I am feeling restless again, tired of standing still as time moves forward. Today was such a beautiful day, the weather was perfect for sitting outside somewhere in the sun and relaxing. Not spending the day inside an office with artificial lights and recycled air. At times it feels like a sentence. How did mankind progress to this point? Is any of this progress?
I watched Gentleman's Agreement tonight and thought about how we still have so much of it all wrong. I have probably talked about this movie before, but it really moves me and stirs my passion for the things that this country should stand for. If you have never seen it before try and see it. It stars Gregory Peck as a journalist who is assigned to write a story about Anti-Semitism. So he pretends to be Jewish and we see the injustice and bigotry that is out in the open. But more importantly we see how the complacency of decent people allows bigots to dominate others and oppress people for no reason other than small minded prejudices.
As Edmund Burke said "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing."
And nothing could be more true. People are all to often afraid to rock the boat and give up their comfort for the sake of that which is right and decent.
While the movie's style may be old-fashioned, it has that Capraesque quality that stirs the emotions and prepares the audience to go out and fight the good fight.
As Wolrd War II has just ended it seemed important to look at how America was drawn into a worldwide conflict that got it's start in Anti-Semitism and good people allowing Hitler to come to power. And while Anti-Semitism may not be a taboo subject for us to tackle today, it was a risky move in 1947.

It always strikes me as funny when people get riled up about what's so important about certain issues like Anti-Semitism, or gender or age issues, or even racism. They hide behind some kind of indignation at politically correct language or attitudes. They act like stopping ignorance and outright hatred is wrong. That defensive bullshit never ceases to amaze me. Especially when you break down "who" they are and find the thing that would put them on the train to a camp. They don't see how their indifference to these issues could be turned on them in the future.

I see it with people I know who hold racist, sexist and otherwise ignorant views. And yet in some way they belong to a minority that other people would just as well discount and disrespect. At times I wonder if we have progressed. Especially when Ashton Kutcher can star in Guess Who and mock an important film that had an important message at a crucial point in American History. When the hell will people stop putting him in movies? And when will Ashton, Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler star in a movie together? They could remake 3 Men and a Baby only it could be a talking monkey or an alien.
I can't wait.