It's the time of the season - no, not when love runs high (The Zombies, "Time of the Season, 1968), but when American students graduate from High School and College. And their academic degrees are conferred upon them in a ceremony commonly known as Commencement.
Not Closing, Ending, or Final Curtain – no, Commencement. Which I think is actually a very appropriate name to give this moment in young people's lives. It's a new beginning, the step into the real world from the relatively protected confines of University. There's an eponymous novel by J. Courtney Sullivan, Commencement (2009) that picks up on this thought, following four graduates of all-women Smith College through the years post-graduation. It's worth a read – "Chick lit" of a more sophisticated type.
Commencement Day is always a very solemn yet joyful event, helped by the fact that the weather is mostly good in North America in late May and early June. Parents, siblings, extended family, and friends gather to attend, and at least at the smaller colleges that have classes of a few hundred only, every student gets to walk up to the stage and receive their diploma from the President (of the University, not the Nation). And then, celebration time, with no expense spared – in a recent 2014 nationwide survey in the United States, US$ 985 was quoted as the average amount spent on graduation parties. Been there, done that. And can confirm the stats.
But before being let off the hook, the young graduates have to sit through what is widely considered the highlight of the day, or rather: The Day – the Commencement Speech, normally delivered by somebody invited from outside the College community who is expected to dispense words of wisdom that will see their young audience through life or at least through the coming few years of adjustment to the rat race of the working world or, sooner or later, the rarefied academic air of postgraduate studies.
And then, of course, eventually, somewhere down the road, there's all this stuff about marriage, starting a family, and, importantly, feeding it. Take your time, is what I tell my children, and they've so far stuck to their Dad's advice – for once.
The Commencement Speech circuit is in fact quite a circus, and every year observers are following with bated breath the announcements by the academic institutions whom they have selected this time around. It's almost like the Oscar nominations. On these, more to come below.
Here are some illustrious names from this year, in no particular order while observing political protocol: POTUS Barack Obama; FLOTUS Michelle Obama; Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State and a class act if you ask me; Madeleine Albright, also former Secretary of State and the first woman to hold the post. She was once asked, after leaving office, what it was like for her as a female to have to deal with all those foreign alpha-male politicians. Her answer: "Well, it does help if you fly in on Air Force One." Good one, Maddie!
Ms Albright also said: "We should use our opinions to start discussions, not to end them." Discuss.
And finally: “I love being a woman, and I was not one of these women who rose through professional life by wearing men's clothes or looking masculine. I loved wearing bright colors and being who I am."
Other Commencement speakers this year include Spike Lee, Director; Larry Ellison, Founder and Chairman of Oracle; David Axelrod, political advisor and Chief Strategist for both of Barack Obama’s successful Presidential campaigns; he then lost his touch when he worked for and with Ed Miliband in the run-up to the 2015 UK General Elections – I think he wasn’t all that interested after all; Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook; Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post fame; James Franco, actor and director currently starring in the TV mini-series based on Stephen King’s novel, 11.22.63; Matt Damon, actor; David Lynch, film maker; and Steven Spielberg, ditto.
And there are many more who shall remain unnamed.
Steven Spielberg addressed the graduates at Harvard University, no less. And having skimmed through a few speeches, as I do every year, I think his was one of the best this Commencement season.
For previous years’ highlights coming from Hollywood, check out Tom Hanks (Yale University, 2011); Denzel Washington (University of Pennsylvania, 2011); and Robert De Niro (New York University Tisch School of Arts, 2015).
Anyhow, what Steven Spielberg told his audience went beyond the traditional, tired, and oft-traded platitudes of “follow your dreams”, “stay true to yourself”, and “be an agent for good in the world”. And of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of these.
In a charmingly self-deprecating way, the most successful film director of all times, who will turn 70 this December, let his audience in on a little-known secret:
"I can remember my own college graduation, which is easy, since it was only 14 years ago. How many of you took 37 years to graduate? Because, like most of you, I began college in my teens, but sophomore year, I was offered my dream job at Universal Studios, so I dropped out. I told my parents if my movie career didn’t go well, I’d re-enrol.
