The Empire Strikes Back

I’ll admit it. For a largely disinterested cynic, I got sucked into the royal wedding like a sick pigeon into a jet engine...

Listening and speaking to others in the aftermath, I get the sense I was not alone in this anomaly...

I had not intended to watch it… When I nonchalantly glanced at the television in the office around 6.30pm last Friday evening, I scoffed when I saw a procession of socialites and their “hats” arriving; especially this “super-hero” number:

…Fast forward a few hours however, and as humiliating as it is to admit, I was still watching, channel surfing for more footage, in fact… there was something indisputably magnetic about the occasion. I think it was a combination of the magnitude of an altogether happy event in world affairs (a welcome change) – and also the spectacle of what is so impressive and significant about British history, culture, even “pomp”… (Kate and Pippa Middleton weren’t bad either).

Westminster Abbey…

As far as historical monuments go – the mighty, thousand year old Gothic Abbey – is just immense… particularly when you think about the ghosts running around it… The first Abbey was founded on the present site on the basis that a vision of Saint Peter was observed there. The fact that it has not only been the scene of coronations (on “King Edward’s Chair”) since William the Conqueror and houses the remains of many of the early Royal ancestors - not to mention some great figures of history - gives a haunting significance to the place… Many great writers and poets are buried here including Robert Browning, Rudyard Kipling, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lord Alfred Tennyson and Charles Dickens – even actor Laurence Olivier; many more artists including many of my favourite writers / poets are memorialised in the “Poet’s Corner”. It is the final resting place for so many figures of history – even scientists Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin are here…

On this day, the Abbey was full of life –right down to the avenue of English Field Maple trees lining the aisle… the rise and fall of the camera angles pitching and plunging around the columns, galleries and into the upper echelons of the extraordinary structure – captured a great sense of the mystique and the unique magnificence of the architecture, detail and materials of the building.

And then there was the music. The choral music really was spectacular and mesmerising … Without getting too carried away or effusive in admiration for British ceremony, I also confess to enjoying the clarity of the British diction and the eloquence and articulation of the language in the speeches delivered – but perhaps I have just been listening to Australian politicians too much...

The service itself was far more concise than I anticipated – and was kept relevant and meaningful. So while the nostalgia of the artefacts and imagery of a bygone era were there – the Abbey, the hundred year old horse drawn carriages, the beautiful British cars – and all the other “aesthetics”; I think the substance and modernity of a contemporary union of two young people was also there.

Part of me couldn’t help but think how great it would be if some of the bygone paraphernalia had not been usurped into historical novelty; I think it would be great to still ride a horse or a horse drawn carriage into work in the city, for instance…

Another highlight for me was watching the aircraft over Buckingham Palace, including a fly-by of the legendary Spitfire – it really was a walk down memory lane and so many of the different chapters of British history were referenced in different and quite moving ways.

Kate Middleton did look superb, of course.

The British can be proud of their history – they have an astonishing one that is coloured in so many shades, but frequently some of the negative aspects overshadow – this was a dynasty that made mistakes – some ugly, yet it has had a lasting, very positive influence, also.

I noted with interest that both before and after the wedding there was some amount of curiosity and respect shown by some the Aboriginal community towards this event also – which was surprising.

It reminded me of one of the more interesting conversations I have had in my life, which occurred in the Valley in Brisbane one night, with an 82 year old cultural leader of the Wagilak Aboriginal tribal community... In the course of our two to three hour discussion, I was welcomed into the tribe as an honorary member, given a tribal name that means “lightning” and invited to participate in a corroborree in Ngukurr in Arnhem Land.. But that’s a whole other story..

He and a contingent of his tribal group had just finished a performance at the Powerhouse Theatre in a show that combined indigenous dance and music with orchestral music… This very interesting fellow also wrote poems so we had some common ground there, but I found myself in a deep and meaningful discussion about a whole range of issues that included colonisation issues and the significance of the traditional Aboriginal culture and the cultural make-up of Australia.

One of the most unexpected of his disclosures was his statement that he was “glad the British, rather than someone else, settled Australia.” He made the comment that although the British and the Aborigines had a history and had some problems, if Australia was to be settled by anyone, he’s happy it was the British as he felt the two cultures were the best match and that there was some common ground and mutual admiration – although there had been a lot of misunderstanding too..

As I say, that did take me by suprise…

Although I now consider myself in favour of an Australian republic, I am not deeply impassioned about it, and I suspect I am probably a common example of the feeling around this issue. I think this latest Royal event , and those to come, will probably set the republican movement back in Australia. I think many may view a republic as a potentially expensive “structural change” that will be largely symbolic and not much more…

I think this was evidenced to a degree by last week’s episode of the ABC show, Q & A (www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/ ) ; I am a fan and rarely miss it, but I have to say that last Thursday night’s episode on the question of whether Australia should become a republic, left me very bored – and neither the monarchists nor the republicans put forward particularly strong arguments, frequently went around in circles and didn’t seem that passionate themselves. Hence why I think the Aussie adage of if “it aint broke don’t fix it” will probably be adhered to in respect of this issue, for the foreseeable future… Nevertheless, I do remain in favour of a republic at some stage, provided the proposed model is right.

