The next time I hear a news pundit talk about how divided we are, I will immediately and violently pull the TV cord out of the wall. The heads are talking about threats to democracy, extremism, racial divisions, political divisions, dirty tricks. Oh, woe is us! You’d think from the chatter that we’ve never been in this place before, but, in fact, our history is more about division than it is about getting along. And, after the fuss, things are usually better for a couple of decades. And, now, more than ever, we need that respite to make progress on this climate thing we’re dealing with.
The day after midterm voting, my husband and I tested positive for COVID, which meant staying home. We felt like we had massive colds, no more. His was more the scratchy-throat variety, and I lost my sense of taste. We contacted everyone we had been with the week before, then hunkered in, eating our way through the leftovers in the freezer. We got along fine, watched the voter returns on the TV, heard one million times, no, two million, how divided the nation is, from every possible angle, and then we turned to the movies.
There are a couple of lessons here. One is that COVID hasn’t gone away. Stay safe! Get boostered! I’m sure our precautionary shots are why our cases were so light.
Another thing is, if you have to be shut up for a week or more, have a list of movies you want to see. During the first lock-down, we started on all the Academy Award best-pictures, going back to 1929 picture “Wings.” If you haven’t seen it, dial it up ASAP.
Then we got into directors: Coen Brothers, Hitchcock, who made some stinkers by the way, and now Woody Allen. If you’re stuck at home, after you’ve seen “Wings,” dial up Woody Allen’s “The Front.”
This forgotten 1976 classic is all about divisions. The year is 1953, the height of the McCarthy era. Woody Allen plays an ordinary Joe running the cash register at a restaurant and acting as a bookie on the side, taking bets on racehorses. It’s the dawn of the American TV industry, so the best writers and actors are working from New York. One of Allen’s friends is a writer who has found himself locked out of the entertainment industry by a blacklist. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) is investigating to squeeze out suspected “commies” sympathetic with Russia — writers, actors, directors and so forth. If there’s no evidence, HUAC will make some up.
Allen’s writer friend convinces Allen to put his own name on the writer’s scripts, take them to the networks and, when they’re accepted, take 10%. The always-broke Allen is happy to be “the front.” He makes a sale, then another, and then takes on another writer, and another. He likes the cash but, in typical Woody Allen fashion, the scheme outgrows his abilities.
As the plot unfolds, “the front” is grilled by a government agent, sent before HUAC, schemes to evade their questions and is taken away in handcuffs. He tells the G-men off. The crowd cheers. The last—and best—tweak in the film, which was shot in 1976, is the list of credits at the end that reveal that most of the film’s actors were actually, in reality, blacklisted back in the 1950s. They have made a merry romp out of an era in their lives that must have been Infernal.
On the West Coast, in Hollywood, in the 1940s and 1950s the same blacklisting story played out among movie studios. A few years earlier. HUAC had released a report in 1938 claiming that communism was pervasive in Hollywood. Walt Disney ran an ad in Variety claiming that “Communist agitation” was behind a strike in his company. By 1946, a HUAC member declared that a dangerous plot to overthrow the government was headquartered in Hollywood. A political group founded by Disney warned against “subtle communistic touches” in films. A “touch” could be doubt about the profit motive, wealth, free enterprise, and industrialists.
Having a common enemy — communists — brought America together but then, just as quickly, doubts about our presence in Vietnam divided us, youth against age. Then, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall …” and we’re together. Then, COVID vaccines and we’re divided.
If there’s a common thread in all the disruptions, it’s that angry diatribes sell newspapers. If there’s an uncommon thread today, it’s that we all have the ability to send our diatribes worldwide and basically uncensored on the internet.
Right now, we’re due for a few years of unity. And, as always, it’s up to us to use the harmony the very best we can.
New Year’s Resolution: Bury the hatchet. Care about your neighbor. Reach across the aisle.
Be nice.
Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, January 1-15, 2023
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