Heroes and Shakespeare
Heroes was very good tonight! It just stayed with one story line, which is pretty different for this show, as it usually jumps around quite a bit. There was a little nod to Hiro and his father, but it was basically all about Claire and her dad. The little nod was interesting, though. Apparently, there is more to Hiro's father than just being a distinguished Japanese businessman. He's somehow involved with Mr. Bennet and whoever it is he works for. If I remember correctly from a couple episodes ago, though, didn't Hiro's sister say that her father's company was struggling at home? Hopefully this all means that we'll see more of George Takei; I thought he was horribly underused in his one previous episode. And who am I kidding?--let's see more of Hiro's babe sister, too! ;D
But as to the main story...nuclear man was pretty scary. It was pretty horrific to see Claire all burnt and blasted from his nuclear radiation. Of course she healed, which was a cool effect. But for all the help that Matt gave Mr. Bennet, Bennet still imprisoned him by the end! Blah! Btw, what happened to that female with the special powers who was helping Matt and nuclear guy from last episode? I thought she was going with them? Mr. Bennet definitely has conflicts and more than one side--he imprisons (and apparently kills) at will, but he's found that he's fallen in love with and truly cares for his adopted daughter. Kind of sad to see his mind get wiped at the end; he won't remember Claire at all.
Right after Heroes was a new show, The Black Donelleys (or however that's spelled). I don't really like gangster tales or even overly violent ones (unless its either medieval and/or a fair fight), but I decided to watch this one as I am part Irish. I made that same mistake in watching Boondock Saints (seriously, what the heck was up with that movie!? totally dumb). Anyway, Donelleys was ok. I might watch again next week. It was violent, which I didn't care for, but maybe there's some sort of pay off in it.
I finished reading "Shadowplay: the Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare." It really ties in with another book I've recently read, "God's Secret Agents." The former book basically states that Shakespeare was a secret (or would it be not so secret?) Roman Catholic in an England where to be so was punishable with almost no rights, heavy fines, loss of land, imprisonment, and, should the monarch or parliament desire, execution. If one believes the author's thesis, then Shakespeare was using his writing to appeal to parliament, Elizabeth I, and James I for toleration for English Roman Catholics. There are marker words that automatically make a character out to be Catholic, or Puritan, or Anglican, or Lutheran, or England itself, or the Cecils, or Elizabeth, etc. Just as an example, Elizabeth is almost always the Moon. Its interesting, because this is a symbol that the queen herself approved the use of by poets and playwrights. Yet Shakespeare (seemingly) never uses it in a good way. What does Romeo say when he's hoping that Juliet comes out to her balcony so he can see her? "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon!" There are all sorts of other coded words and inside jokes or pokes. Look at Hamlet and Horatio. Both are said to be students at the University of Wittenberg, the birthplace of Lutheranism. They've both been forbiden to return there, as their beliefs and motives are suspect. Hints that neither wants anything to do with Lutheranism. Don't know why, but I find that funny.
One of the cool things about the book is that it gives a lot of insight not just in to Shakespeare himself, but in to his contemporary writers, as well. Guys like Marlowe, Jonson, Spenser, Sidney, Nashe, Southwell, Campion, Donne, Kyd, Persons, Gerard, Dryden, etc. Some had died, been killed, murdered, or executed in the 1580s and 90s (Spenser, Sidney, Marlowe, Kyd, Campion, Southwell). Others had gone in to exile, and were still writing from the Continent (Persons and Gerard). Some of this is taste, but the author claims that nearly all the great English writers of the time were either secret Catholics or at least very sympathetic. Spenser is an exception (just read his very bigotted "The Fairey Queen"). But he seems to have still been very critical of Elizabeth's reign, albeit very subtley. Kyd, Campion, Southwell, Persons, and Gerard were all outright Catholics, the latter four being Jesuits and priests. As for the rest, and including Shakespeare, they all had their time to write in coded terms during Elizabeth's reign and early on in James'. But after 1608, James renewed and strengthened the persecution of Catholics, Almost all the great writers go silent, and disapear for a good fifteen years. The only two who continue to write openly are Jonson and Donne, and they just so happen to have both succumbed to the temptations of advancement and money and to the intimidation of Cecil, and converted to Anglicanism. Those are the only exceptions; Jonson laments that all of his friends and co-writers are gone now, and he's lonely and unchallenged now in London. He almost seems to regret his decision to convert. This is strong evidence in the author's favor, in my opinion. Even stronger is all the company Shakespeare kept, all the patrons he had, and all his favorite haunts. If he were not Catholic or at least sympathetic, there were much much safer places to be and people to hang out with!