“It went all right.
“But eventually, I returned for one big reason. Most people go to college for an education, and some go for their parents, but I went for my kids. I’m the father of seven, and I kept insisting on the importance of going to college, but I hadn’t walked the walk. So, in my fifties, I re-enrolled at Cal State – Long Beach, and I earned my degree. [A Bachelor of Arts from the Film School: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3579578/Spielberg-why-I-went-back-to-college.html]
“I just have to add: It helped that they gave me course credit in Palaeontology for the work I did on Jurassic Park. That’s three units for Jurassic Park, thank you.”
He went on to analyse the two inner voices most if not all of us hear inside our head: “And I want to be clear that your intuition is different from your conscience. They work in tandem, but here’s the distinction: Your conscience shouts, ‘here’s what you should do,’ while your intuition whispers, ‘here’s what you could do.’ Listen to that voice that tells you what you could do. Nothing will define your character more than that.”
And putting in perspective his art and his audience’s mission from thereon: “My job is to create a world that lasts two hours. Your job is to create a world that lasts forever. You are the future innovators, motivators, leaders, and caretakers.
“And the way you create a better future is by studying the past. Jurassic Park writer Michael Crichton, who graduated from both this college and this medical school, liked to quote a favourite professor of his who said that if you didn’t know history, you didn’t know anything. You were a leaf that didn’t know it was part of a tree. So History majors: Good choice, you’re in great shape... Not in the job market, but culturally.” Love it.
Much appreciated, Mr Spielberg. Or may I call you Steven? A heart-felt thank you from an historian.
The secondary school teacher who got me to want to study History used the following analogy to describe the role of historians: Think of a tapestry hanging on a wall. From the front, you see the design and appreciate the image. Which is fine – enjoy! But the historian will walk up to the wall, turn the tapestry around, and make out how the threads are woven and where the knots are tied. “This,” my teacher would say, “is the task of an historian.”
Explaining how the world as we populate, witness, and experience it has come about, and hopefully helping us all understand better from finding out what’s on the “reverse side”.
Of course, Spielberg has dwelt extensively on history in his work. Just think of the films The Color Purple (1985), which he referenced in the Harvard speech as a turning point; the majestic, even by his standards, Schindlers’ List (1993) for which he won his first Academy Award for Best Director; Amistad (1997); and Saving Private Ryan (1998) which secured him his other Best Director Oscar. And then, of course there is Lincoln (2012) – more about this one later.
From the proceeds of Schindler’s List, in 1994 he started the Shoah Foundation which since then has video-taped the testimony of some 53,000 Holocaust survivors and witnesses to preserve their memories for posterity – a true historian’s task.
At Harvard, Spielberg went on: “The rest of us have to make a little effort. Social media that we’re inundated and swarmed with is about the here and now. But I’ve been fighting and fighting inside my own family to get all my kids to look behind them, to look at what already has happened. Because to understand who they are is to understand who we were, and who their grandparents were, and then, what this country was like when they emigrated here. We are a nation of immigrants – at least for now.”
This last comment was an oblique nod to Donald “The Donald” Trump who is now set to face off with the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, in all likelihood Hillary “It’s My Turn” Clinton. But that’s for another time.
Steven Spielberg, as you will remember, last directed Bridge of Spies (2015), set in Cold War Berlin, in which Tom Hanks starred alongside Mark Rylance – who won the Oscar as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, as confidently predicted by this wannabe movie expert. See you next year, Mr Stallone! Or not.
I wonder what Mark Rylance, a British theatre actor first and foremost, would tell American College graduates if he were ever to hold a Commencement speech. Maybe someone will invite him now he is Hollywood Royalty. But then again, maybe not.
So how come these representatives of the Factory of Dreams in Southern California, the Wizards of the Silver Screen, the nation’s (and the world’s) Entertainers-in-Chief so often give the most impactful, original, and widely-noted Commencement speeches?
