Permits, Nazis, and the Reclamation of Public Space
A pointed question came up during Public Comments at Princeton Municipal Council a few weeks ago, namely: “Why was a neo-Nazi group ‘allowed’ to march in Princeton despite lacking a permit?” As I’ve suggested here before, this is the wrong question to ask. It also diverts attention away from a series of questions that badly need asking.
Continue readingLaughter, Tragedy, and Comedy Revisited
I can’t resist offering a postscript of sorts to an earlier post I wrote about film depictions of Lolita. As I suggested there, Kubrick’s Lolita has widely been praised on the grounds that it captures the undeniable humor of the novel; by contrast, Lyne’s Lolita has been criticized because it mostly fails (or declines) to do so.
On my view, however, this gets things backwards: Kubrick’s version fails precisely because it plays Lolita as comedy; Lyne’s succeeds precisely because it plays Lolita as tragedy. There is undeniable humor in Lolita, as Kubrick and others have correctly recognized, but this humor fades to the background when contrasted with the tragedy depicted in it. In other words, to get Lolita right, its humor has to be subordinated to the tragedy it depicts, not foregrounded at the expense of the novel’s plot or theme. On my view, while Kubrick inverts the relevant priorities, Lyne get them right.
Continue readingThe Executive Board of the North American Society for Social Philosophy (NASSP), recently asked its membership (of which I’m one) for nominations of keynote speakers for its Forty-Fourth Annual Conference in mid-July 2027. The keynote at an academic conference is usually given by a well-known, distinguished professional in the field, and is usually focused on the theme selected that year for the conference. The theme at next year’s NASSP conference will be “Situated Stories: Belonging, Erasure, Replacement.”
Continue readingAnyone who follows this blog knows that I split my time between Princeton and West Orange, New Jersey, and that I’ve made the case for ICE-Free legislation in both towns. If you don’t follow this blog, you know it now.
As it happens, both Princeton and West Orange have passed some form of ICE-Free legislation. Princeton passed an ICE-Free resolution in late September; West Orange mayor Susan McCartney issued an ICE-Free Executive Order in mid August. Both developments are good news, but Princeton has shown more wisdom in this respect than West Orange: while a resolution is law whose repeal requires the passage of a contrary resolution, an Executive Order can be repealed at will by the next mayor.
Continue readingThe Bronx has a lot to be proud of tonight. Unfortunately, I seem to be having some trouble directly embedding the Facebook video I want, but this link takes you to it (the video is taken by Christina Alvarado of the Bronx, whose other videos are worth watching as well). Forget the Mayor’s statement and all of the furrowed-brow commentary out there in the mainstream media, and watch the people of the Bronx acting true to type in their native element.
Continue readingGirl on Film: Kubrick’s Lolita versus Lyne’s
This is the second in my ongoing series of posts on Nabokov’s Lolita, which I’m “teaching” over a twelve-week “class” that started yesterday. The first installment in the series is here.
There’s a lot to be learned about a novel from seeing it in media other than the accustomed one, for instance, reading it in translation or watching a movie adaptation. A novel by design leaves a great deal to the imagination, and it’s always interesting to see how someone else has imagined it, particularly when that someone has to imagine it down to the details.
Continue readingI’d just walked out the door of Alfalfa after enjoying a nice salad there when I unexpectedly confronted a pair of “piercing blue eyes.” It was Sean Wilentz, the subject of a recent post here. He gave me what seemed a look of disdain, then hustled down Nassau, too swift to catch except at the risk of my coming across as a stalker.
So many questions. “How come you never acknowledged my post, Professor Wilentz? And what do you think about salads? Tacos are one thing, but can we live on salads?”
The Missing Piece of the Story
I was happy to see some modest coverage of Princeton’s having passed an ICE-Free resolution: the story was covered by The Daily Princetonian and Princeton Patch. But I have a bone to pick with both of these articles. In both cases, the passage of the resolution is described as though the initiative for it began with the Council. That’s not true. It began because I privately raised the issue back in June; the Mayor and Council agreed to pursue it, and kept me apprised of their progress. I then raised it publicly in August, and the resolution passed near the end of September.
A friend calls to tell me that he “helped” his elderly mother vote in the West Orange election—meaning, they filled the ballot out “together,” whatever that means. Knowing none of the candidates and nothing about the election, he called me at 9:30 pm last night asking for advice, but alas, I failed to answer (some would call it “bad faith”; I call it “commuting”). Left to their own devices, “they” ended up voting randomly for “a bearded man” (Krakoviak) and “a woman” (Bennett). 😂
Where is Tocqueville when you need him?
In a post I wrote here on September 24, I posed a question for all seven mayoral candidates and five of the six candidates for Town Council in West Orange, New Jersey. Would they regard it as disqualifying for a candidate for office to say, “We are humans, not Jews”? (Council candidate Justin Goldsman had actually said, “We are human not Muslim,” but I re-phrased the question for present purposes.) I requested a yes/no answer, on the record, before Election Day. Two candidates for Town Council gave answers, then withdrew them.
A third, Micaela Bennett, answered last night (the 28th). I posted her response on the evening of the 29th, but now (the 30th), in a private email to me, Bennett objects to the title of the post, which she finds “misleading,” and follows with other accusations of “bad faith,” blah blah blah.
OK. Fine by me. I’ve deleted her response. I didn’t think it answered my question anyway. Next?
