who adheres to one of the major confession (Apostles', Nicene, Chalcedonian). A Christian is a person who reads the Bible as literal and who, whether one agrees with what is written in the Bible, tries to adhere, to the best of one's ability, to the tenants of the the Bible.
Ms. Rice is showing herself to be a "Christianist". In other words, she thinks that Jesus is pretty much okay, but he may have gotten some things wrong. And she knows better than the Son of God.
Her declaration, imparted to the world at large via Twitter, states that she is upset with the infighting and anti-gay sentiment among those she calls Christians. Her statement shows that she knows little about the Faith.
To get down to cases, Anne Rice really has no idea about what a Christian is. A Christian is a person who adheres to one of the major confession (Apostles', Nicene, Chalcedonian). A Christian is a person who reads the Bible as literal and who, whether one agrees with what is written in the Bible, tries to adhere, to the best of one's ability, to the tenants of the the Bible.
Ms. Rice is showing herself to be a "Christianist". In other words, she thinks that Jesus is pretty much okay, but he may have gotten some things wrong. And she knows better than the Son of God.
Clowns
Remember back to your childhood when life was simpler and it was easy to laugh. One constant of childhood, up until about 25 years ago was the image of a clown. There was clown wallpaper in children's rooms, clown themed bibs, clown dolls and clowns hosting kids' television programs. As one grew older one lost one's appreciation for clowns because of the mistaken belief that clowns were beings for small children and just plain dumb.
But the fact of the matter is that, while those clowns that one was presented were pretty much childish and silly, those clowns were clowns for kids. They weren't real clowns of the classic sense. Real clowning is serious business and real clowns used to reflect the stupidest, the meanest and most frightening elements of our being. Consider the great clowns of the past. Emmett Kelly portrayed a character named Weary Willie. He was a sad sack tramp clown trying, in his own way, to better himself and failing. Red Skelton created Freddie the Freeloader, a tramp clown always looking for an easy life without putting out the work to earn it. Lou Adler (for many years the image of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus) created a clown who was bossy and stupid.
And it is because of, in this writer's opinion, that the classic clown (not kid clowns, not evangelist clowns, not mimes {the exception being Jacques Tati in his M.Hulot series of films}) is so despised by so many adults today. How many times have you heard, or you yourself have said, "I hate clowns" or "I'm afraid of clowns"? Could it be that the open, nay, grotesquely enthusiastic satirization of the worst features of the human condition. Clowns are, in a sense, an ugly mirror. In other words, look into this mirror and see who ugly you are despite the way you paint yourself (the clown's make-up).
Classical clowning has taken a lot of abuse from modern society in the West because the West has lost its Christian identity. To be a Christian is to realize that one is, by nature, deeply flawed and that there is a way to salvation through Christ. In times past, when the West was nominally Christian it was the norm to occasionally examine oneself and find and contemplate one's flaws and indwelling sins. The clown, in a humorous way, brought attention to the flaws. The clown represented the irreducable element of rascality that infects us all and the clown showed that to the audience and showed the consequences for not dealing with those flaws.
But we have, since then, as a society, lost our sense of shame. And it is considered an insult to have one's sins or flaws pointed out either by example (the clown method) or by direct comment (trying telling a friend or co-worker that he is acting like an idiot and see what your dental bill will be the next day). Clowns are creepy and "scary" because they are us
Nowadays, we still have clowns, but they are reality show personalities or celebrities. But before going into that factor of the unrecognized and oddly accepted and compelling clown, let us look at the three classic types of clowns and their bare-faced off-spring.
The first is the white-faced clown. The white-face, as well as painting his face white, wears very little other make-up. He rarely wears a rubber nose, but often a pointed cap. The white-face is a serious clown. He is self serious. He is a clown who knows more than he really knows, smarter than he really is. He is bossy and over-bearing.
The second is the Auguste clown. While often bearing a base of white make-up, the Auguste clown is usually more polychromatic, often with a rubber nose, a fringe wig and a horn or noisemaker of some sort. The Auguste clown appears, at first glance, to be rather stupid and often is stupid. He's usually the underling in some way to the white-face and is often abused by the white-face. In his bumbling and stumbling and apparent idiocy he often comes out in a better position than the white-face while the white-face thinks that he, himself, has come out on top.