Maybe after four years of academic striving, of intellectual pursuit, and of mental discipline, the graduates, mere kids of 21 or 22 we should not forget, are just thirsting for some, not comic relief, but magic. A breath of fresh air from those who excel in the timeless art of story-telling.
Speaking of four, this once only, Spielberg movies to illustrate my point:
I mean, what is sub-marine Biology compared to the suspense of Jaws (1975)?
What is classical Archaeology when contrasted with the adventures of Dr Henry “Indiana” Jones, played unforgettably by Harrison Ford through all four films to date, starting with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and Number Five to be launched in 2019? Never say die. Harrison, how do you do it?
I mean, the man will be 74 in July!
He is also back in his other career-defining role as Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise with Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015).
Since this is all about graduation, let it be known TIME magazine on 10 May 2010 published their Top Ten List of Famous College Drop-outs, including the indomitable Mr Ford:
Bill Gates (Harvard University)
Steve Jobs (Reed College)
Frank Lloyd Wright (University of Wisconsin – Madison)
Buckminster Fuller (Harvard University)
James Cameron (Fullerton College)
Mark Zuckerberg (Harvard University)
Tom Hanks (Sacramento State University)
Harrison Ford (Ripon College)
Lady Gaga (New York University Tisch School of Arts)
Tiger Woods (Stanford University)
It’s none of my business, but I think Harvard needs a Chief Retention Officer.
Coming back to Steven Spielberg’s oeuvre – I expect the fact he did go back to University later on in his life disqualified him from being included on the TIME list – and his unique talent for story-telling, what is the History of the Second World War in the Far East compared to the heart-moving Empire of the Sun (1987)?
Or Robotics once you’ve seen the equally touching, albeit in different ways, A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)?
What indeed is Palaeontology compared to the excitement of Jurassic Park (1993) and its three sequels, with Number Five to be released in 2018? Who ever said the dinosaurs were extinct?
Oops, that’s five films now already. Better stop here and now. But I hope you get the gist.
By the way, there are a number of theories why dinosaurs at one point disappeared off the face of the planet they had so confidently inhabited, a meteor impact being the most widely held.
Well, here’s one that surprisingly is often overlooked: they took up smoking. Duh. – Just kidding.
It probably also helps that Commencement speakers from the entertainment industry are not generally defined by whatever academic degree they may or may not have earned in their past, and therefore are not suspicious to the graduates assembled at their feet and just hoping for this to be over quickly so they can go and spend in a meaningful way their statistically speaking, US$ 985.00. Meaningful, I said.
And who better than Steven Spielberg, that perfect combination of a self-confessed belated academic and master of story-telling, to help them through those twenty-odd minutes?
Tom Hanks, long-time Spielberg collaborator and certified TIME Magazine Top Ten College dropout, said: “Movie-making is telling a story with the best technology at your disposal.”
With nothing to carry you than a microphone, a lectern, and, hopefully, some kind of script or idea of what you plan to be talking about, this is more difficult. Especially so when it is a one-off occasion and you are the only thing standing between your audience and their get-away.
Remember, to your listeners your story should be interesting, relevant, and, on a good day, compelling.
But you have to earn your stories, and it helps to have a certain gift:
“Know something, sugar? Stories only happen to people who can tell them.” Allan Gurganus (American author, graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. If interested in the history of the American South, not South America, check out his novel Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, 1989)
Finally, the bottom line:
“Those who tell the stories rule society.” Plato (Ancient Greek philosopher, 5th/4th century BC).
On this last thought, I recently saw an interview with Arkady Ostrovsky, the Moscow-based Russia and Eastern Europe Correspondent for The Economist, who last year published a book that is now on my (long and ever-growing) reading list: The Invention of Russia: The Journey from Gorbachev’s Freedom to Putin’s War. His thesis is that the unchallenged power Vladimir Putin and his entourage wield over Russia is based on one thing, first and foremost – his exclusive ownership of the messaging and total control of the media through which to disseminate his story. What we saw of the war against the Ukraine, Ostrovsky said by way of the most recent example, was not a case of the media following the unfolding military events – it was the other way around: the tanks rolled across the border primarily in order to create powerful pictures for the cameras.
