Inscape, Vol. XXXIII, Issue 14

              May 13, 1970 INSCAPE Page 11
L. B. Jones Repeats Familiar Message
By Carlyn Bray SNJM
You’ve seen this theme before and
you’ll see it againl Repetition strilces
until the moral has r e a c h ^ everyone. Set
within a small Southern town, THE LIB­ERATION
OF L. B. JONES screams Uie
story of distorted white bias.
In a smooth and gentle role, Roscoe
Browne (Lord Byron Jones) appears as a
respected town undertaker who has one
great flaw—he’s black. L.B. seeks • lib e r­ation”
in a divorce from his young and
a ttractive wife Emma (Lala Farina), a
hard woman who could not accept love
because she could not give love. Contest­ing
the divorce from L.B., Emma was, at
the same time, involved with a white
policeman, a fact that would, if known,
scandalize the people^in this 'c le a n and
decent" Tennessean town. '
Hedgepath (Lee J. Cobb), L.B.’s a tto r­ney,
in his professionalistic prejudice,
equates Negroes with the bad habits of
golf and whiskey. After all, he had him­s
e lf unforgivably fallen in love with a
Negro woman. So, if he had ceased to be
his nephew’s hero, he had ceased to be his
own hero too,
A policeman in uniform only is Willie
Joe (Anthony Zerbe), a sexually obsessed
man who pursues pleasural advantage
thjrough the «due process of the law."
Warned by Hedgepath that Emma’s con­tested
divorce would lead to the loss of
his job and reputation, Willie Joe futilely
attempts to persuade Emma to drop the
case. Pushed to a time deadline, Willie
Joe threatens L.B, to give up his charges.
When L.B. refuses to be forced by fear,
Willie Joe chases and captures L.B. in a
pitiful scene which should turn anyone’s
stomach.
Willie Joe’s companion, Stanley, sym­bolizes
the generational corruption ofthis
town's law. Thirteen y e ars previous to the
killing of L.B. Jones, Stanley had beaten
and nearly killed a small Negro boy named
Simny Boy, Now Sonny Boy seeks and iis
finally forced to take his revenge.
The story convent 1 o n a 11 y begins and
ends with, a tra in a rriv a l and departure
i^om this town. On the tra in a re th re e trav­e
le r s : Moseby, nephew of Hedgepath anda
young lawyer himself, his wife, Md Somiy
Boy. All take but a momentary stay in this
prejudiced town, leaving the viewer with
the feeling of futUity in hope for the
TOTAL CONFRONTATION?...Roscoe Lee Browne raps with Anthony Zerbe in THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES, now
playing at the Fox Theater in Colonle.
-Conservative Art^
Don’t Let The Critic Cross Ya
people of the town. q u a lm s w h a t s o e v e r about hurting
c rlUc M . ', . . ru le s
judice incites. For an evening of despair
and shame see Columbia’s new film THE . Tn
-ElBERATION OF L.B. JOKES. I T S S
■On tk t Rlfht--------------------------------- r—
of c r i t i c s : lite ra ry c r i t i c s , religious
c ritic s , political c ritic s , social c ritic s ,
and c ritic s . You takes your choice and
takes your chances. Of course, none of
these a re exclusive. Professor Noam
Chomsky, for example, used to critic iz e
students’ pronunciations; now he choreo­graphs
A e ir marches.
(2) Discover a unique, cutesy, a rtsy -
craftsy form for your c riticism. Be as
clever as Larry O’Brien was recently when
he c r i t i c i z e d Nixon’s “inflammatory
Revolution Breeds Repression
jay HMrttn SillivsR.
The events of the past week need no
recounting and will long be remembered
by every thinking American. Dissent, vio­lence,
hatred, bloodshed and death ro ll
across the nation and who knows where
o r how it will all end. Indeed, it is a te r ­rib
le feeling to wake up In the United
States, the gre a te st democracy in the
world (and I s till do believe this) and
wonder what will happen today. What e lse
Is there that can further divide the nation?
Such q u e s t i o n s a re no longer being
asked by only “Involved* students. But the
majority of Americans, black and white,
old and young, wonder what is happening.
C o n t r a r y to charges labeling them
immoral, they a re concerned and good
people who want to know what is wrong.>
It is unfortunate that death and violence
had to precede the asking of these ques­tions.
