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This blog is the work of an educated civilian, not of an expert in the fields discussed.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Warm Springs

And Also: A footnote in the privacy battles is a case involving a threesome that was photographed, Lovisi v. Slayton. This made it not "private" any more according to the majority, but the dissent (correctly) noted the activity was none of the government's business all the same. One dissent offered the term "personhood" or "those attributes of an individual which are irreducible in his selfhood." But, we say things are "private" all the time that aren't secret. Like who we marry. Still, I like the term. It hits to a core matter at hand.


Warm Springs was on HBO recently. I missed the beginning, but found the rest very good. It concerns FDR's struggles with polio (Wikipedia notes it might have been something else) and some of the behind the scenes activities in his life (including involving Eleanor) as he regained his composure at Warm Springs ... a mineral resort that was also the location of his death. Though the history should be taken with the proper degree of dramatic license salt, it overall is quite a fascinating snapshot, with interesting characters.

Louis McHenry Howe (played by the great character actor, David Paymer) is a newspaper man who hooks himself to Roosevelt and provides important support, even during the dark years of him struggling with the disease. Wikipedia tells me that he was known for his "ill health and diminutive appearance." He was also important in helping Eleanor Roosevelt* develop her own public persona, the movie suggesting at first as way to put the family name out there with FDR temporarily out of the picture. This was a core aspect of the film, as one review notes, the film shows the man behind the legend with "flaws, doubts and vulnerabilities"

Warm Springs (Georgia) was run by Tom Loyless, an outspoken newspaperman, who got in some trouble for speaking out against the Klan. It was owned by George Foster Peabody, the philanthropist who founded the Peabody Awards in broadcasting. Loyless dies of cancer fairly early on, but FDR eventually buys the property. The Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation is still active at that site. Another interesting character (played by Kathy Bates) is Helena Mahoney, who comes in as a physical therapist, and eventually helps FDR "walk" (leaning on others) with the help of his sons. As noted, this was not a solution, except "politically."

The film does not just have good acting but also a good sense of place, including poor rural America in the 1920s, and a nifty early example of adaption to handicaps (what is the best word?) -- a hand operated car. It was a oyster in the dull clams of movies on cable. A charm, I guess, of the enterprise.

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* Though she might not look the part, Cynthia Nixon (the true actress among the Sex in the City gals) does an excellent job, while Jane Alexander plays FDR's mom ... years back, she played Eleanor herself. The whole movie gave me flashbacks to Voyagers!, a silly time travel show, that once had an episode on helping FDR get back into public life.