Commencement Day is always a very solemn yet joyful event, helped by the fact that the weather is mostly good in North America in late May and early June. Parents, siblings, extended family, and friends gather to attend, and at least at the smaller colleges that have classes of a few hundred only, every student gets to walk up to the stage and receive their diploma from the President (of the University, not the Nation). And then, celebration time, with no expense spared – in a recent 2014 nationwide survey in the United States, US$ 985 was quoted as the average amount spent on graduation parties. Been there, done that. And can confirm the stats.
But before being let off the hook, the young graduates have to sit through what is widely considered the highlight of the day, or rather: The Day – the Commencement Speech, normally delivered by somebody invited from outside the College community who is expected to dispense words of wisdom that will see their young audience through life or at least through the coming few years of adjustment to the rat race of the working world or, sooner or later, the rarefied academic air of postgraduate studies.
And then, of course, eventually, somewhere down the road, there's all this stuff about marriage, starting a family, and, importantly, feeding it. Take your time, is what I tell my children, and they've so far stuck to their Dad's advice – for once.
The Commencement Speech circuit is in fact quite a circus, and every year observers are following with bated breath the announcements by the academic institutions whom they have selected this time around. It's almost like the Oscar nominations. On these, more to come below.
Here are some illustrious names from this year, in no particular order while observing political protocol: POTUS Barack Obama; FLOTUS Michelle Obama; Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State and a class act if you ask me; Madeleine Albright, also former Secretary of State and the first woman to hold the post. She was once asked, after leaving office, what it was like for her as a female to have to deal with all those foreign alpha-male politicians. Her answer: "Well, it does help if you fly in on Air Force One." Good one, Maddie!
Ms Albright also said: "We should use our opinions to start discussions, not to end them." Discuss.
And finally: “I love being a woman, and I was not one of these women who rose through professional life by wearing men's clothes or looking masculine. I loved wearing bright colors and being who I am."
Other Commencement speakers this year include Spike Lee, Director; Larry Ellison, Founder and Chairman of Oracle; David Axelrod, political advisor and Chief Strategist for both of Barack Obama’s successful Presidential campaigns; he then lost his touch when he worked for and with Ed Miliband in the run-up to the 2015 UK General Elections – I think he wasn’t all that interested after all; Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook; Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post fame; James Franco, actor and director currently starring in the TV mini-series based on Stephen King’s novel, 11.22.63; Matt Damon, actor; David Lynch, film maker; and Steven Spielberg, ditto.
And there are many more who shall remain unnamed.
Steven Spielberg addressed the graduates at Harvard University, no less. And having skimmed through a few speeches, as I do every year, I think his was one of the best this Commencement season.
For previous years’ highlights coming from Hollywood, check out Tom Hanks (Yale University, 2011); Denzel Washington (University of Pennsylvania, 2011); and Robert De Niro (New York University Tisch School of Arts, 2015).
In a charmingly self-deprecating way, the most successful film director of all times, who will turn 70 this December, let his audience in on a little-known secret:
"I can remember my own college graduation, which is easy, since it was only 14 years ago. How many of you took 37 years to graduate? Because, like most of you, I began college in my teens, but sophomore year, I was offered my dream job at Universal Studios, so I dropped out. I told my parents if my movie career didn’t go well, I’d re-enrol.
“It went all right.
“But eventually, I returned for one big reason. Most people go to college for an education, and some go for their parents, but I went for my kids. I’m the father of seven, and I kept insisting on the importance of going to college, but I hadn’t walked the walk. So, in my fifties, I re-enrolled at Cal State – Long Beach, and I earned my degree. [A Bachelor of Arts from the Film School: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3579578/Spielberg-why-I-went-back-to-college.html]
“I just have to add: It helped that they gave me course credit in Palaeontology for the work I did on Jurassic Park. That’s three units for Jurassic Park, thank you.”
