tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/anniversaries-39449/articlesanniversaries – The Conversation2022-11-17T13:27:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1917312022-11-17T13:27:40Z2022-11-17T13:27:40ZWhy the re-release of iconic porn film ‘Deep Throat’ fizzled<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495448/original/file-20221115-23-7wrxw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C8%2C1745%2C1127&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Linda Lovelace starred in 1972's 'Deep Throat,' which kicked off porn's golden age.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/deep-throat-poster-us-poster-art-linda-lovelace-1972-news-photo/1137256251?phrase=deep throat&adppopup=true">LMPC/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1972, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068468/">Deep Throat</a>,” a feature-length porn film directed by Gerard Damiano, was hailed for moving pornography into the mainstream and beginning a golden age of theatrical porn. </p>
<p>To mark the 50th anniversary of its release, <a href="https://damianofilms.com/deepthroat50/4k-restoration">a restored high-resolution version</a> was released earlier this year. Yet outside of a few screenings in New York City, <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/06/10/deep-throat-still-hard-to-swallow-on-50th-anniversary/">most U.S. theaters expressed little interest in showing the film</a>.</p>
<p>As the editor of the essay collection “<a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/pornography/9780813538716">Pornography: Film and Culture</a>,” I’m not surprised by the relatively muted fanfare to the re-release. </p>
<p>To me, it’s a sign of how much pornography has changed during the past 50 years.</p>
<h2>‘Stag’ shorts in ‘smokers’</h2>
<p>Film pornography <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520219434/hard-core">has a long underground history</a>, going back to “stag” shorts in the silent film era, which for decades were screened in “smokers” – named after the all-male audience that gathered to watch the films together and smoke cigars.</p>
<p>In the late 1960s, pornography moved into theaters in porn districts in cities like New York, and these places remained male-dominated settings. The films initially were feature length and while they lacked traditional narratives, many of them had various forms of narrative structure. The 1970 documentary “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178315/">Sexual Freedom in Denmark</a>,” for example, used educating the public about Denmark’s liberal censorship laws and red light districts as a pretext to screen explicit scenes featuring hardcore sex.</p>
<p>Films such as “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315949/">He & She</a>,” also released in 1970, featured a young, attractive heterosexual couple. Similarly, this film fashioned itself as instructive <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3704912">in the tradition of marriage manual books</a> but used erotic hardcore pornography to teach the ins and outs of various sexual techniques. </p>
<p>Many other films with now-forgotten titles from the 1970s featured different couples simply having sex. But even those productions often had a loose narrative structure. </p>
<h2>The rise of ‘porno chic’</h2>
<p>“Deep Throat,” which stars pornographic actress Linda Lovelace, tells the story of a woman whose clitoris is in her throat. Because it was a feature film centered on female sexual pleasure, porn started being seen as somewhat respectable. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A billboard advertises 'Deep Throat' as a can't miss theatrical release." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495460/original/file-20221115-11-i3e6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495460/original/file-20221115-11-i3e6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495460/original/file-20221115-11-i3e6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495460/original/file-20221115-11-i3e6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495460/original/file-20221115-11-i3e6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495460/original/file-20221115-11-i3e6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495460/original/file-20221115-11-i3e6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Deep Throat’ brought porn into the mainstream.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/theater-marquee-advertises-the-film-deep-throat-starring-news-photo/2884111?phrase=deep%20throat&adppopup=true">Arnie Sachs/CNP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When “Deep Throat” premiered in New York in 1972, the response was enthusiastic, giving rise to the term “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/10/deep-throat-at-50-linda-lovelace-porn-mainstream">porno chic</a>.” Movie stars, theater directors and composers embraced the film. Critic Roger Ebert, though he panned the film, <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/deep-throat-1973">called it</a> “the first stag film to see with a date.”</p>
<p>The norm in pornography had been for viewers to simply enter and leave the theater whenever they wished. Starting times were not even listed in newspapers. With “Deep Throat,” however, couples stood in line waiting for the next showing to start. This was, for many couples, their first foray into porn theater districts. </p>
<p>The film is said to have ushered in porn’s golden age, and classics such as “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068260/">Behind the Green Door</a>” (1972), “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075018/">The Opening of Misty Beethoven</a>” (1976) and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075018/">Barbara Broadcast</a>” (1977) soon followed. These films had comparatively big budgets and told stories with central characters. The production values were high, with good lighting, composition and editing. </p>
<h2>The home viewing experience</h2>
<p>But by early 1980s, theatrical porn had fallen by the wayside, and home video porn took off. </p>
<p>Homes created comfortable viewing environments for women who felt alienated from – and threatened by – the so-called theater “raincoat crowd” that one female porn film performer <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1dszzbk">described as</a> “isolated men masturbating under their coats.” Now women – and men who were also turned off by the movie theater atmosphere – could watch those same movies from the comfort of their living rooms.</p>
<p>The rise of digital, streaming porn further upended the industry. Feature-length films were replaced by low-budget, comparatively short videos, with no narrative. They often centered on kinks or simple sexual fantasies – feet fetish videos or skimpy narrative premises such as sex between realtors and their clients. </p>
<p>Sometimes longer versions are available for pay, but these often simply feature extended sex scenes rather than plot or character development. Streaming porn on the internet effectively ended the production and exhibition of features. Porn theaters and video stores – where customers could watch porn films in private viewing booths – have become relics of a bygone era.</p>
<h2>The re-release lands with a thud</h2>
<p>The response to the re-release of “Deep Throat” was so muted that very few people probably even know that 2022 is the 50th anniversary of the film’s initial release. Movie theaters didn’t show it and most of the media didn’t cover it. A high-resolution restored DVD is unavailable, nor is it streaming.</p>
<p>Although he acknowledged today’s appetite for digital porn, the son of director Gerard Damiano, Gerard Jr., seemed to pin the blame on Americans’ puritanical approach to sex. </p>
<p>Americans are “very skittish about talking about anything that has to do with sex,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/10/deep-throat-at-50-linda-lovelace-porn-mainstream">he told The Guardian</a>. “People today are so afraid of anything sexual because they don’t know what to do… There’s not a lot of sex positivity and we’re hoping to reintroduce that with this film.”</p>
<p><a href="https://nypost.com/2022/06/10/deep-throat-still-hard-to-swallow-on-50th-anniversary/">In a separate interview</a> with the New York Post, he noted, “Europe is much more receptive to us. We couldn’t find a U.S. venue that was comfortable showing the film.”</p>
<p>But in my view, saying Americans are skittish about sex doesn’t explain the box office failure of the re-release of “Deep Throat.” The current porn industry was neither built on skittishness nor fear of sex. A quick visit to Pornhub disabuses that notion. </p>
<p>Pornography is a genre much like others with a complex and changing history. It is not one fixed thing: It is not always dangerous, evil trash; nor does watching porn make people sexual perverts or worse. <a href="https://nbc-2.com/news/2021/01/12/heres-how-your-porn-habit-could-be-helping-human-sex-traffickers/amp/">While such serious issues</a> as sex trafficking and sexual abuse have arisen in the porn industry, similar problems have also plagued Hollywood involving high-profile figures such as <a href="https://people.com/tv/kevin-spacey-controversy-timeline/">Kevin Spacey,</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41594672">Harvey Weinstein</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/60-women-accused-bill-cosby-his-conviction-had-been-considered-n1272864">Bill Cosby</a>. </p>
<p>The re-release of “Deep Throat” may have ultimately collided with the #MeToo movement. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ordeal-by-Linda-Lovelace-1980-01-03/dp/B01FKWZ9QC/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1BXQCWJI87IFB&keywords=Linda+Lovelace&qid=1668567351&s=books&sprefix=linda+lovelace%2Cstripbooks%2C170&sr=1-5">In her highly publicized memoir</a>, lead actress Linda Lovelace described being physically abused at home by her husband, who worked as a production manager on the film. She also wrote about feeling coerced on set while shooting the sex scenes. </p>
<p>That aspect of the film’s legacy – more than any sort of squeamishness towards sex – could have also contributed to the reluctance of theaters to screen it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Lehman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The son of the director has argued that Americans are still too squeamish about sex to fully appreciate the film. A porn scholar disagrees.Peter Lehman, Emeritus Professor, Film and Media Studies in English, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1930062022-10-27T12:27:53Z2022-10-27T12:27:53ZThe first televised World Series spurred America’s television boom, 75 years ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491965/original/file-20221026-21-k03uax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C59%2C3898%2C2780&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An estimated 3.5 million Americans viewed the first televised World Series at bars, restaurants and storefronts.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/crowd-watching-world-series-game-on-tv-set-in-window-of-news-photo/515248870?phrase=crowd gazing in window at television new york&adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRi6iZAl-I">desperately waving at his home run to stay in play</a>. Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kirk Gibson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZzGkoXlaTM">pumping his arms</a> as he hobbles around second base after muscling a home run off Dennis Eckersley, the Oakland A’s dominant closer. The ground ball hit by New York Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpyJjecJnuI">skipping through the legs</a> of Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner. </p>
<p>Some of the most dramatic images in World Series history are ingrained in the minds of baseball fans thanks to television coverage. This year’s World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros will surely bring another timeless highlight to the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/03/2021-world-series-ratings-braves-astros-game-6-draws-14point3-million.html">12 million or so viewers</a> expected to watch. </p>
<p>Yet the first 43 World Series weren’t televised at all. It wasn’t until the 1947 series between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers – 75 years ago – that fans could watch their favorite players duke it out on screen. </p>
<p>As I detail in my book “<a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bison-original/9780803248250/">Center Field Shot: A History of Baseball on Television</a>,” which I co-authored with Robert Bellamy, the telecasts became a sensation. They drew millions of Americans to a new medium at a time when there were no national networks, only a handful of stations and somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 TVs in the entire country.</p>
<h2>Negotiations go down to the wire</h2>
<p>In August 1947, the television industry anticipated a possible all-New York World Series: The Yankees had a huge lead in the American League, while the Dodgers also held a substantial one in the National League. </p>
<p>If the two teams met in October, New York’s three television stations – run by NBC ABC, and the now-extinct <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/DuMont-Television-Network">DuMont</a> – decided they wanted to cover the games.</p>
<p>But the rights to televise the games were held by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mutual-Broadcasting-System">Mutual Broadcasting System</a>, a radio network that had no television division. Thus, Mutual would need to farm out the coverage to one or more New York stations. </p>
<p>Although no national television network existed at the time, NBC, DuMont and CBS did have the means to link stations on the Eastern Seaboard through a combination of coaxial cable, microwave and over-the-air broadcast transmissions, expanding the potential audience for the World Series. The Series would air on eight stations in four markets: New York City, Philadelphia, Washington and Schenectady, New York.</p>
<p>While the Yankees-Dodgers series materialized, the televising of the Series almost didn’t. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Boy hawking souvenir programs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491966/original/file-20221026-21-dnupqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491966/original/file-20221026-21-dnupqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491966/original/file-20221026-21-dnupqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491966/original/file-20221026-21-dnupqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491966/original/file-20221026-21-dnupqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491966/original/file-20221026-21-dnupqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491966/original/file-20221026-21-dnupqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Broadcasters got their wish when the New York Yankees faced the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1947 World Series.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-ny-yankee-and-dodger-fans-are-jamming-the-yankee-news-photo/515585048?phrase=boy%20selling%20souvenir%20programs&adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The predictable stumbling block was money. Baseball commissioner <a href="https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/chandler-happy">Albert B. “Happy” Chandler</a> wanted $100,000 for the television rights to the Series. Gillette, the sponsor of the radio coverage on the Mutual Broadcasting System, balked at the steep price given television’s limited penetration – only 50,000 to 60,000 U.S. households owned TVs at the time. The radio rights to reach the nation’s 29 million homes with radios had cost Mutual only $175,000. </p>
<p>Initial negotiations produced an offer of $60,000 from two sponsors: Gillette and the Ford Motor Company. New York’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liebmann">Liebmann Breweries</a> offered to meet Chandler’s $100,000 demand, but the commissioner refused because he did not want beer ads when youngsters would be prominent members of the audience.</p>
<p>Even before a coverage deal had been finalized, bars, restaurants, television dealers, department stores, automobile dealerships and movie theaters started advertising the event, urging customers to come by to watch the World Series on television. And in the days and weeks leading up to the Fall Classic, the demand for television sets spiked. </p>
<p>The excitement pressured Chandler and the sponsors to reach a compromise. </p>
<p>Finally, on Sept. 26, just four days before Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, Chandler, Gillette and Ford <a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1947/1947-10-06-BC.pdf">agreed to $65,000 for the rights to televise the World Series</a>. Production costs added another $35,000 to the sponsors’ bill. Mutual, Gillette and Ford also agreed to allow all three New York TV stations and those connected to them to broadcast the game, providing the widest possible exposure.</p>
<h2>An unexpectedly strong response</h2>
<p>Initial industry estimates had the Series reaching between 600,000 and 700,000 viewers, many of them located in the bars and restaurants where a substantial number of the nation’s first television receivers were located. </p>
<p>But that forecast ended up being conservative. Although home viewing for the seven games was substantial – 450,000 in a <a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/40s/1947/BB-1947-10-18.pdf">Hooper rating survey commissioned by Billboard</a> – the out-of-home viewing numbers were extraordinary: Another 3.5 million were estimated to have viewed the World Series in public locales. </p>
<p>Hooper’s survey found that an average of 82 customers showed up at each of these public locations to watch at least some of the World Series. Variety reported that bar owners saw a 500% increase in patrons during the Series, with some offering reservations to their regulars for a choice location near the TV set.</p>
<p>What viewers from those choice seats saw was primitive by today’s standards. The screen was usually small – 12 diagonal inches or less. The low-definition images were black and white and came from just a few cameras. No extreme close-ups were possible. There was no instant replay, so fans had to pay attention or the moment was lost. </p>
<p>But for the first time, they were seeing the World Series live, and for free.</p>
<h2>The TV industry’s World Series bump</h2>
<p>The audience liked what they saw. <a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/40s/1947/BB-1947-10-11.pdf">Billboard</a>, quoting The Newark Evening News, reported that TV “audiences hung on every turn of the video cameras and the ‘oohs and aahs’ at a slide or strikeout were something radio broadcasters would give their eye teeth to hear.” </p>
<p>It didn’t hurt that <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1947_WS.shtml">the 1947 World Series</a> ended up being so dramatic. The Yankees prevailed in seven games, but Brooklyn owned the two greatest moments.</p>
<p>In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, Dodgers pitch hitter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWjpOAy5zCM">Cookie Lavagetto ended Yankee starter Bill Biven’s no-hit bid</a> with a two-out hit, driving in two runs and sending the Dodgers to a 3-2 win. Then, in Game 6, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SrtxVs8uMI">Al Gionfriddo’s stunning catch of Joe DiMaggio’s deep drive to left field</a> helped preserve an 8-6 Dodgers victory, leading legendary Dodgers broadcaster <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Red_Barber.html?id=lWhgEAAAQBAJ">Red Barber</a> to exclaim, “Oh, Doctor!”</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oWjpOAy5zCM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Cookie Lavagetto’s double won the game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 4.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The Washington broadcasts even reached the White House, where President Harry S. Truman, his staff and the D.C. press corps watched some of the contests. The <a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Televiser/Televiser-1947-09-10.pdf">industry magazine Televiser</a> reported an enthusiastic response from the White House viewers: “If TV can do as good a job as that on perhaps the most difficult of all subjects to televise, then it really has arrived.” </p>
<p>The public’s embrace of the World Series on television, along with the generous coverage of the telecasts by the press, provided an important boost to the nascent television industry. The Sporting News reported that the first televised World Series increased sales for new receivers in New York to levels not seen since the early days of radio. Similar reports came from dealers in Washington and Philadelphia.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sarnoff">David Sarnoff</a>, chairman of RCA – which owed NBC and was a leading manufacturer of receivers – regarded television’s coverage of baseball and its crowning event, the World Series, as one of the most important factors in triggering the growth of the new medium. </p>
