Masked & Anonymous (2003) is a parable of what is going on right now. the politics of '68 & '69 are over. "I'm glad I fought / I only wish we'd won" ("Honest With Me" Love & Theft 2001) ... the capitalists and the materialists won. Masked & Anonymous depicts our world where power and money dictate the course of people's lives. they're the set and scene of the stage of "real life". art, spirituality, music, and philosophy are all left for salves of those caught in back eddies of failure. the biggest kick in the head to the late 1960s is that those who have a sense of art or secular spirituality are not ultimately better people who have better lives than the corrupt, the greedy, or the anti-abortionists. The only punishment for these crimes comes from St. Peter or from Judgement Day, if you even believe in that.
Look at the farce of the murder, blind lemon jefferson's guitar the weapon. there exists some system of justice where such a petty crime gets prosecuted. but it's a petty fight and much bigger crimes go unnoticed even applauded elsewhere: it's a parable of today. show me someone who would say u.s. democracy today is anything close to perfect. i've heard too many who have never been anywhere else who say the u.s. is better than everywhere else.
there is a live debate over whether democracy as basically laid out is 'perfectable' in that the changes we make to the rules of our society can in fact make our lives better. that's what i believe; i think Masked & Anonymous suggests that moving toward a more perfect country is a very difficult thing if at all possible. some argue that it's no longer possible, but that's for another time.
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