He went on to analyse the two inner voices most if not all of us hear inside our head: “And I want to be clear that your intuition is different from your conscience. They work in tandem, but here’s the distinction: Your conscience shouts, ‘here’s what you should do,’ while your intuition whispers, ‘here’s what you could do.’ Listen to that voice that tells you what you could do. Nothing will define your character more than that.”
And putting in perspective his art and his audience’s mission from thereon: “My job is to create a world that lasts two hours. Your job is to create a world that lasts forever. You are the future innovators, motivators, leaders, and caretakers.
“And the way you create a better future is by studying the past. Jurassic Park writer Michael Crichton, who graduated from both this college and this medical school, liked to quote a favourite professor of his who said that if you didn’t know history, you didn’t know anything. You were a leaf that didn’t know it was part of a tree. So History majors: Good choice, you’re in great shape... Not in the job market, but culturally.” Love it.
Much appreciated, Mr Spielberg. Or may I call you Steven? A heart-felt thank you from an historian.
The secondary school teacher who got me to want to study History used the following analogy to describe the role of historians: Think of a tapestry hanging on a wall. From the front, you see the design and appreciate the image. Which is fine – enjoy! But the historian will walk up to the wall, turn the tapestry around, and make out how the threads are woven and where the knots are tied. “This,” my teacher would say, “is the task of an historian.”
Explaining how the world as we populate, witness, and experience it has come about, and hopefully helping us all understand better from finding out what’s on the “reverse side”.
Of course, Spielberg has dwelt extensively on history in his work. Just think of the films The Color Purple (1985), which he referenced in the Harvard speech as a turning point; the majestic, even by his standards, Schindlers’ List (1993) for which he won his first Academy Award for Best Director; Amistad (1997); and Saving Private Ryan (1998) which secured him his other Best Director Oscar. And then, of course there is Lincoln (2012) – more about this one later.
From the proceeds of Schindler’s List, in 1994 he started the Shoah Foundation which since then has video-taped the testimony of some 53,000 Holocaust survivors and witnesses to preserve their memories for posterity – a true historian’s task.
At Harvard, Spielberg went on: “The rest of us have to make a little effort. Social media that we’re inundated and swarmed with is about the here and now. But I’ve been fighting and fighting inside my own family to get all my kids to look behind them, to look at what already has happened. Because to understand who they are is to understand who we were, and who their grandparents were, and then, what this country was like when they emigrated here. We are a nation of immigrants – at least for now.”
This last comment was an oblique nod to Donald “The Donald” Trump who is now set to face off with the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, in all likelihood Hillary “It’s My Turn” Clinton. But that’s for another time.
Steven Spielberg, as you will remember, last directed Bridge of Spies (2015), set in Cold War Berlin, in which Tom Hanks starred alongside Mark Rylance – who won the Oscar as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, as confidently predicted by this wannabe movie expert. See you next year, Mr Stallone! Or not.
I wonder what Mark Rylance, a British theatre actor first and foremost, would tell American College graduates if he were ever to hold a Commencement speech. Maybe someone will invite him now he is Hollywood Royalty. But then again, maybe not.
So how come these representatives of the Factory of Dreams in Southern California, the Wizards of the Silver Screen, the nation’s (and the world’s) Entertainers-in-Chief so often give the most impactful, original, and widely-noted Commencement speeches?
Maybe after four years of academic striving, of intellectual pursuit, and of mental discipline, the graduates, mere kids of 21 or 22 we should not forget, are just thirsting for some, not comic relief, but magic. A breath of fresh air from those who excel in the timeless art of story-telling.
Speaking of four, this once only, Spielberg movies to illustrate my point:
I mean, what is sub-marine Biology compared to the suspense of Jaws (1975)?
I mean, the man will be 74 in July!