<p>Television makers, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Center_Field_Shot.html?id=6kPQhpS-X8YC">he concluded</a>, “had to have baseball games and if [baseball owners] had demanded millions for the rights, we would have had to give it to them.” </p>
<p>The television industry eventually did pay millions and then billions for those rights. <a href="https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2018/11/15/Media/MLB-Fox.aspx">Fox’s latest seven-year contract</a>, including rights to the World Series, pays Major League Baseball $5.1 billion. </p>
<p>Happy Chandler’s 1947 demand for a $100,000 seems like quite a bargain today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193006/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Walker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Just five days before the first pitch of the 1947 World Series, a deal was struck to air the Series on television.James Walker, Emeritus Professor of Communication, Saint Xavier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1915122022-10-11T19:04:50Z2022-10-11T19:04:50Z20 years after the Bali bombings, survivors are still processing a unique kind of grief<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488037/original/file-20221004-16-vc1ykq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bali bombings commemorative mural at Bondi Beach, Sydney.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Droogie</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today marks the 20th anniversary of the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/202-people-died-in-the-2002-bali-bombings-this-is-who-they-were/ow30ib8sw">2002 Bali bombings</a>, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians – our <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/bali-bombings">largest</a> single loss of life from an act of terror.</p>
<p>But we hear less about the wider group of close family members and friends of people who died. </p>
<p>Twenty years on, these people are facing life without their loved ones and dealing with the way they were taken away.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/some-survivors-will-find-peace-and-healing-in-bali-2002-but-others-may-find-the-series-triggering-189538">Some survivors will find peace and healing in Bali 2002 – but others may find the series triggering</a>
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<h2>Grief after terrorism is different</h2>
<p>Grief specialists describe grieving like a form of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-20231-005">storytelling</a>, a process by which we make sense of the loss and what the change means for our lives. </p>
<p>A key part is to connect the news of their passing with the many memories and routines that involved them. This “sorting” process can take months or years but is one way we move to a new story while also staying connected to them.</p>
<p>Losing a loved one in traumatic circumstances can interfere with these processes and lead to persistent or <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07481187.2010.496686">prolonged grief</a> that does not ease over time.</p>
<p>Deaths that are sudden, violent and affect close relationships fall into this category. Reminders of the death can trigger traumatic memories for those left behind.</p>
<p>Terrorism has the further dimension of being both calculated and quite random in its impacts. It leaves survivors struggling to make sense of why this horror affected them.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remembering-the-bali-bombings-ten-years-on-10040">Remembering the Bali bombings ten years on</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/198_05_180313/ste11480_fm.pdf">Our interviews</a> with Bali survivors eight years after the attacks found those physically injured or experiencing prolonged grief had the highest levels of distress.</p>
<p>Early steps in bereavement generally involve accepting the reality of the loss, partly by allowing yourself to experience the pain of the loss and being able to draw new connections and meaning. </p>
<p>However, after someone is harmed through violence, loved ones can avoid thinking about the loss. This can limit their ability to separate the life lost from how they died.</p>
<p>Over time, the two may “fuse” together, where thoughts about loved ones raise distress about what they experienced. So close family and friends can <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/complicated-grief/symptoms-causes/syc-20360374">avoid reminiscing</a> and the usual processing of grief.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-not-always-closure-in-the-never-ending-story-of-grief-3096">There's not always 'closure' in the never-ending story of grief</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Can anniversaries trigger distress?</h2>
<p>The 20th anniversary is similar to other commemorations Bali survivors have worked through in the past two decades. </p>
<p>Many have learned to control or reduce their emotional triggers and are more likely to reflect upon and celebrate their loved ones than dwell upon the terrorism event itself.</p>
<p>At the same time, traumatic grief can last for decades, and most people do not receive effective treatment. </p>
<p>These people remain vulnerable to such triggers, particularly news that is unexpected or presents graphic detail.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1573177025149673472"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-it-wrong-to-make-a-film-about-the-port-arthur-massacre-a-trauma-experts-perspective-151277">Is it wrong to make a film about the Port Arthur massacre? A trauma expert's perspective</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How best to support survivors psychologically?</h2>
<p>Strong support networks and having people to confide in are critical to recovery. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/199_11_161213/ste10540_fm.pdf">Our study found</a> married or partnered participants had the lowest levels of distress. Support that was non-judgmental and allowed “time and space” was also most valued, whether or not that came from a partner. </p>
<p>One family member told us what was important was:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>People being there for you, where you are that day, and not telling you what to do or how to feel.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For others, working with authorities early on to get clear details of what happened brought some understanding and comfort. One person who lost several friends told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For me, it was being able to know the circumstances of their death.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Psychological “talk” therapies such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-cognitive-behaviour-therapy-37351">cognitive behavioural therapy</a> are effective in <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp1315618">up to 69% of cases</a> of prolonged grief. </p>
<p>A key approach involves deliberate exposure to distressing thoughts and images related to their loved one’s death but in a safe and structured environment. This allows distress and trigger reactions to be reduced in a controlled way. Ultimately, this can support people to accept the loss. </p>
<p>One study participant told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I believe you should try and accept it, which is very hard, but if you don’t it is very difficult to get over it.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Memorial sites are important too</h2>
<p>Memorial sites also have an important role. These are a focal point for support networks and rituals, helping to create new memories of their loved ones, based in the present.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488030/original/file-20221004-23-4r2yo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chloe Byron mural Frangipani Girl" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488030/original/file-20221004-23-4r2yo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488030/original/file-20221004-23-4r2yo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488030/original/file-20221004-23-4r2yo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488030/original/file-20221004-23-4r2yo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488030/original/file-20221004-23-4r2yo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488030/original/file-20221004-23-4r2yo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488030/original/file-20221004-23-4r2yo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Frangipani Girl’ Chloe Byron died in Bali at the age of 15.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://bondigraffiti.com/current-artwork/bali-memorial-frangipani-girl/">Droogie/Peter Carette</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The mural “Frangipani Girl” is a <a href="https://www.aquabumps.com/2008/10/20/yesterday/">well-known example</a> at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.</p>
<p>The mural is a celebration of the life of Chloe Byron, who died in Bali at the age of 15. </p>
<p>It also represents the journey through grief and renewal her father Dave has undertaken. <a href="https://karenswain.com/david-byron/">He said</a> in a podcast interview:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Every day I’ve got a choice between a happy memory of Chloe over the memory of her tragic death […] it’s the choice between a great day and a terrible one. </p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. You can also <a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/talk-to-a-counsellor">talk to a counsellor</a> 24/7 at Beyond Blue.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191512/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Garry Stevens received funding from the Australian Research Council </span></em></p>Losing a loved one in traumatic circumstances can lead to persistent grief that does not ease over time.Garry Stevens, Director of Humanitarian and Development Studies, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1886362022-09-16T12:18:13Z2022-09-16T12:18:13ZHayao Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’ continues to delight fans and inspire animators 20 years after its US premiere<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484891/original/file-20220915-25735-4sr3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=208%2C7%2C1069%2C680&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Critics praised the film for its stunning visuals.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://film-grab.com/wp-content/uploads/photo-gallery/Spirited_Away_051.jpg?bwg=1569839416">Studio Ghibli</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Hayao Miyazaki’s animated feature “Spirited Away” premiered in the U.S. 20 years ago, most viewers hadn’t seen anything like it.</p>
<p>Disney distributed the film. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/20/movies/film-review-conjuring-up-atmosphere-only-anime-can-deliver.html">But as one critic pointed out</a>, “Seeing just 10 minutes of this English version … will quickly disabuse any discerning viewer of the notion that it is a Disney creation.”</p>
<p>It tells the story of a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro who, when traveling with her parents, stumbles across what appears to be an abandoned theme park. As they explore, the parents are transformed into giant pigs, and Chihiro soon realizes that the park is occupied by strange, supernatural spirits. She ends up working at a bathhouse as she tries to figure out a way to free herself and her parents so they can return home.</p>
<p>The film went on <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/spirited-away-film-oscars-records-history-1235052088/">to win an Oscar</a> for Best Animated Feature. Twenty years later, it’s <a href="https://www.timeout.com/film/best-animated-movies">frequently</a> <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/40-greatest-animated-movies-ever-19817/fantastic-mr-fox-2009-3-208589/">listed</a> as one of the best animated films of all time. </p>
<p>Yet as <a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/visual_art_and_design/our_people/directory/davis_northrop.php">a scholar of manga and anime studies</a>, I’m often struck by how popular the film became – and how fondly viewers remember it – given that so many of its elements would have been alien to American audiences.</p>
<h2>The manga revolution</h2>
<p>Many of the first anime films were inspired by manga, or Japanese comics.</p>
<p>Some of the <a href="https://www.nypl.org/blog/2018/12/27/beginners-guide-manga">hallmarks of modern manga</a>, such as characters with big eyes, streaks to signal movement and different-sized panels <a href="https://immortalliumblog.com/the-importance-of-manga-paneling/">to convey action, character and emotion more effectively</a>, can be traced to the work of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/8/2/12244368/osamu-tezuka-story-explained">Osamu Tezuka</a>, the so-called “<a href="https://blog.britishmuseum.org/tezuka-osamu-god-of-manga/">God of Manga</a>.” </p>
<p>Tezuka was influenced by his childhood and Japanese culture, but he was also inspired by American movies, television and comics. </p>
<p>When Tezuka was a child, he attended the performances of <a href="https://www.oldtokyo.com/takarazuka-gekijo/">Takarazuka</a>, an all-female theater group in Tokyo whose actresses tended to have well-lit, expressive eyes. <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yPDHCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=pathe+projector+miyazaki&source=bl&ots=C961kgFDGy&sig=ACfU3U0AxM0ui5H20mba36S6o6XB_rJbsg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiBmsaY4pb6AhVsSkEAHXK3DBkQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=pathe%20projector%20miyazaki&f=false">His father also showed him</a> American animation on a <a href="http://www.pathefilm.uk/95gearpathe.htm">Pathe projector</a>, and he was drawn to wide-eyed characters like <a href="https://media.allure.com/photos/58a2111cb02f3ebc310e2e78/master/pass/PBDBEBO_EC028_H.JPG">Betty Boop</a> and <a href="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/c/ce/Profile_-_Bambi.png/revision/latest?cb=20190313173158">Bambi</a>. Together, they inspired the big, expressive eyes that would become characteristic of Tezuka’s work.</p>
<p>Tezuka’s debut manga, titled “<a href="https://tezukaosamu.net/en/manga/207.html">New Treasure Island</a>,” was published in 1947 and became a hit with Japanese youth. Soon an entire manga industry sprang up, churning out vibrantly creative and emotionally relatable comics in a wide range of genres.</p>
<p>Miyazaki was 21 years old when Tezuka’s popular manga “<a href="https://adultswim.fandom.com/wiki/Astro_Boy">Astro Boy</a>” appeared on TV in Japan in 1963. NBC soon picked it up, airing 102 episodes in the U.S. and exposing millions of Americans to Japanese anime for the first time.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h4SmuiiwCV0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Astroboy’ was the first TV show based on a Japanese manga to air in the U.S.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the ensuing decades, Americans enthusiastically embraced a range of manga and anime series through franchises like “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0214341/">Dragon Ball</a>,” “<a href="https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Narutopedia">Naruto</a>” and “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-54730487">Demon Slayer</a>.” </p>
<h2>Doing anime differently</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miyazaki-Hayao">Miyazaki began his career</a> in 1963 as an entry-level animator for Toei animation. He went on to work on a number of animated TV shows and films before founding his own production company, Studio Ghibli, with his longtime friend and collaborator, Takahata Isao, in 1985. </p>
<p>Anime is often based on successful manga series, and it involves creating a vibrant character kingdom and the construction of a world that often lends itself to spinoffs like movies, television shows, musicals, toys and massive merchandising opportunities.</p>
<p>In this sense, many of the films that came out of Studio Ghibli were not really traditional anime. Most lack the merchandizing tie-ins that have become ubiquitous in franchises like “Pokemon” and “Yu-Gi-Oh.” And while some of Ghibli’s films originated as manga, many of them did not. Miyazaki and his team also broke from industry norms by hiring artists as full-time staffers, rather than as underpaid freelancers.</p>
<p>As Miyazaki once said, “Animation has the potential to be far more than just about business, or merchandising, or selling character goods; it can have its own ambitions.” </p>
<h2>When the line between good and evil blurs</h2>
<p>When “Spirited Away” was released, the only feature-length Japanese animated film most Americans would have likely been exposed to in theaters was “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/10/akira-anime-japanese-cartoon-manga">Akira</a>,” which had a limited run in 1990. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences <a href="https://catalog.library.vanderbilt.edu/discovery/fulldisplay/alma991031382479703276/01VAN_INST:vanui">didn’t even award an Oscar for Best Animated Feature until 2001</a>, because Disney and Pixar so thoroughly dominated the genre. </p>
<p>Compared with traditional Western animation, manga and anime tend to reflect a more adult and complicated view of morality, rather than the “good versus evil” paradigm common in children’s media. </p>
<p>“Spirited Away” centers on a spirit world that, while present in various other manga and anime films, challenges non-Japanese audiences. It is unclear whether the spirits will harm or help the protagonist. Miyazaki, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/20/movies/film-review-conjuring-up-atmosphere-only-anime-can-deliver.html">New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell wrote</a>, captures “that fascinating and frightening aspect of having something that seems to represent good become evil.” </p>
<p>The world appears to be inspired by a class of spirits known as “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kami">kami</a>” that are venerated in the religion of Shinto, although Miyazaki has noted that he invented his own spirits, rather than use previously known kami. “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11032374/">Demon Slayer</a>,” a 2020 anime film that was a hit in the U.S., <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-54730487">also contained characters</a> from the spirit world.</p>
<p>As kami expert <a href="https://www.popmatters.com/yokai-attack-the-japanese-monster-survival-guide-by-hiroko-yoda-and-matt-al-2496114419.html">Matt Alt</a> told me, “Only a place with countless shrines, each venerating their own locations and local deities, could have dreamed up something like ‘Spirited Away.’” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl sits on a train next to ghosts." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484883/original/file-20220915-9420-1renes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484883/original/file-20220915-9420-1renes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484883/original/file-20220915-9420-1renes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484883/original/file-20220915-9420-1renes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484883/original/file-20220915-9420-1renes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484883/original/file-20220915-9420-1renes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484883/original/file-20220915-9420-1renes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The world of ‘Spirited Away’ includes supernatural entities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://film-grab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Spirited-Away-052.jpg">Studio Ghibli</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet thanks to <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/8geg4b/spirited-away-ghibli-miyazaki-15th-15-year-anniversary-best-animation-hannah-ewens">the beauty of the film’s visuals</a> – as well as the fact that, deep down, it contains universal storytelling tropes – Miyazaki can get viewers to buy into his world. No matter how strange <a href="https://ghibli.fandom.com/wiki/Stink_Spirit">a shape-shifting sludge spirit</a> might appear to audiences, they can still relate to the spunky, and sometimes sullen, Chihiro. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Turning_Point_1997_2008/VB4hEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">As Miyazaki explained in an interview</a>, the film’s idiosyncrasies ultimately enhance its universality: “No one waves weapons about or has showdowns using superpowers, but it’s still an adventure story. And while an adventure story, a confrontation between good and evil is not the main theme either. This is supposed to be the story of a young girl who is thrown into another world, where good people and bad are all mixed up and coexisting.”</p>
<p>“In this world,” he continues, “she undergoes rigorous training, learns about friendship and self-sacrifice and, using her own basic smarts, somehow not only survives but manages to return to our world.”</p>
<h2>A lasting imprint</h2>