Thirdly is the tramp clown. The tramp clown is usually a loner. He is usually rather lazy. He is a bit of a con man in some ways, but he's also a sad sack. Sometimes he is victorious in his endeavors but just as often he fails.
To bring it into classical popular film culture we can look at the Three Stooges. Moe is the white-face. Larry and Joe (or Curly or Shemp) are Auguste clowns. Bud Abbott is the white-face. Lou Costello is the Auguste. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are tramp clowns.
Television and the celebrity culture has created a whole new variation of clowns without the consumer or the clowns realizing it. Consider such "reality" television programs as "Jersey Shore" or "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." The former features the "real" lives of a group of self-described "Guidos" with the most stereotypical New Jersey accents seeming to live lives of endless partying and coupling. The most famous of the group is a rather troll-like big-breasted young woman called Snookie who seems to live in a tanning booth when she isn't walking around looking like a desperate prostitute on Century Blvd when Hollywood Park isn't in season. The second program features three slut sisters, one at the moment married to a basketball player, living the lush life in Florida and experiencing "crisis" after "crisis". The women make stupid decisions, over-react to setbacks like to show off their zaftig figures.
Both programs are of the type that draw from their audiences reactions such as, "I wouldn't do THAT!", or "How could he do THAT!", or "How could somebody be so STUPID?" Well, the reason is because those people in those programs are doing the things that the viewer would do if given the opportunity. Or at least consider it. The only differences between Snookie or Kim and Lou Adler are that Snookie and Kim wear a different type of make-up and that the viewer, because neither Snookie nor Kim are in clown make-up, does not see themselves in Snookie or Kim in the way they saw themselves in Lou Adler. The audience also, because the programs are billed as "reality" shows, thinks that it is watching a person's real life, when, in fact, it is watching a performance that the performers do not realize is a performance. The clown is performing without the fourth wall of the stage, which makes the performance more personal for the viewer. The "reality" "Star" is in a play of his or her own making and there is a separation between the viewer and the performer that the viewer find comfortable because he/she is not directly addressed with his/her flaws.
The antics of Lindsey Lohan and Mel Gibson are other examples of the contemporary clown. We watch Lindsey on her descent towards turning tricks on Sunset Blvd and click our tongues and wonder how she could, given all the advantages of her life, be so damn stupid and delusional. But we refuse to see that she is, in a sense, a sin eater. We look at her as a young woman on her way down without realizing that she embodies by her behavior the worst qualities of all of us. And that is the point. We refuse to see because she, because of her fame and wealth, is so far away from most of us that we really don't care. She's a side show. A geek of sorts. But since she's not wearing a rubber nose we can always say something like, "Well, that's the way the rich live. They have too much money and they get to get away with the things I would if I had the money." Lindsey, despite her lack of rubber nose, is seen as a much different creature than the Auguste at the one tent circus that came through your town this summer. The viewer identifies less with Lindsey than he/she does with a circus clown.
Mel Gibson is the celebrity white-face clown. Self-involved, self-serious, a control freak. His rants against his Russian slut ex-girlfriend which have been aired for the past few weeks are comical. He started out the relationship reflecting the sin of lust and, once the heat of lust died out and the arrival of a bastard child and money became involved, he exhibited the sins of pride, anger and drunkeness. His performance reflects the perfect white-face attitude -- "I'm right. You're wrong. How dare you oppose me." The Russian slut ex-girlfriend played the Auguste clown perfectly. She has, so far, come out on top despite the fact that she has shown herself to be a slut and a crook. We laugh and act shocked at Gibson's rants, but we are refusing to face the fact that he is acting out the thoughts that all of us would have if we were in a similar situation. And know this, we are all a lot closer to finding ourselves in a variation of Gibson's problem than we'd like to admit.
