The new year begins tomorrow, and traditionally it's a time for looking back at the year just ending. I've seen three movies since Christmas, and two of them caused me to reflect on political matters and the 2008 version of reality.
This afternoon, Mrs. bee and I went to see another of the intelligent movie dramas that always surface in December and are usually considered for awards the following spring. This one was Doubt, based on a prize-winning play and starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The character played by Streep is a nun occupying a position of administrative authority at a Catholic school in New York in winter 1964. Sister Aloysius represents a life devoted to strict codes of behavior and moral certitude, in conflict with a situation full of ambiguity. The film's message seems to be that too much certainty can be just as bad as not enough.
Last week I saw Valkyrie, about a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. As I looked through today's newspapers, I decided that both Doubt and Valkyrie made points that are germane to current events. Eight years of W's administration have definitely proven that problems arise when people in charge are convinced their personal view of the world is infallible. The news articles today about Rod Blagojevich and Tom Craddick echo the message of Valkyrie: People should be careful about who they choose to lead them, because it's hard to get rid of a bad leader. The worse the leader, the harder it is.
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