<p>While Walt Disney and other American creators made a huge impression on Tezuka, the influences of anime can be seen in countless <a href="https://collider.com/best-movies-inspired-by-anime-the-matrix-avatar/">American films</a> and <a href="https://www.absoluteanime.com/boondocks/">TV shows</a>.</p>
<p>This sort of cultural cross-pollination, which I detail in my book “<a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/manga-and-anime-go-to-hollywood-9781623560386/">Manga and Anime Go to Hollywood</a>,” has been going on for decades. </p>
<p>Miyazaki’s films also have made a unique imprint on the imaginations of a generation of Western animators.</p>
<p>John Lasseter, the former chief creative officer of Pixar, <a href="https://www.awn.com/news/john-lasseter-pays-tribute-hayao-miyazaki-tokyo-film-festival">has said</a> that whenever he and his team got stuck for ideas, they would screen a Miyazaki film for inspiration. Domee Shi, the director for Pixar’s “Turning Red,” <a href="https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3169814/animes-influence-pixars-turning-red-spirited-away-director">specifically cited</a> “Spirited Away” as a huge influence. And a 2014 episode of “The Simpsons” <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2014/01/simpsons-miyazaki-tribute-annotated-anime-episode-says-goodbye-to-hayao-miyazaki-here-are-the-references-video.html">even contained a tribute</a> to Miyazaki. </p>
<p>Tezuka once said that a story was like a tree, which is only as strong as its roots.</p>
<p>To me, Miyazaki and his team achieved the highest level of filmmaking by not only creating gorgeous visuals, but by also crafting relatable lead characters, a compelling supporting cast and rich, enthralling worlds. Engaging viewers with a creative story arc, he always found a way to land with a timeless message.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Turning_Point_1997_2008/VB4hEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">Miyazaki noted</a> that Chihiro ultimately returns to her ordinary world “not by vanquishing evil, but as a result of having learned a new way to live.”</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct the class of Japanese spirits that those in “Spirited Away” evoke. It is “kami,” not “yokai.”</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188636/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Northrop Davis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite the fact that many of its elements were alien to American audiences, the film became a sensation.Northrop Davis, Professor of Media Arts, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1853422022-06-22T11:22:47Z2022-06-22T11:22:47ZHow Octavia E. Butler mined her boundless curiosity to forge a new vision for humanity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469849/original/file-20220620-14209-9u1snj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C1747%2C1140&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Octavia E. Butler poses in a Seattle bookstore in 2004. The celebrated science fiction author died in 2006.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.trbimg.com/img-5912ac85/turbine/la-1494396033-a3umy5cuis-snap-image">AP Photo/Joshua Trujillo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In 2021, <a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/english_language_and_literature/our_people/directory/collins_alyssa.php">Alyssa Collins</a> was awarded a yearlong Octavia E. Butler Fellowship from <a href="https://www.huntington.org/">The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens</a> in San Marino, California.</em> </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Woman poses in black shirt with one arm on hip." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470068/original/file-20220621-25-qlybds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470068/original/file-20220621-25-qlybds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470068/original/file-20220621-25-qlybds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470068/original/file-20220621-25-qlybds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470068/original/file-20220621-25-qlybds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470068/original/file-20220621-25-qlybds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470068/original/file-20220621-25-qlybds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alyssa Collins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/african_american_studies/images/profile_images/collins_alyssa255x300.jpg">University of South Carolina</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Butler, whose papers are held at the Huntington, was the first science fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. A pioneering writer in a genre long dominated by white men, her work explored power structures, shifting definitions of humanity and alternative societies.</em></p>
<p><em>In an interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, Collins explains how Butler’s boundless curiosity inspired the author’s work, and how Butler’s experiences as a Black woman drew her to “humans who must deal with the edges or ends of humanity.”</em> </p>
<p><em>Butler, who <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/books/octavia-e-butler-science-fiction-writer-dies-at-58.html">died in 2006</a>, would have turned 75 years old on June 22, 2022.</em></p>
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<p><strong>How did you become interested in Octavia E. Butler?</strong></p>
<p>I first read Butler’s work in a graduate course on feminist literature and theory. We read “<a href="https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/octavia-e-butler/parable-of-the-sower/9781538732182/">Parable of the Sower</a>,” an apocalyptic novel published in 1993 but set in 21st-century America. I was really intrigued by the prescient nature of the novel. But I wanted to know if she had anything weirder on her backlist.</p>
<p>I managed to get my hands on “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/bloodchi.htm">Bloodchild</a>,” an award-winning short story that came out in 1984 about aliens and male pregnancy. After reading that story, I was pretty much hooked.</p>
<p><strong>Can you give us an idea of the scope of this collection, in terms of its volume and value, and how much of it you were able to read during your fellowship?</strong></p>
<p>The Octavia E. Butler collection consists of manuscripts, correspondence, photos, research materials and ephemera. It’s housed in 386 boxes, one volume, two binders and 18 broadside folders. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469845/original/file-20220620-24-wdikss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Magazine cover with drawing of insect and young person with hole in body." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469845/original/file-20220620-24-wdikss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469845/original/file-20220620-24-wdikss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469845/original/file-20220620-24-wdikss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469845/original/file-20220620-24-wdikss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469845/original/file-20220620-24-wdikss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1114&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469845/original/file-20220620-24-wdikss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1114&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469845/original/file-20220620-24-wdikss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1114&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Octavia E. Butler’s short story ‘Bloodchild’ appeared in a 1984 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://file770.com/wp-content/uploads/Butler-bloodchild-asimovs-cover.jpg">File 770</a></span>
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<p>As you can imagine, it’s a great deal of collected material – so much, that when I began my fellowship, I was told by the curator who processed the collection that I wouldn’t be able to see everything. </p>
<p>I’ve spent most of my time working through Butler’s research materials, her correspondence with authors and her drafting materials, including her notecards and notebooks. I’ve found that the content in these notebooks has been an invaluable window into Butler’s scientific thinking. </p>
<p><strong>What was one of the most surprising things you learned about Butler from the collection?</strong></p>
<p>Even given what I knew about Butler as a celebrated writer and scholar, every day I spent in her archive only increased the amount of esteem I hold for her. I was continually surprised by not only the breadth of her interests and the depth of her knowledge, but also in the way she was able to synthesize seemingly disparate topics. </p>
<p>Her interest in subjects such as slime-molds, cancer and biotechnology come through in her stories in ways that readers might not expect. Take Butler’s interest in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.08.001">symbiogenesis</a>, an evolutionary theory based on cooperation rather than Darwinian competition. In “Bloodchild,” in which humans help insectlike aliens procreate, readers can see Butler plumbing this theory by imagining different ways humans can interact and evolve with other species. </p>
<p><strong>Your project is called “Cellular Blackness: Octavia E. Butler’s Posthuman Ontologies.” What is posthumanism and how does it relate to Butler’s work?</strong></p>
<p>My book project was born out of a project I started in graduate school that was interested in how Black speculative writers in the 20th century imagined and interacted with a field of thought called <a href="https://ethics.org.au/ethics-explainer-post-humanism/">posthumanism</a>. Scholars of posthumanism think about the limits of what makes us human – or how we define humanity – and if there are couplings with technology that might make us posthuman now or in the future. </p>
<p>I wanted to know how Black writers were engaging with the idea or concept of posthumanism when Blackness <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12913">had historically been imagined as inhuman</a> – in, for example, justifications for the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Jim Crow segregation and ongoing state violence against Black people. </p>
<p>What interested me about Butler’s work is that her writing consistently represents humans who must deal with the edges or ends of humanity. She also places important decisions about humanity in the hands of Black women characters – individuals who have been dehumanized or erased. My book project looks at how Butler imagines these decisive moments and how she sees humanity defined and realized in her novels.</p>
<p><strong>What about this idea of “cellular Blackness”?</strong></p>
<p>It seems that Butler’s own speculative investigation of humanity doesn’t happen on the scale of bodies, but instead on the scale of cells. </p>
<p>In Butler’s 1987 novel “<a href="https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/octavia-e-butler/dawn/9781538753712/">Dawn</a>,” a Black woman named Lilith considers helping a group of aliens who are interested in interbreeding with humans in a way that would effectively “end” the human race. Lilith, who has a history of cancer in her family and a tumor that the aliens removed, has what the aliens call a “talent for cancer.” They’re interested in the possibilities that could come from regulating cellular growth.</p>
<p>It turns out that Butler was interested in the story of <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/">Henrietta Lacks</a>, a 31-year-old Black cancer patient whose tumor cells were collected without her knowledge at Johns Hopkins in 1951. Unlike the other samples that had been collected at the lab over the years, Lacks’ rapidly reproduced and stayed alive even after Lacks died that same year. To this day, her prolific cell line – <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-hela-cells-a-cancer-biologist-explains-169913">called HeLa cells</a> – are used around the world to study cancer cells and the effects of various treatment. </p>
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<img alt="Sepia toned portrait photograph of young woman on a mantle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469847/original/file-20220620-12734-23dmfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469847/original/file-20220620-12734-23dmfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469847/original/file-20220620-12734-23dmfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469847/original/file-20220620-12734-23dmfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469847/original/file-20220620-12734-23dmfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469847/original/file-20220620-12734-23dmfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469847/original/file-20220620-12734-23dmfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Octavia E. Butler was fascinated by the story of Henrietta Lacks and her famous cell line.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photo-of-henrietta-lacks-sits-in-the-living-room-of-her-news-photo/1234369412?adppopup=true">Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In her unpublished notes, Butler imagines what HeLa cells, with their unending replication, could offer outside of a person’s death. In works like “Dawn,” you can see Butler thinking about cellular replication as a concept that extends humanity, whether it’s symbiosis with other species or through human evolution. </p>
<p><strong>The “<a href="https://www.octaviabutler.com/parableseries">Parable</a>” books, which were written in the 1990s and set in the 2020s, have seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. Butler’s vision of the near future in these works – with society on the brink due to looming environmental catastrophe, unchecked corporate greed and worsening economic inequality – seems prescient. Did your time in the collection give you any new insights on their enduring relevance?</strong></p>
<p>At Butler makes clear, the problems of extreme climate change, income inequality, capitalistic exploitation, housing shortages, racial prejudice and the defunding of education aren’t new problems. </p>
<p>She read widely – newspapers, scientific textbooks, anthropological tomes, fiction, self-help books – and thought deeply about what she read. I think Butler simply took what she learned from these sources, which hinted at where things were heading, and imagined what a not-so-distant future would look like if nothing were fixed. </p>
<p>Well, as Butler shows us, these problems haven’t been fixed, and they’ve only worsened in the 30-plus years since she wrote the books. </p>
<p>The first “Parable” novel’s protagonist, Lauren, creates a belief system called “Earthseed.” It contains mottos of change – for example, “God is Change” and “All that you Change, Changes you” – and I think Butler hoped Earthseed might encourage people to change the world in some meaningful way. These books feel relevant because there are still a lot of people who are interested in pushing for, imagining and making change.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/about/contact-us/faculty-staff/erskine_laura.php">Laura Erskine</a> contributed to this interview.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alyssa Collins has received funding from The Huntington Library. </span></em></p>In an interview, scholar Alyssa Collins explains how her time spent plumbing the sci fi writer’s papers left her stunned by the breadth of her interests and the depth of her scientific knowledge.Alyssa Collins, Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1651272021-09-13T12:13:38Z2021-09-13T12:13:38Z‘Imagine’ at 50: Why John Lennon’s ode to humanism still resonates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420554/original/file-20210910-19-y8luzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C694%2C2220%2C1633&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fifty years ago, did John Lennon tell us not to pray?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photo-of-john-lennon-news-photo/80800975?adppopup=true">Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fifty years ago, John Lennon released <a href="https://theconversation.com/john-lennons-imagine-at-50-a-deceptively-simple-ballad-a-lasting-emblem-of-hope-167444">one of the most beautiful, inspirational</a> and catchy pop anthems of the 20th century: “Imagine.” </p>
<p>Gentle and yet increasingly stirring as the song progresses, “Imagine” is unabashedly utopian and deeply moral, calling on people to live, as one humanity, in peace. It is also purposely and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-04/imagine-50-years-john-lennon-beatles/100238128">powerfully irreligious</a>. From its opening lyric, “Imagine there’s no heaven,” to the refrain, “And no religion too,” Lennon sets out what is, to many, a clear atheistic message.</p>
<p>While most pop songs are secular by default – in that they are about the things of this world, making no mention of the divine or spiritual – “Imagine” is explicitly secularist. In Lennon’s telling, religion is an impediment to human flourishing – something to be overcome, transcended.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/phil-zuckerman/">scholar of secularism</a> and a devout fan of the Beatles, I have always been fascinated by how “Imagine,” perhaps the first and only atheist anthem to be so enormously successful, has come to be so widely embraced in America. After all, the U.S. is a country that has – at least until <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx">recently</a> – had a much <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/07/31/americans-are-far-more-religious-than-adults-in-other-wealthy-nations/">more</a> religious population than other Western industrialized democracies.</p>
<p>Since being released as a single on Oct. 11 1971, “Imagine” has sold millions, going No. 1 in the U.S. and U.K. charts. And its popularity has endured. Rolling Stone magazine named “Imagine” as the <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/aretha-franklin-respect-36873/">third greatest song of all time</a> in 2003, and it regularly tops national polls in Canada, <a href="https://radioinfo.com.au/news/imagine-voted-best-gold-hit/">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jan/07/johnarlidge.theobserver">the U.K</a>.</p>
<p>Countless recording artists have covered it, and it remains one of the most performed songs throughout the world – the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZaXRQIjR68">opening ceremony</a> of this year’s Olympics Games in Tokyo featured it being sung by a host of international artists, a testament to its global appeal.</p>
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<p>But not everyone is enamored of its message. Robert Barron, the auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/07/25/imagine-blared-at-the-olympics-is-a-totalitarians-anthem/">responded to the recent Tokyo rendition</a> by lambasting “Imagine” as a “totalitarian anthem” and “an invitation to moral and political chaos.” His issue: the atheistic lyrics.</p>
<p>Numerous attempts have been made since “Imagine” was released to reconcile Lennon’s anthem with religion. Scholars, those of faith and fellow musicians have argued that the lyrics <a href="https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/faith-and-reason-imagine-really-atheist">aren’t really atheistic</a>, just <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/imagine-the-anthem-of-2001-83559/">anti-organized religion</a>. Others have taken the sledgehammer approach and just changed the lyrics outright – CeeLo Green sang “And all religion’s true” in <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/cee-lo-green-outrages-john-lennon-fans-by-changing-lyrics-to-imagine-202240/">a televised rendition</a> on New Year’s Eve 2011.</p>
<p>In interviews, Lennon was at times <a href="http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbjypb.int3.html">ambiguous about his beliefs</a> on religion and spirituality, but such ambiguity is at odds with the clear message of “Imagine.” The song’s irreligious ethos is frank. The first verse speaks of there being “no heaven,” “no hell” – “Above us, only sky.” In such clear, distilled words, Lennon captures the very marrow of the secular orientation. To me, Lennon is saying that we live in a purely physical universe that operates along strictly natural laws – there is nothing supernatural out there, even beyond the stars.</p>
<p>He also expresses a distinct “here-and-nowness” at odds with many religions. In asking listeners to “Imagine all the people, livin’ for today,” Lennon is, to quote the <a href="https://www.upworthy.com/ever-heard-of-union-hero-joe-hill-hes-missing-from-most-history-books-today">labor activist and atheist Joe Hill</a>, suggesting there will be “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8qoB1XwtHM">no pie in the sky when you die</a>,” nor will a fiery eternal torture await you.</p>
<p>Lennon’s lyrics also give way to an implied existentialism. With no gods and no afterlife, only humankind – within ourselves and among each other – can decide how to live and choose what matters. We can choose to live without violence, greed or hunger and – to quote “Imagine” – exist as a “brotherhood of man … sharing all the world.”</p>
