Feldman's Faves: April 25, 2022

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

In the immortal words of Bill Clinton, “I still believe in a place called Hope”. One down, fifteen to go. I refuse to give up on my hope for the Raps. I recognize that the odds are not great and prospects look a little bleak at the moment but hang in their Raptors fans – if anyone can screw up a 3-0 lead it is the one and only Doc Rivers….big game tonight.

No theme today, just topics of interest.

MAUS - By Art Spiegelman – A few months ago, I was dumbfounded when I heard that a ten-member school board in McMinn County, Tennessee, voted unanimously to ban Maus, a graphic novel (in two parts) about the Holocaust due to what they determined to be “inappropriate language”. My first instinct was to order the books and tell all my friends and family to do the same, which I did. Apparently, I was not alone in my thinking, as Maus became the number one Amazon book ordered (I think, of all time). The basic plot of Maus is that “Art Spiegelman wants to interview his aging father, Vladek, about his experiences in World War II Europe. Vladek is reluctant at first, but gradually he talks about his days as an enterprising young man in Poland. When the Nazis arrive and steal the Jewish-owned businesses and factories, Vladek is drafted and quickly becomes a prisoner of war. He escapes, only to be rounded up with his family and sent to Auschwitz.” Within this basic description is one of the most compelling and heart wrenching studies of the human condition I have ever encountered. The story goes back and forth from daily life in modern day New York to the WWII era in Poland and Germany and shows the impact that trauma of this nature can have on the trajectory of one’s life (Vladek never got comfortable living in America and his wife (Art’s mother) ultimately committed suicide). This book – a true story turned into a comic book - is a very accessible way for teenagers and young adults to gain an understanding of a very difficult part of history and specifically what happened in the Holocaust - and so I hope that no other school boards will follow the example of banning this extremely important and educational book. Here is a great review from the Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/08/11/why-maus-remains-the-greatest-graphic-novel-ever-written-30-years-later/

How I Built This with Guy Raz- Florentine Films: Ken Burns - Even though I am pretty sure that he cannot dunk a basketball, Ken Burns is nevertheless one of my heroes. He is one of the most interesting and innovative filmmakers of our time and has partnered with PBS for decades in creating some of the most compelling documentaries I have ever seen (they are slow moving and long, though). Burns is a unique talent that captures American history from so many different angles using his innovative film style. Burns is most famous for his work on the Brooklyn Bridge, the American Civil War, Baseball and Jazz but his work is so vast and diverse it is just insane, whether it is on the History of Cancer, Country Music and soon on Benjamin Franklin and on America and the Holocaust – he says he will never stop working since there are too many interesting topics to cover – that makes me happy. He has created a number of techniques in film making, the most famous of which involves his use of photographs while making the viewer believe they are watching film reel. His discussion with Guy Raz of his 40 year career, the impact that losing his mother as a child has had and continues to have on all aspects of his life and his deep passion for history and film is great. Here is an excerpt from the PODCAST itself: “As a boy, Ken Burns was captivated by the power of film and dreamed of being the next Alfred Hitchcock or John Ford. But in college, he discovered that stories about American history could be just as dramatic as any he could make up. Eventually, he set out to make a new kind of documentary, layered with actors’ voices and sound effects; and animated by a gentle panning motion that became known as the Ken Burns Effect. But he also had to run a business: knocking on doors to raise money, managing a small team of producers, and fiercely protecting his creative vision and IP. Today, 40+ years after it was founded, Ken’s company Florentine Films has built one of the most valuable documentary archives in the world, including The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball, The Statue of Liberty, and most recently, Benjamin Franklin”: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?i=1000555980872

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon