Grrls

My previous post about Russia included a reference to "young women" protesting the cozy relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Putin regime. That was almost certainly about Pussy Riot, recently sentenced to two years in prison for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." Which (confirmation bias acknowledged) is a reinforcement of the Awakening beginning there.

One article called the band "punk," although they claim to be inspired by the Riot Grrl bands of the '90s. And I just took a day to check that, because duh, "Riot" is their last name: of course that's an influence. (Although it might be different in Russian.) Still, punk was a solid Awakening movement: youth-oriented, anti-establishment - not too spiritual, unless you want to count nihilism that way. One big question, though, if this is right: what does a Russian Awakening imply, for Russia and for everyone else?

It's not too easy to tell, since (by my previously suggested timeline) the Awakening was during WWII - difficult to sort the 2T events from that. The previous one would have been around the time the serfs were freed, and the Crimean War. The latter would make sense: it started, as I recall, with a fight in the Holy Land involving the Orthodox church and other guardians of holy places there. And ends with them defending themselves against outside attackers, particularly in a number of sieges...

Bwian

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" has been stuck in my head since Eric Idle performed it at the Olympic Games closing ceremony, so let's take a moment to look at 1979s "Life of Brian."

Released toward the end of the Awakening that saw at least two other alt-Jesus movies, Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. I'm not sure which of the three was really trying to be the most serious...

Based on what I now understand about Awakenings, would not be at all surprised to find that there really were Prophets lining the streets in early 1st century Judea (i.e. like the one Brian ends up "preaching" on.)

The Judean People's Front in-fighting is evidently based on similar political struggles in the 1970s UK left. But splintering into squabbling sections appears to be a common event in Awakenings - how many new churches showed up just in the first 20 years of the Reformation, after all.

Drinking

In the Mystery Science Theater version of the appallingly bad 1959 film "The Killer Shrews," Joel and the bots make prodigious fun of the characters' drinking habits. Every scene has one person or another pouring themselves a drink. According to one screenwriting book, this is an easy trap for a writer to fall into: It's a simple way to keep the character in the room and active without being a distraction. As of the mid-90s, though, the volume of drink in the film is so obsequious that it really was distracting on its own.

And then came "Mad Men," which suggested that drinking was so prevalent in the late '50s that it was a requirement that there be liquor carts in offices - and whiskey was a reasonable business expense. Once you start seeing this, it's obvious in many films of the era. "The Apartment" is soaked in alcohol, including a full-blown dancing-on-desktops office party. Alcoholism cautionary tale "The Lost Weekend" won Best Picture for 1945. And "The Misfits" has so much drinking from the start that one might think it was "Killer Shrews'" inspiration.

And it all makes more sense in the context of the then-recent Crisis. Veterans drank to handle their memories - and because during the war that was one of the few available pastimes. Actually, those same reasons could be attributed to ex-soldiers, ex-sailors, ex-defense workers, ex-Rosies, ex-mothers/wives/children, ex-anyone involved or alive during the War. And those born after would do it because, well, everyone else was.

And here we are today, with "mixologist" becoming a recognized career option, bars doing great business, brewpubs appearing everywhere, wineries in every vineyard, spirits artisanal (and otherwise) expanding selections. Drinking is a way to deal with our current Crisis for a few hours at a time. It has enough variety for anyone to find an elixir of choice, price points from lower to upper classes, and production requirements adaptable to the local economic situation. I won't predict that liquor carts will again be standard office furniture 30 years from now...although I won't be too surprised if they are.