Some Arts Thoughts (TV, Books, Film)

Friends: I have been watching Friends regularly (including episodes on DVD) for a few years now. I still find some episodes and parts of episodes enjoyable. Some episodes, for some reason, are not run on the Nick at Nite rotation. They appear to generally be on TBS, which I do not pay much attention to (during the day) and I'm not aware of episodes being skipped on CW/local (NYC) Channel 11.  NYPL now has Season 1 on DVD.

[I also watched the series some when it was on though stopped -- as I recall -- when they had a to me forced bit leading up to the Chandler/Monica engagement.  But, watching it again in full a few years ago brought up various new things.  Plus, the DVDs provide bits, including the endings of episodes that Nickelodeon usually cuts, not on the reruns.]

For instance, in the Fourth Season, the very good "Chandler in a Box" (Thanksgiving) and "Joey's Dirty Day" (which introduces Emily) are not shown for some reason. I was annoyed, therefore, the latter was corrupted on my library DVD copy and I could only watch a few minutes. The Fourth Season provides Jennifer Aniston in particular multiple times to show her comic chops. 

Book: I saw Can We Talk About Israel: A Guide for the Curious, Confused and Conflicted  in the White Plains Library.  It is written by Daniel Sokatch, CEO of the social liberally minded New Israel Fund. The book provides a history of Israel basically from the mid-19th Century (with an introduction referencing ancient times) until 2021.  The second half then covers various disputes, such as Israel Arabs, settlements, and so on.  

The liberal minded Jewish writer has a point of view which basically matches my own without the special Jewish connection.  Still, I think the book as a whole (clearly with a point of view) covers a lot of ground in a fairly neutral way.  And, it is a brisk read with useful asides and an appendix to clarify various terms.  It is a good way to get up to speed. 

[There was a lecture in history on C-SPAN this morning that talked about the 1930s.  It turns out to be from a class at Bob Jones University, but other than a couple vague references, you wouldn't know that was the audience. I also see that university -- infamous for once banning interracial dating --  is in South Carolina.  For some reason, I thought it was in another state.]

I would just note one thing that stands out for me. Settlements are a poison. Now, maybe like some poisons, we are somehow stuck with them. But, they are poison to the peace process.  Settlements expanded like locusts (or wildfire if you want) with hundreds of thousands on a chunk of the West Bank.  There were much fewer in Gaza and Sinai, allowing Israel to get out of each (in a fashion).  How can you have a "two state solution" with settlements dominating a majority of the land in the West Bank?  

Finishing, also one thing not really covered in depth (though it is sorta alluded to) is the controversy about how "Jewish" the  country should be.  That is, specifically, the power of religion in a state that is in theory still one that honors freedom of religion.  And, some conflicts between more secular Jews and those who support more strict rules. This probably warranted its own chapter in the "issue" section. 

A basic issue is marriage.  Check out this FAQ:

With very few exceptions, Israeli civil law does not permit marriages between Jews and non-Jews within the state of Israel. The Israeli government will recognize marriages performed between Israeli Jewish citizens and non-Jews that are performed outside of Israel. Israeli law does permit marriages in Israel between converts.

They do recognize marriages that occur outside of Israel.  It is sort of like New York before Obergefell  recognizing same sex marriages while not actually performing them. And, what about marriages in occupied territories involving people not actually Israeli citizens?  This might be the most blatant case, but there are other issues where the power of religious leaders and religious groups (such as exemptions from military service and extremists in settlements) are controversial.

Academy Awards: Today are the Academy Awards, but (only partially) because of COVID, I have not actually been in a movie theater since early 2020.  I have not seen these movies and only want to see a few (The Ricardos being one that I might like).  As I noted in the past, the Academy Awards used to be much bigger for me.  Now, it is not really for me. 

I saw some of the Tammy Faye movie on DVD.  I think Jessica Chastain did a pretty good job, but got bored with it.  Cyrano (the big nose guy one if this time by a small guy) also looks interesting.  One best film nominee, Drive My Car (first time I heard of it), also sounds intriguing.  But, again, don't know or really care about these films. 

[Jessica Chastain and Drive My Car (for foreign film) both won.]

Perfect Pie: I was searching names and an early film of Rachel McAdams (The Notebook etc.), which also has another favorite of mine, Alison Pill also in a small role, popped up.  The two play the adult two women as teenagers.  This clip, which doesn't easily come up when I tried to attach it to this post via the video search option, is pretty good.  

A comment explaining the clip notes the two adult actors also played Susan in the television versions of the Robert B. Parker novels.  I actually watched some episodes of the series (if not the t.v. movies) and read many of the books (the character continued by others after the author's death).  

The books, and the author wrote this once in an article, was more "macho" than the series.  That isn't too surprising.  It did a better job than the V.I. movie, with Kathleen Turner simply not appropriate (if doing okay) for the role.