On a superficial level, there must be fairly consistent agreement that few do a celebration or pageant like the British. It made me feel a sense of significance for my own British ancestry, so I can only imagine how affirming the experience was for contemporary Britons, particularly in light of a tough few years. I think they should express what is great about their culture, moreso, in the modern age.

Despite protestations that the institution of the monarchy should transcend the personalities of the monarchs and be viewed independently of them; in practice, it doesn’t really. William and Kate are likeable people, have had much “real world” experience and come across as quite humble and down to earth communicators; after the weekend’s wedding, they have, perhaps quite inadvertently, injected a strong new energy into the family, that will probably give them great facility to do good work. This must be seen as a positive.

All told I think it was a celebration of positivity and growth for Britain’s past and future, and an uplifting ceremony… Now - I think I have, in the context of this blog, devoted more time than I ought to , espousing some of the finer attributes of the old country’s traditions and of the newly married royals – I may need to return to my goading and disparagement of them. It’s the Australian way.

Reflecting on Bin Laden’s Inglorious End while thinking of “The Castle in the Forest”

Osama Bin Laden met his end this 2 May 2011, some 66 years, almost to to the day, after the death of the 20^th Century’s public enemy number one, the German dictator, Adolf Hitler.

I first came across bin Laden in a school lesson back in the mid to late nineties, well before the 2001 World Trade Centre attacks... It was in an article written under the heading of “The face of Evil” (or something similar). I went to a Catholic school and the lesson was in religious education; I forget the specific purpose of it, but it had something to do with good, evil and the choices and influences associated with both conditions… The article reported on Bin Laden’s then record as a terrorist, his ability to co-ordinate terrorist activities and the threat he posed to civilian society – as the world was then…

I remember the article vividly – it was one of those things that as an adolescent, lodges in your mind. It troubled me and I remember thinking at the time, why hasn’t someone “done something” about this person? Reading about his life, what he’d already perpetrated and what he openly said he wanted to do, I could not understand why he hadn’t been assassinated, or at least captured, already… It was the first time I had encountered a political figure (of a perverted variety) that was alive and genuinely frightening.

A few years later, the September 11 attacks occurred in New York. Living in Australia, I heard the news on my radio alarm in the early hours of the morning and thought it was a surreal dream. It was a “horrendous good morning” – I wrote quite a bit of prose around this time attempting to capture what was happening…

[A short prose piece I wrote around the time, One Way, Boston to LA (referencing the flight path of one of the hi-jacked planes) is included at the bottom of this blog – its scratchy writing as an amateur 18 year old trying to express an idea, but captures a bit of the confusion of the time through my more youthful eyes… ]

Like many, I spent the next couple of weeks glued to the television – searching for answers. I was at Uni at the time and barely attended for a week or two… When I did, the atmosphere was one of a subdued, saddened stupor – televisions were set up in libraries that attracted crowds and people carried themselves with a quiet, dignified bearing. Thankfully I didn’t know anyone directly injured or killed – but unquestionably, everyone was affected – much did change in the ensuing ten years; the world did change.

Thoughts naturally turn to vengeance and the identity of the culprits in such circumstances, and my mind immediately went back to my old R.E. lesson and the strange fellow with the dark eyes who stared back from beneath the word “Evil”. I implicitly sensed he would be involved in some way if not the chief “architect”.

Yesterday, after a man-hunt dating back to President Bill Clinton’s administration, U.S. Forces caught up with the chief enemy of their country. It was fitting that it was the Americans that ultimately apprehended and killed bin Laden – he has probably inflicted more pain and damage on their country – emotionally, diplomatically and economically - than any other single individual in their history.

So to that end, I can in part understand the celebratory, joyous reaction that erupted spontaneously in the U.S. ; Americans have been hurting for a long time and this was a massive breakthrough – a big pressure release – and a closure of sorts. Having said that, celebrating the killing of anyone so rapturously does risk being inflammatory. I think, while understandable, it does risk evoking the same kind of misunderstanding, contempt and rage that Westerners experienced when they witnessed the gun toting “party goers” after September 11…

Probably not since Adolf Hitler has there been a unified condemnation and pursuit of one single person. It is fascinating to explore how two figures like Hitler and bin Laden arrived at such a dismal destination, particularly in view of their backgrounds.

Bin Laden was born into great affluence, and was well educated, attending University and studying economics, business and, it is believed, civil engineering. He was apparently deeply interested in religion and wrote quite prolifically. For a time he was involved in the billion dollar family construction business in Saudi Arabia. Ironically his father and brother died in aircraft accidents – his father at the hands of an American pilot. He became drawn to extreme religious views and formed a vision for an archaic, expansionary political model across the Middle East and Africa, based on a seventh century model and Sharia law. His preferred way of prosecuting this was by way of jihad (violence and terrorism) against anyone who didn’t believe in his vision.

