Sunday, December 14, 2014

Food For Thought: St. Nicholas vs Santa Claus


How do you do.

  It's that time of year when we prepare for Christmas. As a Catholic, my celebration of Christmas is preceded by Advent, which is where we have the wreath with candles lit each Sunday. Even though Advent is seen as a fasting period, something like Lent, there is still sights and sounds of Christmas involved in the season. One can still do Advent and hang up the decorations, listen to music on the radio, and buy presents for friends and loved ones. Just remember that Christmas begins at midnight of December 25, not December 1. So, in the meantime, an average Catholic will see the celebrations of Christmas in commercialized format, which includes the appearance of Santa. 

  According to background information, Santa Claus is suppose to be based on St. Nicholas, an actual saint who lived long ago. Yet, there are plenty of things that separate the two. I am sure you may have heard of this before but I am going to present the real Saint Nick vs the "big fat man in a long white beard" who is "comin' to town" in a flying sleigh towed by reindeer. Here goes:

  Santa Claus lives in the North Pole. Saint Nicholas, was actually from the Mediterranean. Despite the Germanic looks we see in his face, the actual Saint Nick was Greek, born in what is now Turkey (Turkey did not exist then so he wasn't Turkish. If anything, he would have been Asian, since Asia Minor was originally called Asia) and he was bishop of Myra, today is called Demre. In his lifetime, Nicholas of Myra wasn't called a saint, that happened after his death (sorry, kids). Saint Nicholas was known to the Greeks as "Lord of the Seas" so it is no surprise that he is patron saint of the Greek Navy. Santa Claus, on the other hand, is Northern European in appearance. He uses the Spanish word for Saint (in the feminine form) and the common variant of Nicholas in Eastern Europe, Claus. Of course, the name came not from Spain or Poland, or even Germany, but from Holland where he was named Sinterklaas. Other variants include Father Christmas in England and Pere Noel in France. They are depicted as bishops in robes with mitres and holding staffs, basically in connection to St. Nicholas. However, there doesn't seem to be an equivalent of Santa in the Middle Ages. That is because most people believed the gift giver was Saint Nicholas in spirit, though some places replace him with Christkind (Germany and Austria). In some parts of Europe, they don't have dropping in on Christmas or Christmas Eve. Instead, he visits on St. Nicholas Day, which is December 6.

  We sometimes call Santa Claus, Kris Kringle. This naming is Germanic in origin, on par with Christopher which includes Christ as a key word. So far, Saint Nicholas wasn't given such names, though he was titled Nikolaos ho Thaumaturgos, or Nicholas the Wonderworker. 

  Thanks in part by the famous poem, we have an image of Santa as we see him: "He had a round face and a little round belly / that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly" ("The Night Before Christmas", Moore). Santa is portrayed as fat, with a white beard, and with rosy cheeks and a cherry nose, in a red winter suit and black boots, plus a red cap on head.  The image presented was used by Victorian era capitalism and, thanks to Coca-Cola, is now the icon of Santa. This is different from the old world Santa who is average built and wearing the robes of a bishop with a mitre on top, and his variants are seen in green or white. We only know what St. Nicholas would have looked like through icons. He is thinner than Santa and is many shades darker in skin (either olive or brown skinned). The red robes are not worn, however, nor the suit and boots (former wasn't meant for the warmer climate and the boots weren't invented yet). St. Nicholas is depicted with a white beard, occasionally, but not in the same fashion as Santa. The icons are not historically accurate either, since he is wearing robes from the time period of the painters, yet the painting of him sparing the innocents is close. Recently, Dr. Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Manchester did a facial reconstruction of St. Nicholas and it came out this way. It is even said the man was no taller than five feet in height. 

   St. Nicholas did give gifts. He was described as a pious man who gave gifts to those badly in need in the time (given it was around the time of the Crisis of the Third Century). Most of the knowledge of this is known in legends, unfortunately. One of these was that during a famine, a butcher murdered his children and the sainted bishop saw this and prayed for their resurrection. So far, this legend doesn't appear to have been known prior to the 11th Century. Another is that a man had three daughters but no dowry for them. This meant they could not marry and would have to become prostitutes to live. Either because the man was too proud to accept charity (and may have confessed that to his confessor a few times) or the Saint was too modest to do this in daylight (it would have been seen as a proposal of marriage at the time -- something that would have gotten him deposed as bishop), the result was the unexpected gift of a dowry placed in three purses, each given to the daughter, that were put in the house during the night. This last is a basis for Santa's visits. Another was that when a famine hit in 311, St. Nicholas got a group of sailors to gather wheat from ships and feed the hungry while also keeping quota the emperor had settled. This action witnessed a miracle where not a single ounce of wheat was subtracted yet there was enough given to feed the people for two years. They could even use the wheat to plant more grain. Historians, such as Dr. Adam English, consider the last two to have historic basis while the butcher legend to be folklore. One of the variants of the poor man and his daughters legend has the Saint place the dowry into stockings, which explains how goodies get put in them by Santa Claus. One thing that is not legend is that he answered the call for the Council of Nicaea in 325, where he took part in shaping the Christian faith. A staunch anti-Arian, Saint Nicholas even signed the Nicene Creed. 
   Santa Claus maintains the gift giving, however it is now focused on treats and toys. Some critics tend to consider Santa's mission as something of the reward and punishment system which many consider barbaric (for reasons rarely explained). If you wonder why the song warns children to "be good for goodness sake" and that Santa's "gonna find out who's naughty or nice", that is because the old school Santa Claus variants did not simply give presents. Santa's visits stem from Germanic beliefs of a visitations of a holy man who drives away a demon on each Yule who would otherwise terrorize children. Through the Christianization of the region, this holy man became identified as St. Nicholas while the demons was named Krampus, and sometimes people had the Devil himself in that place. The Saint would capture the demon, put him in shackles, and force him to pay for his evil deeds by leaving gifts behind. Since you don't expect demons to do acts of good, most legends have him chose to return to Hell. Eventually, they had him reform and became a recruiter of sprites to serve the saint in his journeys. When the Dutch renamed him Sinterklaas, they replaced Krampus with a black servant they named Black Peter. Black Peter, or Zwarte Piet, is said to beat naughty children when they visit while nice children got present from the Saint in their shoes. Much of this has origins not in St. Nicholas but in Norse mythology, where the god Odin would visit each year and travel down chimneys. The tradition can be found in Santa's visits where the stockings are used for the treats and toys while the reindeer have replaced the horse Odin rides on. Today's Santa doesn't have a demon shackled now, nor does he leave rods to bad children (I could be wrong, but the Industrial Revolution seems to have introduced the lump of coal into the mix). Elves now assist Santa, who was even depicted as an elf, in making toys while the sleigh is still pulled by deer, yet is given the ability to fly. Santa has even been made more human with the introduction of Mrs. Claus.

   I have heard of some people compare Santa Claus to God, even calling God as another "Santa Claus". While there is no doubt that the real St. Nicholas was mortal and lacked the ability to do certain tricks that Santa does, Santa Claus is, during Christmas Season, only, considered to be omnipresent and immortal. The only explanation of this is "magic". It doesn't hurt to notice the white bearded man image that is often used to portray God as well. It is also noteworthy how we see Santa everywhere in Christmas more so than the real star of Christmas: Jesus Christ. Due to the secularization of our culture over the past one and a half centuries, the very meaning of Christmas is subverted by commercialism and substitution; having a jolly fat man in a red suit who perpetuates the reward and punishment system, to use the critics' term, in place of the birth of the one who gave the greatest gift of all: to free us of sin, break the power of death, and renew us in the presence of God. That sort of gift is something that Santa can never bring out of his big bag and stuff into your stocking. St. Nicholas understood that for he reportedly told the man who daughters need dowries to not thank him but Him whom he served. Santa doesn't seem to be saying the same thing, which can explain why the harsh critics call Santa Claus as God for children.
   Martin Luther once wanted St. Nicholas Day halted, and he got it done in parts of Germany, because he deemed the veneration of saints to be a distraction from God. To many Christians, the person of Santa Claus embodies what he was talking about. Our views of Christmas has gone to focusing on the secular and commercial aspects of the holiday instead of the religious, thus one will find one image or decoration of Jesus for every three or four Santas (of course, there is an irony lately that many view Santa as a religious entity and are now seeking to ban him from public). I do not doubt that Saint Nicholas would have disliked the scene, even willing to make sermons of idolatry of it if he were in a church. Saint Nicholas may have known that people knew his actions but he was said to be modest and would not want to be a merchandise item.

   In the end, while many believe Santa Claus to be a real person, even if he is taking the spotlight away from Jesus on each Christmas, there are certain Christian aspects on the man. This is a man who risks his life to travel the globe in a flying sleigh with almost no means of protection, visiting every house to drop off presents, and tasting milk and cookies, all in less than twenty-four hours. While doing this action, he gives away gifts without any asking for anything in return. But even if you don't believe in Santa being a real person, think of him as an entity, who comes in form of action.
   Christmas is not something bought or sold; it was actually meant to be shared and it is shared when we give something special to people. To see the Christmas spirit comes when a complete stranger is given a warm welcome or a heart broken person is given love, a struggling family that is given food, clothes, and shelter. These things are common place in Christianity. As Christians, we are tasked with giving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, and much more, as evidenced in Matthew 25: 35-40. To those who mention of doing good for personal gain, ie to go to Heaven or escape Hell, there is no part in the Bible that commands Christians to do so (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Santa comes in to give children an example to follow. People will not know how to give when born and will instead need to be taught it. If they didn't have a Santa Claus, then they may not have much to grow on in giving to others. Some will claim that keeping up the use of Santa Claus will eventually scar children for when they find out they are being duped, almost using the wording of Maureen O'Hara's character in The Miracle on 34th Street. Yes, a little white lie is still a lie. Yet, if one doesn't see the joy that comes with giving and learning how simply giving away without thinking of a reward in return will do, then the person might not be able to get the true meaning of Christmas. In the end, it's not about rather or not Santa Claus exists; it's really about how God was willing to give His only begotten son to redeem the world and thus we can imitate this action, in a different fashion, even if one does not believe, and feel the warmth of love in the cold winter's chill. If there is one thing Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus would have agreed on, it would be this.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Thoughts On Thanksgiving


How do you do.

  I will admit that three of my favorite holidays happen in the autumn season: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Thanksgiving is the middle of the three is one of the few holidays, other than Independence Day, which Americans can safely call "our holiday."
  The reason to why we call it is summed up by Linus of Peanuts: "Ours was the first country in the world to make a national holiday to give thanks" (A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving). In the history of Christianity, giving thanks is traditional, largely done during church. The idea of a holiday selected just to give thanks is completely novel.

  A few things are needed to understand with Thanksgiving. Despite the common name we have on the story of it, the first Thanksgiving wasn't really done by the Pilgrims in Plymouth. There were, in fact, acts of thanksgiving done on this continent prior to 1621. The very first was done by Spanish explorers in another part of the continent. In 1610, the settlers in Jamestown Colony, now in Virginia, had their own Thanksgiving celebration. There was also one done by English settlers at Berkeley Hundred a few years later and it celebrated it until it was destroyed by the 1622 massacre and abandoned. The one done in Plymouth in 1621 is most famous and because the Pilgrims' plight matches with the American myth of leaving the Old World for freedom in the New, people consider this to be the first. It was Alexander Young who labeled it thus in 1841.

