I’ve written often about the ways life changes as your kids grow up and become adults. We are blessed that both of ours have brought us so much joy. This public accomplishment is really just icing on the cake; moment by moment is where the real wonder comes. Even so, how could I not post it here?
The man on the right is my older son Josh. Speaking at E3! (The annual video game trade show in LA) On G4 TV. About Fable II, a game he has been working on for a very long time. How cool is that?
Monday morning dear friends of ours named their new daughter. She had been born on Thursday, but in keeping with Orthodox tradition, no one knew her name until the service held during regular morning prayers. It’s a beautiful tradition – babies names have great thought behind them – connection to a deceased family member and when it’s possible to some kind of deeper meaning. Our friends’ other two kids have very meaningful and special names so we weren’t surprised that this little girl will also carry one. Born the week that the story of Moses in the bulrushes was read in the synagogue – she was named Batya – daughter of God — the name given in commentaries to the daughter of Pharaoh who pulled the infant from the Nile. Her courage, and the fact that she saved the man who would save the Jewish people, earned that for her.
I’d post her photo here but I write this for me and don’t like to turn friends and family into editorial fodder. Suffice it to say that this was an event of great joy – the parents two people whose contributions both as leaders and role models are legion; the big brother and sister, 4 and 2, smart, funny and sweet. Daddy often leads our services, Mom leads much of the study that goes on – and there’s a lot. In the middle of all the love, laughter and prayer I remembered again why I had chosen this complicated life, and was grateful.
Meanwhile, out there in the Outside World, I was amazed at the Golden Globes. Yeah I’m an awards junkie but this year the Globes were like COSTCO – crammed with every kind of person. It was exciting to see how different the winner’s roll call has become. Whether you looked at age, race or nationality, all sorts of people made it to the podium. Here are just some of the winners – and this doesn’t count people from countries other than the UK because I wasn’t sure enough about who was from where. Here goes: 8 WHO ARE NOT SO YOUNG: Warren Beatty, Helen Mirren, Maryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Helen Moreen (again), Alec Baldwin, Bill Night, Jeremy Irons. 2 WHO ARE LATINO; America Herrera and SHOW Ugly Betty, 6 WHO ARE AFRICAN AMERICAN; Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy, Prince, Grays Anatomy executive producer Shanda Rimes and FILM Dream Girls, and 9 — yes 9 out of 26 major awards – to OUR COUSINS FROM THE UK: Helen Mirren, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helen Mirren again, Peter Morgan, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jeremy Irons, Emily Blunt and SHOW: Elizabeth 1.
I also think the quality of the nominated and winning programs was pretty damn high. If it weren’t for reality shows you could almost make the claim that quality is beginning to become expectable on television – and if you count Project Runway you can kind of make the case for at least one of those as well. I’ve even had heavy-duty ‘DC politicos asking me "what are you watching these days?" right along with discussions of the Book Review. The bad is still really bad, of course, but maybe by the time young Batya grows up that will change too.
When I was in high school, there was a TV show called EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE. It starred George C. Scott as a social worker with a black female co worker. The show portrayed the pain and injustice that was part of inner city life in the early 60s. Once, and this is the show I remember most of all, the baby of a young black couple was bitten, in its crib, by a rat. Desperate to get the child the a hospital, they were unable to get a cab to stop for them – – cabs didn’t stop for black people.
It had an enormous impact on me and helped to form my political and social perspectives. So even then TV sometimes had a powerful and positive impact. [EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE, by the way, social impact and all, was cancelled after one season. I later learned that the black-white work environment kept the show from being carried on any southern TV stations – which reduced its ratings and knocked it off the air.]
In general, TV somehow seems different now. Even the awards shows are better.
The Emmy Awards used to be kind of trashy and dull. The show tonight isn’t bad, though. Besides, these days, television offers more quality than feature films, as far as I can tell. I love popular culture and can watch plenty that isn’t great without embarassment, but right now there’s so much that’s really amazing. With the power of EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE in 1963, I’ve seen West Wings, Six Feet Unders and Sopranos that take your breath away and acting that does the same. Heartbreaking stories and hilarious ones. Classy characters, righteous outrage transformed into great drama, provocative ideas and just plain fun.
In fact, TV news, where I used to work, has in many cases sunk far below what’s on fictional TV. Sure there’s trash too, but the good stuff is so good, and there’s so much more of it. If the news folks stuck to their guns as well as the drama and comedy producers do, reporters wouldn’t rank so low in public opinion polls.
Is TV better now or do I just watch better shows now? What do you think?