Looking back at 2010, we can review the work of the administration over the past year. Aided by a bickering Congress, Obama has managed to pass several landmark bills which have changed the US landscape.
• Providing universal Health Care
• Repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
• Overhauling the student loan program
• Instituting financial reform
As always, these bills came with concessions. The extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for two more years places the country in greater debt, and many pieces of legislation are on the cutting room floor for now including Clean Energy and institution of the Dream Act providing amnesty to children of undocumented immigrants.
We can debate the merits of the new laws, and question whether the compromises were worthwhile. To find an answer, let’s see what the arts have to say about this.
The King’s Speech portrays the ascension of George VI to the English throne despite being the younger of two brothers and having a troublesome stutter. Colin Firth plays the young Prince with a mix of nobility and vulgarity – a troubled soul fighting the demons of being a bullied child and ignored son. In a parallel story, Firth’s performance should ascend him to the Oscar throne after being overlooked last year for A Single Man.
In order to achieve the goal of speaking in public forums, the Duke of York conceded to the unorthodox manners of his language tutor. In the movie, he must give in to being treated as a pedestrian rather than royalty. The teacher calls him “Bertie” and requires him to take the classes outside the palace grounds. At first the Prince’s attention to better elocution seems selfishly motivated – doesn’t he have more important things to do? Yet, his conciliations lead to the greater good. By reclaiming his voice, the King comforts a nation on the brink of war and establishes his position in the monarchic line.
Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark has not yet opened, and it is the hottest ticket on Broadway. Julie Taymor’s uncompromising vision has garnered substantial press given the repeated delays to opening night and extensive injuries on the set. Watching the show in previews, it is difficult not to be overcome by the theatrics. This is an experiment that if successful could transform Broadway yet again as the Lion King did.
Part circus, part Greek myth, and part high-tech acrobatics, there are innumerable kinks that need to be worked out including a tightened story line, increased empathy for the characters, and improved singing. Nonetheless one can perceive where Taymor is taking us, and the heights are breathtaking. Weaving this arachnid story has had several negative repercussions – financially on the producers, physically on the actors – and in the end the public will decide with their wallets if it was worth it. This one early viewer believes.
Past the mid-point of a first term in office, we have seen Obama transform from a popular politician to a man that is governing. Politics like theater is the “art of the possible” – two steps forward and one step back. In retrospect, the sacrifices George VI made were unequivocally worthwhile. With Spider-Man, the results are still to be seen. We need to judge if the unrealized vision is worth the give and take.
In the end, we will evaluate Obama’s legislative accomplishments and the attendant compromises by determining if we live in a better society. To me the vision is still sound, and I am more proud to be a citizen. I continue to believe.
December 26, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
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