  A second thing to bring up: I am using "Pilgrims" on purpose but the Pilgrims were in fact Puritans, though not the same sort who settled in what is now Boston. Puritans existed longer, a remnant of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century England. In the website, ushistoryscene.com, the basic information of the Puritans is this:
 Puritans strove to be honest and godly in every aspect of their lives, from conducting their business in the city to running their country estates. They thrived on constant community with other Puritans, with two sermons on Sunday and multiple weekday meetings where they could parse sermons, pray, debate and discuss passages from the Bible. Puritans believed in predestination, which meant that eons before the world was created, God decided the fate of every person who would ever live on Earth, whether they would be saved by his grace or damned by their sin. Nothing could be done to change this judgment.
  They are considered a product of the reign of Queen Mary, who earned the nickname "Blood Mary" for executing anyone who suspected of being Protestant or was a Protestant. The nightmares of her reign, which consisted of people being burned at stake, is responsible for the Anti-Catholic nature of the Puritans and when Queen Mary died, they rejoiced. They flocked to London and welcomed the Protestant Queen Elizabeth. However, they felt she wasn't doing enough in removing the Papal influences in the renamed Anglican Church. Thus they branched off and became the Puritans who waged a holy war on the Church which climaxed with the English Civil War and the appearance of the Commonwealth. There were disagreements within the Puritans, some who would like to purify the Church from the inside out. Others, however, decided that the Church cannot be purified and it was best to start over. That was how the Puritans we now call Pilgrims came to be.
   What they were doing was considered treason in England. During the times from when King Henry divorced Catherine of Aragon England witnessed religious persecution and oppression. Someone who dared to celebrate a certain way that the King or Queen did not approve was executed in horrible fashions. In this kind of atmosphere, religion had in what skeptics consider a tool for the powers that be and anyone who didn't fit in was destroyed. If one wasn't killed, he disappeared in the dungeons, walked the streets of London with disfigured faces, or was not allowed to walk among polite society.
   Given this kind of world, it is no wonder the Pilgrims wanted to leave England. The Pilgrims fled to Holland and then to America. They were originally going to Jamestown which had been founded twenty years prior but were diverted to Massachusetts as it was closer after the Mayflower took some beating from sea storms.

   One other thing to add on the Pilgrims, or Puritans, or whatever, is that not all of those people in black coats with tall hats who spoke like characters out of Shakespeare while seeing all things as sorcery that we see in the paints and school plays were Pilgrims. Some of the men on the Mayflower were men of fortune like Captain Myles Standish. Others included indentured servants, people who are given a free passage across the Atlantic in return for a set number of years of servitude. There were also crewmen of the ship itself, led by Captain Christopher Jones.

  We celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November but history does not record the exact date that the Pilgrims did theirs. It apparently is sometime between September 21 and November 11, which coincides with the abandoned celebration of Michaelmas back in England (they were English, after all, not Americans). Since Michaelmas had not been celebrated in England since King Henry VIII severed ties from Rome, it is doubtful the Pilgrims put it there because of it. A more plausible reason to the time was due to the period of the harvest happening between those dates. Two eyewitnesses of the event recorded their words into their diaries, Governor William Bradford and Edward Winslow, both of whom are cited as primary sources in any research on the matter. You can look up "Of Plymouth Plantation" by Bradford and "Mourt's Relation" by Winslow for their testimonies. In the years prior to American independence, each individual colony had its own date of Thanksgiving. Then, in 1777, the Second Continental Congress declared two days of the year to be appointed as the Thanksgiving days, one of which was in honor of the victory at Saratoga. After the War of American Independence, Thanksgiving was mostly proclaimed by presidents, such as Washington, Adams, and Madison. These were not done in the fall but tend to happen after something grand, like with Madison's case being the end of the War of 1812. However, New Hampshire and Massachusetts set aside November 14 and November 28, respectively, as Thanksgiving day a year later. Both dates happened on a Thursday which started the tradition of it being on a Thursday. It was, however, in the middle of the Civil War that Thanksgiving was declared to be on the final Thursday, after a proclamation of President Lincoln. Apart from the time in 1939-41 when President Roosevelt moved it around to boost sales, it has been that way ever since.


  Another thing to know is it wasn't the first of a series of land grabs as commonly believed. In fact, when looking into the story of "First Thanksgiving", it actually comes out peaceful. The Pilgrims wanted to be free of religious persecution and found a spot to reside in their exile. They did get the permission to reside in the spot they set up in a land that was also claimed by England. However, the common depiction of it as a family affair is romanticized. Most of those attending were men. According to Robert Krulwich, what was going on was the celebration of the alliance between the Pilgrims and Chief Massasoit. The women who partook in this were doing the cooking (and given the number of men involved that was alot of mouths to feed). It still appears as the one time in a history of genocide and feuding that two groups of people come together and had a peaceful celebration.

  One thing people can find in the news of Thanksgiving is how it effects Native Americans, basically that it is a celebration of genocide. In reality, the only American Indian tribe involved with Thanksgiving was the Wampanoag. Everyone else had nothing to do with the event itself. One thing I learned with the celebration was that there was a tradition done by the Wampanoag that people living with them were to tribute the harvest to the main village. Since the Pilgrims were living along side them and England was far away, they had to give tribute to them. One could say the Pilgrims heeded the command: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, and unto God the things that are God's."

  So all this became connected in our culture as a massive feast, with the common expected items as turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, and cranberry sauce. The Thanksgiving done in Plymouth didn't have any of those things: pies were hard to cook with a lack of ovens and there were records of other sorts of birds hunted and used for meats. Some places in the US will have variants. My home state has people who replace the turkey with ham, pumpkin pies for lemon, and cranberry sauce for turnip greens. So don't be like Peppermint Patty at every Thanksgiving dinner. While women still cook up the dinner, these days, the entire family will pitch in, be it the daughter who lathers the bird, the son who sets up the table, or the husband who handles the oven. The Thanksgiving in Massachusetts had men do activities with guns whereas today men are satisfied with watching football. In fact, since the early 20th Century, the Thanksgiving Parade has been added to the tradition. Yet Thanksgiving can be a different day from what is commonly expected.

  But the best thing I think about with Thanksgiving is the fascinating story of it. Once they got to America, the Pilgrims had only God to answer to and they prayed for Him to provide them during the cold winter. Many of those Pilgrims died from diseases and the cold while they stayed. Then God answered their prayers through Squanto. Squanto was a man whose people died when he was taken away. He returned to his home as an orphan and was allowed to live among Massasoit and his people. Squanto helped the Pilgrims in farming and hunting (using techniques like trapping animals with booby traps and using fish as fertilizer) and this led to a bountiful harvest. From that harvest, a community was born and, for a brief time, there was peace between two different peoples.

  Thanksgiving is more than just food, football, parades, and dog shows, and a history of bad deeds. It is about people of different backgrounds coming together at the table and break bread together. It is a fitting tribute seeing people come together and be peaceful to one another, be they European American, African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Wiccan, secularist, feminist, young, old, male, female, everyone of different skin color, different faith, different creed, different political stance, different preference, different sex, different age, all sharing in the banquet. As a Catholic, I find it comparable in minor terms to the Eucharist, where all those who followed Christ are invited to partake in the Last Supper. If we can be like the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags, and learn to put aside our differences and help each other in the worst of times and gather to feast in the best of times, then perhaps, that would be the greatest Thanksgiving feast of all, one where there is peace on earth and good will to men.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Food For Thought: Non-Christmas Music


   How do you do.

   By this time, you may be turning on the radio and hearing Christmas music playing on the radio. It does seem early but it could be worse. But what this blog entry is about is the songs that I've seen Feminist critics list as creepiest and the ones that people like to think of during the holiday season as Christmas music. Of course, these critics have failed to address the bigger issue on the fact that some of the songs they attack cannot be considered Christmas songs. Wikipedia would list these as "Adopted Christmas music", though a more accurate name for them would be "Winter songs" or "Holiday songs" (the terms most people use for Christmas music in general for the sake of political correctness). There are also other songs that are listed as Christmas music despite the fact they are of different topics.

  Before we explore, there are three things required of a song to be considered "Christmas music." 
  1. Song has center on the Birth of Christ (Nativity), or at least make reference to it.
  2. Have the original intent for Christmas and not for anything else (Yule, Advent, etc).
  3. Song needs at least one mention of the word "Christmas" and have a character associated with Christmas.

  Any song may lack a requirement and still be called Christmas music but to lack two or more, especially both the first two requirements, will render it as simply a "Winter Song." For this post, I have listed about 25 songs that you may have heard on the radio, seen a feminist critique of, or are just plain familiar with and show how they are not Christmas music as they would fail to meet all three requirements, or even just two.

1. Jingle Bells.

  I start with the most popular of the songs done in Christmas, the American song "Jingle Bells." The song was written by Massachusetts song writer, James Lord Pierpont, who is said to have become a church organist in a church in Savannah, Georgia at the time he wrote the song (this sounds like the genesis of the song "Dixie" which also has a Northern born author). Most people are familiar with the chorus of the song, plus the first verse. In neither case do we hear of the word Christmas. In fact, Pierpont did not really intend it to be a Christmas song. According to common belief, his song was mostly for Thanksgiving (which technically makes this an Autumn song instead of Winter). The reason why it is done for Christmas is the wintery image it presents: the snow. 
   If you take the lyrics aside and read them, you see that not a single instance does anything of Christmas show up. No mention of the Nativity, no word of Christmas, and don't bother looking for it in your church hymn books because it ain't there. From the looks of it, the song is more about a guy who takes a ride his one horse open sleigh in the first verse, took his sweetheart for a ride in the second verse which ended in badly, then got mocked by a rival, and tells men to try his luck with a faster horse (would make a plot for a Christmas movie, maybe). 
   At the time of the song's composition, it was common for Northerners to dust off the sleigh and ride in them during the snowy days of winter -- between December and March when it snows the most (Indeed, it is foreign to me as it rarely snows in the same time frame where I come from, and when it does it is never deep enough for sleigh rides). In a time before cars were around, a horse drawn sleigh was the only way one could take a ride, if you didn't want to "walk fifteen miles through the snow", to quote Grandpa Lou of Rugrats. It was also one way of taking a girl out for courting, fellas. The jingling of bells is the sound little bells make on the bridle, which is perfect is letting people know you are coming; sometimes, that white snow can blind you.
  The horse was described as "lean and lank" which both have the same meaning. The horse is skin and bones at this point. I wouldn't say malnourished as Going Rampant did but I am willing to say whoever owned that horse needed to feed him more. Unless, of course, the horse is product of a famine. This theory can be contestable since the 1850s were a prosperous time for the US. That fact alone can explain why people call it a case of animal abuse, especially since they still use the poor animal to pull a sleigh. This last can be explained by the fact that not all horse owners could afford to feed the horse on oats and grains. Instead, the horse was grass fed, which doesn't provide enough nourishment for the animal in the winter. In that same time period, food tends to be hard to come by during winters (there are plenty of stories of people starving between Christmas and the Vernal Equinox), thus that fat the animal built up during the harvest season has burned of by that point. Also, in this time when people needed horses for transport, the horse would still be employed even if he were skinny. What's worse, the horse appears to have stumbled somewhere, possibly breaking some bones while getting his passengers in the snow. If the horse was badly hurt in the accident, the only solution would be to put the animal out of his misery, which we don't hear in the song. Instead, the singer advises young men to get a faster horse and "go it while your young." 
   So, for "Jingle Bells", the verdict is it is not a Christmas song, even if it has a catchy tune.