He is also back in his other career-defining role as Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise with Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015).
Since this is all about graduation, let it be known TIME magazine on 10 May 2010 published their Top Ten List of Famous College Drop-outs, including the indomitable Mr Ford:
Bill Gates (Harvard University)
Steve Jobs (Reed College)
Frank Lloyd Wright (University of Wisconsin – Madison)
Buckminster Fuller (Harvard University)
James Cameron (Fullerton College)
Mark Zuckerberg (Harvard University)
Tom Hanks (Sacramento State University)
Harrison Ford (Ripon College)
Lady Gaga (New York University Tisch School of Arts)
Tiger Woods (Stanford University)
It’s none of my business, but I think Harvard needs a Chief Retention Officer.
Coming back to Steven Spielberg’s oeuvre – I expect the fact he did go back to University later on in his life disqualified him from being included on the TIME list – and his unique talent for story-telling, what is the History of the Second World War in the Far East compared to the heart-moving Empire of the Sun (1987)?
Or Robotics once you’ve seen the equally touching, albeit in different ways, A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)?
What indeed is Palaeontology compared to the excitement of Jurassic Park (1993) and its three sequels, with Number Five to be released in 2018? Who ever said the dinosaurs were extinct?
Oops, that’s five films now already. Better stop here and now. But I hope you get the gist.
By the way, there are a number of theories why dinosaurs at one point disappeared off the face of the planet they had so confidently inhabited, a meteor impact being the most widely held.
Well, here’s one that surprisingly is often overlooked: they took up smoking. Duh. – Just kidding.
It probably also helps that Commencement speakers from the entertainment industry are not generally defined by whatever academic degree they may or may not have earned in their past, and therefore are not suspicious to the graduates assembled at their feet and just hoping for this to be over quickly so they can go and spend in a meaningful way their statistically speaking, US$ 985.00. Meaningful, I said.
And who better than Steven Spielberg, that perfect combination of a self-confessed belated academic and master of story-telling, to help them through those twenty-odd minutes?
Tom Hanks, long-time Spielberg collaborator and certified TIME Magazine Top Ten College dropout, said: “Movie-making is telling a story with the best technology at your disposal.”
With nothing to carry you than a microphone, a lectern, and, hopefully, some kind of script or idea of what you plan to be talking about, this is more difficult. Especially so when it is a one-off occasion and you are the only thing standing between your audience and their get-away.
Remember, to your listeners your story should be interesting, relevant, and, on a good day, compelling.
But you have to earn your stories, and it helps to have a certain gift:
“Know something, sugar? Stories only happen to people who can tell them.” Allan Gurganus (American author, graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. If interested in the history of the American South, not South America, check out his novel Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, 1989)
Finally, the bottom line:
“Those who tell the stories rule society.” Plato (Ancient Greek philosopher, 5th/4th century BC).
On this last thought, I recently saw an interview with Arkady Ostrovsky, the Moscow-based Russia and Eastern Europe Correspondent for The Economist, who last year published a book that is now on my (long and ever-growing) reading list: The Invention of Russia: The Journey from Gorbachev’s Freedom to Putin’s War. His thesis is that the unchallenged power Vladimir Putin and his entourage wield over Russia is based on one thing, first and foremost – his exclusive ownership of the messaging and total control of the media through which to disseminate his story. What we saw of the war against the Ukraine, Ostrovsky said by way of the most recent example, was not a case of the media following the unfolding military events – it was the other way around: the tanks rolled across the border primarily in order to create powerful pictures for the cameras.
I guess we have all read George Orwell’s dystopian political science-fiction novel, Nineteen-Eighty-Four (published in 1949) at some point of our school education. Remember “Newspeak”? “2 + 2 = 5”? “Doublethink” teaching us “Good is bad”?
