Tea at Trianon: Lifting the Mask of Ideology

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, November 14, 2022

Lifting the Mask of Ideology

Storm Warning was the first movie I ever saw with Ronald Reagan and I loved it. Parts of it reminded me of A Streetcar Named Desire but it is totally different. It was as scary as a horror movie but then anything about the Klan is a horror movie. Doris and Ginger are great in it, too, considering their roles are purely dramatic; no singing or dancing. From American Greatness:

Reagan plays Burt Rainey, a district prosecutor in the small town of Rock Point. (It’s unclear where the town is located, but it’s suggested that it might be in the South.) His paths cross with Marsha Mitchell (Ginger Rogers), a traveling clothes model who decides to take a detour to Rock Point. Marsha’s intention is to visit her newlywed sister Lucy (Doris Day), and her new brother-in-law. The trip is a much needed break from Marsha’s job.

Marsha arrives in Rock Point in the evening, which sets the course for the entire film. There is something unusual and even fishy about this town. All the stores and services appear to be closing early and abruptly. Marsha barely has a chance to check in her luggage before she is quickly ushered out.

As she walks through the darkened streets, one light after another turns off. She is a woman exposed, completely vulnerable to the outside elements. There is a great sense of unease and dread, in which the anxiety has almost supernatural suggestions. Where can she go? How can she get out of this twilight zone and find her sister?

Despite this, Marsha still exhibits independence and strength, and keeps walking. But then, she hears a noise coming from the police station. A group of hooded men drag an already beaten man onto the street and shoot him. They are members of the Ku Klux Klan and are hiding their true identities. One member appears to be frightened by the event and takes off his hooded mask. Marsha witnesses all of this but the Klansmen are not aware of her presence.

The man who removed his turns out to be none other than Marsha’s new brother-in-law, Hank Rice, and one of the conflicts in the film arises from the uncertainty about whether Marsha will testify against him and the Klansmen.

Law and order are fragile in Rock Point. The Klan controls the population and Burt Rainey’s is a lonely voice trying to preserve order and obtain justice. When he arrives at the scene of the crime, he already suspects who the guilty party is, but he doesn’t have any witnesses willing to come forward and testify. (Read more.)