Word: solemn
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...character. He wanted to poke fun at people but he wanted to say something at the same time. His 1950s radio series, "The Goon Show," The Mouse That Roared, Dr. Strangelove, and Being There did just that. They let him be "ridiculing without being ridiculous; serious without being solemn...
...novel The Public Burning, Robert Coover satirized the myth from the mordant angle of Watergate America: "Throughout the solemn unfolding of the American miracle, men have noticed this remarkable phenomenon: what at the moment seems to be nothing more than the random rise and fall of men and ideas, false starts and sudden brainstorms, erratic bursts of passion and apathy, brief setbacks and partial victories, is later discovered to be-in the light of America's gradual unveiling as the New Athens, New Rome and New Jerusalem all in one -an inevitable sequence of interlocking events, a divine code...
...solemn splendor of St. Peter's in Rome, 500 North American Indians last week knelt and prayed during a pontifical Mass, along with 25,000 worshipers from around the world. The men's fan-shaped, feathered headdresses and bright sashes, the women's sequined gowns and colored headbands mingled with the scarlet robes of cardinals and the purple of bishops under the dome of the basilica. The Indians, representing 35 tribes from ten states and Canada, came bearing gifts for Pope John Paul II, including a peace pipe and beaded leather moccasins. But the purpose of their...
...young men climb aboard the waiting train: they are the current crop of 18-year-old Soviet draftees?about 1 million a year?heading off to begin their military service. After basic training and indoctrination at the camps, invariably hundreds of miles from their birthplaces, they will take a solemn oath to defend the motherland "with all my strength and in honor, without sparing my blood and without regard for my life...
Gogol's farcical humor shows itself in this production nowhere better than in Steven Drury's music. In the first half of the play, the town officials perform a "Kitchen Symphony" on pots, frying pans, and water-coolers; after the intermission, they bring up the curtain with a solemn, processional concerto grosso for kazoo. Music seems somehow a more congenial way for these characters to communicate the timid ridiculousness of their lives than words...