"It's a Mad. Mad. Mad. Mad. Whirled...

I always enjoy this movie, and "The Rat Race" with John Cleese, which was patterned after the former film.  (Are they "biofilms"? Or is Terry Thomas just naturally slimy?) It is of course all about the degrees of madness induced by the lure of wealth--and who should know this inside-out better than Hollywood?  So, like most movies, they are self-referential (even down to the Californiae setting) and I do enjoy self-deprecating humor, which is so much more honest and pleasant than H-wood's other prime motive for film making, as propaganda. So as far as that goes, it's always an enjoyable evening--and a history lesson for Daniel and Julie re: great comedians in the past, all in a row. (I forgot there were so many!) However they fell asleep right after the intermission...even though we fast-forwarded through the overture, mid-verture, and post-verture. 

It also reminds me that Hollywood is shot through with many a Jew! And who is more self-deprecating, both defensively and offensively, that a Jewish entertainer? And it still works...

But one of the reasons Jewish tradition supports such um accurate observations is their Law, which God, Moses, and the angels introduced 430 years after Abraham, "because of the transgressions," which were obviously piling up, moment by moment, in Egypt.  And thus also Jews have a keen sense of the injustices still being done to them--to which they are currently reacting by not turning the other cheek--even if they were so inclined, they would say they only have but two cheeks--ok, four.
But they have run out of cheeks in any event, so they are demonstrating some raw cheek to Ishmael again.

But it is not enough. It was not enough in David's time, or Joshua's time, or Solomon's time, or in the 1960's, or at any other time.  It's the "7-Devil" principle which the Principle Jew related to His own people. A perspicacious view of other-evil, which is the sum and substance of politics and the greed mentioned above, is never enough. Even if all the evil in the world were eliminated, we would still be unhappy, as I mentioned yesterday about the anti-Eliots. Seeing other people happy or content is still more or less galling to most of us too dishonest to admit it openly. For part of greed is also jealousy and covetousness; and it's extremely hard to legislate against point of the 10th commandment, as it may be done secretly throughout one's life with no one knowing except me and my Maker.

So what's the solution?  What profound message does the ultimate comic vehicle convey? Why another pratfall, of course!  Ethel Merman on a banana peel!  The Perfect Solution!  And yet...and yet... "beauty walks with evil..." (Offisa Pup re: Krazy Kat and Ignatz. ha. ha. ha...)