Hitler and bin Laden had this in common - aberrant, controlling, intolerant, expansive and aggressive ideals for political regimes that formed the basis of their actions. Both men were nihilistic and remorseless but cloaked their behaviour in anti-semitic and nationalistic / religious fervour to make it more “acceptable” and “attractive” to vulnerable or extremist, would-be supporters.

Hitler’s past is well documented, but in essence he was a failed landscape painter. Together with architecture, this was his life’s passion and aspiration; but, upon failing, through various twists of fate, he embraced fanatical political ideals, and, like bin Laden, through possessing the charisma to persuade others, he manipulated the populous and the German democratic system to ultimately establish an aggressive dictatorship for himself.

It would seem both shared something of a creative imagination – albeit distorted and ill applied – this too made them ever more persuasive and dangerous. Both saw combat in war which cannot be underestimated either in forging their militarist methods and perhaps corrupting their ideas and perceptions either…

And yet, there is so much that is inexplicable and incongruent about their rise.

While I subscribe to the concepts of “good” and “evil”, I also feel it provides a convenient dichotomy for many to characterise a person, like a Hitler or bin Laden, who is beyond characterisation. Viewing these people as “evil” is a way of explain the confusing manner in which human potential extends in both directions – to growth and destruction.

However, as some have remarked, the forces that shaped these two men must have been awesome...

Which brings me to the book I recently finished called “The Castle in the Forest” – the late American writer, Norman Mailer’s final book. Mailer, American born of Jewish descent and having fought in World War 2, had been, by his own admission, absorbed with Hitler his whole life and chose his ancestry and back story as a platform for what is ultimately a fictional, allegorical novel, rooted in some amount of historical fact.

In very simple terms, the book supposes that Satan is present at the conception of Hitler (who is born out of incest) and his subject devils (or demons), follow and use various, strange methods to interfere in the life of the family and influence Hitler whom they see as having “potential” – to set him on his course, as it were. It is only concerned with Hitler’s formative, childhood years and the story of his ancestors, parents and siblings.

It is narrated by the main demon tasked with this “assignment”, Dieter, who on occasion assumes the body of an SS officer. In one sense, it is a bit of an extension of the perspective taken by C.S. Lewis in his famous work, “the Screwtape Letters”.

It’s the first book I have read in a while that really got to me and was disturbing on some level that is hard to explain - that influences your perceptions. I really like and admire Mailer as a writer; like many of his “new journalism” contemporaries, his breadth of work is vast. He is also a very articulate and thought provoking interview subject. [You can see him being interviewed about the book on the Charlie Rose program here: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/22 ]

The book received critical acclaim and Mailer himself identified it as one of his major books, before dying the same year it was published (2007). Despite this, I was not blown away by the mastery of the writing, although it is very good, but rather of the previously mentioned, somewhat unsettling way that this book seeps into your subconscious thinking and contemplation – which is probably testament to what Mailer set out to achieve, and the true success of the book.

Even though it is not a fun nor easy read, it is actually blackly humorous in many parts and you get the strong sense from the more humiliating depictions of the young Hitler and his family, that the author is derisive and intentionally humbling (albeit not so mockingly as say, Director Quentin Tarantino in the film “Inglorious Basterds”) - of his chief subject… The “unseemly” and strange subject matter such as incest, frequent scatological references, brutality and unnerving concentration on the “senses” generally, especially smells and the olfactory sense, make the book heavy – but the premise that Mailer seems to be asserting is his strong belief in supernatural “forces” of good and evil – as a way of explaining how particular individuals may turn out.

I think any writer is successful and important when they can produce a book that at least gets you thinking and considering these higher ideas that form part of a complex array of existential, spiritual and human questions - especially in light of historical events like the rise and demise of bin Laden.

To use an old cliché, such writers can help us make sense of a world that is not always easy to understand.

ONE WAY, BOSTON TO L.A.
(2001)

I hear the sullen banter from beneath my bed sheets,

A dream…it fails to register.

Awake now, I hear again the horrendous good morning.

Stunned

Confused?

Yes, I am awake now.

Set free by an act of evil,

Anointed in devastation,

Swept to paradise on a torrent of sin,

The twisted paradox that is, life on earth.

The house is silent,

Silent, but for the soul piercing screams of distant victims,

Silent, but for the desperate scrambling for love, far away,

Silent…but for the long, drawn sobs of the mournful creator in his watchtower.

I am awake now and the paradox becomes apparent.

I am compelled to share in the moment.

To open the doors to the cold frost,

The debilitating spring.

Ungainly, fat rats dance and celebrate

To the music of gunfire.

Joyous and

Elated.

The paradox is sprawling…

“Crucify them!” I howl, then realise my mistake.

Humanity’s horror.

Our greatest challenge?

Our finest hour?