The arts are filled with liberals and so can be expected to have a vested interest in feminism.
The Daily Mississippian
Editor:
Ms. Vincent and Mr. Gurner miss the most significant thing about Star Trek, so I will fill in for them.
The thing about "Classic" is the conflict between Spock and Bones, where Spock represents masculinity and Bones, femininity. This conflict lends emotional interest to the series and provides an ongoing drama that brings the viewer back again and again. In Next Generation the conflict has been resolved. Masculinity, represented now by Data wanders about constantly wondering why it is incomplete while femininity in the form of Troy has been promoted to the Captain's left hand, perhaps equal to his Number 2.
As for the quality of the shows, this is purely subjective, but I would say that there are fewer dogs in the current series, however it seldom reaches the levels that "Classic" reached in the realm of speculation on the nature of being.
Joe Schiller
Batman as Everyman
June 22, 1989
Editor
The Commercial Appeal
The new film, Batman, is of profound significance to the Western world, and most particularly to the United States. No one, I suppose, ever understood Batman until this new interpretation, but now his secret is revealed.
To start with, one must understand that all myths, fairy tales, and dreams are symbolic representations of reality. The characters are aspects of the personality of the dreamer. Batman is a dream. The use of symbolism is a kind of code in which things stand for other things. If they are chosen well, the symbols make clear attributes of the things they stand for.
The most profound change that is occurring in western culture at the present time is the feminist movement. The most profound aspect of the feminist movement is the conservationists. This is so because they have the potential to change our culture radically.
Batman represents our culture in its struggle against nature. This can be realized by observing the methods used. They are technological tools: the batcar, the batplane, etc. These are the methods we use in our efforts to subdue nature, the car, the plane, especially the pesticide plane.
The joker represents nature, endlessly devising methods to render our methods impotent. The impact of these methods sometimes makes us appear ridiculous, as can be seen in any number of roadrunner cartoons, therefore the joker costume. The joker is cast as a criminal, as is cancer when we discuss methods for defeating it. This supplies us with the moral imperative needed to conduct an all out war.
The romantic interest represents feminism. She recognizes that Batman in his efforts to defeat the joker, has turned into his nemesis, as have we. We have wished to defeat nature's mindless imposition of suffering in our lives, until now with pollution we have come to the point of doing the same to ourselves.
Joe Schiller