wm (11/27/82)
Back in the old days I got a degree in fine arts. One of the best courses I ever took was a film history course under a professor named McEvily (not sure of the spelling, or whether he still teaches at Rice). Anyway, one of the many good things he taught us about film was that there seems to be a set of themes that are universal. Many people have been having fun comparing some current movies to one such theme, that of the life of Christ. I don't have my notes anymore or I would dig them up, but the point he would make is that this theme is much older than that! McEvily had an amazing ability to weave in the evidence of old nordic, oriental, and whatever fragments of legends that we had records of and use them to explain what it was about great movies that spoke to us, a public ignorant of the knowledge that we all carried these themes inside us. It is interesting to see current movies, where everyone looks for something "new", and people posting reviews put spoiler warnings so that the fun won't be ruined for people who haven't seen the film yet. Contrast this with theater in the time of Shakespeare, when everyone knew all the stories in advance. Then look at the movies that have touched people recently. I gained alot more respect for George Lucas when I read a book where he explained some of the themes that he was purposely using in Star Wars. Before that, I knew that I was drawn to that movie, but didn't know exactly why. Wm Leler - UNC Chapel Hill