Right Side of History

I have always enjoyed western movies. I liked their long scenic views (monument valley!) and their working out frontier justice. Cowboys and Indians was an adventure when I was in middle school.  The stories drew me in to the promise and peril of westward expansion. As the years passed, I started carrying a growing knot of unease while watching them. The conundrum of wanting to enjoy Gary Cooper's High Noon conflicted with this unease that stayed with me. 

I waited several years for a clearer way to think about it.

Western movies grew out of a frontier that lived by courage and swift action. The films reflect a society that trusted simple justice shaped by circumstance. I enjoy the sweep of the genre and I also sense the early stage of a culture still learning how to build steadier forms of order. The films feel true to their time and show the concerns of a growing country.  The westward expansion came at steep cost to those living there already.

Jane Austen gives me another kind of view. Her rooms carry wit, order, and an easy rhythm. Servants appear in quiet corners and maintain that rhythm through constant work. I admire the clarity of her prose and I also notice the deep structure that shaped her characters and their choices. Her world speaks with elegance and rests on layers of social understanding that guided daily life.  This elegant time was when the British Empire was rapidly expanding, and the Jewel in The Crown, India and colonialism was well in its sights.

Ben Hur opens a larger stage. Ancient Rome fills the screen with force and ambition. Slavery stands at the center of that world and shapes every life in it. I watch the story as a window into a distant age and feel the weight carried by the people who lived through it. The film presents a society that held firm beliefs about power and destiny and reveals the cost of those beliefs through bondage and slavery. But, oh the chariot race!

Thomas Jefferson brings these questions into real history. His words guided a new nation toward the idea of liberty. His life took place inside a system that depended on human bondage. I study his legacy and see the mix of brilliance and struggle that marked his era. His achievements stand alongside the burdens he did not resolve and the choices he left for future generations.

In the mid 2010s I had the privilege of working with Former Senator Bob Kerrey.  He was advising us on on Financial and Retirement Industry issues at that time.  We often discussed books over lunches and dinners.  I posed this above conundrum to him.  That is, how do we view works from the past, as we learn more and troubled by the context of its times?

He offered guidance that brought a new frame, a new way to think through to this question. 

He encouraged me to view each age through its own eyes. He suggested that every society carries a sense of duty and order shaped by the forces of its time. 

He invited me to ask a second question about how each figure moved the story forward within that context of that time period. In other words, was a particular individual in that narrative, on the right side of history.  

His advice created a clear frame for understanding art and history across many worlds and many eras.

With this frame in mind, I thought I would examine the examples above again and see if that makes a difference.

So I first return to the genre I love so much, the Western.  And that too, to my favorite Western; Shane featuring Alan Ladd. In the movie. The character of Shane, who is a gunfighter in is past, enters a small valley in Wyoming, which is experience trouble between homesteaders and rancher.  Over the course of the move, steadies the lives of the people who live there. He uses his skill to protect a family that depends on him. He restores balance in a place that lacked support. He leaves once his work is done and moves on without ceremony. His choices show a frontier learning how to value fairness and responsibility.  Everything about the time is still the same.  The westward expansion still happened.  Native Americans still paid a heavy price.  But within the context of the movie, the character of Shane was on the right side of history.

In the world of Jane Austen, I look at Mr Knightley. He brings care to every interaction. He pays attention to the lives around him. He encourages Emma to see her own reach and to act with more kindness. His conduct reflects a thoughtful nature that strengthens the fabric of his community. He serves as an example of how character can shape a room and how steady behavior can lift a social world.

Ben Hur leads me back to Judah Ben Hur. He begins with privilege and loses it through sudden catastrophe. His hardship expands his sense of humanity. He grows through each stage of his journey. He learns compassion and steadiness. He gains strength and chooses mercy. His arc reveals the possibility of dignity inside a harsh world that demanded servitude and human bondage.

In the early American story I take the example of John Adams. His choices reflect a mind working toward a broader understanding of liberty. He spoke and wrote openly about the contradictions he saw. He managed to keep his life consistent with his beliefs. He remained firm in his view that freedom must expand. His work guided the conversation toward a more inclusive future.

These examples point towards a possible acceptable compromise. 

Each age builds its own cultural lens and socializes that to people who live within it. Some people move easily inside that frame. Some people push at its boundaries, others rise above it. 

Senator Kerrey’s guidance gave me a way to study these lives without confusion. I can enjoy the art of each period and observe its limits without imposing today’s standards. I can engage the past with respect, continue to be troubled by the mores that were yet to evolve, but look at characters who were on the right side of history, and bring those lessons forward. 

And enjoy the books, movies and the genres I love!