However, now they a re out, and the
country a s a whole needs to seek answers.
Yet, more obstacles block the solving
of our many domestic prc4}lems. Perhaps
the biggest handicap is the cu rren t national
attitude. That is, the shock of the war
ensuing student protes ts and violence have
left the nation frightened. Older segments
of society a re afraid of student move­ments.
Youth fear police who control
their right to dissent. Distrust o f the
President and his administration Is wide­spread.
So what is to be done? Should students
march and strik e ? Should Americans lock
th e ir doors and shut <out the r e s t of the
world? Should we stand by idly? Not one
o i these methods will prove anything. Cer­tainly,
the majority of Americans abhor
the student deaths, and many re je c t the
President’s foreign policy. No one wants
a war. But should these events be isolated
and exploited until the nation becomes so
divided that it may never again act as a
unit? Let’s face It, the current havoc is
just the situation which could bring the
United -States, an already demoralized
country, to a downfalL
Americans want law and ord e r and
they want it now. Mass demonstrations
at this time, regardless of th e ir pur­pose
o r th e ir peacefulness, will be viewed
with great skepticism. Americans i have
reached the point where they may wUUngly
society and protect themselves. This is
not just a wild guess.
Only a few weeks ago, b e f o r e the
recent events, a poll was taken to deter­mine
the national attitude. It revealed
that Americans do not now support five
of the ten protections of the Bill of Rights.
These attitudes emerged in the answers
to questions that posed key provisions of
the Bill of Rights in te rms of contem­porary
issues. Perhaps the most signi­ficant
question and answer was, “As long
as there appears to be no c le ar danger
of violence, do you think any group, no
matter how extreme, should be allowed
to organize protests against the Govern­ment?”
No, said 76% of the 1,136 people
polled. Such a reply s tre s s e s the uneasi­ness
within the United States.
All this is not meant to Imply that
nothing should be done. If a person sin­cerely
believes in a cause he must mani­fest
his b e lie t Advocate peace,. but not
through violence. Disagree with foreign
policy, but do not destroy the image of the
United States by burning Its flag or Its
President’s image. These a re symbols
of our freedom—le t no one degrade them
in te n s io n , the Kent State 4.eath«, and the „ givp up certain rights In o rd e r to preserve__ eyes p f the world.
.................... By JtM Bickir—
rh e to ric ” w i th inflammatory rhetoric.
Countless numbers of “Campus leaders”
have already discovered the effectiveness
of this method. Voucan’l tell the difference
In the speeches of the SI\S and the YAF
without a “program.”
(3) See rule #2. He fiarelUl that the
thing you accuse someone else of doing
doesn’t occur In your own work. Spiro
Agnew called students “an effete corps
of impudent snobs" without taking it into
account that one must be a snob to know
what “e f f e t e " means, and “Impudent”
before making the accusation.
(4) See rule #3. Avoid name-calling.
Speaking of name-calling, what does that
ballet-going, PLAYBILL-toting, New York
snob, Clive B a r n e s , know about the
theatre?
(5) Be a b s o l u t e l y co rre c t inyoui
criticism. Davy Crockett said, “Be sure
you’r e right—then go ahead” even if i(
leads you to the Alamo. On the other liand
make certain tliat the things you write now
won’t be the cause of your being called in
front of a committee, ten y e a rs hence.
(Or threaten your job or your graduation
now.)
(6) N e v e r go back on your word,
especially a fte r your views a re published.
If you write a textbook, don’t change your
position after thousands of students have
used you a s a reference In th e ir term
papers. C arl Sandburg once wrote, “Look
out how you use proud words; you can’t
call them back." (Unless, of course, you
a re a congressman.)
(7) Remember that all criticism has
two sides—destructive and constructive.
Give positive, specific solutions to general
problems. If you cut down something, offer
a s u b s t i t u t i o n . If a play or book is
absolutely worthless, well—suggest some­thing
be done with the paper it is printed on.
(8) Be flexible. Be open-minded. Be
courageous. Be quoted, not paraphrased,
^ d always say what you think In the face
o f p re ssu re , for no one will ever censure
you for what you say. If he Is moved by
how you say i^ .