It's a delight, Alison, to read of your support of Am Lit, despite my not
agreeing with your choices. The delight's like what happens when you dis
your child in front of friends and they join gather round with strong
defense of the little monster----it's a lovely singular joy to the parent.
Best,
Judy
2009/8/11 Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]>
> Hi Judy
>
> I've never been accused of being pro-American before. Let me savour the
> moment.
>
> Yes; certainly from the outside, it always seems that the US is
> self-obsessed. They subtitle Australian films (!), while we negotiate
> the plethora of American accents without bother, being properly
> colonised. They remake everything - Tarkovsky, Kurosawa, Shimizi, The
> Office - in their own image. Terrifying illiteracies and a bizarre
> propensity to believe in the Literal Truth of the Bible, very puzzling
> to Australians. There are true elements in what you say; but
> dismissing everything of worth in consequence seems rather, well,
> adolescent.
>
> I can't think of any culture in which the entire population is
> composed of literary geniuses (which it sounds like you're complaining
> about). And most writers of any quality are working against the grain.
> That's a given. It seems graceless to dismiss the brilliant energies
> that emerge from the US and which have so invigorated other cultures -
> where would European noir film be, or modern British or Australian
> poetry, or rock music, without the Americans? Admittedly, some of your
> best artists have had to leave the country in order to find the
> recognition they deserved. But that happens in Australia too. At the
> moment I am totally addicted to HBO television, which is the most
> exciting in the world. (I'd say your theatre culture is pretty fucked,
> but there are honourable mentions there too - Foreman, the Wooster
> Group, Richard Maxwell and all those - yawn - usual suspects).
>
> Slashing self hatred is as blind as self aggrandisement. Or so it seems to
> me.
>
> If you can't see that The Crucible or Death of a Salesman are great
> plays, maybe that explains a lot. I have my reservations about Miller,
> but there's no arguing that he and O'Neill - and Williams, who is far
> from yawn - reinvented tragedy. That anyone can think August: Osage
> County is on the same level maybe speaks to your bitterness about
> contemporary culture. But hey, a country that produces sensibilities
> as interesting and diverse Carson McCullers or Charles Olson or James
> Baldwin or Susan Sontag can't be all bad. In my most humble opinion,
> of course.
>
> Earnestly
>
> xA
>
> --
> Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au
> Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
> Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com
>
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