'Les Miserables' Makes Case for Complexity
Our polarized country could learn from 'Les Miserables.'
Les Misérables, the musical and now blockbuster movie, is a kind of Rorschach test. Some people see it primarily as a story of faith and redemption and others as a battle of good and evil in a class-driven society. Others clasp on to the love stories – father and adopted daughter, the love triangle of Marius, Cosette and Éponine, the all-sacrificing mother Fantine. And then there are the moviegoers who don’t understand why all those characters have to keep breaking out in song. But for me, one of the most resounding themes is the triumph of complexity over rigidity. French Police Inspector Javert sees Jean Valjean as bad because he stole a loaf of bread, served 19 years for his crime and then, upon his release, broke parole when society …
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Margie Peterson
4:39 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Thanks Allan, Wilfredo, Lanya and Mary. It has been often gratifying and always a learning experience. Carpe Diem. more ›