<p>It is here that Lennon’s <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-secular-life/202002/what-is-secular-humanism">humanism</a> – the belief that humans, without reliance upon anything supernatural, have the capacity to create a better, more humane world – comes to the fore. Nihilism is not the path, nor is despondency, debauchery or destruction. Rather, Lennon’s “Imagine” entails a humanistic desire to see an end to suffering.</p>
<p>The spirit of empathy and compassion throughout the song is in line with what <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1948550612444137">scholarship</a> has <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13674670310001606450?src=recsys">found</a> to be strong traits <a href="https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/research/centres/benedict-xvi/docs/benedict-centre-understanding-unbelief-report.pdf">commonly</a> <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-02-atheists-believers-moral-compasses-key.html?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Phys.org_TrendMD_1">observable</a> among <a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2012/04/30/religionandgenerosity/">secular men and women</a>. Despite attempts to tie Lennon and “Imagine” to blood-lusting atheists <a href="https://sojo.net/articles/why-john-lennons-imagine-actually-not-great-song">like Stalin and Pol Pot</a>, the overwhelming majority of godless people <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/311795/living-the-secular-life-by-phil-zuckerman/">seek to live ethical lives</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>3 media outlets, 1 religion newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-3-in-1">Get stories from The Conversation, AP and RNS.</a>]</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/08/21/staunch-atheists-show-higher-morals-than-the-proudly-pious-from-the-pandemic-to-climate-change/">studies have shown</a> that when it comes to things like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/24/the-group-least-likely-to-think-the-u-s-has-a-responsibility-to-accept-refugees-evangelicals/">wanting to</a> <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jrs/article/32/3/502/5298199?login=true">help</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/socofthesacred/status/1427973457703211012/photo/1">refugees</a>, seeking to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13644-020-00396-0">establish affordable health care</a>, <a href="https://www.prri.org/research/fractured-nation-widening-partisan-polarization-and-key-issues-in-2020-presidential-elections/">fighting</a> <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/10/22/religion-and-views-on-climate-and-energy-issues/">climate change</a> and being sensitive to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1088868309352179">racism</a> and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/28/religiously-unaffiliated-people-more-likely-than-those-with-a-religion-to-lean-left-accept-homosexuality/">homophobia</a>, the godless stand out as particularly moral.</p>
<p>Indeed, secular people in general <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-10474-001">exhibit an orientation</a> that is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1368430211410996?casa_token=lAvYSk5xzI8AAAAA%3AzyF9nW4T0_p6nuM_v2NIiZLkEuar1rhGQdg2J7Qy2NLmu3c-yiWb4zFoeVnMpOKC3FiIpKXO9y17bfQ">markedly tolerant</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327582ijpr0202_5?src=recsys">democratic</a> and <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-secular-life/201807/religion-secularism-and-xenophobia">universalistic</a> – values Lennon holds up as ideals in “Imagine.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/11/09/the-unbearable-wrongness-of-william-barr/">Other studies reveal</a> that the democratic countries that are the least religious – the ones that have gone furthest down the road of “imagining no religion” – <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479878086/society-without-god-second-edition/">are the most</a> safe, humane, green and ethical. </p>
<p>“Imagine” was not the first time Lennon sang his secular humanism. A year before, in 1970, he released “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MqKXjclNHw">I Found Out</a>,” declaring his lack of belief in either Jesus or Krishna. Also in 1970, he put out the haunting, scorching “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCNkPpq1giU">God</a>.” Beginning with a classic psychological explanation of theism – that humans construct the concept of God as a way to cope with and measure their pain – “God” goes on to list all the things that Lennon most decidedly does not believe in: the Bible, Jesus, Gita, Buddha, I-Ching, magic and so on. In the end, all that he believes in is his own verifiable personal reality. Arriving at such a place was, for the bespectacled walrus from Liverpool, to be truly “reborn.”</p>
<p>But neither “I Found Out” nor “God” achieved anywhere near the massive success that “Imagine” did. No other atheist pop song has.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phil Zuckerman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Regularly topping lists for ‘greatest song of all time,’ the former Beatle’s classic 1971 song is taken by many as an atheistic anthem.Phil Zuckerman, Professor of Sociology and Secular Studies, Pitzer CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1500482020-11-23T22:00:08Z2020-11-23T22:00:08ZIn the 1620s, Plymouth Plantation had its own #MeToo moment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370664/original/file-20201122-15-1cjscya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1271%2C35%2C3520%2C2629&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Maids, who invariably lived with their employers, were especially vulnerable.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-unidentified-historical-re-enactor-sweeps-the-floor-of-news-photo/1190024862?adppopup=true">Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the many celebrations, reflections and histories of Plymouth colony, the settlement’s gender dynamics often get short shrift.</p>
<p>But not unlike today, men possessed power and privilege, women feared voicing their views and experiences, and the authorities debated how to respond to accusations of impropriety.</p>
<p>Original writings about the first New England settlement that I researched while writing my new book, “<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674238510">The World of Plymouth Plantation</a>,” reveal that Plymouth dealt with sexual assault allegations in the early days of the colony.</p>
<p>In this one incident, a man named <a href="https://www.plimoth.org/sites/default/files/media/pdf/lyford_john.pdf">John Lyford</a> was found guilty of rape in Ireland and driven out of his community. This left him free to take his predatory ways to another place: Plymouth Plantation.</p>
<h2>A new settler arrives</h2>
<p>Much of what historians know about Lyford is contained in the key text about Plymouth, settler William Bradford’s handwritten account, <a href="https://shop.americanancestors.org/products/of-plimoth-plantation?pass-through=true">“Of Plimoth Plantation</a>.”</p>
<p>Lyford, an out-of-work Oxford graduate, arrived in Plymouth in 1622 with his family and servants. Their passage had been funded by the <a href="https://archive.org/details/debtshopefuldesp00mcin/page/n5/mode/2up">approximately 70 investors in England</a> who backed the Plymouth settlement.</p>
<p>Little was known of Lyford’s past other than the fact that he had held a position as minister to a Protestant church in Ireland. Nonetheless, he had high hopes for his new life in the New World: He expected to be employed as the community’s teacher and sought to one day be named the church’s minister. </p>
<p>In Plymouth, the church accepted Lyford as a member. At the time, he gave a seemingly heartfelt, if vague, confession of his sins, his desire for forgiveness and his wish to be received into the religious community. Bradford, who was present for the confession, <a href="https://shop.americanancestors.org/products/of-plimoth-plantation?pass-through=true">wrote of how Lyford</a> made “an acknowledgment of his former disorderly walking, and his being Entangled with many corruptions, which had been a burthen to his conscience.” </p>
<p>Despite this auspicious beginning, Lyford was soon at odds with the settlement’s leaders. Because the church didn’t ultimately choose him as its minister, he decided to create a rival congregation that he could lead. He also wrote letters to the settlement’s investors criticizing the undertaking. Lyford depicted the leadership as hostile to the Church of England, intolerant of the religious views of others and bent on retaining power at any cost. </p>
<p>As a result of his complaints, a hearing in England took place in 1625 to consider the accusations. Investors, representatives of both Lyford and the colony, and an audience made up of various members of the public attended.</p>
<p>Afterwards, most investors withdrew their support of the colony. Why they did so is unclear. Either they were truly outraged at Lyford’s revelations or they were happy to have an excuse to stop sending money to the unprofitable enterprise. </p>
<p>But the outcome for Plymouth might have been much worse had Lyford’s past not caught up with him. </p>
<h2>A predator is unmasked</h2>
<p>Plymouth settler <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-edward-winslow-plymouth-hero-thanksgiving-180961174/">Edward Winslow</a>, who represented Plymouth during the hearing in England, discovered that Lyford had a dirty secret. </p>
<p>From men friendly to Plymouth who were present, he learned that Lyford had lost his post in Ireland because of a sexual assault. One of Lyford’s parishioners had approached him for advice about his prospective bride, and he asked the minister if he thought her a worthy wife for a godly man. Lyford offered to meet with this woman – unnamed in the records – to assess her worthiness. During the private interview, he reportedly raped her. Afterward, he advised her prospective husband to wed her. </p>
<p>Once the couple was married, the bride revealed the minister’s attack, presumably to her husband, who then denounced Lyford. The church fired Lyford, and he slunk out of Ireland hoping to start anew. </p>
<p>But Lyford had more than this one incident to hide. While embroiled in his fight with the Plymouth leaders, his wife, Sarah, told her new friends that he routinely assaulted their maids. She confided that he would “meddle with them” as they slept at the foot of the couple’s bed. Maids, being young, unmarried serving women who lived in their employers’ households, were vulnerable, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674238510">and colonial law courts took a dim view of anyone who attacked them</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Women and men in period clothing hold hands as they dance in a circle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370663/original/file-20201122-17-hz1ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C8%2C2991%2C2389&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370663/original/file-20201122-17-hz1ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370663/original/file-20201122-17-hz1ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370663/original/file-20201122-17-hz1ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370663/original/file-20201122-17-hz1ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370663/original/file-20201122-17-hz1ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370663/original/file-20201122-17-hz1ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People in period clothing dance during a reenactment of life in Plymouth Plantation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-in-period-clothing-dance-during-an-reunion-dinner-of-news-photo/538831584?adppopup=true">John Blanding/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, Sarah reported that Lyford lied to her before they married, denying rumors that he had fathered an illegitimate child. After they married – and she could not object because <a href="https://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/wes/collections/women_law/">as a wife she was bound to obey her husband</a> – he brought the child into their household to live. </p>
<p>Lyford was far from being what Plymouth churchgoers would consider appropriate clergyman material; he was a rapist and a liar. Church members were grateful that they had not made him their leader, and, for this and other objectionable behavior, he was exiled from the settlement. </p>
<h2>#MeToo, then and now</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/08/metoo-around-the-world/?arc404=true">Today’s #MeToo movement</a> centers on women coming forward about violence they’ve been subjected to. They speak out about attacks by men who use their position of power to demean and assault them. </p>
<p>In the 17th century, women in Ireland, England and Plymouth <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814797891/sex-without-consent/">rarely went public with their troubles</a>. But neither were they entirely silent. </p>
<p>The unnamed woman in Ireland told her husband what the minister had done, quite possibly after he found that she was not a virgin on their wedding night. </p>
<p>Sarah Lyford, after years of putting up with her spouse, finally described his predatory ways to her friends and to the Plymouth church’s deacon. The serving women whom Lyford assaulted remained silent, a course that was not unusual for girls and women caught in this situation, unless pregnancy forced them to reveal the truth. </p>
<p>Men in Ireland and Plymouth found Lyford’s vile acts especially shocking because he was supposed to be a man of God. The men in the Irish church acted decisively once his rape was revealed. They did not – <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/predator-priests-shuffled-around-globe/">as we sometimes see modern-day churches do</a> – accept his contrition and keep him on in his post. Instead, they swiftly fired him. The men of Plymouth wanted to be rid of Lyford for many reasons; in the end, they were glad that his reprehensible sexual assaults discredited him decisively.</p>
<p>In the case of Lyford, powerful men turned on a sexual predator and supported the women whom he wronged. In this case, his victims gained some justice. </p>
<p>But it’s also a reminder that then – as now – men’s support for the cause is often required to hold perpetrators of sexual assault to account. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carla Gardina Pestana does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An ex-minister named John Lyford arrived at the nascent colony hoping for a fresh start. But he couldn’t escape his past.Carla Gardina Pestana, Professor and Joyce Appleby Endowed Chair of America in the World, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1450022020-09-04T12:21:42Z2020-09-04T12:21:42ZThe complicated legacy of the Pilgrims is finally coming to light 400 years after they landed in Plymouth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356425/original/file-20200903-22-121o2tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C183%2C2265%2C1516&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth, Mass., is a living museum that's a replica of the original settlement, which existed for 70 years.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/Plimouth_Plantation_Mass.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ voyage to Plymouth <a href="https://www.plymouth400inc.org/event/plymouth-400-remembrance-ceremony/">will be celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic</a> with a “remembrance ceremony” with state and local officials and a museum exhibit in Plymouth, England. An autonomous marine research ship named “<a href="https://newsroom.ibm.com/Mayflower-Captains-400-Years-Apart">The Mayflower</a>” has been equipped with an AI navigating system that will allow the ship to trace the course of the original journey without any humans on board.</p>
<p>Yet as <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-pilgrims-were-actually-able-to-survive-106990">a scholar of early 17th-century New England</a>, I’ve always been puzzled by the glory heaped on the Pilgrims and their settlement in Plymouth.</p>
<p>Native Americans had met Europeans in scores of places before 1620, so yet another encounter was hardly unique. Relative to other settlements, the colony attracted few migrants. And it lasted only 70 years.</p>
<p>So why does it have such a prominent place in the story of America? And why, until recently, did the more troubling aspects to Plymouth and its founding document, the Mayflower Compact, go ignored? </p>
<h2>Prophets and profits</h2>
<p>The establishment of Plymouth did not occur in a vacuum. </p>
<p>The Pilgrims’ decision to go to North America – and their deep attachment to their faith – was an outcome of the <a href="http://www.greatmigration.org/new_englands_great_migration.html">intense religious conflict</a> roiling Europe after the Protestant Reformation. Shortly before the travelers’ arrival, the Wampanoag residents of Patuxet – the area in and around modern day Plymouth – had suffered a devastating, three-year epidemic, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2957993/">possibly caused by leptospirosis</a>, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/leptospirosis/index.html#:%7E:text=Leptospirosis%20is%20a%20bacterial%20disease,have%20no%20symptoms%20at%20all">a bacterial disease</a> that can lead to meningitis, respiratory distress and liver failure.<br>
It was during these two crises that the histories of western Europe and Indigenous North America collided on the shores of Massachusetts Bay. </p>
<p>Despite a number of advantages, including less competition for local resources because of the epidemic, Plymouth attracted far fewer English migrants than Virginia, which was settled in 1607, and Massachusetts, which was established in 1630.</p>
<p>The Pilgrims, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646142/plymouth-colony-narratives-of-english-settlement-and-native-resistance-from-the-mayflower-to-king-philips-war-loa-337-by-lisa-brooks-and-kelly-wisecup-eds/9781598536744">as they told their story</a> traveled so they could practice their religion free from persecution. But other English joined them, including <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807843468/profits-in-the-wilderness/">some migrants seeking profits</a> instead of heeding prophets. Unfortunately for those hoping to earn a quick buck, the colony never became an economic dynamo.</p>
<h2>A shaky compact</h2>
<p>Plymouth nonetheless went on to attain a prominent place in the history of America, primarily due to two phenomena: It was <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-unremarkable-brunch-forest-turned-thanksgiving-we-know-180970811/">the alleged site</a> of the first Thanksgiving, and its founders drafted <a href="https://www.ushistory.org/documents/mayflower.htm">the Mayflower Compact</a>, a 200-word document written and signed by 41 men on the ship.</p>
<p>Generations of American students have learned that the Compact was a stepping stone towards <a href="https://www.cde.ca.gov/BE/ST/SS/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf">self-government</a>, the defining feature of American constitutional democracy.</p>
<p>But did Plymouth really inspire democracy? After all, self-governing communities <a href="https://www.oupress.com/books/9781645/native-people-of-southern-new-england-1500165">existed across Indigenous New England</a> long before European migrants arrived. And a year earlier, in 1619, English colonists in Virginia had created <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469651798/virginia-1619/">the House of Burgesses</a> to advance self-rule in North America for subjects of King James I. </p>
<p>So American self-government, however one defines it, was not born in Plymouth.</p>
<p>The Mayflower Compact nonetheless contained lofty ideals. The plan signed by many of the Mayflower’s male passengers demanded that colonists “Covenant & Combine ourselves into a Civil body politic, for our better ordering, & preservation.” They promised to work together to write “laws, ordinances, Acts, constitutions.” The signers pledged to work for the “advancement of the Christian faith.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The signatories of the Mayflower Compact aboard the Mayflower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356448/original/file-20200903-16-qdqcww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356448/original/file-20200903-16-qdqcww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356448/original/file-20200903-16-qdqcww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356448/original/file-20200903-16-qdqcww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356448/original/file-20200903-16-qdqcww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356448/original/file-20200903-16-qdqcww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356448/original/file-20200903-16-qdqcww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jean Leon Gerome Ferris’ ‘The Mayflower Compact, 1620.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Mayflower_Compact_1620_cph.3g07155.jpg">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet as the years after 1620 bore out, the migrants did not adhere to such principles when dealing with their Wampanoag and other Algonquian-speaking neighbors. Gov. William Bradford, who began writing his history of Plymouth in 1630, <a href="http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/bradford.html">wrote about</a> the Pilgrims arriving in “a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men” even though Patuxet looked more like a settled European farmland. The Pilgrims exiled an English lawyer named Thomas Morton, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300230109/trials-thomas-morton">in part because</a> he believed that Indigenous and colonists could peacefully coexist. And in 1637, Plymouth’s authorities joined <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/%7Elmg21/ash3002y/earlyac99/resources/Pequots/pequottl.htm">a bloody campaign against the Pequots</a>, which led to the massacre of Indigenous people on the banks of the Mystic River, followed by the sale of prisoners into slavery.</p>