2. Winter Wonderland
   "Over the ground lies a mantle of white 
   "A heaven of diamonds shines through the night
   "Two hearts are thrillin' in spite of the chillin' weather.
   "Love knows no season, love knows no clime 
   "Romance can blossom any old time.
   "Here, in the open, we are walking and hopin' together."
   Thus opens the delightful song "Winter Wonderland." When you look at the song's lyrics, it fails to be a Christmas song because it lacks the mention of it. Instead, we are given an image of a young couple in love strolling through the center of town, or somewhere out in the countryside, in an old fashioned courtship ritual. In the days when even calling it a date was never an option, a stroll through the lanes was a method of courting for men and women, where they would talk on a few topics (filled with wit though always G-rated). On a good day, such couples would walk a few miles in this fashion, stop by the pharmacy for a coke or even eat in a restaurant, sit for a tit-a-tat on a park bench, and pick some flowers. During winter, making snowmen replaces flower picking.
   The idea of using the child's game of make believe in romance was not unheard of at the time. It is fun to be a little boy and a little girl again. This explains the line "In the meadow we can build a snowman / And pretend that he is (insert what they want him to be)." The most well known verse with the line has the couple pretend that he is Parson Brown. There's an interesting thing that happens in the northern states, where parsons would travel around (almost never finding a spot to settle) and would be in town for a day. One of the things a parson would do is marry a couple. Parsons are protestant ministers (I am sure if Dick Smith were Catholic, the couple would have pretended he was Father Brown instead). This bridge concludes with a kind of honeymoon by the fire.
   During the 1950's people actually thought the line wasn't appropriate for children so another set of lyrics added as an alternative. This time, the people walking pretend the snowman is a circus clown. They have "lot's of fun with Mr. Snowman / Until the other kiddies knock him down." While Bing Crosby's take doesn't include them, this one will often precede this coda: "When it snows, ain't it thrillin' / Though your nose gets a chillin' / We'll frolic and play the Eskimo way / Walking in a winter wonderland." Of course, recent political correctness either wants to replace Eskimo with Inuit or just remove the lyrics all together.
  "Winter Wonderland" is a delightful song to be sung from December to March but it is not a Christmas song. It's just a winter song. Now it can be sung on St. Valentine's Day as well as Christmas, due to the romantic image of the people strolling down the lane during winter and all.

3. Let It Snow

  Another song played in Christmas with hints of romance. The song is highly suggestive: who knows what the couple will do since "there's no place to go" and "the lights are turned way down low." However, the male singer, I'll use male in this instance, could be singing about how he'll miss the warmth of his lover's love, and the fire, as he goes outside to clear away the snow or some other action. However way you describe it, it's a fine song to sing in the winter. In fact, my mother told me a few times that it was on the radio, starting in the Christmas season and it kept airing on the radio all through St. Valentine's Day. The word Christmas is not uttered, there is nothing about Christmas of any manner or form, nor is there anything about the Nativity. "Let It Snow", even if it's popular in Christmas, is not a Christmas song. 

4. Baby, It's Cold Outside

   Each November and December, I turn on the radio for the Christmas station and hear Dean Martin sing this with his Ding-a-lings, sometimes with Martina McBride. There are times I do dream of being able to sing it in a duet with a lady. However, it is not a Christmas song because it fails to meet any of the qualifications. Like "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow", the song is only played in December because of its winter theme, which is not really a good reason.
   One thing that is pointed out by websites and videos is that there is a dark side to the song, which can be summed up as a man wanting his girl to stay home to wade out the storm and yet the girl wants to leave, prompting the man to tell her how cold it is, that the weather is bad, and finally that she is hurting his pride. Critics of today have considered "Baby, It's Cold Outside" to be a date rape scenario. At one point, the woman asks "Say, what's in this drink?" Of course, in the second verse, she does say "the answer is no", yet she gradually decides to stay the night in the house. What happens next depends on the man, who is called the Wolf in the lyrics. If he's ethical, he'll just provide the woman a place to sleep, even have her sleep in his bed while he takes the couch. He may even find a way to call up her family and let them know she's safe, assuming the phones are working. However, if he is unethical, and most people make him out to be, he'll take advantage of her.
   At the same time, the fact it was written by Mister Loessner with his wife suggests it was originally just be a playful thing between them. Not only that, a few values dissonance are brought to mind. People actually expected girls to be chaste and modest, thus would always be ready to turn down any offer the man throws her way or play hard to get if she is interested in him. The men, on the other hand, were encouraged to be persistent. If a man backed off, that implied he didn't see her as good enough for him. However, this didn't mean there were no stalkers around, who could just hear the word no so much that they start disregarding it. Today, in this casual hook up culture, men are expected to be eager for sex and yet respect a woman for saying "no", and if the woman didn't like the sex she could call it rape.
   For these reasons, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" shouldn't be labeled a Christmas song. Even if, in this current culture where people have condoms in their pockets, ready to sleep with someone at the drop of the hat, unless the girl says no, the song is still a good song to sing now and then. Besides, the wolf doesn't have to be the guy. There are some performances where the roles are reversed. I'm sure since everyone wants same-sex marriage there could be a same-sex performance of this song as well.

5. Deck the Halls

   I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, "whoa whoa, slow down! Wait just a minute! This is a Christmas freaking carol, sir knight! Why is it on the list?" I'll explain by the fact the song fails on the third qualification (lack of the word Christmas mentioned) and it fails on the second as well as the first. "Deck the Halls" actually centers on the pagan holiday called Yule.

6. Sleigh Ride

   This song is "Jingle Bells" moved into the 20th Century. Leroy Anderson never stated this to be a Christmas song, yet it is played frequently during the season. Apart from the The Carpenter version, there is not a single time the word Christmas gets uttered, nor does the song mention any Christmas tradition. The party that the singer mentions is actually a birthday party, though one wonders why would anyone want to stop at a birthday party when he is not invited. 

7. What Are You Doing In New Years Eve

  Good question. Unfortunately, I do not have an answer yet. Now if the question was "is this a Christmas song" then the answer is rightly forthcoming: "no." This is brought into the mix due to The Carpenters singing it in their Christmas album. The song is more about the singer who talks with someone (a friend or lover, I don't know), and asking what is he / she doing on this night. Because it covers New Years, it is not a Christmas song.

8. Auld Lang Syne

   This is a Scottish song that is often sung on New Years. Here in the United States, we sing it in Christmas as well as New Years (which explains why it is sung at the end of It's a Wonderful Life). Because of that usage, it has become listed as a Christmas song. In actuality, it belongs in New Years, even if the whole phrase is "Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years."

9. The Messiah

  There are parts of this composition of George Handel that fit one of the qualifications. That is mostly in the early parts of it. However, Handel didn't actually write The Messiah for Christmas. It was actually for Easter. You should also look at the libretto and you will notice most of the performance centers on the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. The only part of the Nativity that is included is the Annunciation to the Shepherds. The famous "Hallelujah Chorus" doesn't even happen in this part, but at the end of the Second Part, which features the Passion.

10. Frosty the Snowman

   The Littlest Angel, the Little Drummer Boy, Ebenezer Scrooge, Santa Claus, Old Man Winter, Jack Frost, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Saint Lucy, Yule Cat, and the Nutcracker Prince. All these characters are associated with Christmas in our society and in the 1950s, they were added by a walking, talking snowman named Frosty. However, the song cannot be considered a Christmas song because it fails on all qualifications (the animated special produced by Rankin / Bass changes the final line to "I'll be back on Christmas day", but that does not count).
  The song is instead about Frosty, being made by a group of kids, who are provided a magical hat, but the song doesn't say where it came from, and it made him come to life. The children love the living snowman but Frosty sees it's a warm day and decides to have some fun with them. The song ends a vague manner but from what we know, he may have walked out into the street, stopped on command of the traffic cop, and was hit by a car, just as he was melting (and this is why they tell you to look both ways before crossing, kids). The song doesn't tell us so, largely to not scare anyone or traumatize kids that their favorite snowman dies on the road. Instead, he may have made it to the other side only to melt away and before doing so, "he waved good bye saying 'don't you cry, I'll be again someday.'" Some singers make more by adding "because" as a bridge between the final verse and the cop saying "stop."
   If anything, it's a good song about something coming to life and a reminder to people, in the gentlest ways, that life is short and should be enjoyed. Of course, with Frosty being a snowman, one can ignore what could be interpreted as an implied reincarnation event in the last line. One last thing to add: the special titled Frosty the Snowman is Christmas, the song on which it is based on is not.

11. Good King Wenceslas

   For the eleventh entry, this was tough as it is a Christmas Carol, which means it should be added to the canon. However, because it doesn't center on the Nativity, nor does the word Christmas get uttered, the song has to be listed. As a Catholic, I view Christmas not as a day but as a season, starting on Christmas Eve and lasting until the Epiphany (January 6). The story of the song takes place on the Feast of St. Stephen, which is the day after Christmas Day (a fitting location on the calendar for Christianity's first martyr). However, the United States is not a Catholic country, thus Americans will always see Christmas as just one day. Not only that, because it doesn't take place in the Nativity, nor on Christmas day, it is erroneous to call it a "Christmas song."

12. The Bells of St. Mary's

   I will say that I enjoy the movie, as it is a classic, and, so far, the only time I have seen Bing Crosby with Igrid Bergman. The movie is considered a Christmas classic for only one scene, which is when Father O'Malley (Bing) and Sister Benedict (Bergman) over see a pageant by first graders. Apart from that, the movie is just a melodrama of a priest and a nun overseeing a school that is in need of a new building yet a stingy business man owns that new building.
  In the same token, there is no mention of Christmas in the song. Instead, "The Bells of St. Mary's" is more like a school song. It is sung by Father O'Malley with the nuns in one scene after Sister Benedict and the others have learned that they are going to have new school building. Despite the reference to Mary, the song doesn't belong in Christmas, just as the Ave Maria can be played or sung at any time of year and not just December.

13. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

   I'll admit I haven't heard this one yet but I can tell it fails to meet the qualifications. The song is apparently about the singer saying that he doesn't need much to keep warm, just love. It kind of goes on par with "All You Need Is Love". At no point is Christmas mentioned nor is it about it, though the word December is mentioned in one line. Once again, the winter setting is what confused many people and make them think of it as a Christmas song.

14. Linus and Lucy

  This ought to be the theme song to "Peanuts". Of course, we don't seem to have the lyrics to it which explains why it is hard to list it as Christmas. The only reason why they list it is because it was played in "A Charlie Brown Christmas", and like "Bells of Saint Mary's", the one scene is why people treat as such. "Linus and Lucy" can be heard in other "Peanuts" specials, especially Halloween and Thanksgiving. By popular logic, that should make it Halloween music or Thanksgiving as well.

