#8 Singing with Elsa, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Copaganda, and Good Bones

Quotes & Things

“Do the next right thing” - Anna of Arrendelle

As I sit down to write this, I’m listening to the Frozen 2 soundtrack because some days I just need an animated snowman belting out a song with a reindeer. I wish I could say I was listening to someone cooler like Phoebe Bridger or Lizzo, but I’m not. Today is an “I need to belt out Into the Unknown with Elsa” kind of day. And I’m okay with that.

It has been a rough couple of weeks for a variety of reasons. One is an uptick in chronic pain issues. Another is the divisiveness of politics and the dangerous places our country might be headed if we don’t fight for a true democracy. It makes my stomach churn at night. Ted gently mentioned that I might need to take a break from news because me worrying about something I have no control over can’t do any good. He’s a smart man. But I stubbornly listen to The Daily every morning anyway. Parenting is also really hard. I can’t tell you how many parenting books I’ve read, lots of them with great advise. But putting that advise into practice, especially when dealing with chronic pain, is just hard.

Basically, we are just surviving around here. And that is ok — a lot of people are just surviving right now. For now, I’ll just do the next right thing and hope for a better season soon. If you are in a hard season right now too, I hope the shifting winds and birdsong lighten your spirit.

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Book Review

Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin

The very first time I heard the name James Baldwin was in high school. My mom had saved a page in the newspaper for me — Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels. My mom saved that page for me because I was a pretentious teenager, always trying to read from the “canon” and books that were deemed “important.” I kept that list for many years, circling the ones I managed to read. Some I really enjoyed (All the Hemingway). Others I did not (Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint). I only every managed to read 24 out of the 100, and gave up at some point because I decided the list was arbitrary, even though there are definitely some good books on that list.

James Baldwin was on that list as the author of Go Tell it on the Mountain. I remember it because I would stare at that worn, creased newspaper page all the time. I never chose to read his novel because I didn’t even judge the book by it’s cover — only it’s title. For some reason, I thought it would be about shepherds in the Swiss Alps, and that didn’t interest my 16-year-old self. I would only find out years later that Go Tell it on the Mountain was a highly autobiographical novel concerning a black teenager’s coming of age in 1930’s Harlem. So it was not quite the pastoral lark in Switzerland that I thought it would be.

In Go Tell it on the Mountain, we follow John Grimes, a young Black teenager in Harlem on an important day of his life. The novel is divided into three parts. Part I gives us a view into John's life; his family is poor and always expanding. John currently has three younger siblings with one on the way. His mother loves and worries for him, but his step-father, a strict religious preacher, treats him with disdain and hatred. John resists his step-father's religion, refusing to "be saved" at the altar. He wants to be good, but is also struggling with his emerging sexuality, doubts about the nature of God, and curiosity about the world.

In Part II, his community comes together for a Saturday night prayer meeting where Baldwin explores the lives of John's aunt Florence, his step-father Gabriel and mother Elizabeth. It is here we learn where each of these characters came from, how racism, sexism and religion played a role in who they have become. Part II was my favorite section; I read through it quickly because it was fascinating to learn these characters’ backstories, giving us a measure of compassion for the people they are now.

Part III is different in writing style — more lyrical and fantastical as it concerns John's internal images of his conversion experience. This part was more difficult to get through and harder to understand, but we come to see that John had no choice but to "be saved" if he wanted to remain in his family and as a part of his community. He is desperate to be loved by God and his father. We leave him feeling like he has been saved by God, but we are unsure if he will be considered "saved" by others in his life.

This was not always the easiest book to read, but I try to stick it out if I know the book has been deemed "important." I guess I’m still a bit pretentious that way, always want to see what all the fuss is about. Baldwin has a more old-fashioned writing style, focused on internal thoughts with very little dialogue. Because I just finished Baldwin’s biography, I know that he did not want his novels to be about an "issue," but about real people and their inner conflicts. This novel is also strikingly autobiographical. John is a stand-in for himself and the rest of his family closely resembles the characters here. In the biography, I read that he used his writing as therapy of a sorts, working through events in his past. Through writing this novel he was able to understand and forgive his step-father. I'm glad I read the novel, and I'm interested to read some of his later work to see if it differs in style and content.

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YouTube Series Recommendation

Copaganda by Skip Intro

I am always on the lookout for good video essays. 1) Because I enjoy watching people analyze the media I consume and 2), Because I use them as examples for my students as a good multi-modal presentation (i.e. turning their written essays into another medium).

I’ll give credit where credit is due and thank Ted for turning me onto this particular video channel.

In light of the recent protests about police brutality, Skip Intro is making a series about how we portray the police in TV called “Copaganda”. The first episode introduces us to the first TV show Dragnet and how the actual police influenced and shaped how the cops were portrayed. He analyzes Blue Bloods, a current TV show that has a very right-leaning view of the police as generally good with the occasional bad apple. Skip Intro then looks at Brooklyn 99 as the show that despite its being a light-hearted comedy, also interrogates what the police are and should be. We then get more nuanced takes of the police in The Wire and The Shield, both excellent but gritty cop shows.

Then Skip Intro pivots to an unexpected analysis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which he hilariously insists is just a long TV show) and the issue of global policing. His analyses are intriguing, well-researched, and fun to watch. He is making me be more aware of the messages the media are portraying about police, helping me to see that what we watch can actually affect what kind of policies and identities we take on. I would also say he tries to keep his analyses fairly balanced. If he talks about George W. Bush’s increase of the military industrial complex, he will follow that up with Obama’s broken promise to close Guantanamo Bay.

These are excellent videos, and while they have a longer running time than a lot of YouTube videos, they are worth the watch. They will make you think more deeply about what we choose to watch for entertainment. And the series is still ongoing, so I look forward to what cop show he chooses to analyze next.

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Poetry

I bought Maggie Smith’s collection of poetry Good Bones, a few years ago. I made it my habit to read one of her poems every night. Most of her poetry concerns nature and motherhood, and one my favorites combines the two, the title poem: Good Bones.

It feel like it says something true about the world, and though the images are dark, the ending line is hopeful.

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Thanks for reading!