<p>The Compact was even used by loyalists to the British crown to argue against independence. Thomas Hutchinson, the last royal governor of Massachusetts, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.2307/366234">pointed to the Pilgrims</a> as proof that colonists should not rebel, highlighting the passage that defined the signers as “loyal subjects” of the English king. </p>
<h2>History told by the victors</h2>
<p>After the American Revolution, politicians and historians, especially those descended from Pilgrims and Puritans, were keen to trace the origins of the United States back to Plymouth. </p>
<p>In the process, they glossed over the Pilgrims’ complicated legacy.</p>
<p>In 1802, the future President John Quincy Adams spoke at Plymouth about the unique genius of the colony’s founders and their governing contract. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=oy9cAAAAcAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=John+Q+Adams,+Oration+Delivered+at+Plymouth,+Dec+22,+1802+&ots=X6VmEGWlxE&sig=kdG9OiuY9bGvKu5j78TW8glYkV0#v=onepage&q=John%20Q%20Adams%2C%20Oration%20Delivered%20at%20Plymouth%2C%20Dec%2022%2C%201802&f=false">He announced</a> that the Pilgrims would arrive at the biblical day of judgment “in the whiteness of innocence” for having shown “kindness and equity toward the savages.”</p>
<p>In the mid-19th century, the historian George Bancroft <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_Colonization_of_the_Unite/ZSATAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=bancroft+history+united+states&printsec=frontcover">claimed</a> that it was in “the cabin of the Mayflower” where “humanity recovered its rights, and instituted government on the basis of ‘equal laws’ for ‘the general good.’” </p>
<p>Nineteenth-century anniversary celebrations focused on the colonists, their written Compact, and their contribution to what became the United States. In 1870, on the 250th anniversary, celebrants struck <a href="https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/7167/1870-Pilgrim-Jubliee-Memorial-Medal/">a commemorative coin</a>: one side featured an open Bible, the other a group of Pilgrims praying on the shoreline. </p>
<p>Missing, not surprisingly, were the Wampanoags.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356439/original/file-20200903-20-8f07ge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The front of the coin, which features praying Pilgrims reads, 'Pilgrim Jubilee Memorial,' while the back reads, 'Whose faith follow' above the Bible." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356439/original/file-20200903-20-8f07ge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356439/original/file-20200903-20-8f07ge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356439/original/file-20200903-20-8f07ge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356439/original/file-20200903-20-8f07ge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356439/original/file-20200903-20-8f07ge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356439/original/file-20200903-20-8f07ge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356439/original/file-20200903-20-8f07ge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A coin honoring the 250th anniversary of the Pilgrims landing in Plymouth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/7167/1870-Pilgrim-Jubliee-Memorial-Medal/">NGC Coin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A more nuanced view of the past</h2>
<p>By 1970, the cultural tide had turned. Representatives of the Wampanoag nation <a href="https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/first-national-day-of-mourning-held-in-plymouth.html">walked out</a> of Plymouth’s public celebration of Thanksgiving that year to announce that the fourth Thursday in November should instead be known as the National Day of Mourning. To these protesters, 1620 represented violent conquest and dispossession, the twinned legacies of exclusion. </p>
<p>The organizers of an international group called “Plymouth 400” have stressed that they want to tell a “historically accurate and culturally inclusive history.” They’ve <a href="https://www.themayflowersociety.org/">promoted</a> both the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and <a href="https://www.plymouth400inc.org/our-story-exhibit-wampanoag-history/">an exhibit featuring 400 years of Wampanoag History</a>. Unlike earlier generations of celebrants, the organizers have acknowledged the continued presence of Native residents.</p>
<p>Prior celebrations of Plymouth’s founding focused on the Pilgrims’ role in the creation of the United States. By doing so, these commemorations sustained an exclusionary narrative for over two centuries. </p>
<p>Perhaps this year a different story will take hold, replacing ancestor worship with a more clear-eyed view of the past. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145002/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter C. Mancall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Descendants from the Pilgrims were keen to highlight their ancestors’ role in the country’s founding. But their sanitized version of events is only now starting to be told in full.Peter C. Mancall, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1309802020-04-10T12:12:04Z2020-04-10T12:12:04ZInside the Beatles’ messy breakup, 50 years ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326989/original/file-20200409-165427-i79n2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C8%2C1658%2C1069&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who broke up with whom?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-beatles-celebrate-the-completion-of-their-new-album-sgt-news-photo/3297187?adppopup=true">Anurag Papolu/The Conversation via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fifty years ago, when Paul McCartney announced he had left the Beatles, the news dashed the hopes of millions of fans, while fueling false reunion rumors that persisted well into the new decade. </p>
<p>In a press release on April 10, 1970 for his first solo album, “<a href="https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/paul-mccartney/albums/mccartney/">McCartney</a>,” he leaked his intention to leave. In doing so, he shocked his three bandmates.</p>
<p>The Beatles had symbolized the great communal spirit of the era. How could they possibly come apart? </p>
<p>Few at the time were aware of the underlying fissures. The power struggles in the group had been mounting at least since their manager, Brian Epstein, died in August of 1967. </p>
<h2>‘Paul Quits the Beatles’</h2>
<p>Was McCartney’s “announcement” official? His album appeared on April 17, and its press packet included a mock interview. In it, McCartney <a href="https://www.beatlesbible.com/1970/04/10/paul-mccartney-announces-the-beatles-split/">is asked</a>, “Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?”</p>
<p>His response? “No.” </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325794/original/file-20200406-104477-gkg4w8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325794/original/file-20200406-104477-gkg4w8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325794/original/file-20200406-104477-gkg4w8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325794/original/file-20200406-104477-gkg4w8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325794/original/file-20200406-104477-gkg4w8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325794/original/file-20200406-104477-gkg4w8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325794/original/file-20200406-104477-gkg4w8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Daily Mirror took McCartney at his word.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Daily Mirror</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But he didn’t say whether the separation might prove permanent. The Daily Mirror nonetheless framed its headline conclusively: “Paul Quits the Beatles.” </p>
<p>The others worried this could hurt sales and sent Ringo as a peacemaker to McCartney’s London home to talk him down from releasing his solo album ahead of the band’s “Let It Be” album and film, which were slated to come out in May. Without any press present, McCartney <a href="https://www.beatlesbible.com/1970/03/31/paul-mccartney-ringo-starr-letter-john-lennon-george-harrison-let-it-be/">shouted Ringo off his front stoop</a>.</p>
<h2>Lennon had kept quiet</h2>
<p>Lennon, who had been active outside the band for months, felt particularly betrayed.</p>
<p>The previous September, soon after the band released “Abbey Road,” he <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/why-the-beatles-broke-up-113403/">had asked</a> his bandmates for a “divorce.” But the others convinced him not to go public to prevent disrupting some delicate contract negotiations. </p>
<p>Still, Lennon’s departure seemed imminent: He had played the Toronto Rock ‘n’ Roll Festival with his Plastic Ono Band in September 1969, and on Feb. 11, 1970, he performed a new solo track, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZQny1XxOdI">Instant Karma</a>,” on the popular British TV show “Top of the Pops.” Yoko Ono sat behind him, knitting while blindfolded by a sanitary napkin. </p>
<p>In fact, Lennon behaved more and more like a solo artist, until McCartney countered with his own eponymous album. He wanted Apple to release this solo debut alongside the group’s new album, “<a href="https://www.thebeatles.com/album/let-it-be">Let It Be</a>,” to dramatize the split. </p>
<p>By beating Lennon to the announcement, McCartney controlled the story and its timing, and undercut the other three’s interest in keeping it under wraps as new product hit stores.</p>
<p>Ray Connolly, a reporter at the Daily Mail, knew Lennon well enough to ring him up for comment. When I interviewed Connolly in 2008, he told me about their conversation. </p>
<p>Lennon was dumbfounded and enraged by the news. He had let Connolly in on his secret about leaving the band at his Montreal Bed-In in December 1969, but asked him to keep it quiet. Now he lambasted Connolly for not leaking it sooner. </p>
<p>“Why didn’t you write it when I told you in Canada at Christmas!” he exclaimed to Connolly, who reminded him that the conversation had been off the record. “You’re the f–king journalist, Connolly, not me,” snorted Lennon. </p>
<p>“We were all hurt [McCartney] didn’t tell us what he was going to do,” <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lennon-remembers-part-one-186693/">Lennon later told Rolling Stone</a>. “Jesus Christ! He gets all the credit for it! I was a fool not to do what Paul did, which was use it to sell a record…”</p>
<h2>It all falls apart</h2>
<p>This public fracas had been bubbling under the band’s cheery surface for years. Timing and sales concealed deeper arguments about creative control and the return to live touring. </p>
<p>In January 1969, the group had started a roots project tentatively titled “Get Back.” It was supposed to be a back-to-the-basics recording without the artifice of studio trickery. But the whole venture was shelved as a new recording, “Abbey Road,” took shape.</p>
<p>When “Get Back” was eventually revived, Lennon – behind McCartney’s back – brought in American producer <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phil-Spector">Phil Spector</a>, best known for girl group hits like “Be My Baby,” to salvage the project. But this album was supposed to be band only – not embroidered with added strings and voices – and McCartney fumed when Spector added a female choir to his song “The Long and Winding Road.” </p>
<p>“Get Back” – which was renamed “Let it Be” – nonetheless moved forward. Spector mixed the album, and a cut of the feature film was readied for summer. </p>
<p>McCartney’s announcement and release of his solo album effectively short-circuited the plan. By announcing the breakup, he launched his solo career in advance of “<a href="https://www.beatlesbible.com/albums/let-it-be/">Let It Be</a>,” and nobody knew how it might disrupt the official Beatles’ project. </p>
<p>Throughout the remainder of 1970, fans watched in disbelief as the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0HfT_a3bIw">Let It Be</a>” movie portrayed the hallowed Beatles circling musical doldrums, bickering about arrangements and killing time running through oldies. The film finished with an ironic triumph – <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/01/30/beatles-played-london-rooftop-it-wound-up-being-their-last-show/">the famous live set on the roof of their Apple headquarters</a> during which the band played “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down” and a joyous “One After 909.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NCtzkaL2t_Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Beatles played their last live show in a January 1969 concert staged for the documentary ‘Let It Be.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The album, released on May 8, performed well and spawned two hit singles – the title track and “The Long and Winding Road” – but the group never recorded together again.</p>
<p>Their fans hoped against hope that four solo Beatles might someday find their way back to the thrills that had enchanted audiences for seven years. These rumors seemed most promising when <a href="https://longreads.com/2019/06/24/took-you-by-surprise-john-and-pauls-lost-reunion/">McCartney joined Lennon for a Los Angeles recording session</a> in 1974 with Stevie Wonder. But while they all played on one another’s solo efforts, the four never played a session together again. </p>
<p>At the beginning of 1970, autumn’s “Come Together”/“Something” single from “Abbey Road” still floated in the Billboard top 20; the “Let It Be” album and film helped extend fervor beyond what the papers reported. For a long time, the myth of the band endured on radio playlists and across several greatest hits compilations, but when John Lennon sang “The dream is over…” at the end of his own 1970 solo debut, “<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/john-lennon-plastic-ono-band-108294/">John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band</a>,” few grasped the lyrics’ implacable truth. </p>
<p>Fans and critics chased every sliver of hope for the “next” Beatles, but few came close to recreating the band’s magic. There were prospects – first bands like Three Dog Night, the Flaming Groovies, Big Star and the Raspberries; later, Cheap Trick, the Romantics and the Knack – but these groups only aimed at the same heights the Beatles had conquered, and none sported the range, songwriting ability or ineffable chemistry of the Liverpool quartet.</p>
<p>We’ve been living in the world without Beatles ever since.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130980/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Riley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Unbridled ambition and bruised egos created an irreparable fissure.Tim Riley, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director for Journalism, Emerson CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1286322020-01-01T21:03:11Z2020-01-01T21:03:11Z‘I can still picture the faces’: Black Saturday firefighters want you to listen to them, not call them ‘heroes’<p>Evocative <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-bushfires-intensify-we-need-to-acknowledge-the-strain-on-our-volunteers-127517">images of volunteer firefighters</a> fill our newspapers and television screens. As we look with gratitude into their ash-stained faces, we want to see a modern-day hero looking back at us. </p>
<p>But firefighters don’t want us to see heroes, because calling them heroes overstates their ability to control fires and downplays the long-term psychological impacts of fighting fires.</p>
<p>That’s what we’ve learned after interviewing Black Saturday firefighters ten years after the tragedy, as part of an ongoing research project exploring the role of memory and commemoration in organisational planning.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-bushfires-intensify-we-need-to-acknowledge-the-strain-on-our-volunteers-127517">As bushfires intensify, we need to acknowledge the strain on our volunteers</a>
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<p>As we listen to their recollections of that day, there is no doubt they engaged in heroic acts and need to be remembered for their bravery. But when we laud firefighters as heroes, we fail to acknowledge the ongoing impact of the fires. As one firefighter told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Each year on the Black Saturday anniversary every community group wanted to have a thank you event and they were getting frustrated by the firefighters not turning up. </p>
<p>What they couldn’t understand was what the firefighters were physically and mentally going through at that time.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Memorials do the remembering for us</h2>
<p>Government funding for firefighting needs to make provision for counselling services for firefighters dealing with the long-term psychological effects of fighting fires.</p>
<p>Several firefighters talked about “deliberately trying not to remember because it is so difficult”. For others, remembering together was part of the healing process.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After the 10th anniversary, I had a bit of a meltdown. We’d arranged a gathering of that group of people who were very close on the day and I wasn’t going to go. I just had a picture of myself sitting in the corner crying my eyes out all night and it’s the first time that group had come together since the first anniversary and as it turned out it was brilliant. </p>
<p>It was exactly what we needed. It was a very close group of people who had a lot of trust in each other.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Over the past decade, memorials have been erected in communities affected by the Black Saturday fires. But firefighters we spoke to were concerned that creating memorials allowed communities and authorities to relegate the fires and their impact to the past. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.soc.24.1.105">Scholars of commemoration</a> have observed that giving monumental form to memory can enable us to divest ourselves of the obligation to remember. It’s as if the memorial does the remembering for us. </p>
<p>Rather than building memorials, firefighting organisations need to commemorate through forms of collective communing, where knowledge is shared by older, experienced hands with new firefighters. </p>
<p>This communal commemoration could build on the informal forms of commemoration that firefighters told us they prefer – sitting around the fire truck, sharing stories. <a href="https://www.emv.vic.gov.au/news/linton-staff-ride">Staff rides</a>, for instance, a tactical walk retracing the steps of those involved in a major fire, is an effective way of passing on knowledge while also remembering and honouring the work of firefighters.</p>
<h2>Making sure it never happens again</h2>
<p>Black Saturday firefighters we spoke to urged memorialisation to elicit a call to action. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Memorials do have a profound effect. The Kinglake memorial for me is extremely powerful in terms of reminding us of the scale of the tragedy, the names – I can still picture the faces. It is deeply emotional and powerful. </p>
<p>But how we can translate that powerful emotion into a resilience and a determination to make sure it never happens again?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Firefighters don’t want a roll call of heroes, but for communities to remember the lessons we have learnt from <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-to-take-refuge-in-your-home-during-a-bushfire-72370">past fires</a> and to ensure they have a bushfire plan and to heed warnings to leave. </p>
<p>As one firefighter said about the Black Saturday anniversary:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It should have been an opportunity to remind people of the dangers of bushfires and what can happen and the limitations of an organisation like ours, and to use that in a positive way to reinforce future preparedness rather than constantly looking back at the tragedy and not learning anything from it. </p>
