Cabaret: "I don't care..."

[amicus]

Listening to Glen Beck this afternoon...as he was talking about the Weimar Republic in Germany, the collapse of the economy, the legalization of prostitution, and he mentioned the film, Cabaret. with Liza Minelli, if memory serves...and this song came to mind.

Because the song reflects the moral turpitude of people without hope, without dreams, without aspirations of improvement, it reminds me of this forum and the moral state of mind expressed or bemoaned by most.

See if you agree:


I don't care much,

Go or stay,

I don't care very much

Either way.


Hearts grow hard

On a windy street.

Lips grow cold

With the rent to meet.

So if you kiss me,

If we touch,

Warning's fair,

I don't care

Very much.



I don't care much,

Go or stay,

I don't care very much

Either way.



Words sound false

When your coat's too thin

Feet don't waltz

When the roof caves in

So if you kiss me,

If we touch,

Warning's fair,

I don't care very much.


~~~

I remember not liking the film because of the deadly plunge into amorality, when nothing mattered, nothing was right or wrong, and getting through the night was an accomplishment...

Sad, sad song and film...(Which should qualify it for the National Registry)

Amicus

 

[Stella_Omega]

You're right, this forum is full of horrible people.

You should leave before you become horrible too.

 

[JackLuis]

You have to remember that some films, and stories are about exposing the danger of cynicism and despair.

They aren't meant to be "This is the way it should be." More like, "see how degrading and hopeless despair is when you're German?"

 

[sr71plt]

When you're German between the two World Wars.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Ami is pissed off because Elton John has more money than he ever will.

 

[amicus]

You have to remember that some films, and stories are about exposing the danger of cynicism and despair.

They aren't meant to be "This is the way it should be." More like, "see how degrading and hopeless despair is when you're German?"[/QUOTE]

~~~

That is a thoughtful commentary, JackLuis, thank you.

However....(sighs, here he goes again...) I have a different perspective of what Art is all about, which will come as no surprise to anyone, I am sure.

I would suggest a reading of Ayn Rand's, "The Romantic Manifesto" for a more complete exploration, but I perceive all forms of art to function as inspirational and uplifting.

In the depths of the Great Depression in America, can you guess which businesses flourished as all others were failing? Movie theatres, dance halls and big band music; people wanted to put aside, if just for a few hours, the trials and tribulations of life.

I suppose that is a two edged sword, as, "Come to the Cabaret. my friend, Come to the Cabaret..." was also a way to escape the realities of the moment.

But in America, the movies were Judy Garland and Shirley Temple and the music made one want to dance and smile and pinch a cheek or two.

There is a dark-side to some aspects of art, laced with Nihilism and Existentialism; the loss of faith and rejection or disgust at the human condition.

I get preachy at times, I guess, having steered eight children to maturity and wondering how Kiss and Korn and Heavy Metal, had any value at all...rebellion, I guess.

I am a Romantic, I write Romance stories, albeit more explicit than the romance genre used to be. I have only one story, I think, "Tiffany", that didn't have a happy ending...but...that was to be Part One, and Part Two remains unfinished.

How do you approach your first paragraph as you write? I can see how some might write to 'educate' as you imply, but to me, Art is Entertainment.

?

Ami

 

[TE999]

'Cabaret', both stage and screen versions, illustrated the condition of the German societal soil in which the seeds of Nazisim waxed lush and flowered. It's human nature to gravitate towards any person or system that offers hope where none exists.

A warning for us all.