Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Middle of the Week

Wednesday. Which means its almost Friday! Today was an uneventful day. I woke up at about 11. Ha Ha! I chilled in my room for a while. Got up to get some lunch on Thayer St. I hung out with Cynthia, Mercedes, Gina, Meuy, Courtney, and this other girl. I went back to my room to chill before I had to go to class.

During class my teacher talked for a while about McCarthyism and we watched Monsieur Verdoux (i think that's the correct spelling). The movie was written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, who was suspected of being a communist. The movie was very humorous and the central message tied in well with the ideas we have been talking about in class.

I have a mini-essay assignment due on friday. I have to take a quote from the readings this week and elaborate on what it means. Hopefully I do well on it.

After class I went to dinner and then went back to my room to start on my homework.

What a relaxing day.

1 comment:

Don Gosney said...

Avauna,

Talk about rough. How did you possibly get through this tough day filled with so many time consuming projects? Sounds like my kind of day.

I'm going to have to check out the specifics of the class you're taking.

You should see my library on books written about McCarthyism both then and now. That's always been a dark part of our history but we've tried time and again to embrace some of the same concepts even during your own lifetime (questioning the patriotism of anyone who did not fully embrace the war in Iraq or of anyone who might question what Cheney/Bush were doing).

Charlie Chaplin, although he wasn't even an American citizen, was almost called before HUAC for his socialist leanings that did not see the USSR as being as evil as some American politicians wanted everyone to believe.

Throughout the Great Depression he supported workers' rights which were considered by some to be "Red" (unions were considered communist back then). He supported the USSR against Hitler during WWII when we were allies with the USSR and this was held against him later. Probably his biggest crime, though, as far as some were concerned, was his failure to embrace an all out world war.

When J. Edgar Hoover had his re-entry visa revoked in 1952 he chose to give up his US residency and moved to Switzerland where he lived until he died 25 years later.

You might take note that much of what Charlie Chaplin was vilified for back then is commonly accepted today.