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Volume 112 • Wednesday, May 22, 2013 • No. 36
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013 • www.courierherald.com
Letters Directing movies the line between easier than real life Draw civil rights and respect
Robert Rossen hooked me for a couple of hours Sunday. I came across the 1947 movie “Johnny O’Clock” starring William Powell, Lee J. Cobb, Evelyn Keyes and Nina Foch. It has one of my favorite lines in film noir history, uttered by Johnny, played by Powell. “I do not know what’s going on, and I don’t like it when I don’t know what’s going on.” That sums up Rossen’s dialogue and life in many ways. Rossen was one of the great dialogue writers and directors of his day. “Johnny O’Clock” was his first job as a director. He was promoted after Dennis Box the original director left, I think King Editor Vidor. Rossen directed three of my favorite pictures, “All the King’s Men,” “Body and Soul” and, in 1961, “Hustler,” with Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and George C.. Scott. There are few moments in film like the end of “Hustler” when Scott growls across the pool hall at Newman, “I want my money.” Rossen is an interesting character. He was one of the best at writing story and dialogue. His film talk lives well after the picture has ended. But in 1951 it was Rossen not talking, then finally talking, that got him into the trouble that plagued him until his death in 1966 at the age of 57. The House Un-American Activities Committee named him a communist in 1951. Rossen refused to name names the first time the committee brought him before the members, but two years later he named 57. I became interested in that period of American history when I did a story about Alger Hiss, who went to jail for perjury after Whittaker Chambers named him as a communist. Like almost all stories I have done over the years, once you peel back the basic layer of facts, beneath is a team story of conflict, confusion and contradiction. The truth of a story is never as simple as most would like it to appear. The truth winds its way through half steps of what appears to be facts. The Hiss story was an example and his guilt and innocence it argued to this day. Rossen’s career is a fascinating study in the conflict of what we do and say. His films are filled with warp and woof of words. Rossen could write great dialog, but couldn’t find the right words at the right time to keep himself out of trouble with friends and foes. “I do not know what’s going on, and I don’t like it when I don’t know what’s going on.” See ya, Johnny.
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Due to the recent controversy of drone-use by law enforcement and a classroom presentation by a local police officer, rights that are constitutionally guaranteed to all American citizens have been brought to my attention. Rights, which up until now, as a senior in high school, have been obscured from my knowledge. As seen with the valiant acts by law enforcement during the recent events in Boston, cops are a necessity of our modern world and it is vital not to scrutinize the police. However, I believe it is also necessary to bring all of our given rights out for the American public to view. While individuals can find these rights out by themselves, the honest truth is the majority of us will never know the full extent of our rights until it is too late, and our false previous thoughts lead to the law enforcement taking advantage of us because we simply are not encouraged to learn these rights. We’ve all been in that situation where we pass a cop on the road and even if our actions were legal, fear engulfs us. Have we been allowing
our society’s misconception about law enforcement’s authority overshadow the truth about their power and our rights? According to an article written by Jason Weiner, “Intimidation Tactics used by Police,” (nevadacriminaldefense.com) Jason answers a common myth. Police can “deliberately lie” to us. They can and will use this technique “to draw [us] into self-incrimination.” When law enforcement uses this deception technique, they create a false sense of assurance “to the point where you will feel free to give out information making you look guilty.” I’m not knocking investigators who have solved capital or major crimes through a process of deception, but for the citizens who are forced into self-incrimination who are just going through a daily routine, minding their own business; maintaining innocence. In another article, written by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “Know Your Rights,” (aclu.org) the ACLU places some basic guidelines to follow when stopped in your car or on your feet by the police. The organization states, “You have the right to remain silent. If you wish to exercise that right, say so out loud.” If we wish to not risk self-incrimination or obtain a charge of lying to an official, we do not even have
to talk. It is also stated that we “have the right to refuse to consent” to a search of ourselves, cars and homes. The police would not be asking for our permission if they already had reasonable suspicion to conduct a search. As a true believer in democracy, I believe this information should be more publicly available and possibly even freely taught. If we want to maintain the morals the United States were built upon, it would be ironic to let this mishap continue simply because we failed to notice the legality of our options when interacting with law enforcement. Especially when officers of the law, those who have been deemed to protect and uphold the law and peace have been pressured to “seek out or even manufacture arrests [to meet a quota] to avoid department retaliation” (thenation. com). Perhaps the most surprising realization I made through this research was that there shouldn’t be this gray area, this reading of the fine print. Why should we let an authority figure’s societal power overrule what is written law? There is a fine line between maintaining respect and maintaining constitutionality. Carl Klein White River High School Student
Failure just one step to success It’s paradoxical, but true: Sometimes failure is good for us. That was my experience several years ago. I had been teaching high school history for 22 years by then and still had no sympathy for students who didn’t work hard and did poorly as a result. They would often give up rather than try to succeed. Sometimes they would act up in class, further frustrating me. I had met failure in my life myself, but I always persisted until I found a solution to my problem. I didn’t understand why my students couldn’t do the same. Then my marriage failed. No matter how hard I tried, nothing worked. As I told myself at the time, “It takes two people to get married, but only one to end it.” As I thought about my failure, I came to realize that I vacillated between two extremes: either the failure of the relationship was my entire fault or none of it was my fault. Blaming the other person meant I would take no responsibility and thus learn nothing except to pass the buck. Blaming myself only made me depressed. I came to understand that I could actually be in the middle of those two extremes. I could accept some
In Focus Rich Elfers Columnist
of the responsibility for the failure and let my ex-spouse take some of the responsibility, too. I found that was bearable. This experience gave me a deeper understanding of my students who did poorly in my class. I came to realize that they were just like me, but their threshold for failure was a lot lower than mine. I had met with success through persistence and hard work, but with the failure of my marriage, I came to realize how they felt. I learned empathy. As I began to treat my D and F students differently based upon my changed attitude, I saw a positive response. They still acted up and often still did not do their homework, but they saw I was more patient and sympathetic, that I cared about them. I started repeating silently to myself, “Students don’t care how
much you know unless they know how much you care.” I focused on how I had been able to relate positively to my own children. I worked hard at treating my students in the same way. It took several years, but by the time I was ready to retire, several students were stating openly to me to that I was their favorite teacher. I had never heard that in all my early years of teaching. It took almost nine years to get to that point. I sometimes reflect on the lack of patience and empathy many if not most of the very successful of this world have toward the poor. Have the capable never learned the lesson of failure I learned so painfully? Have they never failed? It helps us to try to see the world through the eyes of people who may not be as bright, or as capable, as we consider ourselves to be. Failure can give us the gift of understanding another’s weaknesses and of seeing the world from another’s perspective. Failure can make us both humble and empathetic Sometimes my biggest lessons have come from my most painful mistakes. Failure is sometimes good for us.