chariots of fire i

this is a truly inspirational movie, a movie worth watching. but on second viewing, i found some scenes difficult to watch.

it was difficult to watch athletes smoke and then run a race. it's difficult for me, in general, to watch movies about wealthy athletes. they live in their comfortable homes and stroll in the fields, smoke and drink, run and win without much apparent effort. of course, not everyone in the movie is so wealthy. Eric Liddell is a humble christian, living a good and honest life. most of the others, including the jewish athlete, comes from wealth.

i've read books on british imperialism and the british appently used to come with their golf clubs when taking over a country. often, they would treat the people as second-class citizens, and lead a life completely of their own. if they wanted a chinese woman, they could get her. but Lord behold, if a chinese man desired an english woman, there would be severe consequences. i never understood the charm of the english woman, but i can understand the acute sensitivity of someone like virginia woolf.

so in this movie, the jewish athlete sees himself as next in line in the pecking order to Eric Liddell. the jewish man has a standard of excellence which is a mean within an extreme. he wants to be the best and engage in an "agon" which proves that he is the best. once it is proved that he is the best, he receives historial recognition from god himself, expressed as recognition from the superstructure, the WASP superstructure.

i don't actually know if the jews really move up the pecking order so much as to be next to the WASPS. the WASPS are the superstructure that is above being American or being English. the WASPS have done some amazing things in history and do still have a great deal of spiritual, philosophical wisdom and foresight. the Jews have been historically marginalized and scapegoated and are a highly unique people. they really cannot be centralized within the greco-secular culture. Saul Bellow has written several novels about the attempt to synthesize the jewish and secular humanist culture and it results in insanity or the culture falling apart. besides, all truths are in the extremes, the margins, etc.

also in the movie, it is the jewish character who carries golf clubs to cambridge and wants to join all the clubs that have been previously forbidden to the jews. but be careful which club to join. there's the woody allen joke that he wouldn't want to be a member of a club in which someone like him is a member.