How to spend our days? As I listen to less and less news, new (no pun intended) activities fill my days, including a little movie watching.
I have completed lecture seventeen of “Medieval England,” one of the Great Courses offered on line through my library. The lecture covered the reign of Henry II (1133-1189), which has led me on a search for two movies (both of which I saw years ago): ‘The Lion in Winter,’ (1968) starring Peter O’Toole as Henry II and Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine; and ‘Becket,’ (1964) with Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole. Neither is on Netflix or in my library. ‘Becket’ is on Amazon Prime for free, but I’ll have to pay $3.95 for ‘Lion in Winter.”
What is the difference between watching the news and watching an historical movie, or any movie for that matter? I could go to the internet for answers, but as I live into this pandemic , it is my own thoughts and conclusions that help me. One difference, I believe, has to do with fear and hope.
The news is what is happening now, the unresolved, the unknown, foreshadowing what could/might happen to me and everybody else in the world; it is alive; it generates fear. A movie tells about what happened and how events were resolved; it is dead, finished; it generates hope.
We are craving for hope right now. Yes, the news can offer hope, but at this moment the on-going story we are living in is a fearful one.
I have completed lecture seventeen of “Medieval England,” one of the Great Courses offered on line through my library. The lecture covered the reign of Henry II (1133-1189), which has led me on a search for two movies (both of which I saw years ago): ‘The Lion in Winter,’ (1968) starring Peter O’Toole as Henry II and Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine; and ‘Becket,’ (1964) with Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole. Neither is on Netflix or in my library. ‘Becket’ is on Amazon Prime for free, but I’ll have to pay $3.95 for ‘Lion in Winter.”
What is the difference between watching the news and watching an historical movie, or any movie for that matter? I could go to the internet for answers, but as I live into this pandemic , it is my own thoughts and conclusions that help me. One difference, I believe, has to do with fear and hope.
The news is what is happening now, the unresolved, the unknown, foreshadowing what could/might happen to me and everybody else in the world; it is alive; it generates fear. A movie tells about what happened and how events were resolved; it is dead, finished; it generates hope.
We are craving for hope right now. Yes, the news can offer hope, but at this moment the on-going story we are living in is a fearful one.