This writer, being of a rather Victorian attitude, wishes that clowns were restricted to the circus, the Punch and Judy Show or the theater where the clowns are honest clowns and not celebrities or "reality" "stars". At least in the circus or theater the clown whacks one across the face with an inflated pig's bladder to make one realize that the real clown is YOU and ME. The circus clown is the homunculus that entertains us while throwing darts at us. The Celebrity and the "Reality Star" are like performing dogs that crap and copulate while they are supposed to be walking tight-ropes. They are jokes, but we refuse to realize the the joke is not only on us. The joke is us.
And if the reader should wonder what clowns we here at the Manor favour, the answer is Rosencrans and Guildenstern.
And, if the reader should maintain that politicians are clowns, your faithful correspondent can only reply that politicians are not clowns. Politicians are buffoons. They do not have the self awareness of clowns.
But the fact of the matter is that, while those clowns that one was presented were pretty much childish and silly, those clowns were clowns for kids. They weren't real clowns of the classic sense. Real clowning is serious business and real clowns used to reflect the stupidest, the meanest and most frightening elements of our being. Consider the great clowns of the past. Emmett Kelly portrayed a character named Weary Willie. He was a sad sack tramp clown trying, in his own way, to better himself and failing. Red Skelton created Freddie the Freeloader, a tramp clown always looking for an easy life without putting out the work to earn it. Lou Adler (for many years the image of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus) created a clown who was bossy and stupid.
And it is because of, in this writer's opinion, that the classic clown (not kid clowns, not evangelist clowns, not mimes {the exception being Jacques Tati in his M.Hulot series of films}) is so despised by so many adults today. How many times have you heard, or you yourself have said, "I hate clowns" or "I'm afraid of clowns"? Could it be that the open, nay, grotesquely enthusiastic satirization of the worst features of the human condition. Clowns are, in a sense, an ugly mirror. In other words, look into this mirror and see who ugly you are despite the way you paint yourself (the clown's make-up).
Classical clowning has taken a lot of abuse from modern society in the West because the West has lost its Christian identity. To be a Christian is to realize that one is, by nature, deeply flawed and that there is a way to salvation through Christ. In times past, when the West was nominally Christian it was the norm to occasionally examine oneself and find and contemplate one's flaws and indwelling sins. The clown, in a humorous way, brought attention to the flaws. The clown represented the irreducable element of rascality that infects us all and the clown showed that to the audience and showed the consequences for not dealing with those flaws.
But we have, since then, as a society, lost our sense of shame. And it is considered an insult to have one's sins or flaws pointed out either by example (the clown method) or by direct comment (trying telling a friend or co-worker that he is acting like an idiot and see what your dental bill will be the next day). Clowns are creepy and "scary" because they are us
Nowadays, we still have clowns, but they are reality show personalities or celebrities. But before going into that factor of the unrecognized and oddly accepted and compelling clown, let us look at the three classic types of clowns and their bare-faced off-spring.
The first is the white-faced clown. The white-face, as well as painting his face white, wears very little other make-up. He rarely wears a rubber nose, but often a pointed cap. The white-face is a serious clown. He is self serious. He is a clown who knows more than he really knows, smarter than he really is. He is bossy and over-bearing.
The second is the Auguste clown. While often bearing a base of white make-up, the Auguste clown is usually more polychromatic, often with a rubber nose, a fringe wig and a horn or noisemaker of some sort. The Auguste clown appears, at first glance, to be rather stupid and often is stupid. He's usually the underling in some way to the white-face and is often abused by the white-face. In his bumbling and stumbling and apparent idiocy he often comes out in a better position than the white-face while the white-face thinks that he, himself, has come out on top.
Thirdly is the tramp clown. The tramp clown is usually a loner. He is usually rather lazy. He is a bit of a con man in some ways, but he's also a sad sack. Sometimes he is victorious in his endeavors but just as often he fails.
To bring it into classical popular film culture we can look at the Three Stooges. Moe is the white-face. Larry and Joe (or Curly or Shemp) are Auguste clowns. Bud Abbott is the white-face. Lou Costello is the Auguste. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are tramp clowns.
