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.
