Monday, June 29, 2015

Then and now …

… Late reflections on Wolf Hall: will the real Thomas More please stand up? | The Book Haven.

I think that Bolt's More is a truer representation of his original than Mantel's Cromwell is of hers. I don't think Bolt had as much of an ax to grind as Mantel does.
… I watched the film again with two young people. (Well … young-ish … compared to me, anyway.) The low-budget film often adheres to polished stage conventions rather than modern film conventions (Scofield won a Tony as well as an Oscar for the role), and the actors wore far too much make-up. That’s not what bugged my companions, however – not the main thing, anyway. They couldn’t imagine any principle worth dying for, when a simple lie could get you off the hook. That divide proved more unbreachable even than pancake makeup. I’ve since learned that this mindset is usual among Millennials.
How interesting, considering how preoccupied with self Millennials are said to be. What is the self, if there is nothing worth sacrificing it for?

No comments:

Post a Comment