In his influential essay, “Politics and the English Language” (1946) George Orwell explored the way totalitarian regimes used vague terminology to manipulate their subjects’ thinking and obfuscate reality. His analysis led Orwell to an appeal for clear and concise language, synthesised in six rules for writers (if generous, we can let him get away with this – it was three plus three). They are:
"Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
“Never use a long word where a short one will do.
“If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
“Never use the passive where you can use the active.
“Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
“Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.”
Regardless of their historical context, the disillusionment of a democratic Socialist with Stalinism, to this day these are good rules to stick to when writing, as I’m sure you will agree.
To which I will just add the following from Stephen King: “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.”
On the lighter side of life, George Orwell also had precise ideas, distinct views, and strongly-held convictions about many other things, as evidenced in his essay, “A Nice Cup of Tea”, published in the London Evening Standard on 12 January 1946. It is an in-depth discussion of the craft of brewing tea, including the line: "Here are my own eleven rules, every one of which I regard as golden."
So much for The Rule of Three, George. And aren’t you being just a little totalitarian here?
Speaking of brewing, equally, if not more interesting are Orwell’s musings about what he considered to be the perfect London pub, the requirements of such establishments in the countryside of course being something totally different. Categorise, categorise, categorise.
In “The Moon Under Water”, published in the London Evening Standard on 9 February 1946, this time, he stipulated ten key criteria (a lost cause by now):
”The architecture and fittings must be uncompromisingly Victorian.
“Games, such as darts, are only played in the public bar so that in the other bars you can walk about without the worry of flying darts.
“The pub is quiet enough to talk, with the house possessing neither a radio nor a piano.
“The barmaids know the customers by name and take an interest in everyone.
“It sells tobacco and cigarettes, aspirins and stamps, and is obliging about letting you use the telephone.
“... there is a snack counter where you can get liver-sausage sandwiches, mussels (a speciality of the house), cheese, pickles, and [...] large biscuits with caraway seeds ...
“Upstairs, six days a week, you can get a good, solid lunch – for example, a cut off the joint, two vegetables and boiled jam roll – for about three shillings.
“... a creamy sort of draught stout ..., and it goes better in a pewter pot.
“They are particular about their drinking vessels at ‘The Moon Under Water’ and never, for example, make the mistake of serving a pint of beer in a handle-less glass. Apart from glass and pewter mugs, they have some of those pleasant strawberry-pink china ones. ... in my opinion beer tastes better out of china.
“... You go through a narrow passage leading out of the saloon, and find yourself in a fairly large garden ... Many as are the virtues of the ‘Moon Under Water’ I think that the garden is its best feature, because it allows whole families to go there instead of Mum having to stay at home and mind the baby while Dad goes out alone."
He did make one concession at the very end: “And if anyone knows of a pub that has draught stout, open fires, cheap meals, a garden, motherly barmaids and no radio, I should be glad to hear of it, even though its name were something as prosaic as the ‘Red Lion’ or the ‘Railway Arms’.”
Oh well, Orwell.
A great story-teller, yes. A passionate advocate for freedom, absolutely. A brilliant analyst of totalitarianism, no doubt.
A paragon of good taste, I don’t think so.
Declaration of interest: While fond of the British pub, I think there’s a lot to be said for the equally classic American Sports Bar – big TV screens everywhere, showing all sorts of different games at the same time; a large selection of cold (!) beers on tap; and Burgers.
So if you ever come across George’s reviews on Trip Advisor, take them with a pinch of salt (pun fully intended). Just as you should be suspicious of quotes on the internet in general as they are all too often attributed to the wrong people – said Abraham Lincoln.
Which brings us nicely back to Steven Spielberg and his absolutely brilliant film, Lincoln (2012) in which Daniel Day-Lewis characteristically excels as the 16th President of the United States, a performance that justly won him the Oscar for Best Performing Actor in a Leading Role in 2013.
Fun fact: English-born Day-Lewis holds a remarkable all-time record: three Academy Awards for Best Actor for his performances in My Left Foot (1989), There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012), making him the only man in history to have three wins in this category; and one of only three male actors to win three Oscars in total.