Now I'm going to read Shakespeare's shorter works--Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, A Lovers Complaint, The Passionate Pilgrim, The Phoenix and Turtle, and the Sonnets, and look for some of the coded and marker words. If you're at all interested in Shakespeare or the relatively unknown and true story of the uneasy and very painful English Reformation, then I highly recommend both "Shadowplay" by Clare Asquith and "God's Secret Agents" by Alice Hogge.
But as to the main story...nuclear man was pretty scary. It was pretty horrific to see Claire all burnt and blasted from his nuclear radiation. Of course she healed, which was a cool effect. But for all the help that Matt gave Mr. Bennet, Bennet still imprisoned him by the end! Blah! Btw, what happened to that female with the special powers who was helping Matt and nuclear guy from last episode? I thought she was going with them? Mr. Bennet definitely has conflicts and more than one side--he imprisons (and apparently kills) at will, but he's found that he's fallen in love with and truly cares for his adopted daughter. Kind of sad to see his mind get wiped at the end; he won't remember Claire at all.
Right after Heroes was a new show, The Black Donelleys (or however that's spelled). I don't really like gangster tales or even overly violent ones (unless its either medieval and/or a fair fight), but I decided to watch this one as I am part Irish. I made that same mistake in watching Boondock Saints (seriously, what the heck was up with that movie!? totally dumb). Anyway, Donelleys was ok. I might watch again next week. It was violent, which I didn't care for, but maybe there's some sort of pay off in it.
I finished reading "Shadowplay: the Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare." It really ties in with another book I've recently read, "God's Secret Agents." The former book basically states that Shakespeare was a secret (or would it be not so secret?) Roman Catholic in an England where to be so was punishable with almost no rights, heavy fines, loss of land, imprisonment, and, should the monarch or parliament desire, execution. If one believes the author's thesis, then Shakespeare was using his writing to appeal to parliament, Elizabeth I, and James I for toleration for English Roman Catholics. There are marker words that automatically make a character out to be Catholic, or Puritan, or Anglican, or Lutheran, or England itself, or the Cecils, or Elizabeth, etc. Just as an example, Elizabeth is almost always the Moon. Its interesting, because this is a symbol that the queen herself approved the use of by poets and playwrights. Yet Shakespeare (seemingly) never uses it in a good way. What does Romeo say when he's hoping that Juliet comes out to her balcony so he can see her? "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon!" There are all sorts of other coded words and inside jokes or pokes. Look at Hamlet and Horatio. Both are said to be students at the University of Wittenberg, the birthplace of Lutheranism. They've both been forbiden to return there, as their beliefs and motives are suspect. Hints that neither wants anything to do with Lutheranism. Don't know why, but I find that funny.
One of the cool things about the book is that it gives a lot of insight not just in to Shakespeare himself, but in to his contemporary writers, as well. Guys like Marlowe, Jonson, Spenser, Sidney, Nashe, Southwell, Campion, Donne, Kyd, Persons, Gerard, Dryden, etc. Some had died, been killed, murdered, or executed in the 1580s and 90s (Spenser, Sidney, Marlowe, Kyd, Campion, Southwell). Others had gone in to exile, and were still writing from the Continent (Persons and Gerard). Some of this is taste, but the author claims that nearly all the great English writers of the time were either secret Catholics or at least very sympathetic. Spenser is an exception (just read his very bigotted "The Fairey Queen"). But he seems to have still been very critical of Elizabeth's reign, albeit very subtley. Kyd, Campion, Southwell, Persons, and Gerard were all outright Catholics, the latter four being Jesuits and priests. As for the rest, and including Shakespeare, they all had their time to write in coded terms during Elizabeth's reign and early on in James'. But after 1608, James renewed and strengthened the persecution of Catholics, Almost all the great writers go silent, and disapear for a good fifteen years. The only two who continue to write openly are Jonson and Donne, and they just so happen to have both succumbed to the temptations of advancement and money and to the intimidation of Cecil, and converted to Anglicanism. Those are the only exceptions; Jonson laments that all of his friends and co-writers are gone now, and he's lonely and unchallenged now in London. He almost seems to regret his decision to convert. This is strong evidence in the author's favor, in my opinion. Even stronger is all the company Shakespeare kept, all the patrons he had, and all his favorite haunts. If he were not Catholic or at least sympathetic, there were much much safer places to be and people to hang out with!
Now I'm going to read Shakespeare's shorter works--Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, A Lovers Complaint, The Passionate Pilgrim, The Phoenix and Turtle, and the Sonnets, and look for some of the coded and marker words. If you're at all interested in Shakespeare or the relatively unknown and true story of the uneasy and very painful English Reformation, then I highly recommend both "Shadowplay" by Clare Asquith and "God's Secret Agents" by Alice Hogge.