Rueing the Lack of Levity.

I watched some TV tonight in the hope of finding something funny to say. I had high hopes for the documentary on Hans Holbein, since the machinations of the Tudors and the comings and goings of their leading figures usually offer some scope for levity. No joy this time, I’m afraid. Fascinating though it was, there was nothing to make fun of. I found some resonance with the presenter’s assertion that all material acquisition and accomplishment is rendered pointless to the individual once the short span of life is over, but I think I’ve done that one to death…

And then I caught the last twenty minutes of another documentary about a schism between British and American film makers over how to make a salutary film about the Holocaust. I found myself mentally constructing a lengthy post around the proposition that remembering the Holocaust is important because it gives us a major angle on human nature, but whether it goes any way to changing that nature is highly doubtful. Not much fun there, then – too serious, too downbeat. I’m tired of being downbeat.

So what is this post if it isn’t downbeat? Sorry – best I could manage in the circumstances. Whatever happened to the good old days of commentating on Jonathan Harker turning into an Oompa Loompa overnight in a supposedly classic gothic novel? Will they ever return?