A prophet is seldom recognized among his own. He usually ends up a Cassandra: laughed at, disbelieved and ridiculed—until he is not. “Network” was not just a film, it was prophecy. “1984” was not just a novel, it was prophecy. “Hunger Games” was not just a movie, it was prophecy.
And so here we are. Every horror foretold by our own prophets has now arrived. We laughed then, but no one is laughing now save for demons.
Thomas AndersonJune 6, 2022, 10:54 AM
MA, the first word that pops when I consider Chayefsky is ‘prophetic.’
I don’t think the word prophetic is quite accurate. H G Wells and Bertrand Russell among others were early promoters of the corporate technocracy. Chayefsky was just more attuned to the demon underground than the rest of us and took this opportunity to let us look through the window. Most did not recognize the face of evil until recently.
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
The steel mill sky is alive.
The fire breaks white and zigzag
shot on a gun-metal gloaming.
Man is a long time coming.
Man will yet win.
Brother may yet line up with brother:
This old anvil laughs at many broken hammers.
There are men who can’t be bought.
The fireborn are at home in fire.
The stars make no noise,
You can’t hinder the wind from blowing.
Time is a great teacher.
Who can live without hope?
In the darkness with a great bundle of grief
the people march.
In the night, and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people
march:
“Where to? what next?”
Comments on this entry are closed.
A prophet is seldom recognized among his own. He usually ends up a Cassandra: laughed at, disbelieved and ridiculed—until he is not. “Network” was not just a film, it was prophecy. “1984” was not just a novel, it was prophecy. “Hunger Games” was not just a movie, it was prophecy.
And so here we are. Every horror foretold by our own prophets has now arrived. We laughed then, but no one is laughing now save for demons.
MA, the first word that pops when I consider Chayefsky is ‘prophetic.’
I don’t think the word prophetic is quite accurate. H G Wells and Bertrand Russell among others were early promoters of the corporate technocracy. Chayefsky was just more attuned to the demon underground than the rest of us and took this opportunity to let us look through the window. Most did not recognize the face of evil until recently.
Do “ They” mean like DC incorporated?
Ask Paul Ryan