The Phantom Scribbler

Before I jump into a review of Hadestown that a) is, like, a decade too late and b) no one asked for or wanted, I need to clarify something.  Have you heard No Myth by Michael Penn (Sean Penn’s brother)?  It references some tragic, romantic figures like Romeo and Heathcliff.  I heard an interview with him where he said he did that deliberately because, while figures of romance, they aren’t anything close to examples of a healthy relationship.  One is teenage infatuation and the other is damn near abusive.  This very much captures my thoughts about most grand, romantic stories.   Although I love musicals, I generally don’t like stories about romance in musicals … or literature … or movies … for this reason.  Usually, such romances will bother me to the point of ruining a story in any medium.  Examples: Romeo and Juliet , as previously mentioned, elevates teenage infatuation to the point that it seems like it’s supposed to be a good thing.  But it’s only the backdrop of familial (or ra

I've heard the recent hullabaloo about Justice Alito flying an upside down United States flag and the Appeal to Heaven flag at his house.  Both flags have apparently been co-opted by proponents of the "stolen election" conspiracy theory.  Alito, being the good Catholic that he is, pulled an Adam and blamed his wife.  As it turns out, she is actually the vexillologist of the family and has even designed an anti-Pride flag (using the Italian word for shame).   But what got me was that the upside down flag and the Appeal to Heaven flag were so thoroughly associated with MAGAts.  I mean ... sure, if I see an upside down flag flown from a house these days, I assume they're a certain type of extreme right-winger and that is usually confirmed by other displays around the house.  But the Appeal to Heaven flag?  I don't ever remember seeing that flown on January 6th.  I mean, sure, the Gadsden Flag , which I used to like, has become associated with MAGAts to the point th

I'm watching several versions of Macbeth and I keep thinking two things.   I admit to not having watched much Shakespeare, so it is perhaps normal for him to talk to often about experiencing the world either as a man vs. as a woman.  But it definitely seems to be a theme in Macbeth.  It is also possible that I am seeing this through the twin lenses of #MeToo and Man v. Bear.  That said, seems to me that Shakespeare was talking shit about what it means to be a man LONG before any modern sensibility about men being dangerous.   The thing I kept hearing repeated again and again was how, in order to do the difficult (in this case meaning both "wrong" and "criminal") things, you had to be manly.  Lady Macbeth (whose real name is Gruoch ... Gruoch ingen Boite ... and I can't fault Shakespeare for not using it) fears her husband is too full of "the milk of human kindness" to do what is necessary and, later, says that when he completes the deed, THEN he wi