June 2009

–An announcement that Britney Spears will star in a concentration camp romance arouses the ire of German Jews–Britney Spears is slated to appear in “The Yellow Star of Sophia and Eton” the working title of a film about a concentration camp romance and many Germans Jews are up in arms. The Central council of Jews in Germany is horrified that someone like Britney Spears will be making a holocaust film. The president, Charlotte Knobloch, said” In films that deal with the Holocaust, the script should be carefully chosen and the cast picked with care…ethical considerations should have priority.” Her objection brings up what looks to be an underlying question, who owns history? Isn’t history something that belongs to every human? Can anyone lay claim to it and order how it shall be portrayed? I am no particular fan of Britney Spears and her brand of commercialism. To my mind her way of handling her career contributes to the vulgarization of our culture. Nevertheless she has the right to star in a story set in a concentration camp just as Ms Knowbloch has the right to criticize the film whether or not she opts to go see it.

–The NYT initiated a news blackout about one of their reporter held hostage by the Taliban—A New York Times reporter has just escaped the Taliban after having been held hostage for 7 months. The NYT asked news organizations to not report on the item because they said it would endanger his safety. So for the last few months there has been no word about his kidnapping or his fate. Since his freedom, however, there has been discussions about how much freedom the press is to have, how did dozens of organizations covering news manage to agree, was there really cause for a news blackout, does a news blackout hurt anyone, was it warranted in this case, why was it abided? Of all the questions raised, thus far at least, no one has raised what may be one the most important one, why was a journalist treated differently in the press than any other hostage, any aid worker, UN official, doctor, or citizen being held hostage? Why does the life of a journalist appear more valuable than that of any other hostage? Why wasn’t there equal treatment? Asking the right questions is usually a prerequisite to getting the right answers.

–Thinking about internally displaced people or those who go hungry can help us gain perspective on our own lives—Two U.N. reports are worth noting. The first tells us that one sixth of the world now goes hungry, more than a billion people. The second draws our attention that there were 16 million refugees and 26 million internally displaced people uprooted by conflicts such as those in Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Somalia, a total number which is up from the previous year. In addition the displacements are being protracted and people can’t go home or can’t go back for longer periods of time. When one considers that these numbers translate into people, into families, into individual lives including children, those who are ill or elderly, the impact acquires a dimension of realism. It means people who are homeless, under threat of the elements, the future, political forces, people who undergo a number of deprivations, indignities, humiliations, whose lives are in perpetual danger, who have no access to basic necessities let alone simple pleasures. That realism can in turn be applied to our own lives. It’s not a matter of being Pollyana, nor even an exercise in gratitude. It is a means to put our lives into greater perspective and perhaps arrive at better conclusions about our problems. These people have real hardships. Do we? And if we don’t what does that say about us?