Showing My Prejudices

[poliphilo]

The trees along King's Rd are turning. Some are now bright yellow all over, others have patches of red. Those that are not yet rusting look sorry for themselves.

I sit in the waiting room at the health centre while Ailz goes through diabetic clinic. First I read the publicity pamphlet for the Alpha course, which aims to turn turn run-of-the-mill people into happy, shiny Christians. It carries endorsements from Cliff Richard and Old Beardie the archbishop of Canterbury and some smooth chopped catholic and- oh my God- Hercule Poirot. Yes, folks, Hercule Poirot- I mean actor David Suchet- has had his life turned round by Alpha and has celebrated by shaving off the moustache.

I scan the pictures of happy shiny faces (so many, I had not thought death had undone so many) in search of black ones. On the second run-through I find my first example- miniscule- and then another- so tiny you almost need a magnifying glass.

Then I read Emmel- the glossy "magazine of Muslim lifestyle". After the white-bread wilderness of Alpha it is nice and warming to look at pictures of people with a bit of colour in their cheeks. Emmel is liberal. It has pieces about criticising Islam and how good it would be to have female Imams. I'm thinking of taking out a subscription.

Seriously.

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

David Suchet doesn't have a moustache *in real life* I saw him in a play and he looks so totally different than he does as Hercule. (but still that beautiful smile. He has the most beautiful smile...)

I do love your comments. A lot of people are posting about beliefs and spirituality and that kind of thing. Some of us are still drifting about, trying to find the hidden path.

Emmel sounds *interesting*

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think Suchet is the definitive Poirot. Accept no alternatives!

It's my observation that all the paths through the thicket (unless they're dead ends) emerge in more or less the same place.

[jenny_evergreen]

*sighs over David Suchet*

The fall weather is taking its time arriving here, about which I am unhappy, since it's my favorite season.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Oh, me too. 85 today. 85 in CENTRAL NEW YORK STATE in OCTOBER.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

If it's any consolation, the high in Phoenix today is projected to be 97. ;)

Hot hot hot

[zoe-1418.livejournal.com]

I've been complaining about 85 in south central Wisconsin...

[jenny_evergreen]

About that here, in northern Illinois. *sigh*

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

85 here, too!

I HATE IT.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Suchet's Poirot and Brett's Holmes are my two favourite TV detectives.

Suchet has said it's his ambition to film all the Poirot stories, so, God willing, there's more to come!

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. I thought Jeremy Brett was brilliant as Holmes. David Suchet...it's those eyes and that smile. How he can totally turn himself into that character is..well, skill, but total magic.

I also like Roy Marsden as Adam Dalgliesh (PD James). I always feel like she wrote the books with his face in her mind as the character.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The other thing about those two series- Holmes and Poirot- is that they were both done with such meticulous attention to period detail.

The Holmes series was filmed here in Manchester. A few years ago- actually it's probably more like fifteen or twenty- I went on a tour of the Baker St set.

[jenny_evergreen]

Jeremy Brett annoys me immensely as Holmes; I've yet to see my perfect Sherlock. Basil Rathbone is notably less offensive to me than Brett, but he didn't get it right, either.

On the other hand, I think David Suchet couldn't be more perfect. I hear he actually sat down and read all the stories and that's how he built the character; by far the best way to do it! I hope he does do all of them!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Brett is very mannered and theatrical, but I think it's right for the character. A lot of actors have had a go at Holmes, but Brett is decidedly my favourite.

My second favourite is Douglas Wilmer, who played the role with a kind of knowing twinkle back in the 60s.

[jenny_evergreen]

I don't think Brett grasps the subtleties of Holmes at all; he plays him accurately if one looks only at the surface of the stories, but there is a lot under the surface and it matters immensely. I don't, for example, ever get the genuine fondness Holmes clearly felt for Watson from Brett's performances, nor do I think he understands Holmes' sense of humor at all. Of course, I'm sure there are people who would disagree with my understanding of Holmes, and I can't necessarily prove them wrong, not being Conan Doyle. ;)

I haven't seen Douglas Wilmer, but a knowing twinkle is a good thing, so I hope I come across some.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's interesting.