15. Little Altar Boy

  Altar boy is an old school name for altar servers (with girls taking role in it, the Church got a little PC in one spot). If you attend Mass -- should a church actually have altar servers -- you would see them by the white robes they wear, they would be as young as seven and as old as sixteen, one of them would be holding the cross. They lead the procession to the altar at the start, then take their place at a different spot of the altar. They would hold the book for the priest as he reads, bring up the gifts, wave the incense, (in more traditional churches, they would ring bells as the priest consecrates the Host and the Chalice). Taking that aside, the song is actually consisting of the singer asking the Altar boy to pray for him / her. My guess, the singer has just taken Confession, or has some problem with sin, and with no one else to ask, the singer asks the altar boy. At no point is there any mention of Christmas or anything on Christmas.

16. Count Your Blessings

  Since White Christmas is a Christmas themed romance, the rule is that any song sung in it has to be Christmas. However, the only song that fits in that category is "White Christmas." The rest are just entertainment songs. This is one of them. By that logic, that makes "Tropical Heat Wave", "Blue Skies", "Mandy", and "Snow" as Christmas songs. If anything, "Count Your Blessings" is a better lullaby than a Christmas song.

17. Suzy Snowflake

  "Suzy Snowflake" uses the same key as "Frosty the Snowman", to a point that the notes sound the same. As with "Frosty the Snowman", "Suzy Snowflake" has no reference to Christmas. It's basically a feminine element like Jack Frost who drops by for the winter and doesn't stay long. Of course, Suzy proves to be creative in the few lines: "If you want to build a snowman / I can make one, two, three / If you want to go for a sleight ride / The ride's on me." What would be a creative idea for a Christmas song would be a meeting of Frosty the Snowman and Suzy Snowflake on Christmas.

18. Jingle Bell Rock

  With the film, Mean Girls now ten years old, I must bring this up, since it appears in the film, during the politically correct version of a Christmas show scene. Watch this if you want to see how the Plastics translate that song.
   A rock 'n roll version of "Jingle Bells", which uses the same themes but updated tones. Like most rock 'n roll songs, "Jingle Bell Rock" contains nonsensical lines and the use of the word rock. It even contains a reference to another song called "Rock Around the Clock." Would be useful in a 1950's themed winter party but it still doesn't make it a Christmas song. So the radio can still play it after Christmas.

19. Walking In the Air

   In the 1980's, the children's book The Snowman is made into an animated movie, which lasts only twenty-seven minutes, with almost no dialogue, save for the introduction, yet features this song sung by Peter Auty while the Snowman and the boy fly to the North Pole. Despite the song happening in a Christmas film, it has none of the qualifications of a Christmas song (I have noticed Chloe Agnew opened the first Celtic Woman concert with it but not the Christmas concerts).
   The story The Snowman is something like "Frosty the Snowman", minus Frosty. A boy makes a snowman on a winter's night, which implies to be Christmas Eve, and he comes to life without the use of a magic hat. They explore various things until the Snowman decides to fly to the North Pole with the boy and they encounter a land of snowmen and Santa Claus. The song is played as the two fly. At no point is Christmas mentioned. Like "The Windmills of Your Mind", the song feels more like a flying song and the singer reacting, or rather expressing the boy's reaction, to the flight. The only way it would be a Christmas song would be if it had some kind of intro verse.

20. A Spaceman Came Traveling

  An artistic reinterpretation of the Nativity in which a space alien visits Bethlehem and his visit causes a stir. That, and that it fails on the other two qualifications, is why I have it on this list.
   The Divinity of the Nativity is non-existent in the song. In "Silent Night" we know who the "mother and child" are which is something that this song does not. One would have to look into the notes to see. In some way, it implies the spaceman visited a different mother and child and everyone mistook it for Christ. The child is not even given much in the song but the use of baby is symbolic in  the song for other purposes. The visitor then announces that he must leave and will return in two thousand years, Earth time.
   As a Christian, I am reserved about the idea of shepherds and townspeople mistaking an alien spaceship for the Star of Bethlehem and the music of his space ship for the choir of angels, and thinking it to be a sign from God. Say what you will about primitive people reacting to the sight of a technologically advanced visitor but the idea that ET (and I like the movie about him, too) dropped by to see Christ and people used his visit to inspire the Nativity story undermines the beauty of the story and it denies the Divinity of Christ.
   The song can be good to sing on any other time of the year, and Lisa Lambe's take gives it a bounce, just don't sing it in a church.

21. Home For the Holidays

  Again, a song that is played during the Christmas season. When you look at the lyrics, you note there is no reference to Christmas. Instead, it's "the holidays." It's a vague term because the song can mean home for anything: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Memorial Day, Independence Day, or Labor Day. Since the words mention pumpkin pies, the holidays are in the winter and fall category, since most people tend to eat it in that time frame. If there is anything remotely Christmas of "Home For the Holidays" it would be the image of warmth of family and friends you know in a siege of an icy winter's chill. With travel costs, most will prefer to stay home, but that is often why people buy tickets weeks or months in advance. 

22. Over the River and Through the Woods

  This song was played in an episode of Shining Time Station, courtesy of the Jukebox Band. This, along with "Jingle Bells", was heard as most people expected it to be played on Christmas, though I cannot find any reason why. The song was originally a poem by Lynda Maria Child, where she was going to her grandfather's house for Thanksgiving. Evidence of this is the lines "We would not stop for doll or top / For 'tis Thanksgiving Day" and "Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!" The word Christmas is not in the original poem. Even though some people put it in in lines mentioned, it still doesn't make it a Christmas song because of its original intent. The only reason people would include it is the reference to snow. Historically, New England at the time was experience the Little Ice Age which made snowfalls earlier then than now. It does make a symbolic journey of hardships that we face, as evidenced by the river and the woods the singer goes through, until we come upon our home and are greeted with warmth and a banquet. In short, a journey into Heaven.

23. A Marshmallow World

  Hearing this song used in a Target commercial where a little girl pretends she's a modern day Alice going through Target Wonderland encouraged me to add this. The song is lovely, the kind that can really melt in your mouth the way actual marshmallows do. However, to call it a Christmas song is like calling a coke with high fructose corn syrup a sugary drink. It doesn't meet any of the qualifications of a Christmas song. It mostly is just the singer commenting on the snow filled landscape, how it resembles that soft white sweet that one toasts over fire at camp, often to make s'mores with. Never once is Christmas mentioned in the song.

24. Happy Holidays

  Yeah, I know. People are going to greet me with "Happy Holidays" anyway. In fact, long before I was born, Irving Berlin wrote a song with it. However, the song is not Christmas. Happy Holidays is a vague greeting that, by any respect, can be said on any holiday. However, most people don't wish it on Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Jr Day, or Easter. So why should Christmas be an exception? I don't know. That can be on another blog entry. As to the song, the song is short: though Andy Williams turned it into medley with "It's a Holiday Season" which mentions Santa on a few occasions. When looking over the lyrics of the song from the film Holiday Inn, the song is actually an advertising song for the inn that the film's plot centers on. Of course, advertising is common now in Christmas but that still doesn't make "Happy Holidays" a Christmas song.

25. My Favorite Things

  I'll end with "My Favorite Things". I do not know how this became a Christmas song since the song did not come from a Christmas play. The Sound of Music doesn't even take place on Christmas, but in the summer. The only reason "My Favorite Things" is associated with Christmas might be because of this lines, "Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eye lashes / Silver white winters that melt into springs..." For the most part, the song is about Maria listing a few things that make her happy in times of trouble, none of which include Christmas. Instead, it's treated as a folk song sung to the Mother Abbess, who joins in, and then Maria sings as she goes to the chateau to meet the Van Trapps. In the movie, she sings this to calm the children down in the thunderstorm. As delightful as the song is, "My Favorite Things" is not and will never be a Christmas song.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Food For Thought: Democracy vs Republic.


  How do you do,

  As head of a patriotic committee in my local assembly of the Knights of Columbus, I was asked to present something for knights who just came to the US to learn and think on. The topic chosen is rather the United States of America is a democracy or a republic. This topic was too good to pass up and thus I am including this in the blog. Why I put this is that most Americans believe that we are in a democracy. Very few say republic. In this blog, I am going to state and prove beyond reasonable doubt that our nation is less of a democracy and more of a republic.

Democracy

  What is a democracy? Democracy is defined as a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally in proposal, development, and creation of laws. The word "democracy" comes from the Greek word "demokratia", meaning "rule of the people." The concept is not Socialism, which is of a different matter. Just because the people are given a voice that does not make it Socialism. No, the matters of democracy are that the people would cast lots, or votes, to decide matters of law or decide who will serve the people.
    In a technical sense, any form of action that involves people casting votes is democracy. This happens  when a jury makes the vote to convict someone, or when cardinals elect a pope. The process happens when one of the persons, or matters, gets voted on by a majority vote (or in case of juries, by unanimous vote). This explains the phrase "rule of majority" when talking of democracy. If one were to vote in a measure it would need a large number of votes to be supported or opposed to go anywhere. Other wise, the measure will just stay where it is and become dead.
   There are definitions of "majority." The first is where the vote is solid, which is the unanimity vote. For example, it was decided by our founding fathers to make our declaration of independence vote be unaminous. If it was not, then our nation would not have come into existence. The second kind is the most common when a certain percentage is needed to count. It can be anywhere more than a half and less than all. In most cases it's three-fifths, or four-fifths.
   The example of finding democracy in history has always been to look to Athens.

Athenian Democracy

   More than 2500 years ago, Athens was ruled by a king. This king died and a new ruler came to power who turned down the crown. This ended the Athenian monarchy. During the 6th Century BC, Athens came under the guidance of philosopher and lawmaker, Solon. Solon came to power in a time of moral decline in Athens even under the guidance of its tyrants.
   Today, the word tyrant is synonymous with oppressive and authoritative dictator. The Ancient Greeks saw it as another word for monarch. Solon was partially related to one, Pisistratus, and was appointed chief magistrate, or archon. As archon, Solon made his reforms that set the stage for Athenian democracy. He introduced the Solonian Constitution and made it possible for Athenians of all classes to serve in the Ekklesia, which were courts. These reforms did away with the tradition of only Athenians of noble birth dictating the doings of Athenian government.
  In a short term, Solon's reforms were a failure but they inspired another philosopher in Athens. A generation after Solon came Cleisthenes. Cleisthenes came into the picture by overthrowing the son of Tyrant Pisistratus, Hippias. Determined to avoid the rivalry of tribes to lead to more tyrants, Cleisthenes set up additional reforms. In his reforms, the men who would rule Athens would not come so through their fathers but by the casting of lots by men. As a buffer against tyrants, Cleisthenes created Ostracism where by a vote a citizen who was a threat to democracy would be exiled.
  Cleisthenes called his reforms "insomnia." However, people who came after him called it "democracy."
  While the name implies that people have the voice in this matters, the democracy of Athens had some exclusions. In this time, only male Athenian citizens who owned land could vote. Everyone else did not have a say: not the landless Thetes, not the slaves, not women, and certainly not foreigners. Even with this, they stood out among most Greeks as having it, though since Spartans could remove kings made it less unique. Greek mythology is filled with scenes of democracy like actions: the twelve gods on Olympus casting votes on the entry of a new god, the kings of Greece over Helen, etc.
  Not everyone agreed with democracy or how it functioned. Such cases included the famous three philosophers who critiqued the notion of democracy. Socrates viewed it as not conforming to an ideal regime.  Plato, his student, wrote of democracy as "a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequaled alike" (Republic). Plato's student, Aristotle, had this to say: "one factor of liberty is to govern and be governed in turn; for the popular principle of justice is to have equality according to number, not worth...And one is for a man to live as he likes; for they say that this is the function of liberty, inasmuch as to live not as one likes is the life of a man that is a slave" (Politics). One could see what they mean for the parts of a democracy in which the majority rule can prove just as bad as having one with absolute rule over the masses. A common critique of democracy is "three hungry wolves and one sheep."
   Democracy in Athens only lasted a century. During the Peloponnese War, the Athenian Democracy collapsed and the rule of the 400 came to form, in what is called the oligarchy. They ruled until 410 BC when a coup restored democracy, by which point Athens was hanging by the ropes. Spartan victory insured the death of democracy and Athens was ruled by the Thirty Tyrants. These men saw Athens into the next year before they were overthrown and democracy was restored. Athenian democracy then lasted until Greece and Macedonia merged and all of Greece was ruled by King Philip. From this point on, Athenian Democracy was not restored. Greece became part of the Roman Empire and then Greece was inherited by the Byzantines. Even when Greece became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1831, democracy would not be restored in the region. Such was the history of the Athenian Democracy.

