tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post4819780267134316329..comments2023-09-26T03:53:17.142-04:00Comments on Pentimento: Desperate Romantics, Then and Now [UPDATED]Pentimentohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-28722170586684320832011-01-19T18:53:01.748-05:002011-01-19T18:53:01.748-05:00I'm embarrassed to say that I have just found ...I'm embarrassed to say that I have just found Matthew Lickona's comment from one month ago buried under a pile of something or other. I'm sorry for the late publish, Matthew! I have a lot to learn about this here blogging.Pentimentohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-31057676608241157162010-12-30T21:43:15.465-05:002010-12-30T21:43:15.465-05:00Anne-Marie, I've done it again: I've publ...Anne-Marie, I've done it again: I've published your comment, and then, when I went back to my email notification, rejected it BY MISTAKE, and now it's gone forever. I do this all the time! I am so sorry. Please re-post it, and I promise not to do it again!Pentimentohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-91346741487007637792010-12-30T21:40:43.202-05:002010-12-30T21:40:43.202-05:00That's an excellent point, Anne-Marie. It'...That's an excellent point, Anne-Marie. It's sad to see how insane we've become as a culture, where some sort of emotional "authenticity" becomes the goal above all others. Your comment about being in jail cracked me up, too. :)Pentimentohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-40533701527978725462010-12-24T07:16:04.643-05:002010-12-24T07:16:04.643-05:00"God brought lots of good out of it, but that..."God brought lots of good out of it, but that never justifies sin." That is something to ponder, Lissla.<br /><br />I think that one of the most difficult parts about growing up is realizing that love is not an unstoppable force, and that one must discipline one's passions.Pentimentohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-9506520308897642522010-12-23T21:01:45.190-05:002010-12-23T21:01:45.190-05:00That's heartbreaking. The message those childr...That's heartbreaking. The message those children are getting isn't, "This is real love", it's "fidelity isn't as important as pleasure.". <br /><br />I broke an engagement because I Was In Love, and in retrospect I know I did a lot of stupid things, but even at the time I knew that love wasn't some unstoppable force, sweeping me and everyone else in its path. I could have stopped. I could have distanced myself. Pursuing someone else was not heroic, not glorious- it was dishonourable. God brought lots of good out of it, but that never justifies sin.lissla lissarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05354424704358588553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-43469365111848940452010-12-23T00:00:28.028-05:002010-12-23T00:00:28.028-05:00Well, life is messy, certainly, and people do thin...Well, life is messy, certainly, and people do things that they regret, or should regret. The couple in question, both media executives, rather than regretting their harmful actions, celebrate them as badges of their own courage. The schadenfreude that's often occasioned in others by the Times's wedding announcements is surely dogging this couple as they begin their lives together, and maybe that's not a bad thing.<br /><br />Betty, having done extensive research in the area of PRB painting, I was annoyed by the first two episodes of "Desperate Romantics," because I was hoping for more of a costume drama, and instead there's a sort of amalgam of historical fact and anachronistic revisionism. But I watched on and was hooked. I think you'll like it.Pentimentohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-56260243425094384872010-12-22T21:42:54.780-05:002010-12-22T21:42:54.780-05:00There's a great exchange in The Three Burials ...There's a great exchange in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada:<br /><br />Tommy Lee Jones encounters a blind man living alone. The blind man implores Tommy Lee Jones to kill him. Tommy Lee Jones asks the blind man why the blind man doesn't just kill himself.<br /><br />"I don't want to incur damnation," replies the blind man, apparently the sort who fears divine judgement on suicides.<br /><br />"Neither do we," replies Jones, and rides off.<br /><br />Oh yes, messy. That's what principle is for.Matthew Lickonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01073464100061129072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-11335065759734261982010-12-22T19:36:56.831-05:002010-12-22T19:36:56.831-05:00Oh man.
1) I'm going to have to get that BBC ...Oh man.<br /><br />1) I'm going to have to get that BBC movie. <br /><br />2) This is timely as we navigate yet another holiday with all that "messiness." <br /><br />Good post.BettyDuffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17130418609022759086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-68190294558305468042010-12-22T18:56:58.731-05:002010-12-22T18:56:58.731-05:00Rodak, I agree with you, and the irony is that lif...Rodak, I agree with you, and the irony is that life *is* messy, and people often have the choice either to do shitty things to others or to sink deeper and deeper into their own misery. The annoying thing, to me, about the Times piece is that the couple are painting themselves as heroes. They did what they did, and probably very few people besides themselves are happy about it; but nonetheless it seems to me that they didn't have to use the mouthpiece of the Gray Lady to try and justify themselves.Pentimentohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-13308215781458523392010-12-22T18:04:44.261-05:002010-12-22T18:04:44.261-05:00Pentimento--This post touches on so many areas con...Pentimento--This post touches on so many areas concerning which I could launch out into personal anecdotes; but I'm not gunna dooit. Wouldn't be prudent. <br />I will say, however, without providing any details, that adopting a strict austerity of lifestyle, in conscious opposition to life's supposedly inherent "messiness," will not necessarily bring one any understanding, much less appreciation or admiration, from others with whom one is involved, at whatever level. Life seems to be a bottomless pit containing an infinite number of dilemmas.<br />Thanks be to Goodness for the consolations of creativity and art.Rodakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077919085157653816noreply@blogger.com