Word: ponderers
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THIS WEEK IS SHAPING UP TC be one of those rare periods when the citizens of a country engage in some serious self-reflection. The United States is settling its collective butt into a huge national armchair to ponder the possibilities presented by the ABC mini-series, Amerika, and patriots everywhere are swilling wine coolers and buying cars in celebration of President's Day. Aside from these nationalistic excesses, though, Dewitt has noticed several movies now playing that attempt to engage the viewer in the greater questions of life. Do we exist in a world that conforms to some sort...
While Gorbachev is often pictured as a man in a hurry, he gave party members plenty of time to ponder the thoughts contained in last week's speech. The Soviet leader suggested the convening of an extraordinary national party "conference" sometime in 1988. Its purpose would be to discuss organizational changes like election reforms and to review progress in the current Five-Year Plan. The conference would, in effect, be an extraordinary session of the quinquennial Soviet Party Congress, the most recent of which occurred last year. Such special meetings have been held before, but they are by no means...
...physicians ponder the issues raised by AIDS drug and vaccine testing, Dr. Jean Bernard, 79, chairman on medical ethics of France's Consultative Committee for Life Sciences and Health, urges them to take the long view. He reminds colleagues of the tremendous pressures 30 years ago to cut corners to get a polio vaccine. But, he notes, thousands of lives were saved when researchers took the time to get it right. "The point is," he sums up, "that you have to avoid passion. You must follow normal procedures...
...this point, readers who have not seen Platoon are excused for the next two paragraphs. The others, the grizzled vets, can ponder Chris' motives and actions at the film's climax. He believes (and we know) that Barnes has killed Elias in the jungle. He has already considered taking murderous revenge and been told, "The only thing that can kill Barnes is Barnes." On his last patrol, Chris' suicidal resolve turns him into a mean, obscene fighting machine -- a rifle with a body attached, as reckless as Barnes, as resourceful as Elias -- and he leaves half a dozen...
...viewers remain baffled. They appear not to grasp that most of the scenario is Pirandello's rather than Brustein's and that despite the title, most is scripted rather than improvised. By Brustein's standards, the show is a success: it arouses rather than coddles audiences, forcing them to ponder the nature of theater -- not least the potential for being manipulated while happily submerged in a story. Says Brustein: "Audiences are responding correctly: they are being disoriented. The more we achieve Pirandello's intentions, the more people don't get what...