How to make sense out of a world gone mad....?
Would it be mad to suggest someone who is already a bit mad! Woody Allen -- benedicted film maker & comedian -- has made a career out of being slightly mad. Neurotic would be the precise term. But either way, he's invited millions of us into his skewed view of our mad mad world. Much to our great great benefit.
"I'm astounded by people who want to know the universe when it's hard enough just to find my way around Chinatown." "Life doesn't imitate art; it imitates bad television." "Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering; and it's all over much too soon." Anyone who can say such things has his heart on the pulse of his times. Better than most politicians, generals, and especially televangelists.
There may be some more traditional sources. Say, the Dali Lama, the Pope, Stephen Spielberg, or how about Donald Trump? But not as succinct. Not as funny. And none of them can play clarinet.
So here's one neurotic's take on a master neurotic....
* Allen's obsession with death has given us laughter, and not a little insight. In contrast, our culture often translate a fear of death into a dedication to power; something to kill the fear of death
* Allen's recurring themes of frustrated love capture the irony of the one thing we can't live with or without. In contrast, our culture often substitutes this frustration with celebrity; something to drown out the lack of love
* Allen's patented use of music tracks underscores his movies with hits from the great American Songbook. It offers us a sense of generational continuity, because audiences of all ages find themselves enjoying it
This is not to say Woody Allen understands our times better than others. But it is to say he has a way of smiling us into a fuller awareness of just how small and scared and similar we all are. That's a lesson his audiences may not be paying to hear, but they're hearing it all the same.
Well worth the price of admission. Next, I'd like to book him into Congress for a one-week gig!
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Having engineered his first album, "Woody Allen", recorded live at (Chicago's)Mr. Kelly's, I recall a young funny man that retained the same stage presence over the years.
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