Books Bygone

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

By God! We Ain't Horses!

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The focal setting of the remarkable western movie, Unforgiven, is the town of Big Whiskey--  an unremarkable town inhabited largely by unremarkable characters. The movie begins when a local cowboy slashes the face of a giggling whore. The sheriff, Little Bill (who may be the only remarkable inhabitant), is called to the scene. The whorehouse/saloon owner complains that the cowboy & his pard have damaged his property, the giggling whore, and he deserves to be compensated. Little Bill proclaims that come spring, the cowboys will give the owner some horses. 

Everyone's fine with this resolution except Strawberry Alice, the whorehouse matron. She argues,
Just because we let them smelly fools ride us like horses don't mean we gotta let 'em brand us like horses. Maybe we ain't nothing but whores but we-- by god!-- we ain't horses.
On a related note, I once again read MLK's letter from jail, and skimmed through The Declaration of Independence. Good stuff. If you're inclined to do the same, pay particular attention to their Grievances. Also note Jefferson's appeal to his British Brethren, and King's appeal to his Fellow Christians. Note their disappointment

Jefferson on his Brethren:
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity.
King on this Fellows:
but I have longed to hear white ministers say, "follow this decree because integration is morally right and the Negro is your brother." 
~~

We're thinking about a new game, by the way.

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