Republic

    A republic has become a commonly used term on a governing sovereignty that is considered good. Almost every nation that has come since the Enlightenment has sought to be a republic instead of a monarchy. In pop culture, we see republic used as either something to look back to with affection (like in Star Wars which features a galactic republic) or something to create in place of something detested (as in the case of The Amber Spyglass where the heroes seek to create a "republic of heaven"). Yet most people do not even know what a republic really is.
   A republic is a form of government in which the powers reside in the people and the elected government officials rule by law, rather than inherited or appointed. A republic has often been made synonymous with democracy, though apart from the way they function they are not.
   Another thing they have in common is they are based off of an ancient language. Republic is believed to come from the Latin phrase "res publica", attributed to Cicero and used by other writers, meaning "public affairs" or "public property." By this statement, where democracy has people partaking in the government, republic has the government be property of the people.

Roman Republic

   Like Athens, Rome began as a city state. Also, like Athens, Rome was once ruled by kings. However, five centuries before Christ, Rome saw a crisis that removed its king. The King of Rome was removed by a group of Roman nobles who then set up what became a liberated form of a city-state. The events of this were later dramatized in Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucretia and, incidentally, one of the men removing the king was named Brutus.
   The Roman Republic didn't immediately form the way most do. After the King of Rome was overthrown, the transition began with the election of kings, later consuls. They would elect two at a time as a way of balancing power. If one were reaching the limits, the other could put him in check. This was being tested when a crisis came a decade after the king was deposed. The Plebeians became alert to the concept of people taking part of the public good that this concept presented and used it by refusing to march against enemy soldiers. Instead, they seceded to the Aventine Hill. Negotiations were made and it was discovered that the Plebeians wanted to elect their own tribunes. The ruling Patricians agreed and the Plebeians fought for Rome. This led to the creation of that tribune, being the plebeian tribune.
   This led to a calm that last more than a century. During the period, in forty-nine years that followed, the censorship was made. Today, censorship is synonymous with suppression of subversive material. In Ancient Rome, this entity not only regulated morality but also conducted the census and oversaw the finances. An assembly of men was created to act as the legislating body, called the Comitia Centuriata (Assembly of the Centuries). Then in 367 BC, there was passed a law that led to the election of at least one plebeian aedile each year.
   From this work, the Roman government had a legislative body in form of the Senate, which consisted of old men, originally called patres, or fathers, and the government be led by two consuls, who check on each other during their terms. The Roman Constitution had a clause where should a crisis happen, one of the consuls would be granted emergency powers as dictator. When the crisis is abated, he has to return the powers, and the senate has the power to remove him if he fails. As dictator, a consul would have authority over the Roman Armies as well, as noted in the Punic Wars.

Where did they go?

    As mentioned above, the Athenian democracy passed away in wake of the Peloponnese War, was briefly restored and removed repeatedly until Greece was conquered by Rome. The Roman Republic died through internal forces. It began in wake of the Punic Wars where the patrician class continued to grow richer as the borders expanded while the plebeians got poor. It came to a point that most elected a consul who promised them a better economic situation, as well as work, as millions were out of a job. In 133 BC, Tiberius Gracchus became tribune and set out to distribute land to the landless. This did not sit will with the aristocrats. His co-consul, Marcus Octavius, vetoed his law that would make it happen. In turn, Gracchus impeached Octavius and the law was passed.
   Sadly, Gracchus was murdered for his actions. His brother, Gaius, was elected in the tribune and he set out to weaken the senate and bring in democratic powers to Rome. He took equites, or knights, and placed them in the jury courts in place of senators. He also passed the grain law and wanted to extend rights to the Italians, which drove everyone away. Gaius Gracchus then followed his brother out of office and into his grave.
   Then came Rome's war with Pontus under Mithridates VI and a dictator named Sulla was sent to fight him. The once unified Roman government was fragmented now and his rivals made it hard for him to defeat Mithridates. This led to him taking on dictatorship to make constitutional reforms. Then he resigned. Years later, Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompey Magnus removed these reforms and set up a triumvirate, with Gaius Julius Caesar as the third pillar.
    Caesar became the coup de grace for the republic's fall. He ended the triumvirate by turning on them, after winning a war against the Gauls. When a period of violence came on Rome, Caesar marched his troops to Rome, crossing the Rubicon, and drove Pompey from Italia. After Pompey's death, Caesar was dictator for life, passing more constitutional reforms to the delight of the people and consternation of the senate. In 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated in the senate.
    The moment that pronounced dead the Roman Republic was when his nephew, Octavian, followed him to power, creating and then dismantling the Second Triumvirate, and becoming the absolute ruler of the Roman Empire, with the name of Augustus. An effort to restore the Republic did come a few times but it finally crushed after Caligula's death and the ascension of Claudius.The new Roman Empire had a constitution just as the Republic. The senate still passed laws like before, the jury courts, the magistrates, and the patricians still held the top and the plebeians still worked. Yet, the main difference was the powers were now directed the emperor instead of the people. In the provinces of Rome, governors carried out the emperor's decree while the military enforced them all.
    After the Fall of Rome, the concept of Democracy and Republic were treated as relics of a pagan past in the west. In 930, the Vikings created an Icelandic Commonwealth that operated like the Roman Republic. This republic lasted until the 13th Century where it was made to be reunited with Norway. However, Iceland's senate, the Althling is still in work today. During the Middle Ages, there rose a host of such in Italy and Holland in what are called Mercantile republics. They were small and were controlled by merchant class families, in a time of feudal rule. Most powerful of them were Venice and Genoa, both of whom grew rich in the Crusades. They were under the shadow of the Holy Roman Empire, yet were able to be self ruled because of their powers. One case is when the Swiss Confederacy operated beyond the powers of the Habsburg dynasty. Novgorod and Pskov also became mercantile republics until they were conquered by Moscow.
    As to a democracy, the only known resemblance of it at the time could be found in the Catholic church, only in form of the election of popes. Unlike politicians, popes are elected for life instead of a few years. However, in the 13th Century, a group of nobles forced English King John to sign the Magna Carta which limited the powers of the king. This led to the creation of a parliament which could pass laws, levy armies, and make taxes, while the king, or queen, is gradually reduced to giving the final word in law. These examples don't completely resemble democracy but have planted the seeds of the modern democracy.
   The Protestant Reformation led to more cases of republics. The Calvinists republics appeared in Europe, such as the Dutch Republic and even the English Commonwealth, led by puritans. Republic and democracy really returned near the end of the Age of Enlightenment. First in France in 1789, a wave of liberalism went through Europe, breaking or ending the hold of absolute monarchy and leading to formation of liberal republics. This era of such ended when Napoleon became Emperor of the French and all of Europe united to defeat him. Yet while the flames of the two died in Europe, they expanded into Latin America in the 1810s and 1820s. Some of the Latin American nations became free as empires, such as Mexico and Brazil, and only became republics later. In the 20th Century, China became a republic after ending its thousands of years of a dynastic rule, as did Portugal with a socialist government. Near the end of World War I, Russia became one also following the abdication of Czar Nicholas II. This led to an explosion of republics all around the world, some with democratically elected governments like the US and others with socialist governments. Some become so through revolutions and others through decolonization. Even in the Middle East, there are republics rising up. Except for Israel, and those who have monarchs in charge, they are all called Islamic republics, which have the banners of such while using Islamic rhetoric and Sharia laws.
    Even with Calvinism, materialism, socialism, or Islam, these republics carry on the DNA of the Roman Republic, and where ever there's democracy, there are people breaking break with Athens. Each one of them has a constitution, each one has an elective legislation, each one has a consul (or president), and each one has ways of keeping a balance in power. Some of have also gotten dictators.

 Conclusion: Which of the two is United States of America?

    After this background information, let us look at the United States of America. When our founding fathers sought to be independent of Great Britain and make their own country, they looked to Athens and Rome for guidance. Of the two, Rome was the one most looked to. Like Rome, the United States has a constitution and multiple branches of a government. Yet, in 1787, the American equivalent of the Patrician class (being white, landowning, males) could vote. The modern plebeians: the women, the poor whites, the African Americans, the foreigners, the Native Americans, could not. This exclusion is similiar to that of Athenian Democracy. This has changed, as explained in the third paragraph.
   When one looks at the definition of a democracy and of a republic, the blanket statement of the US being a democracy needs inspection. The only place in the US that resembles democracy in its true form is whenever people vote, being in election of a politician or making decisions in meetings. Of course, people concede and use the phrase "representative democracy." However, in looking at the definition, the US does not really act as a democracy. Even as people vote in a person for office, the Electoral College makes the final decision on the candidate, which sometimes has been be controversial. As to the definition of a republic, the US gets in more points. The United States government consists of three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial), all operating under the guidance of the constitution, and with all but the justices of the Supreme Court being elected for a set of years called terms. That while everything the government does or says is a "public affair." When adding these factors, the conclusion is that the United States of America is a republic. It doesn't hurt to add that the song is called "Battle Hymn of the Republic", not "Battle Hymn of the Democracy", nor does the pledge say "And to the Democracy for which it stands."
   In both models, the United States is currently updated. In Athens, only free-born Greek citizen men could vote. Today, it is total suffrage for any US citizen to vote: all he or she needs is to be at least 18, be a citizen for a set number of years, and not imprisoned. Athens had method of preventing tyrants called Ostracism, where men who are threats to democracy are exiled. Today, the US merely impeaches politicians who abuse their powers and when the politician leaves office, he is allowed to live in the country though his name is sometimes ruined. In Rome, tribunes were set up between the Patricians and the Plebeians. Today, both the Senate and the House consist of members who speaks for everyone. In Rome, the elective legislative body was composed of the Senate. Today, the US has the congress consisting of the senate to speak for a state (consisting of two per state) and the House of Representatives who speak for the population (with each voting district represented by a single congressman) In Rome, two consuls were elected, who were granted the powers of a dictator during a crisis. Today, the US has one president and a counter measure called checks and balances are set up so that not one branch can be above the other. Instead of another consul to bring up impeachment, it is the Senate that votes on the articles. One important difference is in the constitution. The US has added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution during the early days, all of which guarantees the government will not infringe on your rights or make laws that do. It's important because neither Athens nor Rome included a Bill of Rights in their constitutions.
   Thus concludes this food for thought. You do not have to take my word for it, you can type "democracy", "republic", "United States", etc into that search engine up in the upper right hand corner, and you can also look into your local library on the topic.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Food for Thought: Knights and Knighthood

  How do you do,

  This blog post is for anyone who has noted the title and wondered "what the heck is a southern knight?" Some may have looked it up on google or yahoo and found a link or two to some white supremacist web page. First, I'll assure that despite similar titles, I am not associated with the Ku Klux Klan. I am actually in the Knights of Columbus. Second, the blog's name is due to the fact that I am a knight in the latter of the two mentioned and Southern by Grace of God.
  The Knights of Columbus, for anyone who wishes to know, is a product of the 19th Century New England that is still currently in full vigor today (I know, a Southerner is a member of a northern organization. Ironic). It was founded for Catholic men, by a New Haven priest named Father Michael J. McGivney. It largely worked for the community of immigrants from Catholic countries, providing care of widows, and those whose income makers died or lost jobs. In a time before all these welfare programs that are payed by the government, the Knights of Columbus took care of anyone in the community who could not. The reason they chose Columbus is based on Christopher Columbus, the Italian born explorer who discovered the New World for Spain in 1492. There's additional information provided in these links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Columbus  and Knights of Columbus.

