Schindler’s List
Good morning, y’all. Power is restored after the high winds and soaked ground caused another tree to become a victim of gravity and cut the main power feed to the park. The folks here at TackyToo have returned to focusing on something besides getting me, “to do my job”. You’d think I was CEO of Georgia Power, or in charge of cutting trees away from lines, or both. I can tell you right now if I was CEO of Georgia Power, I’d live some place nice, like Rotterdam or Krakow or somewhere.
I bring up Rotterdam and Krakow because we’ve been power-watching all of the seasons of one of Mulva and I’s favorite TV shows, “The Amazing Race.” In case you’ve been living in a cave, or Alabama, “The Amazing Race” is this great TV show that pits couples against each other to win a race around the world. The couples take all sizes, ages, shapes, and relationships.
Part of the joy of the show, besides seeing unfamiliar places you’ve never been like Rotterdam and Krakow, is watching how other couples handle the adversities they encounter. Mulva and I are quite sure that there would never be a cross word between us, and we would always be respectful of one another. We both agree we’d enjoy a trip around the world on somebody else’s nickel. Seeing Krakow, Poland had never made it on our bucket list, so this episode was particularly interesting.
One of the show’s challenges involved visiting the Oscar Schindler factory. The factory has been turned into a memorial for the people Schindler helped save in World War II. Most of the couples were overcome by emotion at the viewing and it made for an easy choice for our date night movie, “Schindler’s List”.
Do not go into “Schindler’s List” unprepared. First of all, it’s in black and white. There is one piece of color used in the movie, but I won’t spoil the where or the why of the display. Just let me say that the director, Steven Spielberg, did a fantastic job of pulling us into the story and keeping us riveted to the screen. It’s not a happy story, although we are celebrating the success of Schindler in keeping his workers from the gas chambers. Liam Neeson is just insanely good in his role. Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes are excellent in their roles as well. There is a “cast of thousands”, as one could imagine for this type of movie, and Spielberg maintains control of all of the players to give the scenes power and depth.
There is violence, after all we’re talking about the worst example of man’s inhumanity to man, but it is not a gore fest. In fact, the rather “matter of fact” examples of violence further reinforce the cold detachment from humanity the Nazis had. Six, or six million, didn’t matter to the Nazis. Eradicating all Jews was their “final solution”. Their “final solution” was partially thwarted by Schindler’s efforts to protect his workers. Schindler’s success was beautifully portrayed at the end of the movie by the real-life survivors and their children and grandchildren visiting Schindler’s grave. It was an immensely powerful statement of survival.
A great movie, check it out, and check out the “Amazing Race.” You might see me and Mulva on there some day.