Television and the celebrity culture has created a whole new variation of clowns without the consumer or the clowns realizing it. Consider such "reality" television programs as "Jersey Shore" or "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." The former features the "real" lives of a group of self-described "Guidos" with the most stereotypical New Jersey accents seeming to live lives of endless partying and coupling. The most famous of the group is a rather troll-like big-breasted young woman called Snookie who seems to live in a tanning booth when she isn't walking around looking like a desperate prostitute on Century Blvd when Hollywood Park isn't in season. The second program features three slut sisters, one at the moment married to a basketball player, living the lush life in Florida and experiencing "crisis" after "crisis". The women make stupid decisions, over-react to setbacks like to show off their zaftig figures.
Both programs are of the type that draw from their audiences reactions such as, "I wouldn't do THAT!", or "How could he do THAT!", or "How could somebody be so STUPID?" Well, the reason is because those people in those programs are doing the things that the viewer would do if given the opportunity. Or at least consider it. The only differences between Snookie or Kim and Lou Adler are that Snookie and Kim wear a different type of make-up and that the viewer, because neither Snookie nor Kim are in clown make-up, does not see themselves in Snookie or Kim in the way they saw themselves in Lou Adler. The audience also, because the programs are billed as "reality" shows, thinks that it is watching a person's real life, when, in fact, it is watching a performance that the performers do not realize is a performance. The clown is performing without the fourth wall of the stage, which makes the performance more personal for the viewer. The "reality" "Star" is in a play of his or her own making and there is a separation between the viewer and the performer that the viewer find comfortable because he/she is not directly addressed with his/her flaws.
The antics of Lindsey Lohan and Mel Gibson are other examples of the contemporary clown. We watch Lindsey on her descent towards turning tricks on Sunset Blvd and click our tongues and wonder how she could, given all the advantages of her life, be so damn stupid and delusional. But we refuse to see that she is, in a sense, a sin eater. We look at her as a young woman on her way down without realizing that she embodies by her behavior the worst qualities of all of us. And that is the point. We refuse to see because she, because of her fame and wealth, is so far away from most of us that we really don't care. She's a side show. A geek of sorts. But since she's not wearing a rubber nose we can always say something like, "Well, that's the way the rich live. They have too much money and they get to get away with the things I would if I had the money." Lindsey, despite her lack of rubber nose, is seen as a much different creature than the Auguste at the one tent circus that came through your town this summer. The viewer identifies less with Lindsey than he/she does with a circus clown.
Mel Gibson is the celebrity white-face clown. Self-involved, self-serious, a control freak. His rants against his Russian slut ex-girlfriend which have been aired for the past few weeks are comical. He started out the relationship reflecting the sin of lust and, once the heat of lust died out and the arrival of a bastard child and money became involved, he exhibited the sins of pride, anger and drunkeness. His performance reflects the perfect white-face attitude -- "I'm right. You're wrong. How dare you oppose me." The Russian slut ex-girlfriend played the Auguste clown perfectly. She has, so far, come out on top despite the fact that she has shown herself to be a slut and a crook. We laugh and act shocked at Gibson's rants, but we are refusing to face the fact that he is acting out the thoughts that all of us would have if we were in a similar situation. And know this, we are all a lot closer to finding ourselves in a variation of Gibson's problem than we'd like to admit.
This writer, being of a rather Victorian attitude, wishes that clowns were restricted to the circus, the Punch and Judy Show or the theater where the clowns are honest clowns and not celebrities or "reality" "stars". At least in the circus or theater the clown whacks one across the face with an inflated pig's bladder to make one realize that the real clown is YOU and ME. The circus clown is the homunculus that entertains us while throwing darts at us. The Celebrity and the "Reality Star" are like performing dogs that crap and copulate while they are supposed to be walking tight-ropes. They are jokes, but we refuse to realize the the joke is not only on us. The joke is us.
And if the reader should wonder what clowns we here at the Manor favour, the answer is Rosencrans and Guildenstern.
And, if the reader should maintain that politicians are clowns, your faithful correspondent can only reply that politicians are not clowns. Politicians are buffoons. They do not have the self awareness of clowns.
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