<p>It was a national tragedy owned by everybody and we should be able to build up a cultural memory.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Collective memory carries an ethical obligation. In commemorating firefighters as heroes, we can fall into the danger of overstating their ability to control fires, absolving ourselves of <a href="https://theconversation.com/victorias-trial-by-fire-why-we-still-need-to-tackle-complacency-21289">responsibility</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/70-years-before-black-saturday-the-birth-of-the-victorian-cfa-was-a-sad-tale-of-politics-as-usual-111080">70 years before Black Saturday, the birth of the Victorian CFA was a sad tale of politics as usual</a>
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<hr>
<p>Rather than simply valorising and memorialising firefighters as heroes, all levels of governments need to accept responsibility for their role in mitigating future bushfire impacts. </p>
<p>This means ensuring the landscape is managed appropriately, that our firefighters have the resources to fight fires, and that there is effective, science-based climate policy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Dwyer receives funding from the Swinburne Seed Grant Scheme of which the Country Fire Authority are an industry partner. His funding for this project is affiliated with the Social Innovation Research Institute at the Swinburne University of Technology and he has previously received funding from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Research Co-Operative Research Centre. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leanne Cutcher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In commemorating firefighters as heroes, we can fall into the danger of overstating their ability to control fires, absolving ourselves of responsibility.Leanne Cutcher, Professor, University of Sydney Business School, University of SydneyGraham Dwyer, Lecturer at the Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/941102018-03-31T11:23:52Z2018-03-31T11:23:52Z‘Oklahoma!’ at 75: Has the musical withstood the test of time?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212737/original/file-20180330-189824-yxmwky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">After opening in 1943, “Oklahoma!” was an instant hit and had a run of over 2,000 performances.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-A-NY-USA-APHS369511-Richard-Rodgers/12cfd96e2cf34438974dbd9fbd7fedce/10/0">Charles Lucas/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Musicals have long depicted utopian worlds, offering an escape for audiences, if only for a few hours. When Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” premiered in March 1943, the musical was a perfect reprieve for audiences immersed in the day-to-day anxieties of World War II. </p>
<p>It offers a classic narrative: Two men, cowboy Curly McLain and farmhand Jud Fry, fight for the affections of one woman, farm girl Laurey Williams. This love triangle is played out against the backdrop of westward expansion at the outset of the 20th century. In the end, Curly prevails, and the musical closes with a rousing celebration of unity, statehood and nation-building. </p>
<p>“We know we belong to the land / And the land we belong to is grand! … ” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbrnXl2gO_k&feature=youtu.be&t=1m43s">the cast sings</a>. “You’re doin’ fine, Oklahoma! Oklahoma, O.K.” </p>
<p>It’s the sort of all-American story that connects audiences to our collective past – one of the same appeals that has made “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvBYOBTkDRk">Hamilton</a>” a huge success today.</p>
<p>But as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of “Oklahoma!,” I wonder, as a scholar of American music, if the favorite musical of high school drama teachers no longer resonates as it once did. </p>
<p>Said another way: Whose America did “Oklahoma!” depict? And is the musical’s vision of the nation relevant today?</p>
<p>“Oklahoma!” was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first time working together as a team, and the duo based their musical on “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Grow_the_Lilacs_(play)">Green Grow the Lilacs</a>,” a 1930 play by Lynn Riggs. </p>
<p>That story is also about white Americans and westward expansion, but there’s a key difference: References to Native Americans and African Americans appear in Riggs’ play. Characters talk frequently about “Indian Territory” and acknowledge the dangers of living there. </p>
<p>When Rodgers and Hammerstein adapted this narrative, their characters became blissfully unaware of the racial realities of their setting. Even though <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesser-known-history-african-american-cowboys-180962144/">one in four</a> cowboys were black, they didn’t incorporate African-Americans; and while the show is set in Claremore, Oklahoma – smack in the middle of Cherokee Nation – there’s no mention of the violent conflict and division of tribal lands that had been taking place since the 1887 passage of the <a href="http://legisworks.org/sal/24/stats/STATUTE-24-Pg387.pdf">Dawes Act</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212741/original/file-20180330-189821-wvpwv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212741/original/file-20180330-189821-wvpwv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212741/original/file-20180330-189821-wvpwv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212741/original/file-20180330-189821-wvpwv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212741/original/file-20180330-189821-wvpwv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212741/original/file-20180330-189821-wvpwv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212741/original/file-20180330-189821-wvpwv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Oklahoma!’ celebrates its fifth birthday at St. James Theatre in New York on March 31, 1948.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-Associated-Press-Domestic-News-Entertain-/5cbd064243234a4ab8673720696d0fa8/12/0">Ed Ford/AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So where did they go? Musical theater scholar <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fv4IAQAAMAAJ">Andrea Most</a> argues that the non-white figures find a home in the antagonist, Jud Fry.</p>
<p>In the musical, Fry is the embodiment of all things dangerous and dark, a brute who consumes copious amounts of alcohol and lives in a squalid shack plastered with pornography. At the time, in American entertainment, whenever writers wanted to set a character apart from proper, white society, it was common to deploy this trope. The symbolism isn’t reserved for African Americans and Native Americans. Jud’s character also embodies the looming danger of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. </p>
<p>When Curly sings “everything’s going my way” in the opening number, he’s not just talking about their collective prosperity; he’s also referencing military victories abroad. Jud’s continued presence threatens the forward motion of Claremore. According to Most, after Jud dies from falling on his own knife during a fight with Curly, he becomes “a sacrificial scapegoat … whose death cleanses the community of darkness.”</p>
<p>The death of Jud is Manifest Destiny and a new world order two-stepping its way into the 20th century. </p>
<p>Of course, real life isn’t so black and white: The day “Oklahoma!” premiered, Allied forces killed hundreds of civilians when they accidentally bombed a neighborhood in <a href="http://www.brandgrens.nl/en/the-bombing-of-rotterdam">Rotterdam</a>. </p>
<p>“Oklahoma!” ignores all of this. It favors a nostalgic vision of America’s actions in the world, a necessarily reductive spin for theatergoers of its day.</p>
<p>But audiences of 2018 are more culturally sophisticated. Does “Oklahoma!” have a place in this America? </p>
<p>Musicals – then, just as now – offer an important window into American culture. And “Oklahoma!” can be seen as a work that captures an optimistic vision of America at a moment when its future remained very much up in the air. </p>
<p>But treating “Oklahoma!” as a museum piece – a work frozen in time, performed with full fidelity to the original version – doesn’t feel quite right to me. At the same time, neither does removing it from the regularly performed repertoire of American musical theater. It remains an important show.</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s on modern audiences to read between the lines when they watch classic musicals – to think about what’s not appearing on stage, and why that might be the case.</p>
<p>But directors and performers can also play a role and can make creative choices that open up the narrative a bit. What if the cowboys were all dressed as police officers? What if Laurey was played by a Native American actress? What if Curly actually drove the knife into Jud, rather than Jud falling onto it on his own? </p>
<p>Creative re-envisioning doesn’t need to only apply to “Oklahoma!” Any Broadway classic, from “Show Boat” to “A Chorus Line,” should be eligible. Doing so can allow American actors, directors and audiences alike to reclaim the narratives of the past, while maintaining dialogue with the realities of our present moment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94110/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Raul Bañagale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Broadway hit offered an escape from the anxieties of World War II. But the America it portrayed – unified, patriotic and white – rings hollow today.Ryan Raul Bañagale, Crown Family Professor for Innovation in the Arts, Colorado CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/898412018-01-11T11:41:28Z2018-01-11T11:41:28ZThe ‘greatest pandemic in history’ was 100 years ago – but many of us still get the basic facts wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201379/original/file-20180109-36019-q61srv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Influenza victims crowd into an emergency hospital near Fort Riley, Kansas in 1918.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-Kansas-United-St-/78168a0d08f2da11af9f0014c2589dfb/4/0">AP Photo/National Museum of Health</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year marks the 100th anniversary of the great <a href="https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/">influenza pandemic of 1918</a>. Between 50 and 100 million people are thought to have died, representing as much as 5 percent of the world’s population. Half a billion people were infected. </p>
<p>Especially remarkable was the 1918 flu’s predilection for taking the lives of otherwise healthy young adults, as opposed to children and the elderly, who usually suffer most. Some have called it the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Great-Influenza-Deadliest-Pandemic-History/dp/0143036491">greatest pandemic in history</a>.</p>
<p>The 1918 flu pandemic has been a <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140428-1918-flu-avian-swine-science-health-science/">regular subject</a> of speculation over the last century. Historians and scientists have advanced numerous hypotheses regarding its origin, spread and consequences. As a result, many of us harbor misconceptions about it. </p>
<p>By correcting these 10 myths, we can better understand what actually happened and learn how to prevent and mitigate such disasters in the future.</p>
<h2>1. The pandemic originated in Spain</h2>
<p>No one believes the so-called “Spanish flu” originated in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/590567">Spain</a>. </p>
<p>The pandemic likely acquired this nickname because of World War I, which was in full swing at the time. The major countries involved in the war were keen to avoid encouraging their enemies, so reports of the extent of the flu were suppressed in Germany, Austria, France, the United Kingdom and the U.S. By contrast, neutral Spain had no need to keep the flu under wraps. That created the false impression that Spain was bearing the brunt of the disease. </p>
<p>In fact, the geographic origin of the flu is debated to this day, though <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140123-spanish-flu-1918-china-origins-pandemic-science-health/">hypotheses</a> have suggested East Asia, Europe and even Kansas.</p>
<h2>2. The pandemic was the work of a ‘super-virus’</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201380/original/file-20180109-36028-cg8mlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201380/original/file-20180109-36028-cg8mlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201380/original/file-20180109-36028-cg8mlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201380/original/file-20180109-36028-cg8mlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201380/original/file-20180109-36028-cg8mlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201380/original/file-20180109-36028-cg8mlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201380/original/file-20180109-36028-cg8mlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201380/original/file-20180109-36028-cg8mlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Chicago Public Health poster outlines flu regulations during the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://origins.osu.edu/article/59/images">origins.osu.edu</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 1918 flu spread rapidly, killing 25 million people in just the first six months. This led some to fear the end of mankind, and has long fueled the supposition that the strain of influenza was particularly lethal. </p>
<p>However, more recent study suggests that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/522355">virus itself</a>, though more lethal than other strains, was not fundamentally different from those that caused epidemics in other years.</p>
<p>Much of the high death rate can be attributed to crowding in military camps and urban environments, as well as poor nutrition and sanitation, which suffered during wartime. It’s now thought that many of the deaths were due to the development of bacterial pneumonias in lungs weakened by influenza.</p>
<h2>3. The first wave of the pandemic was most lethal</h2>
<p>Actually, the <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/12/1/05-0979_article">initial wave</a> of deaths from the pandemic in the first half of 1918 was relatively low. </p>
<p>It was in the second wave, from October through December of that year, that the highest death rates were observed. A third wave in spring of 1919 was more lethal than the first but less so than the second. </p>
<p>Scientists now believe that the marked increase in deaths in the second wave was caused by conditions that favored the spread of a deadlier strain. People with mild cases stayed home, but those with severe cases were often crowded together in hospitals and camps, increasing transmission of a more lethal form of the virus.</p>
<h2>4. The virus killed most people who were infected with it</h2>
<p>In fact, the vast majority of the people who contracted the 1918 flu <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/12/1/05-0979_article">survived</a>. National death rates among the infected generally did not exceed 20 percent. </p>
<p>However, death rates varied among different groups. In the U.S., deaths were particularly high among <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/amerindiquar.38.4.0459">Native American populations</a>, perhaps due to lower rates of exposure to past strains of influenza. In some cases, entire Native communities were wiped out. </p>
<p>Of course, even a 20 percent death rate vastly exceeds <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/flu.htm">a typical flu</a>, which kills less than one percent of those infected. </p>
<h2>5. Therapies of the day had little impact on the disease</h2>
<p>No specific anti-viral therapies were available during the 1918 flu. That’s still largely true today, where most medical care for the flu aims to support patients, rather than cure them.</p>
<p>One hypothesis suggests that many flu deaths could actually be attributed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/606060">aspirin poisoning</a>. Medical authorities at the time recommended large doses of aspirin of up to 30 grams per day. Today, about four grams would be considered the maximum safe daily dose. Large doses of aspirin can lead to many of the pandemic’s symptoms, including bleeding. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/651472">death rates</a> seem to have been equally high in some places in the world where aspirin was not so readily available, so the debate continues. </p>
<h2>6. The pandemic dominated the day’s news</h2>
<p>Public health officials, law enforcement officers and politicians had reasons to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862342/">underplay</a> the severity of the 1918 flu, which resulted in less coverage in the press. In addition to the fear that full disclosure might embolden enemies during wartime, they wanted to preserve public order and avoid panic. </p>
<p>However, officials did respond. At the height of the pandemic, <a href="https://virus.stanford.edu/uda/fluresponse.html">quarantines</a> were instituted in many cities. Some were forced to restrict essential services, including police and fire. </p>
<h2>7. The pandemic changed the course of World War I</h2>
<p>It’s unlikely that the flu changed the <a href="http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/body-and-mind/the-spanish-influenza-pandemic-and-its-relation-to-the-first-world-war/">outcome</a> of World War I, because combatants on both sides of the battlefield were relatively equally affected. </p>
<p>However, there is little doubt that the war <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862337/">profoundly influenced</a> the course of the pandemic. Concentrating millions of troops created ideal circumstances for the development of more aggressive strains of the virus and its spread around the globe. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201382/original/file-20180109-36016-11bkrkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201382/original/file-20180109-36016-11bkrkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201382/original/file-20180109-36016-11bkrkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201382/original/file-20180109-36016-11bkrkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201382/original/file-20180109-36016-11bkrkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201382/original/file-20180109-36016-11bkrkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201382/original/file-20180109-36016-11bkrkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201382/original/file-20180109-36016-11bkrkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Patients receive care for the Spanish flu at Walter Reed Military Hospital, in Washington, D.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://origins.osu.edu/article/59/images">origins.osu.edu</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>8. Widespread immunization ended the pandemic</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.vaccination.english.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/updated-influenza-media-kit-4.pdf">Immunization against the flu</a> as we know it today was not practiced in 1918, and thus played no role in ending the pandemic. </p>
<p>Exposure to prior strains of the flu may have offered some protection. For example, soldiers who had served in the military for years suffered <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/irv.12267">lower rates of death</a> than new recruits.</p>
<p>In addition, the rapidly mutating virus likely evolved over time into less lethal strains. This is predicted by models of natural selection. Because highly lethal strains kill their host rapidly, they cannot spread as easily as less lethal strains. </p>
<h2>9. The genes of the virus have never been sequenced</h2>
<p>In 2005, researchers announced that they had successfully determined the <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2005/10/resurrecting-spanish-flu">gene sequence</a> of the 1918 influenza virus. The virus was recovered from the body of a flu victim buried in the permafrost of Alaska, as well as from samples of American soldiers who fell ill at the time. </p>
<p>Two years later, <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/445237a">monkeys</a> infected with the virus were found to exhibit the symptoms observed during the pandemic. Studies suggest that the monkeys died when their immune systems overreacted to the virus, a so-called “cytokine storm.” Scientists now believe that a similar immune system overreaction contributed to high death rates among otherwise healthy young adults in 1918. </p>
<h2>10. The 1918 pandemic offers few lessons for 2018</h2>
<p>Severe influenza epidemics tend to occur every <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/67988">few decades</a>. Experts believe that the next one is a question not of “if” but “when.” </p>