  As to knights, the ideas of what a knight is may have changed in recent years. The Knights of Columbus handles community affairs and found raisers for the church. Yet, there was a time that knights had a different purpose. Once upon a time, knights were warriors. The word knight comes from the Old English "Cniht", which resembles the Germanic word "Knecht" which meant "servant" or "bondsman." In short, a knight is a servant of his lord, one who is allowed to hold a sword. Most of the none-English speakers had other names for knights. In German speaking lands, he was called a "Ritter." In France, he was a "chevalier." In Spain, he was a "caballero." Chevalier and caballero are based on the word "caballarius" which is Latin for "horseman." This should be no surprising as knights are often depicted on horses. 
  The Roman Empire had created a class of men called Ordo Esquestris, an order of mounted horsemen. These served as the bases of such horsemen who rode across Europe during the Middle Ages. However, it was the Franks who perfected the appearance of the knight. Interestingly, they weren't called knights, at first. With Latin still be spoken, many called them "miles" (pronounced "MEE-les", not "MY-L's"). Two such evolved in the Middle Ages: the "miles gregardi" and the milites nobiles.
   While we may have the romantic image of the knight, the early knights in Medieval Europe were thugs on payroll of their lieges. As they serve their respected lords, a knight was forbidden to inflict harm to his lord's kin or house. As enforces, they could go in and see out a decree, which sometimes became violent. Anyone who resisted knights found themselves at the end of their swords. When wars did happen, the knights would turn their attention away to whoever their lords was at war with. 
    During the reign of Charlemagne, efforts were made by the king and the church to curtail such behavior. This leads to chivalry. Knights were expected to be more than brave but also courteous. They were to show respect to the ladies and to defend the helpless. Religion was brought in and knights would hear of lectures from clergy over relics and pieces of the saints. There was one who was Lord of Lords and King of Kings and to Him would they serve allegiance to the most. That one they were told to serve was God. As servants of God, they were to defend the helpless from injustice. The helpless were defined as women and children, especially the widow and the orphan. Examples of chivalry not only mentioned scripture but also La Chanson de Roland, Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, and Ramon Llull's Book of the Order of Chivalry. Knights were expected to be active in times of peace which explains why they spend time jousting in tournaments, hunting in the woods, and holding round tables (the last may serve basis of the King Arthur legends involving the Knights of the Round Table). Knights were not just warriors by now, but they were also poets and song writers. They would write out in verse on many topics and would dedicate them to a lady. Sometimes he sang them himself. Sometimes, he would allow the minstrels to sing it. 
    As to the ladies, the romantic notion of the knights and his lady is half of the picture. A knight would have a lady to dedicate his exploits to and he would hold her up on high esteem. This soon evolved into courtly love. Now, this courtly love is one sided, as the ladies tend to be married or from a higher class. Of course, it rarely mattered as a knight would defend her honor if anyone infringed upon it. 
   Knights are depicted in popular media as loners, the prototype of the cowboy in armor, but knights tend to be accompanied in all their journeys. They traveled with their steeds who could be considered their best friends. They also had squires, young assistants to the knights who aided him when he was wounded and held his weapons when he wasn't fighting. Squires were the only people who could hold intimacy of the knight in a world where social rank and honor determine how much one could converse directly with one another (even if they always address them as "sir"). Knights often had one squire, but those rich enough would have two. On many occasions, a knight traveled with other knights. When three or more knights come together they form an order. This is how we get Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller, Teutonic Knights, Order of the Holy Sepulcher, and Order of Saint Lazarus, and many other knightly orders spawned during the Crusades. 
   Many of these knightly orders were devoutly religious, some having members who took vows of celibacy while serving. This is why the five mentioned are called Monastic orders as well as militaristic. The rest of the orders are Chivalric orders, like the Order of Saint George and the Order of St. Michael. While most orders used religious names, some adopted names of animals and plants. There was even an Order of the Dragon. 
   With this aside, let us look in on how one became a knight. The journey into becoming a knight involved years of hardship and training. Most who joined were sons of noble families (anywhere from royal families to lesser nobles) who left the care of their parents at age seven to become a page. Pages were the boys seen running errands in a castle in popular images. They waited on their lords and took care of the stables where the horses were kept. When they weren't working, they were studying. Pages were taught manners from a group of ladies and sports from the various men in the castle. They were also taught religion from the clergy. When the page reached of age, he was made a squire who experienced the more brutal training. He journeyed with a knight everywhere and rarely got any comfort out of it. Squires sometimes were put in training grounds where they were supervised by professionals. They would go out at using swords, waving axes, and other fighting tactics. They were taught how to charge without holding the bridals on their horses.While they do this, squires learned how to do combat on foot as well, often in mock duels with other squires. They learned how to laugh at cuts and bruises, shrug off going for long periods without food, get use to sleeping in their armor, and many other extremities. Yes, many squires died in this training but most died from diseases instead of brute force.
    Besides dying, there were some men who never got knighted. Some would live their whole lives as simple squires. This meant they would be the assistants trailing behind a knight forever. Squires could defend themselves and their knights if it were necessary, though this was very rare as knights could not attack squires, unless provoked. There are some squires who prefer to remain mostly due to little responsibility that comes with being a squire. But there comes a time that a squire becomes a knight.
    In the early days, squires got knighted for doing something great in service of his knight, often in a pitch battle, and thus they got the tap on a shoulder told they were knights. The knighting ceremony became more common in the later Middle Ages. The candidate for knighthood was chosen and was placed in a chapel for vigil over his arms. For an entire night, he stands watch. Then, the next morning, he undergoes the sacramental routines and is dressed in white after a bath. He is then directed to the hall of the castle for a ceremony called "Accolade." The knight-elect swears allegiance to his monarch, or lord, in the presence of others. He does so on his knees with a left hand on a held sword, which is held to resemble the cross. The German tradition has the candidate be given a sword, to show the minor now at of age. He is then reminded to draw only in defense of the right and to protect the weak. This then leads to the famous moment that everyone is familiar with.
    Historians do not agree on what came first or what was used most. All we know is that the moment the candidate is made a knight comes in different forms. Most famous, used in romantic portrayals, has the monarch tap the candidate on the shoulder with the flat part of the sword. It would be a tap in one side and then the head and then the other side. English monarchs would say "In name of the Almighty God, of St. Michael and of St. George, I dub thee a knight." French kings had a variant in the early stages where the king would bestow the shoulder gilt and then kiss the candidate on the left cheek. Another was the blow, or colee, in which one received a blow on the side of the skull, often enough to knock someone down. These were intended to make one remember his vows. Once the moment has passed the new knight will rise, not by the command of "arise, sir..." (In my personal thoughts, this moment is always the favorite in looking over the ceremony and it often gives me chills).
    As soon as the knight stands, the monarch places on the insignia, while additional people would place on the spurs. Thus, the knight is presented to the crowds who cheer. In the later Middle Ages, the accolade is followed by a feast with the new knight, or knights, as the center of attention. In France, the new knight would be given a fief as well.
   Not all have something with so many people watching. As evidenced in the film The Kingdom of Heaven, when a king, or any titled aristocrat, is dying and his son is still squire, the knighting process is either sped up or conferred on him, as squires cannot be king. If a clergyman should become a knight, which was rare, he is not given the blow and swords are not used. In fact, he is not dubbed.

   Today, with knightly orders that were common in the Middle Ages gone, the practical use of knights as soldiers is replaced in this age of the machine. Knightly orders are purely social affairs, almost like an elk club with titles. Most that welcome men in develop kinship among them. The rituals of knighthood are something of a trade secret, only held behind closed doors. The Knights of Columbus are no exception. I will say anything of the Knights of Columbus but I won't say how I advanced to Fourth degree, or how the entry ceremony goes. If you wish to see the ceremony, join the Knights.
   While one cannot see these knightly ceremonies, people are given some picture of it in Medieval fairs. The knighting ceremonies used are fanciful and rely on fantasy elements instead of reality. In fact, most people don't even have to go through being squires to be knighted. There are also organizations where the knights are just actors in costumes, only there for purposes.
   Knights do still exist besides Knights of Columbus and Medieval Times. Every year, the current crowned heads of Europe will knight a man, or woman, in an honorary fashion, just as one does here with Kentucky Colonels. Most famously documented are the Brits. Once only nobles could be knighted, now anyone could be: authors, soldiers, diplomats, inventors, actors, etc. Knighting is not only exclusively for men in Europe. Women could be knighted, though instead of sir they get dame. In some occasions, the knight does not even come from the kingdom. While the tapping of a sword on the shoulder is still done the insignia is now changed to a medal that is wore around the neck.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

1776 (film): Review and Commentary


   Welcome to the first of the movie and TV show review and commentaries. In honor of Independence Day, I have selected 1776.