I remember an interview Brett gave in which he said he started off not liking Holmes at all but then gradually warmed to him.

BTW. I thought David Burke, who played Watson in the first two seasons and then became unavailable, was the best ever. The guy who replaced him did a good enough job, but Burke was incomparable.

[jenny_evergreen]

That doesn't surprise me; it's in line with my belief that Brett doesn't "get" Holmes. ('Cause, of course, as far as I'm concerned, if one doesn't love Holmes (and quickly!), one doesn't understand his character. ;)

I'd have to watch some episodes to remember the Watsons; I suppose I've been too busy being annoyed by the Holmes to really notice them.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you simply came across rather limited examples for either religion. http://alphacourse.org/ lists a string of worldwide sites, but all of them decidedly European or Asian (the two possible exceptions, South Africa and India, are arguably on the border). Odd, since the greatest growth for the Christian faith is currently occuring in Latin America and Africa. As for the other, based on the female imam commentary alone I would argue that Emmel's perspective is rather fringe for mainstream Muslims, much as those Christians who argue for female priests or gay marriage are for middle of the road Christians. But in either case I wouldn't take these publications to be a comprehensive representative of the faith.

Damn, that's twice in as many days you got me rambling on about religion!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

A lot of the Muslims I know would deny that such a thing as "liberal" Islam could possibly exist, so stumbling across this magazine was a pleasant surprise.

And Alpha, well, I know that's not typical either. It just represents a strain of Christianity I find shallow.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'd always assumed, without any particularly good reason, that Suchet was Jewish. To learn that he's actually an evangelical Christian came as rather a shock.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Happy New year! :)

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

When Kate was a toddler, my husband toyed with the Theosophical Society. Because Kate would get restless at their little meetings, I mostly took her outside and walked her around the parklike lawn near the old house where the meetings were held.

After the talks, the group would gather at the back of the room where Oz books were sold for $1.50 and slippery elm bark was sold for coughs.

Then there would be a pot-luck supper using unfluoridated water. Most everyone wore sandals.

Except that there was no singing, I thought it was a fine fun group, and they were very kind to Kate.

I didn't learn a thing about their beliefs, but I bought Kate every Oz book--one a meeting.

--I've not heard about the Alpha course, but I don't want to be shiny and happy.

I know how that's done: brainwashing.

Remember the Moonies? They kept their converts up until two in the morning, then gave them hot chocolate and brownies to keep them jacked up and restless on caffeine. Then they'd start their meetings...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

When I spot a shiny happy believer I turn and walk smartly in the the opposite direction.

I did a lot of reading in and around Theosophy about fifteen years ago. It's a blend of Western occultism and Eastern religion and its early leaders- beginning with Madame Blavatsky- were the most extraordinary collection of mystics, social reformers, paedophiles and crooks.

Alpha

[seraphimsigrist.livejournal.com]

In Moscow on the way to something else we stopped
at a Pentecostal church as I thought to meet with
the ministers there,it is a dynamic church of
900 members and it is a spirituality I fit with
pretty well...but it seemed there was some crossed
wires and it was an alpha course girl from Britain
who wanted to meet with us before running their
program in the evening there. I did not care for
her manner, and told her that I did not think that
in Russia the alpha course was the answer to the
renewal of our church although it might be useful in
this or that context, perhaps for a priest working
mostly with outsiders for example...but that for
better or worse it seemed to me that the renewal of
our tradition had to start from within the vocabulary
and problematics of that tradition and then move
onwards as it were...
I am not putting this very well and it is not becoming
much of an anecdote...indeed it is not becoming an
anecdote at all.
I think alpha is what is called pre-catachesis...
I surmise from this young lady that some of em at least are
very sold on their thing as being the sovereign way to do
things.
anyhow that, granted a slightly different take, is my take
on it...
+Seraphim.

Re: Alpha

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You confirm my impression.

Alpha strikes me as rootless and mid-Atlantic and middle-management and cheesy. If the Dick Van Dyke show were a religion it would be Alpha.

Religion with the blood and sweat wiped away.