Let That Be Your Final Battlefield

 

In January 1969, the popular science fiction TV series Star Trek aired a bold, though not entirely successful, episode titled "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," in which a pair of bicolored alien beings, mirror images of each other, bring their ages-old feud onto the Enterprise, provoking lots of cogitation among the crew (and viewers) about the nature of tribal animosity and prejudice.

The aliens were played by Frank Gorshin (best known to TV viewers at the time as The Riddler on the Batman series) and character actor Lou Antonio. Gorshin's Bele was an interstellar marshal hunting Antonio's Lokai, a fugitive agitator accused of violent insurrection.

Quite pointedly, the crew members of the Enterprise at first see no difference between the two beings -- Federation civilization having evolved far beyond bias and superficial antagonisms. But the aliens insist the differences are clear -- Bele is white on his left side; Lokai, on his right.

Over the course of the program, the two are shown making appeals to members of the crew -- Bele trying to connect with the senior officers' respect for duty and the rule of law, and Lokai preaching about exploitation and injustice to the lower-ranking crew members. It's a fascinating narrative turn.

The episode does not end happily, as Lokai escapes the ship before he can be delivered back to stand trial for his deeds, and Bele pursues him to their home world. The last image is of them running through the burning streets -- superimposed footage of burning buildings from urban riots in American cities from '67.

Though widely lauded and studied to pieces since its initial airing, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield is reductive in its presentation of the existential dynamic between the two beings, whose differences may have seemed superficial when compared to their similarities but who represented not racial distinctions but imposed constructs of superiority that served one class to the detriment of the other. A powerful analogy for America.

Appeals for both sides to forget the past and press on into a brighter future was no doubt far too simplistic for viewers who had experienced much of Lokai's rage or Bele's frustration, and who may have seen fire as the country's sure future if viable solutions to the race problem were not found.

The Woman King

 

Gina Prince-Bythewood's The Woman King pleases so well because what is at stake is so clearly defined, like the scars on the bodies of the Dahomey warrior women, led by the fierce general Nanisca (Viola Davis).

The scars represent the West African nation's struggle against oppressive forces in the 1820s, both neighboring kingdoms and slavers from Europe, whose trade fuels betrayals and stokes war.

Davis's Nanisca leads a highly skilled band of female fighters, called the Agojie, who stand between Dahomey's continued prosperity and destruction.

The Agojie are trained by the battle-hardened Izogie (Lashana Lynch), who takes an interest in a defiant young woman, Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), whose father has left her at the palace of King Ghezo (John Boyega) because no man will have her.

Nawi's spirited independence garners her the attention, though not favorable at first, of both Nanisca and Izogie as she joins the king's guards.

Prince-Bythewood expertly balances the battle scenes -- which are tightly choreographed, brutal but relatively bloodless -- with intimate exchanges that explore the more political dimensions of the story, represented by Ghezo, the Brazilian slaver Santo (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and the slaver's companion Malik (Jordan Bolger), the son of an enslaved woman from Dahomey and a white Brazilian.

The large ensemble of players is uniformly superb, with both Davis and the young Mbedu assigned intriguing character arcs that mirror each other, though perhaps inversely.

Prince-Bythewood approaches but does not cross the line into cheap emotionalism, even though the last five minutes of the film will no doubt have many people cheering and on their feet, as they were in the screening I attended.

The Woman King is a fine picture with a resonant contemporary message about the price of freedom and the sacrifices needed to secure it.

Naming the Baby

 

Having never named a baby, I'm not familiar with the process.

It appears to go differently depending on the family.

Rich folks name babies after themselves.

Poor folks name babies after their parents.

Jews name babies after prophets.

Protestants name babies after evangelists.

Catholics name babies after saints.

White folks like them old.

Black folks like them new.

Brown folks like them hyphenated.

Red folks like them mystical.

Yellow folks like them last.

Northerners turn surnames into first names.

Southerners turn given names into nicknames.

Old hippies name babies after natural phenomena.

New hippies name babies after herbs.

Hawks name babies after war heroes.

Doves name babies after literary heroes.

Conservatives name babies before they're born.

Liberals wait until babies arrive and give them a vote.

Cut Flowers

 

The trouble is not

that the tulips

wilted and died.

The trouble is

flowers are cut

and put in vases.

Eat at Joe's

 

I think there are two kinds of diners in the world: Folks who go to a lot of restaurants for just one thing at each. O'Brien's for the steak. Halligan's for the seafood. Tony's for the pasta, etc.

Specialty diners.

And folks who go to just a couple of restaurants but eat nearly everything. They have had every item on the menu at Joe's.

Deep-dive diners.

I think a lot of folks manage their friendships in the same way. They either use the specialty or deep-dive strategy.

Men seem to prefer the specialty scheme. They have "hyphen friends." Golfing-buddy Jack. Hiking-buddy Sam. Drinking-buddy Milton. Workout-buddy Lester, etc.

Women seem to have all-purpose friends with whom they do lots of things. BFF Glenda.

That's not to say men are more superficial; they just seem to want different things.

I have no idea why this is. Probably, as with so many things, it has to do with culture and socialization, what society expects or thinks it needs.

Men are expected to be practical and purposeful and that's how they see their friendships. Women are expected to be more comprehensive and immersive.

The happiest people would probably be a bit of both.