It’s Not All Bad News for Seniors

We had to take Bubastis to the vet for her yearly appointment this morning, and, especially after everything that has happened with Wesker, I look at this annual event with dread. Bubastis is a senior too, and I am constantly waiting for some kind of bad news. However, today was all good news! She lost a bit of weight but not too much, and she’s very healthy. Her teeth look good and the skin tag we were worried about is just a skin tag and no big deal at all. It’s a huge relief to bring her home and know that she’s doing just fine.

Wesker got a bit of good news too. She gained a little bit of weight and that’s an improvement, even if it’s not a spectacular amount. She’s also tolerating her anti-nausea pill well. So, the plan right now is to just switch her to a higher calorie food, and keep her on the medication for a month. No additional investigation, and we have a plan for what to do if she’s still having weight troubles down the road. The pills are expensive, but it’s a small price to pay to see her get a bit more lively and get some of her winter heft back. It’s so nice to have a bit of resolution, because I really need some right now.

Not Just an Essayist

Most people know James Baldwin as a personal essayist, but really he is one of the most diverse writers I have ever come across. He was a book and film reviewer (if you ever get as chance to read his essay on Carmen Jones, take it). He was a novelist. He was also a playwright. This week I’m taking a look at his second play, ‘Blues for Mister Charlie’ from 1964.

It’s a drama in three acts that is loosely based on the Emmett Till case — a notorious lynching that happened in Mississippi in the lead up to the Civil Rights Movement. Till was a fourteen-year-old boy that was dragged out of a relative’s home and beaten to death because he supposedly sexually assaulted a white woman at a grocery store, when in actuality he might have whistled at her upon exiting the store. Though, whether or not he even did that much is up for debate.

Baldwin takes inspiration from this case and weaves a tale of prejudice, lies, and the costs of being Black in the American South.

Stand-Out Themes

Baldwin does change some aspects of the case — most notably the character that represents Till is not so young as fourteen, but is still young. He does this to take out the element of violence committed against a child, and to refocus the narrative on the horrific reality of lynching in the American south and just how little it took to provoke those lynchings.

Baldwin does not just focus on the Black community that the crime occurs in, but examines the white community as well. He compares the legitimate fear of the former with the hate-fuelled fear of the latter. He also points out that the behaviour that the whites have long accused the Black community of running rife with actually characterizes themselves. They are the ones guilty of the lack of morality they are constantly saying is typical of non-white races.

Intertwined in all this is a comment on religion and the influence it has for the better and for the worse. When you read this, you cannot help but notice that Baldwin has used his own experiences to create a comment that both rings true and contains the power of one who has seen a lot of these influences at work firsthand.

The Limits of the Form

‘Blues for Mister Charlie’ is a powerful play with a lot to say and while Baldwin brings every bit of his skill to the table, there are moments when its clear that it’s more of a struggle for him to write in this form. There are several set changes and very long sections of monologue that seem like they would be a challenge for an actor to perform and an audience to properly receive. There are times when Baldwin very distinctly has more to say than can be conveyed in one scene and with the medium he is restricted to. There are definitely moments that jump out more as prose than as a script that could be turned into a performance piece. That being said, I would still love to see this play on a stage and hope at some point I will get that opportunity.

Maybe Bad News for the Youngest

With the seniors taken care of, it’s a bit easier to relax about Rusalka’s weigh-in. Even if I know that it might not go perfectly, I know she did lose a bit of weight. She would have lost more if it hadn’t been absolute chaos around here for the last two weeks. Everyone is starting to get concerned about how hard it is to get her in the car and through the appointment — and I really hope we don’t need to medicate her to get her through a simple weigh-in. But I’m even feeling a bit calmer about that possibility. We’ll get through it — even if we end up bleeding by the time we’re on the way home.