Two polarizing cultural icons died this past week - Rev. Jerry Falwell and Christopher Moltisanti. One real, one fictional, but given their track records and actions, it's often hard to tell who is who.
One of the moving images from HBO's Laramie Project occur at Matthew Shepard's funeral, where these angels with wings blocked the protesters who came to spread the hate. Jerry Falwell, the founder of the Moral Majority was instrumental in spreading the hate equally about muslims, pro-choice, feminists, homosexuals, etc. Some of his quotes attributed to him are enlightening:"If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being."
"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country."
"It appears that America's anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men's movement which may become the foundation for a desperately needed national spiritual awakening."
"AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals"
"Textbooks are Soviet propaganda"
"I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!"
Well he didn't live to see the day. And thank whoever is in charge to ensure that.
Christopher Moltisanti, Tony Soprano's Nephew in The Sopranos, also had an illustrious run as the resident thug. A mobster with dreams of becoming famous, an aspiring screenwriter, Christopher always represented to me the tragic Shakespearian protagonist, someone who wants to reach beyond the surrounding, and can't quite escape because of tragic character flaws. He loved Adriana, but not enough to save her from the family. And in the end, his uncle choked him to death in his own blood.One scene always stayed with me. Christopher (Michael Imperioli) goes to Hollywood and has an affair with Alicia Witt's Amy with the hopes of developing a Mob movie with her studio. He betrays the devoted fiancee, Adriana to be with her. And in that crucial scene, Amy adopt a business-like attitude to proclaim that Mob movies are dead, and the studio lost interest. The devastated look on his face resonated with several of my experiences (1991, 1995, 1998 and so on) where I put everything on the table and was disappointed by the person closest to me.
These two are gone, but the legacy remains. People will continue to hate them, love them, talk about them. But hopefully they'll stay dead.
"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace." - Oscar Wilde