  1776 is based on the Broadway musical that was made in the late Sixties, with the bi-centennial anniversary of the Birth of the United States speedily approaching. It was conceived by Sherman Edwards and presented as a musical melodrama set against the backdrop of the creation and signing of the Declaration of Independence. It premiered in 1969 which was quite a year to premiere any musical on the topic. In that year, the US was still in Vietnam and the war was appearing to not be going so well; the public was questioning the moral support of the war especially after it was revealed that a group of America soldiers were involved in the My Lai Massacre; at the same time, bombings were done in Laos and Cambodia. Nearer home was less tranquil. This was the year of Woodstock and Altamont Free Concerts, both of which were attended by Hippies and radicals. One concert celebrated peace and love but the other resulted in chaos and murder. Politicians lost favor or saw their names blackened by actions, such as Senator Ted Kennedy fleeing the scene of a fatal accident. The only good thing to happen in 1969 was that a man walked on the moon. 
  The rights to the musical, which did modestly and won the Tony Award for best musical, were eventually sold to Columbia Pictures. Jack Warner, formerly of the Warner Brothers Studios, became producer of the film adaptation that came out in 1972, another year filled with history making events, some of which involved questioning all things American. In 1972, Richard Nixon reelected by a landslide and his involvement in Watergate would be revealed later; diplomacy was opened with China while the Vietnam War continued on; during the latter, a Vietnam vet hijacked an airplane to extoll $500,000 while Jane Fonda was seen entertaining enemy soldiers; Alabama governor George C. Wallace survived an assassination attempt while running for presidency; Supreme Court declares capital punishment unconstitutional; and Apollo 17 landed on the Moon, becoming the last landing of a manned spaceship there.
   Given the way the events were happening when each premiered it's no wonder that one might call it the patriotic medicine that was sorely needed. The irony of such a statement is the fact that 1776 is not about patriotic flag waving or the red,white, and blue. It's actually about sedition and insurrection of a group of men from an empire. From this insurrection comes forth the American nation. So, in a time when people sought to remove the US Government from power was going rampant and everyone saw himself as a modern day patriot, this movie that features protagonists who plan, plot, and conspire to dissolve their association with a corrupt government stroke a cord with the audience. It does seem that since this time period, the Framers have become either a bunch of racist, rich, white men who refused to pay their share of taxes and rebelled against a King only to keep women and African Americans enslaved, deny votes to poor men, and steal land from Native Americans; or role models used in a fantasy of being in insurrection against the surrogate Great Britain and the British King. I, myself, plea guilty to always imagining myself in this role each time I see something that appears to threaten my rights to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." But what these men actually went through is not a fantasy but a reality. They knew that it won't end with the end of the fantasy but with lives changed, if they come out alive, or end with them answering for it. To quote John Dickinson in the movie: "Between the fish and souffle, you'll find yourself hanging from an English rope."
   Both the musical and the movie boil it down to John Adams, played by William Daniels, is frustrated at Congress not granting a proposal on Independence and that he is disliked in Congress, and thus employs the help of a few fellow congressmen to make it reality. Richard Lee, played by Ronald Holgate, proposes it but the opposition, led by Dickinson, go to great lengths to downgrade, disregard, and down vote the resolution. So, to aid the stalled vote, Adams decides that a declaration is needed and a committee is formed where Thomas Jefferson, played by Ken Howard, is commissioned to draft. Unfortunately, Jefferson would rather make love to his wife than write the paper which frustrates Adams even more. Meanwhile, depressing news from the front, told through an off-screen George Washington, read by Secretary Charles Thomson, played by Ralston Hill, appear to convince the Congress that independency is a far off dream. When the declaration is brought forth, the Congress goes through to tear it apart to the consternation of Adams and Jefferson, with the greatest blow coming from the South over slavery. Yet with encouragement from Adams' wife, and from Benjamin Franklin, played by Howard Da Silva, Adams pulls through and makes moves to get Congress to vote. The Congress adopts the resolution and signs the declaration, and the rest is history. 
   The music in 1776 has some of the flavor of patriotism, also like that of The Music Man. The opening introduction has notes that resemble "Yankee Doodle", yet it's actually the song "Lee's of Old Virginia," later sung by Lee. In the theatrical cut, and the video cassette tape of the film, this was only played at the end, but it was restored in the DVD to its location, along with the opening montage which is charcoal sketch of a group of men and women. The faces belong to various members of the crew and some of the cast, according to the commentary. This location puts the credits in the opening, where the other version had it happen as Adams walked down the stairs. 
    One commendable thing Jack Warner and director Peter H. Hunt did was to not recast the film the way most occasions happen but instead use the original cast of the musical in the movie. The reason to do so is that these actors are already familiar with their roles and thus there is no need to have to get them to learn the role out. If you look at the cast list of the musical and find the cast list of the movie on IMBd, you can see that about half of the cast is in both locations.
    William Daniels plays John Adams, as mentioned in the summary. You may recognize the name if you are a fan of Boy Meets World where he plays George Feeny. He was also in The Graduate where played Benjamin's father. He plays a frustrated and foul mouthed John Adams, though the real deal is supposedly milder. Apart from these, Daniels is the quintessential John Adams. Howard Da Silva plays Benjamin Franklin. Da Silva had also brought a Broadway character to life before. In 1943, he was in the premiere of Oklahoma! where he was the villainous Jud Fry. Da Silva's Franklin is a contrast to his Jud Fry. Jud Fry is menacing, bullying, and can ruin everything he touches; Franklin is loveable, humorous, gentle, and wise. This sort of thing proves the dynamics between the two. Daniels is fussy and insulting while Da Silva is patient and wise cracking. The only time that Franklin actually gets angry at Adams is when the latter questions his stance on slavery, and it's the only time Franklin does not utter blasphemy or profanity. He says it best on the matter of dealing with his colleagues: "These men...are not clerks to be ordered around; they are the cream of their colonies...rather you like or not, they are a part of this nation...either you learn how to live with them or pack up and go home!" 
   Ken Howard plays Thomas Jefferson and he creates a quiet, reserved, yet determined Jefferson. He is shown brooding also, almost like that of a teenager. He has to be forced into doing the declaration when no one else can and he doesn't work on the declaration for most of the time. A fan of Boy Meets World could look at the scene when Adams checks up on Jefferson and think "Mr. Feeny's gonna give him an F." Then, when he does speak, it's enough to cause silence. 
   Another musical alumni include David Ford as President Hancock, Roy Poole as Stephen Hopkins, William Duell as Andrew McNair, Ralston Hill as Charles Thomson, Ronald Holgate as Richard Lee, and Virginia Vestoff as Abigail Adams.These people are placed as secondary characters, practically stock characters, who show little to no character growth, in opposition to the main three. Lee is shown as someone who is hopped on his last name that he adds it to almost every word. He even gets a song for his family. This boisterous version of Lee doesn't match up with history but it does provide a lot of gags, including his last line: "Therefore, I must decline, respectful-lee." Similarly, Stephen Hopkins is shown as a hard drinking, foul-mouthed man who claimed to be the oldest man in Congress, until reminded by McNair. This is opposite Thomson who resembles an 18th Century school master. Next to him, President Hancock comes out as a stressed out president who complains about the heat and the noise. At least he is the referee in the debates. Then there's McNair who serves the Congress in making the room better for Congressmen and running their arrands. He is shown with an apprenticed youth who has no name but is called A Leather Apron in the cast list. Both are basically stock characters to represent the working class groups. 
   The musical and the movie is largely dominated by men, since women were not elected in Congress at the time. As a result, there are only two female characters in the story, Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson. Of the two, Abigail is the only one who can be considered a female protagonist though she has only three scenes. Abigail can also be considered the strong female character, even if she does not have a scene in Congress. She is strong because she runs the farm with her husband gone and she is the only character who can subdue Adams, as evidenced in "Piddle Twiddle and Resolve". She is also listed as a romantic heroine for the same reason and both have their love song, "Yours, Yours, Yours." 
    While the alumni of the musical was casted, newer faces were introduced for the movie. Donald Madden was cast as John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, next to musical alumnus Emory Bass as James Wilson. Madden brings in a dominating Dickinson, opposite Bass' meek Wilson. The two carry on as the villain and minion archetype, where Wilson hangs in Dickinson's shadow. Wilson is portrayed as reserved like Jefferson, yet wants to be taken seriously, even seconding Pennsylvania's motions. Dickinson, however is more of a leader, even being the leading man during the "Cool, Cool Considerate Men" number. Recast for another antagonist is with Edward Rutledge, now played by John Cullum. Cullum's Rutledge is sneaky and doesn't seem to do much except when slavery comes in. In a scene that was cut but restored to DVD there is a moment where he reveals that he does favor independence but not the way the others do. Interesting how he is not the main antagonist as he becomes the man who nearly derails the debate. 
    The Delaware delegation is portrayed as a squabbling trio. We find patriot Col. McKean played by Ray Middleton, who speaks with an over the top Scottish accent. Next to him is loyalist George Read played by Leo Leyden, who portrays Read as effeminate compared to the militarist McKean. The two make up the right and left sides of the political spectrum with patriot Caesar Rodney, played by William Hensen, in the center. Rodney is portrayed as sickly, even though the actual Rodney was robust. Another newcomer is Blythe Danner as Martha Jefferson. Danner, in real life, is the mother of Gwyneth Paltrow. In the movie, she portrays Martha as being all aglow from her love making with Jefferson and sings gaily of his violin skills. Knowing Danner's brother also plays the violin makes the song seem squirmish. In actual history, Martha Jefferson never visited Philadelphia, as she was recovering from a miscarriage. They also weren't newlywed as the story implies. They were married for a few years and already had two children. Martha also died prior to her husband's presidency, which makes the line "When Heaven calls to me / sing me no sad eulogy / say I died loving bride / loving wife / loving life" very moving.
    As mentioned, the character growth happens with the main three but it can spread out to the others also. John Adams starts out as an old fuss pot and complains to all. When he is talking with Franklin, he treats him not as the sage we know and love but as an underling. Basically, Adams is the leading man in this show, and the star, and thus is shown given the treatment of a star where he starts out acting like center of attention. Benjamin Franklin has to show him that he is but a small part of the larger story and get others to help. First to come in is Richard Henry Lee. Adams doesn't like losing the spot light, hence his sarcastic line "incredible, we're free and he [Lee] hasn't even left yet." In a scene cut from the film, and not restored, Adams expresses doubts to Franklin on the man and practically calls Franklin an idiot, evidenced in this scene cut from the film but not restored on DVD: Lee's of Old Virginia.  Then, when Congress assembles, he vows that he is going to take over if Lee does not come. Evidently, he is yet to learn to trust others. One believes that this is why he is "obnoxious and disliked." 
    Adams continues this during the debates, raising his voice in emphasizing his points while Dickinson tries to keep calm and then proceeds to start a fight at being called "lawyer." He even tries to rush the newcomer Reverend John Witherspoon on his stance. However, when he comes to propose on postponing the vote, he has troubles formulating the words right. This action is enough to make one want to feel for him. He then goes into another disapproved mode by guilting the reluctant Jefferson into writing the declaration. When Jefferson expresses that he is still writing, Adams practically kicks him in the gut by calling him "Virginia's most famous lover." He has set up an unrealistic expectation of Jefferson by demanding he could do what only God could do, create something grand in a week. "The entire earth was created in a week." His obnoxiousness goes high when he finds Franklin napping and rudely wakes him up. He later disregards morning greetings the next day, sits outside Jefferson's apartment (an action that would warrant a restraining order today) when the latter is at work, and he pushes Chase, who he rudely interrupted his meal earlier, with his cane out the door when he goes up to New Brunswick. 