<p>While few living people can recall the great flu pandemic of 1918, we can continue to learn its lessons, which range from the commonsense value of handwashing and immunizations to the potential of anti-viral drugs. Today we know more about how to isolate and handle large numbers of ill and dying patients, and we can prescribe antibiotics, not available in 1918, to combat secondary bacterial infections. Perhaps the best hope lies in improving nutrition, sanitation and standards of living, which render patients better able to resist the infection.</p>
<p>For the foreseeable future, flu epidemics will remain an annual feature of the rhythm of human life. As a society, we can only hope that we have learned the great pandemic’s lessons sufficiently well to quell another such worldwide catastrophe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Gunderman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Don’t believe these 10 common myths about the 1918 Spanish flu.Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/823632017-08-30T20:17:40Z2017-08-30T20:17:40ZWhy Princess Diana conspiracies refuse to die<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183866/original/file-20170829-5034-1msz3zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The princess of Wales is pictured in Bonn, Germany in 1987.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-I-DEU-APHS256685-British-Royalty-P-/1909aed62f784a7f9ba4d78432ed57c3/1/1"> AP Photo/Herman Knippertz</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>August 31 is the 20th anniversary of the stunning, tragic death of Princess Diana in Paris, France, when Diana’s chauffeured Mercedes hit a pillar inside an underpass just after midnight, killing her, her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, and her driver, Henri Paul. </p>
<p>As the news quickly circulated, theories about the causes of the crash also spread, with some veering into conspiracy. <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/who-killed-princess-diana-3299459">Did the ruthless paparazzi</a>, in hot pursuit of the car, cause the driver to panic? Had the royal family murdered her to avert an embarrassing marriage? </p>
<p>Twenty years later, these conspiracy theories still <a href="http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/princess-diana-death-conspiracy-theories-13507472">persist</a>. </p>
<p>I’ve taught classes and researched the nature of conspiracy theories for over a decade, and I’m especially interested in the role of logic in these conspiracies – how it’s used to warp and concoct stories that explain extraordinary events. </p>
<p>In the end, our reasons for entertaining conspiracy theories about luminaries, whether it’s the princess of Wales or John F. Kennedy, often have more to do with our lives than theirs.</p>
<h2>What people were saying</h2>
<p>Shortly after Princess Diana’s death, numerous notions started to circulate suggesting conspiracies against her.</p>
<p>Some suggested that MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service, caused the crash <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578498/Diana-inquest-MI6-plotted-tunnel-murder.html">by blinding Diana’s driver</a> with a strobe light. The thinking went that the royal family wanted to prevent Princess Diana from marrying her boyfriend, Fayed, the son of a prominent Egyptian billionaire. (Others say that Diana <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/08/25/princess-diana-remembered-conspiracy-theories-surrounding-her-death.html">was pregnant</a> with Dodi Fayed’s baby.)</p>
<p>Some have also been suspicious about the emergency response to the accident. The initial call notifying emergency services came at 12:26 a.m.; she arrived at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris (3.5 miles away) at 2:06 a.m., over 90 minutes later.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/was-there-time-to-save-diana/">Could she have been saved</a>? Why was the response so slow?</p>
<p>Most of these theories were proven to be either wrong or misleading. In 2008, after a lengthy <a href="https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/news/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_12_06_diana_report.pdf">investigation</a>, the U.K.’s Metropolitan Police <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/08/25/princess-diana-remembered-conspiracy-theories-surrounding-her-death.html">reported the death</a> a “tragic accident,” noting that Diana’s driver had been drunk. </p>
<p>But even this didn’t end the intrigue. </p>
<h2>The nature of conspiracy</h2>
<p>I’ve found that belief in conspiracy theories is more about a refusal to accept the randomness of life and tragedy than it is about the existence of evidence (or lack thereof). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183868/original/file-20170829-5046-adwhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183868/original/file-20170829-5046-adwhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183868/original/file-20170829-5046-adwhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183868/original/file-20170829-5046-adwhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183868/original/file-20170829-5046-adwhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183868/original/file-20170829-5046-adwhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183868/original/file-20170829-5046-adwhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183868/original/file-20170829-5046-adwhdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workers prepare to take away the car in which Diana, Princess of Wales, died on Sunday, Aug. 31, 1997 in Paris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-International-News-France-File-/ea004aac49e5da11af9f0014c2589dfb/103/0">Jerome Delay/AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indeed, many are drawn to what science writer Michael Shermer has termed “<a href="http://left.wikia.com/wiki/Agenticity">agenticity</a>” – the tendency to infuse patterns with meaning and agency. It’s the idea that someone, somewhere – from God down to human conspirators – plays a role in what happens to us. </p>
<p>As political scientist Michael Barkun details in his book “<a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520276826">A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America</a>,” conspiracy theories usually hinge on three core beliefs:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Nothing happens by accident. For this reason, the horrible machinations of “evil” conspirators become more believable than a fluke or an accident.</p></li>
<li><p>Nothing is as it seems. Successful conspirators hide their identities and actions; we must, therefore, always be wary, even when there’s little reason for suspicion. </p></li>
<li><p>Dots can always be connected. Though conspirators attempt to hide their actions, patterns exist everywhere.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Yet many conspiracy theories routinely contradict <a href="http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/occam.html">Occam’s razor</a>, a philosophical principle based on the idea that the more assumptions needed to explain something – whether it’s a scientific law or a conspiracy theory – the less reliable the explanation. </p>
<p>In short, the simpler your explanation, the better. Speculating the royal family enlisted MI6 to cause a car accident by using a strobe light in a Paris tunnel during a chaotic attempt to avoid paparazzi chasing Princess Diana – all while suppressing any video footage – would require an unbelievable level of coordination and choreography.</p>
<p>So, why then do the Diana conspiracies refuse to disappear? </p>
<h2>Conspiracy trumps logic</h2>
<p>Conspiracy theories make for interesting stories; they often involve breathtaking action, complicated plots and shadowy villains. They give us access to lives we normally never get to see. </p>
<p>But the drama contained in such explanations can cloud our thinking, impeding our ability to make logical conclusions that refute such conspiracy theories. We might think only others are susceptible to these “foolish” stories, but in reality, we’re persuaded just the same. </p>
<p><a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2d6f/1b817018dc9c01be6b863072808c29d67180.pdf">A 2008 study</a> found that students were able to adequately assess how their classmates might be influenced by conspiracy theories about Princess Diana’s death; but they overestimated their own ability to resist being persuaded by them. </p>
<p>Today’s 24-hour news cycle also cultivates an opening for conspiratorial thinking. Among journalists, the race to break a story can lead to gaps or errors in reporting. We also tend to forget that as readers, many stories, especially breaking ones, are a work in progress. It can take months – even years – to ever know the full story. </p>
<p>People exploit gaps or inconsistencies in the coverage to construct their own conspiratorial puzzle. For example, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1464884914552266">two researchers from the University of Iowa</a> found that reporters – especially those on social media – made errors about the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting in a rush to be among the first to break various developments. Alternative narratives developed as a result, which fomented the growth and spread of conspiracy theories. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, stories that would have never filled our newspapers or evening news segments in the past now find homes on websites and in social networks. In the quest for “eyeballs,” outlandish stories – no matter how steeped in conspiracy or conjecture – can easily <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/article/how-conspiracy-theories-spread-on-fb">gain traction</a>. </p>
<h2>Life isn’t logical</h2>
<p>But perhaps the biggest reason we tend to give credence to conspiracy theories <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2011/04/youre_all_nuts.html">is our own mortality</a>. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3791630?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">many of us feel that we have little control over our own lives</a>. This leads to something called “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anomie">anomie</a>,” a type of weariness that makes us view the world as an adversary, with people and systems out to get us. So when we interpret tragedy through a lens of conspiracy – whether it’s the death of Princess Diana or the assassination of JFK – it’s weirdly reassuring. Smaller details and nuggets of logic can get washed away in our compulsion to “connect the dots,” creating a black-and-white world of hypercompetent villains and good guys. Our worldview is reaffirmed. Everything can be explained.</p>
<p>To simply think of Princess Diana’s death as a “tragic accident” gives us less control over own fate. No matter how logically messy the details of a conspiracy theory might be, they do, strangely, soothe our own sense of worth and place in our world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82363/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek Arnold does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To succumb to conspiracy is to be human.Derek Arnold, Instructor in Communication, Villanova UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/815862017-08-01T17:35:42Z2017-08-01T17:35:42ZElvis Presley was paid a king’s ransom for sub-par movies – because they were marketing gold<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180519/original/file-20170801-11176-13lj7um.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=820%2C228%2C2925%2C1916&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/toronto-canada-nov-1-2016-elvis-514731382?src=U2FHBMLg8Y4L8F26qTNsAg-3-2">Dan Kosmayer/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This summer marks 40 years since the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/garry-rodgers/elvis-presleys-death-what_1_b_9157820.html">death of Elvis Presley</a>. In the decades since the singer finally left the building, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/jan/10/elvis25yearson.elvispresley">hits have continued</a>, his home at Graceland is now a top tourist attraction, and he is regularly listed as one of the top earning dead celebrities by <a href="http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/highest-earning-dead-celebrities-2016-michael-jackson-prince-david-bowie-1201886991/">Forbes</a>. </p>
<p>From the moment he burst onto the music scene in the 1950s, to the late Vegas years of garish jumpsuits, Presley’s career tells a host of intriguing tales. From an economics point of view, however, his roster of entirely forgettable, but wildly successful movies offers the most fertile ground.</p>
<p>Many readers will be familiar with the existence of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000062/">Elvis’s films</a>, even if the plotlines don’t spring immediately to mind. Between 1956 and 1972, he made 33 movies, and in all but one he took the starring role. And they were popular. In today’s money, the total box office receipts <a href="http://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/elvis-presley-movies/">equate to over US$2.2 billion</a>, and that is for the US alone. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180511/original/file-20170801-16474-mza6cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180511/original/file-20170801-16474-mza6cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180511/original/file-20170801-16474-mza6cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180511/original/file-20170801-16474-mza6cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180511/original/file-20170801-16474-mza6cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180511/original/file-20170801-16474-mza6cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180511/original/file-20170801-16474-mza6cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180511/original/file-20170801-16474-mza6cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Shake your money maker.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Girls_Girls_Girls_Poster_B.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>All Shook Up</h2>
<p>Each film typically cost around US$2m to make, a reasonable sum in the 1960s, equating to around US$15.5m in today’s money (<a href="http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/year/2016">but only around 10% of the budget of Disney’s Moana</a>). On average, they grossed around three times that at the US box office. Hollywood saw them as a safe money-spinner, the domestic market alone guaranteed a profit. In some ways, Elvis’ films were the precursor to today’s music videos. They followed a tried and tested formula, generally featuring Elvis in exotic locations such as Hawaii, Acapulco, or Las Vegas, and performing an album’s worth of songs in the midst of adventures involving racing cars, flying planes, or deep sea diving. </p>
<p>From a marketing perspective, film making was a win-win situation, a virtuous circle of marketing gold. The films advertised Presley’s latest recordings to his fans. Seeing the film would then encourage fans to buy the soundtrack album, while radio plays of recordings from the soundtrack would prompt them to go and see the film. And there was the added bonus that fans all around the world could watch Elvis perform without him having to travel. The film companies generally <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/promos/elvisdaybyday/1955.html">paid the costs</a> for recording the soundtrack, as well as the publicity photos that went on the sleeves, meaning that RCA, Elvis’ record company, had the majority of their costs covered too. </p>
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<p>The films may have been sound financial investments, but their artistic ambition <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F01E2DA1130E03ABC4951DFB166838D679EDE">didn’t impress the critics</a>. The focus on profit meant that budgets were squeezed. Filming schedules were very tight, typically four weeks, although films such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kissin%27_Cousins">Kissin’ Cousins</a> were made in less than three weeks by a producer known as <a href="http://streamline.filmstruck.com/2010/01/04/the-king-of-rock-n-roll-meets-the-king-of-the-quickies/">the “king of the quickies”</a>. </p>
<p>The songs also got worse, soundtrack recordings such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pro7XpRpU04">Yoga is as Yoga Does</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJPybmxIQkQ">A Dog’s Life</a> were a far cry from the hits that made him famous. In his <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2253737.Elvis_Presley">comprehensive overview of Elvis’ recording career</a> Ernst Jorgensen quotes one of the Jordanaires’ (who sang backup on most of these recordings), who recalled: “the material was so bad that [Elvis] felt like he couldn’t sing it”. </p>
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<p>They didn’t all lack quality. Presley’s earlier films are generally held in greater esteem, with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0Rz-uP4Mk">Jailhouse Rock</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfkLnZhhoTY">King Creole</a> and a few others considered to be <a href="http://www.avclub.com/article/where-to-start-with-elvis-presleys-uneven-yet-char-96055">good examples of the genre</a>.</p>
<h2>Heartbreak Hotel</h2>
<p>Now, we can argue the toss over whether to judge the movies by financial or artistic success. But Elvis’ focus on filmmaking, as opposed to live appearances, has been <a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/09/movie-killed-elvis-presley/">convincingly presented</a> as one of the reasons for his mid-60s decline. As Elvis stuck to his formula, the music scene changed. While the Beach Boys were making classic albums like Pet Sounds, Elvis was singing about pet dogs, cows and shrimps. Half a century ago, when the Summer of Love got into full swing, The Beatles released the seminal Sgt Pepper album. Elvis was inviting everyone to a clambake. </p>
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<p>By the late 1960s, Presley’s popularity had waned; movie box office receipts fell, critics were less impressed with each release, and the records from the soundtracks <a href="http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/13107/elvis-presley/">no longer climbed as far up the charts</a>. Strangely though, at the same time, film companies such as MGM and United Artists, were paying ever higher fees for his services. The chart below shows both the box office receipts and the fee Elvis received for the film. Over time we can see that the fees Elvis earned were rising as the box office receipts were declining.</p>
<p>Hollywood appeared to be paying for his star power, which in turn pushed them towards making cheaper, low quality films. Economic theory would predict that as demand falls, the price, Elvis’ fee, should also fall. Yet, it appears that his fame insulated him somewhat from market forces, with film companies prepared to cut other costs in order to secure their star.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179906/original/file-20170726-7204-trut9y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179906/original/file-20170726-7204-trut9y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179906/original/file-20170726-7204-trut9y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179906/original/file-20170726-7204-trut9y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179906/original/file-20170726-7204-trut9y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179906/original/file-20170726-7204-trut9y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179906/original/file-20170726-7204-trut9y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179906/original/file-20170726-7204-trut9y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Elvis films revenue vs fees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/elvis-presley-movies/">Ultimate Movie Rankings</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Presley’s film career is often remembered as playful and flimsy, and rightly seen as an exercise in marketing first and foremost. Yes, US$2.2 billion is a lot of money, but could Elvis’ film career been more fulfilling? There is a long line of singers who have made a successful film career for themselves from <a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/frank-sinatra-10-essential-films">Frank Sinatra</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/list/ls006521170/">Dean Martin</a> through to <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tom_waits/">Tom Waits</a> and <a href="http://decider.com/2016/05/09/justin-timberlake-film-roles-ranked/">Justin Timberlake</a>.</p>
<p>A 1977 article in Rolling Stone magazine revealed that those who worked with Presley <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/shake-rattle-and-roll-em-19770922">felt he had more to give</a>. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0851537/">Norman Taurog</a>, who directed nine of his films, felt Elvis never reached his peak. <a href="http://www.indiewire.com/2012/04/the-essentials-the-films-of-don-siegel-111423/">Don Siegel</a>, director of Flaming Star (and later on Dirty Harry), felt he only went along for the ride. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Abel_(animator)">Robert Abel</a>, co-director of Elvis on Tour, neatly summed it up when he said: “[Elvis] was basically an incredibly fine actor with a lot of vulnerability and a lot of humanity that he could have communicated in his films. And occasionally he did”.</p>