The other two, just to save you researching: Jack Nicholson (Best Actor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975; As Good As It Gets, 1997; Best Supporting Actor in Terms of Endearment, 1983) and Walter Brennan, three-time winner in the Best Supporting Category for Come and Get It (1936); Kentucky (1938); and The Westerner (1940). Three within a space of five years – that’s what you call consistency. Whatever happened in 1937 and 1939, Walter? And yes, I had to look this up.
On the female side of things, the current score is as follows.
Joint runners-up with two Best Actress Awards and one for Best Supporting Actress each:
Ingrid Bergman (Gas Light, 1944; Anastasia, 1956; plus Murder on the Orient Express, 1974)
Meryl Streep (Sophie’s Choice, 1982; The Iron Lady, 2011; plus Kramer vs Kramer, 1979).
Nothing much between them I would say, but you be the judge. Maybe the total number of Oscar nominations helps in this predicament, and here Ms Streep is way out in front by the impressive score of 19 to seven. And of course, unlike Ingrid who died in 1982, aged only 67, she is still going strong. But please, Meryl, with all due respect, just spare us the agony of a sequel to Mamma Mia (2008)!
And the lone, undisputed, greatest-ever super star of all times is Katharine Hepburn (1907 – 2003; a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, by the way) with four Oscars (and twelve nominations), all of them in the category of Best Actress in a Leading Role and spanning no less than 48 years:
Morning Glory (1933); Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967); The Lion in Winter (1968); and On Golden Pond (1981).
A goddess of the screen. An incredibly impressive woman. And an inspiration to humanity, not just the female half of it. Do look her up, please.
Coming back to Steven Spielberg, in addition to Best Actor in a Leading Role, Lincoln was nominated in eleven more categories in 2012, including Best Motion Picture of the Year (winner: Argo) and Best Achievement in Directing (Winner: Ang Lee for Life of Pi), but surprisingly, disappointingly, and incomprehensively for many, only picked up one more Academy Award for Best Achievement in Production Design.
Anyhow, Mr Spielberg survived this particular disappointment, we may safely assume. According to IMDb, he is “undoubtedly one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film, perhaps Hollywood's best known director, and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world”.
While we are into statistics, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Three of Spielberg's films – Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993) – achieved box office records, founding and coming to epitomise the concept of a “blockbuster” film.
The unadjusted income from all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $9 billion worldwide, making him the highest-grossing director in history. His personal net worth is estimated by the famous Forbes list of billionaires for 2015 to be at US$ 3.5 billion, placing him, however, only in the modest rank of number 453. In real-time ranking of today, 2 June 2016, he has even slipped to # 505, but with US$ 3.6 billion to his name. Things could be worse, Steve.
But who cares. He is now the proud recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University.
So how did Steven Spielberg close his Commencement Speech on 26 May 2016?
“And finally, I wish you all a true, Hollywood-style happy ending. I hope you outrun the T. Rex, catch the criminal, and for your parents’ sake, maybe every now and then, just like E.T.: Go home. Thank you.”
What a nice, modest, human touch.
Which reminds me of President George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States, aka George Bush Senior or Bush the Elder. In 1993, at the end of his term in office, he did a one-hour exclusive interview with, if I remember correctly, CNN. The last question from his host was, “Mr President, looking back on your long life and your illustrious career, is there one single thing that you are particularly proud of?” Bush halted for a moment and then replied: “My kids still come home.”
What a nice, modest, human touch.
Probably somewhat less Politically Correct than Steven Spielberg, I might have left the Harvard graduates with a line from the novel I am currently reading, High Dive by Jonathan Lee, published only last year, which revisits a failed plot to assassinate Margaret Thatcher in 1984. What if?
The quote reflects the thought process of one of the story’s protagonists, young Freya who has just graduated from Secondary School and is trying to make up her mind whether to apply to University or not:
“She had a sense that she’d been trying to stay away from mistakes, and that it might be better to let them occur.”
Food for thought, y’all.
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