    By the time he comes back, one would wish Adams would just "sit down." He insists that the bird be the eagle, and gets his way, and then he becomes Jefferson's self appointed mouth piece during the editing of the declaration. When the South brings up slavery, Adams attempts to attack the Southern preference to the economy, which leads to Rutledge call the North out on hypocrisy of slavery and walks out, a sort of foreshadow of the South leaving the Union in the Civil War. Finally, he gets a brow beating from Franklin who reminds him of what he had been trying to get him to learn from the start that his colleagues are a part of what he is making and he has to learn to be along side them. He then talks with Abigail who encourages him to continue his work. By the end of the story, Adams is more subdued and more willing to work with others. 
    If Adams' character growth offers anything it is one of the many themes of 1776, being there is strength in unity. Another theme is shown through the character growth of Jefferson and Wilson. In both, we see two men who stand in other people's shadows: Wilson stands in Dickinson's while Jefferson has Lee. In the only time we see Lee in Congress, apart from "Sit Down, John", Lee does all the speaking for Virginia while Jefferson only speaks once. In fact, both Jefferson and Wilson have the speaking issue. Jefferson doesn't like to speak ("I had hoped the work would speak for itself.") and is quite satisfied at letting others speak up. This is opposite of Wilson who longs to speak up but is intimidated too easily. Thus, both men are shown as being manipulated by their respected peers.
    Jefferson does develop a backbone in the story. First it comes from trying to back out of the writing of the Declaration, first case of which has him silenced and the second has him forced into writing. He then goes in and writes, though needing more pushing from Adams and loving from his wife. He appears to not do anything after it is written and allows a revision to be applied, but he finally stands up to someone when Dickinson brings on the issue of King George being called a tyrant. By saying he does not consent, he is showing that he intends to not sit down and let people speak for him anymore. He also stands up to Rutledge during the slavery issue, though when the latter reminds him that he is a slave owner, Jefferson almost appears to back down. In a shaky voice he says, "I have already resolved to release my slaves." (In history, Jefferson didn't free them). His final standing comes when Adams brings up the issue of the right word in the second paragraph. For the first time, he not only stands up to Adams but he refuses to yield and Adams withdraws it, though he "will speak with the printer on this." Contrast this to a scene that wasn't restored where Jefferson daydreams during Adams' speech, We will more than compensate with spirit! At the start, Jefferson would rather be with his books and his wife but in the end he is the patriot we know him as.
    Wilson's standing up is not as developed. He attempts at standing at first but does it wrong. When asked to take a chance, he sits down. Basically, Wilson was letting people control him during the drama. This even proves the useful tool that Adams and Franklin use to sway the Pennsylvania Delegation. Wilson, not wanting to be remembered for anything, stands up to Dickinson and makes his vote known. Thus, both Wilson and Jefferson have the theme of being willing to stand for one's principals, otherwise be controlled, being demonstrated.
    Even the film's antagonists, Dickinson and Rutledge, go through some trial. Dickinson operates as the  main adversary to independence, which is ironic as he was also among the signers of the Constitution. Rutledge is a secondary, yet enough to make Franklin say "look out" when he speaks. Because he calls out the Northern hypocrisy on slavery he almost derails the independence debate. Interestingly, Rutledge is given a bone by having the offending paragraph removed. Afterwards, Rutledge votes yay, as does Joseph Hughs, delegate of North Carolina. Rutledge also signs the Declaration, which makes one wish to view him as a hypocrite (ironic as he attacked others as such). Dickinson, however, refuses to sign but he redeems himself by saying he was going to join the army and fight for freedom. This justifies the applause he gets as he leaves.
     Other characters exhibit growth. Most known is Dr. Lymen Hall, new Delegate of Georgia, who doesn't say where he stands on the question of independence. When called to vote, he only swings in favor of the nay-sayers (including his fellow Southerners) because he doesn't know if representing the people means relying on his judgement or theirs. He is even present during "Cool, Cool Considerate Men" and walks out with the South. However, he returns, after remembering a quote from Edmund Burke, and votes yay. Hall's developing is that he goes from following the crowd to thinking for himself.
   For a few years, I have watched this movie on VHS, but I did get it on DVD, eventually, which included parts that I had not seen on video. While the DVD restores a few scenes, some parts are still out. For example, this is the whole number "Piddle Twiddle and Resolve." Piddle Twiddle and Resolve (extended)The extended number features an example of what the Congress would rather focus on and it features an anachronism, as dollars weren't the currency at the time. In actual time period, the charge would be slightly more than twenty pounds.
    The DVD does restore other things. It includes Rutledge's questioning of the fate of the states, Franklin proposing a joke to compensate the lack of manpower ("increase and multiply"), Martha talking to Adams and Franklin through the window, which seems an echo of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, Col. McKean bringing up the issue of the Scots being mentioned and arguing with Read on the words "in many cases", and a few others. The movie was rated G when it premiered but some of the added material made it raised to PG, which included the moment in a heated argument, Hancock cries out "Christ, it's hot!" But no other restoration deserves attention more than the deleted number, "Cool, Cool Considerate Men", which will be taken on in the music review.
    Humor and wit walk hand and hand in 1776. Many of the silly gags are provided by Benjamin Franklin. For example, when Dickinson asks if there was a problem with being an Englishman, Franklin says that being called so without the rights as an Englishman is as insulting as "calling an ox a bull. He's thankful the honor but he would like restore what's rightfully his." "When did you first notice they were missing, sir?" counters Dickinson. The joke is that an ox is a castrated bull employed for draft. The things that are rightfully the bull's are his testicles, of course, thus the reason why Dickinson's remark is just as funny. He infers that Franklin has no balls, if you will, and that Franklin has been ignorant of the fact. Later, when informed that his son is arrested, Franklin asks "why did they arrest the little bastard?" Bastard is a word thrown around by men to refer to men they have fallen out of favor with, just as women use bitch to each other. A bastard child is a child born out of wedlock. So, this phrase has both meanings, as Franklin acknowledges that his son was born out of wedlock and that they had fallen out of favor with each other. At the prospect of hanging, Franklin makes his famous quip: "if we do not hang together we shall assuredly hang separately." Franklin remarks on not knowing Plato had been to Philadelphia is also funny as there was a Greek city called Philadelphia, currently by another name in Turkey. Franklin's suggestion of compensating America's manpower is a joke because it implies the manpower will be equal if we have more babies. Of course, in order to have more babies, one has to have plenty of people willing to make them, and that is not always one hundred percent of the population.
  Another bit of humor is not provided by Franklin but by the officers of Congress. Thomson calls for Hopkins only to find him missing. McNair then tells him that Hopkins has gone to the outhouse (this was before indoor plumbing was installed) so Thomson says "Rhode Island passes." Right there, you got yourself a fart joke, and the only one I laugh to. In "Cool, Cool Considerate Men", Hancock asks rhetorically, "traitors to whom, Mr. Dickinson? To the British Crown or the British Half-crown?" Prior to this number, the Congressmen laugh at Witherspoon for having an aunt in New Brunswick and Dickinson implies her to be a prostitute by saying "tell her to keep up the good work." McKean is willing to use a gun to "break the tie." Then there's him comparing him and Read when it comes to hanging, noting the latter "will be dancing a jig long after I am gone." Even Adams and Jefferson use double entendre on two occasions. First Jefferson says "but I burn, Mr. A." and Adams replies "so do I, Mr. J." causing everyone in the room to be shocked. Later, when he calls Jefferson "Virginia's most famous lover", Jefferson replies with "Virginia abstains." This last is done all the time by Lewis Morris, which angers President Hancock to no end. "Why must New York constantly abstain?" he asks once. Of course, this ventures into jokes that center around sex. Later, he writes a note to Adams saying "I am taking my wife back to bed, kindly go away, your obedient T. Jefferson." Franklin provides one by saying "At my age, there's little doubt the pen is mightier than the sword." (just put the words pen and is together and guess what you get).
   One funny incident is not in the original Broadway show: the Fire Wagon scene. This was intended to be the entrance of Lee returning and it also gives the audience something to cheer at. It is funny to see the Congressmen run after the wagon as if they were children and watch it go off while debating on what was burning.
    Finally, we come to the music. 1776 is a musical film and thus there is songs and dancing involved. The first number is "Sit Down, John" with the Congress telling Adams to shut up and sit down. A debate comes in the song on opening up a window, with one end saying there's too many flies but the other says "it's hot as hell in Philadelphia." But when Adams butts in, they all unite and say "For God's sake's, John, sit down!" "Piddle Twiddle and Resolve" looks like an appeal to God combined with Adams' ranting. The first lines appear so as Adams is looking up to Heaven while singing. Afterwards, he is not. "The Lee's of Old Virginia" is a good number to march to. One funny moment is that when Lee sings "May my horses turn to glue", the horse brushes his nose on Lee's coat. Who knows what the horse was thinking. For some strange reason, Adams is shown removing his coat and performing the rest of the number without it. The ride off was obviously done with a stunt double and the way the actor held that last note was done in pre-production recording. That's the thing with musicals, they are almost never done with actors singing in the camera but lip-synching to recordings done prior to filming. This becomes the last number until "But, Mr. Adams" which is a period of about forty minutes.
   Adams and his wife have a single love song that is broken in pieces. The first is called "Yours, Yours, Yours" which is done in style to "Piddle Twiddle and Resolve" and then in tune to "Till Then." The latter is the second part which reviews the longing between the two. The pastoral of them walking down the farm, by a horse, then a lake, really makes it a perfect love scene. The Jeffersons don't get a love song but Martha sings "He Plays the Violin" which includes a moment when they dance a waltz, something not done in 1776. All of these are gentle harmonies in a show filled with either rousing or depressing tunes. "He Plays the Violin" is chalk full of sexual humor: "I'm always undone","My strings are unstrung", "I hold Tom and his fiddle", etc
   The number cut from the film was called "Cool, Cool Considerate Men" which is something to wonder on how it got cut. President Richard Nixon was supposedly offended at the lines: "Let us dance together to the same minuet / To the right, ever to the right / Never to the left; forever to the right." Personally, I like the tune, even wanting it to be the anthem of the Knights of Columbus. Speaking of anthems, the song opens and closes with the opening notes of "The Star Spangled Banner", and includes the notes in the chorus. This song is followed by "Mama, Look Sharp" which starts out as being narrated by a dying soldier and then the soldier's mother. The song is foreboding with its theme of death lingering. "The Egg" is next, when Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson, sing of America being born. The song, believe it or not, was among the last songs written by Edwards in the Broadway production, inspired by the image of an eaglet breaking out of an egg with the Union Jack, while flying the Betty Ross flag in its beak. Symbolism is done in the last number "Is Anybody There?" where Adams likens his march to that of the Crossing of the Rubicon. Images of fireworks and pomp are given in the lyrics. This stands contrast to horror brought on by "Molasses to Rum." Rutledge gives us a tour de force into the Atlantic Slave Trade, called Triangle Trade due to it going at three points. The song does not include a stop in Europe where the material is sent to make goods, some of which is sent to Africa. However, imagery that the words give are enough to one wish it were not so. The camera is then pulling back from Rutledge at the end of the song as though the hopes of Independence was sailing away, as the producers commented. The movie does not include a finale to send people on their way. Instead we get the bells ringing and seeing the men sign the Declaration.
    There were more than a hundred men in Congress at the time but the musical had to cut it down to size to fit the stage. The movie adds a few men but they are just background characters. Reverend Witherspoon enters with two additional men, for example, but neither speak or sing in the movie. When the signing does happen, they only call up one man from each colony.
    1776 is truly a three dimensional film. Peter H. Hunt had the camera film the actors, in a few scenes, at every angle in one shot, practically going around them or following them as they walk around the room. Normally, movies are filmed with the actors in front of the camera which had a legion of crewmen behind. If the camera turned a certain way, those crew might get filmed. In 1776, the camera will turn 180 degrees and we don't see the boom guy, the script caller, the light operators, the best boy, the coffee girls, or the director. Not only that, it's filmed on a track, which is kept hidden from the audience. This means the camera can go onto the stage and film at every angle and not film the crew by accident. They don't do this trick anymore, sadly.
    That's 1776, the musical film based on the play of the same name. It may not be historically accurate and it runs on cliches, it does provide plenty of humor, plenty of entertainment, plenty of suspense, and plenty of tension.Thus, 1776, for all its historical inaccuracies, will still be a good classic.