June 12, 2012

1. Rarely do Judy and I go see a movie in the theater. However, we made an exception last weekend in order to go see the movie “Bernie.” Full disclosure: Skip Hollandsworth, who wrote the screenplay based on a TEXAS MONTHLY article he wrote several years ago, is my cousin.

            The movie is a humorous look at a true-life murder that took place in Carthage, Texas back in the 1990s. You heard me right–“humorous.”

            I would have never dreamed that anyone could take a story about murder and make it funny. But Skip and director Richard Linklater have pulled it off.

            A little background: Bernie Tiede grew to be close friends with a rich widow, Marjorie Nugent. He squired her on trips all over the world, leaving behind their small town of Carthage, Texas. They did not do this on Bernie’s money—he worked at a funeral home. They traveled on hers. Did I mention that Bernie was in his 30s and Marjorie was in her 70s?

            Sadly, Marjorie was not a nice person. She was monstrously rude to all people, including Bernie. When he had had enough, he shot her. The gunshots killed her at age 81.

            The movie’s humor comes from listening to the townsfolk intersperse their commentary throughout the movie. They try to reconcile the fact that someone they adore–Bernie–could be guilty of the crime of murder. Many blamed Marjorie as much as they did Bernie.

            There is a quirkiness to this movie that is fun. I do not remember the last time I attended a movie where so many people laughed so much. (And the theater was full.)

            Jack Black is exceptional as Bernie. Matthew McConaughey is fun to watch as prosecuting attorney, Danny Buck Davidson.

            For me, a real comic highlight was seeing a Carthage character angered over the trial being moved to San Augustine County. He lamented that the barbarians of that area decided the fate of Bernie. They were the kind of backward people who would say to one another, “Put another tire on the fire”… as if Carthage was the cultural center of the South. It just goes to show, we can always find someone in the human race to place beneath us.

            I don’t know how many of us laughed knowingly at the peculiarity of our culture, and how many of us would have laughed had we lived in, say, Idaho. Still, I think the quirky Canadian characters of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES are funny, and I have never even  been there.

            One warning, the movie is rated PG-13 for language–a lot of townsfolk used profane language.

2. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made an interesting observation comparing soccer matches in England with NFL games in the U. S., while conversing with SI’s Peter King. King wrote:

[Goodell] talked about how he'd love to find a way to replicate the natural excitement and fan involvement of world soccer, where, among other things, fans break out in song and chants through the game.

         Sounds like a great goal for the NFL. To me, the way to do that isn't to bombard people with piped-in noise.

            I have attended soccer games in Argentina that are much the same as those in England. I would join the crowd in singing the songs of the local team; it was very spirited and we would all participate. The quality of music was definitely not as good that of a good high school or college band. Having said that, most of us tend to be spectators when we attend games with good bands. Bottom line—one style typically offers less quality but encourages more participation; the other offers higher quality but encourages people to be spectators.

            I think instrumental worship services and acapella worship services are like U. S. football games and foreign soccer matches. The instrumental worship service typically offers higher quality music and generates more spectators. The acapella worship offers less quality, but more audience participation.

            That which we select typically reflects that which we value the most.

3. Okay, I was way off base picking San Antonio to defeat Oklahoma City. I’ll try again: Miami defeats Oklahoma City in 6 games.

4. I can tell my oldest daughter, Haleigh, has left the nest. She is working this summer at Camp Deer Run, near Winnsboro. When camp is not in session, she goes with the staff to spend the weekend rather than coming home… and that is a good thing.

5. Congratulations L. A. Kings for winning the Stanley Cup.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this blog's title.