<p>Yet, the films are mostly fun, and they mean we still get to see a youthful Elvis perform classic songs such as Teddy Bear, Jailhouse Rock or Can’t Help Falling in Love. And don’t forget, A Little Less Conversation – the song which was remixed and launched into an entirely new generation in 2002 – was originally found in the 1968 movie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_a_Little,_Love_a_Little">Live a Little, Love a Little</a>. Ultimately, these films served their purpose at the time, and have helped to give The King longevity into the 21st century.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Johnston is a member of the Labour Party</span></em></p>His films made more than US$2 billion, but did they do him justice?Andrew Johnston, Principal Lecturer in International Business and Economics, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/794052017-06-27T00:41:11Z2017-06-27T00:41:11ZThe iPhone turns 10 – and it’s isolated us, not united us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175649/original/file-20170626-27196-1fa0am3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It was supposed to bring us all together.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kaunas-lithuania-december-26-2015-cracked-355296320?src=LFRRxGcuyhzG-jz4VgF5-Q-1-60">Rokas Tenys/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sometime around 2011 or 2012, it suddenly became very easy to predict what people would be doing in public places: Most would be looking down at their phones. </p>
<p>For years, mobile phones weren’t much to look at. The screens were small, and users needed to press the same key several times to type a single letter in a text. Then, 10 years ago – on June 29, 2007 – Apple released the first iPhone. </p>
<p>“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” former Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/1054769/smartphones/iphone.html">said</a> during the iPhone’s introductory news conference.</p>
<p>Within six years, <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/">the majority of Americans owned a smartphone</a> – embracing the new technology <a href="https://www.extremetech.com/computing/129058-smartphones-set-to-become-the-fastest-spreading-technology-in-human-history">perhaps faster than any other previous technology had been adopted</a>. </p>
<p>Today, smartphones seem indispensable. They connect us to the internet, give us directions, allow us to quickly fire off texts and – as I discovered one day in spring 2009 – can even help you find the last hotel room in Phoenix when your plane is grounded by a dust storm. </p>
<p>Yet research has shown that this convenience may be coming at a cost. We seem to be addicted to our phones; as a psychology researcher, I have read study after study concluding that our <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/04/a-new-more-rigorous-study-confirms-the-more-you-use-facebook-the-worse-you-feel">mental health and relationships may be suffering</a>. Meanwhile, the first generation of kids to grow up with smartphones is now reaching adulthood, and we’re only beginning to see the adverse effects.</p>
<h2>Sucked in</h2>
<p>In the beginning, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Alone-Together-Expect-Technology-Other/dp/0465031463">sociologist Sherry Turkle</a> explained, smartphone users would huddle together, sharing what was on their phones. </p>
<p>“As time has gone on, there’s been less of that and more of what I call the alone together phenomenon. It has turned out to be an isolating technology,” she said in the 2015 documentary “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/specials/tech/steve-jobs-the-man-in-the-machine">Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine</a>.” “It’s a dream machine and you become fascinated by the world you can find on these screens.” </p>
<p>This is the new normal: Instead of calling someone, you text them. Instead of getting together for dinner with friends to tell them about your recent vacation, you post the pictures to Facebook. It’s convenient, but it cuts out some of the face-to-face interactions that, as social animals, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7777651">we crave</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A 2007 ABC News segment on the iPhone.</span></figcaption>
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<p>More and more studies suggest that electronic communication – unlike the face-to-face interaction it may replace – has negative consequences for mental health. One study asked college students to report on their mood five times a day. The more they had used Facebook, <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069841">the less happy they were</a>. However, feeling unhappy didn’t lead to more Facebook use, which suggests that Facebook was causing unhappiness, not vice versa.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215300704">Another study</a> examined the impact of smartphones on relationships. People whose partners were more frequently distracted by their phones were less satisfied with their relationships, and – perhaps as a result – were more likely to feel depressed. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, we can’t stop staring at our phones. In his book “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30962055-irresistible">Irresistible</a>,” marketing professor Adam Alter makes a convincing case that social media and electronic communication are addictive, involving the same brain pathways as drug addiction. In one study, frequent smartphone users asked to put their phones face down on the table <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214002805">grew increasingly anxious the more time passed</a>. They couldn’t stand not looking at their phones for just a few minutes.</p>
<h2>iGen: The smartphone generation</h2>
<p>The rapid market saturation of smartphones produced a noticeable generational break between those born in the 1980s and early 1990s (called millennials) and those born in 1995 and later (<a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/iGen/Jean-M-Twenge/9781501151989">called iGen</a> or GenZ). iGen is the first generation to spend their entire adolescence with smartphones. </p>
<p>Although iGen displays many positive characteristics such as lower alcohol use and more limited teen sexuality, the trends in their mental health are more concerning. <a href="https://heri.ucla.edu/press-release/TFS-2016-Press-Release.pdf">In the American Freshman Survey</a>, the percentage of entering college students who said they “felt depressed” in the last year doubled between 2009 and 2016. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db241.htm">sharp increase in the teen suicide rate</a> over the same time period when smartphones became common. The pattern is certainly suspicious, but at the moment it’s difficult to tell whether these trends are caused by smartphones or something else. (It’s a question I’m trying to answer with my current research.) </p>
<p>Many also wonder if staring at screens will negatively impact adolescents’ budding social skills. At least one study suggests it will. Sixth graders who attended a screen-free camp for just five days <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214003227">improved their skills at reading emotions on others’ faces</a> significantly more than those who spent those five days with their normal high level of screen use. Like anything else, social skills get better with practice. If iGen gets less practice, their social skills may suffer.</p>
<p>Smartphones are a tool, and like most tools, they can be used in positive ways or negative ones. In moderation, smartphones are a convenient – even crucial – technology. </p>
<p>Yet a different picture has also emerged over the past decade: Interacting with people face to face usually makes us happy. Electronic communication <a href="http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2016.0259">often doesn’t</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79405/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean Twenge has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Russell Sage Foundation.</span></em></p>How has the first generation of kids to grow up with the iPhone been affected?Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/770922017-06-08T02:37:02Z2017-06-08T02:37:02ZLoving v. Virginia: Exploring biracial identity and reality in America 50 years after a landmark civil rights milestone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172790/original/file-20170607-21294-1dmkm45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mildred and Richard Loving in 1965.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fifty years ago, on June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down one of the most important civil rights decisions in American history, <a href="http://time.com/4362508/loving-v-virginia-personas/">Loving v. Virginia</a>. The landmark case ended the last of the country’s state laws banning interracial marriage – prohibitions described in the <a href="http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Excerpts_from_a_Transcript_of_Oral_Arguments_in_Loving_v_Virginia_April_10_1967">case’s oral arguments</a> as “the most odious of the segregation laws and the slavery laws.”</p>
<p>This wasn’t simply the dramatic end to longstanding policy justified with <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/388/1.html">biblical assertions about the separation of the races</a>. In the most intimate human terms, the court’s decision marked the end of a difficult journey for Mildred and Richard Loving, the interracial couple at the heart of the case. In the years leading up to the Supreme Court decision, for the crime of being married as a woman of color and a white man, the Lovings faced <a href="http://www.history.com/news/mildred-and-richard-the-love-story-that-changed-america">harassment, a police invasion of their home</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/us/06loving.html">and even jail time</a>.</p>
<p>The Loving decision has both political and personal meaning to me, the mother of two biracial children and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1995892/">a documentary filmmaker and scholar</a> whose work is grounded in <a href="http://cmsimpact.org/team/caty-borum-chattoo/">social justice</a>. </p>
<h2>Social change happens over time</h2>
<p>Social change in U.S. civil rights often has been rooted in an act of the court system, evident in the related Supreme Court decisions <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/case.html">Brown v. Board of Education (1954)</a>, which declared “separate but equal” public schools for black and white children as unconstitutional, and <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/576/14-556/dissent4.html">Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)</a>, which affirmed the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry. And yet, as history shows, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/two-milestones-in-education/361222/">societal change ripples out slowly in the decades that follow</a> such decisions, embodied in social norms and the generational shifts in our cultural perspectives. Social change, in other words, happens through daily life and our understanding of one another, and through what we pass along. </p>
<p>For me, a white woman married to a man of color, raising two biracial children, the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia represents a recognition of progress and social change – but it also spotlights work still to be done. When I became a mother, I was unprepared for how much more I would intimately feel, see and understand about race – and race relations – in the U.S.</p>
<p>I realized quickly how much I don’t know – but also how much others don’t know, either, about the cultural and psychological realities for biracial people. Attempting to tell the story through film, then, might contribute to the cultural understanding that helps foster positive social change. After all, biracial people have been officially <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/chapter-1-race-and-multiracial-americans-in-the-u-s-census/">counted by the U.S. Census only since 2000</a>. In some ways, this is a new chapter in the very old legacy of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miscegenation">miscegenation</a> in America. </p>
<h2>Two moms embark on a journey</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172786/original/file-20170607-30402-1t7eskr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172786/original/file-20170607-30402-1t7eskr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172786/original/file-20170607-30402-1t7eskr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172786/original/file-20170607-30402-1t7eskr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172786/original/file-20170607-30402-1t7eskr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172786/original/file-20170607-30402-1t7eskr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172786/original/file-20170607-30402-1t7eskr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leena Jayaswal and Caty Borum Chattoo on the road in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caty Borum Chattoo</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And so it was, against the backdrop of the waning days of the Obama presidency, that Leena Jayaswal and I decided to produce <a href="https://www.mixeddocumentary.com/">a documentary film, entitled “Mixed,”</a> to examine America’s deep cultural ambivalence about its rapidly changing mixed-race reality. Jayaswal, a fellow documentary filmmaker and professor, is a woman of color raising a biracial son with her white husband. </p>
<p>We set out to answer questions like: What is it like to be a biracial person in today’s America? How does biracial identity develop, and what should the rest of us understand in order to not inadvertently trivialize, fetishize or discriminate against biracial people? What does the country think of our kids and families, and how are they reflected in the culture, a half-century after Loving v. Virginia? </p>
<p>From our journey through North Carolina and California and New York and Ohio and Texas and beyond, what have we learned? Here are a few highlights. </p>
<h2>Images of biracial people in American culture</h2>
<p>Despite our cultural tendency to fetishize biracial <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-saying-youre-multiracial-changes-the-way-people-see-you-64509">people</a> and <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mirandalarbi/celebrities-you-probably-didnt-know-were-mixed-race">celebrities</a> as exotic and beautiful, racism is a reality. In 2013, when a Cheerios TV commercial included a biracial family, the <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/01/30/268930004/that-cute-cheerios-ad-with-the-interracial-family-is-back">racist response</a> made headlines around the country. Two years later, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/07/27/heres-what-i-did-when-racists-complained-about-an-interracial-family-in-my-magazine/?utm_term=.4ba65d4f3b19">a similar ad in Houstonia magazine</a> elicited letters expressing disgust about the featured biracial family. In 2016, <a href="http://www.today.com/style/old-navy-ad-interracial-family-prompts-social-media-outrage-support-t90226">Old Navy was the target of online ire</a> aimed at an online ad’s interracial family.</p>
<p>We explored these reactions with psychology scholar Allison Skinner, who learned in a recent study that a group of <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-say-theyre-okay-with-interracial-marriage-but-could-the-brain-tell-a-different-story-64149">white respondents experienced feelings of disgust</a> when they saw images of black and white people together as a couple – a significantly different response than seeing two people of color together, or two white people. Skinner concluded that this is a learned perspective, and, as she wrote, <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-say-theyre-okay-with-interracial-marriage-but-could-the-brain-tell-a-different-story-64149">“we are not born with these biases.”</a> It’s dangerous to assume, then, that focusing on “the beauty” of biracial people is evidence of understanding their full personhood – or that such surface-level aesthetic judgment is proof that implicit bias and racism isn’t an issue. <a href="http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/looking-race-and-racial-identity-through-critical-literacy-c">Talking about race and racial identity</a> is important, particularly when children are learning to navigate the world around them. We can undo this societal damage. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172826/original/file-20170607-30402-e4egj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172826/original/file-20170607-30402-e4egj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172826/original/file-20170607-30402-e4egj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172826/original/file-20170607-30402-e4egj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172826/original/file-20170607-30402-e4egj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172826/original/file-20170607-30402-e4egj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172826/original/file-20170607-30402-e4egj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Starting in 1974, The Jeffersons featured an interracial couple, Helen and Tom Willis.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Normalizing reflections of biracial people and families in American entertainment could be helpful. Despite the fact that interracial romance can be found across the TV landscape today (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal”), biracial individuals and families are scarce in entertainment programming without a sexualized portrayal, which may contribute to our tendency to festishize biracial people. </p>
<p>Some media research tells us that our <a href="http://cmsw.mit.edu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/The-Parasocial-Contact-Hypothesis.pdf">interaction with media characters</a> can feel similar to our real-world interactions with people, and thus, can reduce prejudice against others different from us. In other words, when we see and like characters in entertainment who are different from us, it makes a difference in how we feel about people in the real world.</p>
<h2>Seeing biracial people as their full selves</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5395390">“What are you?”</a> is a question many biracial people hear consistently. Or, they’re placed into one category or another – too much of one thing, not enough of another. Both ends of the spectrum can give a message: You don’t belong. As parents and a culture, when we force mixed-race people to choose one or the other, we can harm their <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963721414558115">emotional well-being and self-esteem</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963721414558115">psychology scholar Sarah Gaither</a>, multiracial people experience tension when they have to conform or select only one of their groups, “whether due to social context or societal pressures to conform to a monoracial category.” But Gaither’s work also points to the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963721414558115">resilience and unique experience of biracial people</a>: They have a connection to more than one racial identity and perspective, which makes them more fluid and flexible in their behavior when interacting with diverse others. And, they show less racial bias in how they perceive others from different racial backgrounds. It’s not up to us – monoracial parents and the culture – to force biracial individuals into one racial category or identity. Similarly, it’s up to biracial people themselves to choose their own cultural labels - whether “mixed,” “biracial,” “swirls” - or to make the choice to culturally identify as monoracial, as did former <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/09/btsc.obama.race/">President Barack Obama</a>. </p>
<p>In another 50 years, this inquiry hopefully will be a time-capsule relic, as the population grows more diverse. But today, in 2017, how we understand and open the door to talking and thinking about race will help shape the equity of that future. We can look in the rear-view mirror at 1967 and Loving v. Virginia, and we can clearly see progress. But the future is ours to shape, through every conversation we embrace or perspective we choose to teach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Co-directors Caty Borum Chattoo and Leena Jayaswal have received grant funding to produce the documentary film, MIXED.</span></em></p>In 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested in Virginia for the crime of being married. The couple helped spark an effort to strike down laws against interracial marriage in the United States.Caty Borum Chattoo, Director of the Center for Media & Social Impact, American University School of CommunicationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.