April 24, 2008 10:38 pm
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I normally see little value in much of what television has to offer, but I have no reservation in confessing that I was thoroughly impressed by the just-ended HBO miniseries “John Adams.”
So much can be said about this production ... and is being said. I hope it carries away a wagon-load of awards and raises the bar for cinematic moguls enamored with their own banality.
For me, the portrayal of this Founding Father was nowhere more poignant than in the scenes late in the series where we find Adams in the twilight of his life wrestling with deeply disturbing concerns.
The motivation that drove him to “pick up his pen” may have been part personal agenda, but beyond this was an abiding fear that the real story of the American Revolution would be corrupted and lost if he didn’t tell it.
We’re all still very much indebted to him for the role he played in explaining why the early patriots did what they did to overthrow tyranny and create a nation grounded in equality and guided by liberty and justice.
But in the course of modern events, how often do we think about it?
Since the days Adams occupied the White House, our bold experiment in government has endured through periods of dismay and times of triumph, to be repeated time and again.
We might expect as much. No one has ever discovered a way of governing a country that’s free of flaws. But with the “more perfect” union we claim to have, we should have certain other expectations.
Economic policies that put a stranglehold on working men and women, drive people deeper into poverty, give the rich an edge that allows them to become even richer, and virtually eliminate the middle class — isn’t one of those expectations.
Laws and edicts that bring about an erosion of personal freedoms and create an atmosphere of apprehension among the populace to the extent that people are genuinely afraid to speak their mind — isn’t one of those expectations.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle who know little about statesmanship but everything about how to advance their own careers, who will opt for the latter even if it means not doing what’s right — isn’t one of those expectations.
A system of handling crime and punishment that overwhelmingly in lesser offenses relies on jail time as opposed to preventive and rehabilitative measures and has made the U.S. the world’s biggest incarcerator — isn’t one of those expectations.
There was a scene in “John Adams” in which the aging patriot, reflecting on the office he is about to leave, voices his hopes for those who would follow him in the White House, and it’s almost a commentary on events yet to occur.
But that scene gives a viewer pause to wonder what Adams would think of what we’ve become. Would he really see us as the grown up version of the infant that he and his fellows slapped on the bottom in 1776?
Or would he be dismayed? Would he ultimately come to the conclusion that what we have become in some respects bears an eerie resemblance to the humiliations from which he and the other colonists were trying to free themselves?
If I were Adams in this situation, I think I’d have to conclude that our “more perfect” union is considerably damaged, which is not to say, however, that it’s beyond repair. The system is in need of a thorough examination.
A big dose of integrity would accomplish much toward solving the problem. We’d need leadership committed to doing what’s right, not to making empty promises, leadership that would give more than lip service to the economic and social injustices eating away at the very fabric of the country.
We’re in one of those periods of dismay. If nothing is done, if it lingers, and worsens, and lingers more, who’s to say what might be waiting down that road that stretches before us? It very well could be a parchment document with the words, “When in the course ….”
STAN CHAMPER can be reached at schamper@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2640.
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