I am surprised and thankful to David Tidmarsh and the Yale Daily News for having chosen my presentation to illustrate “Study of the Superhero”, a short article on the conference at Yale University in which I recently participated. The picture caption misstates the title of my paper, but they got it right in the text.
Post-Theory
Thirteen years later, David Bordwell and Noël Carroll’s book still packs quite a punch. I am re-reading it right now.
The Wanderer
I do not know why, but the song that closes U2’s Zooropa resurfaced in my mind a few days ago. Bono’s words evoke powerful images and are unforgettable in Johnny Cash’s grieved voice:
I went out walking
Through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones
Saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking
Under an atomic sky
Where the ground won’t turn
And the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye
Yeah I went with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wanderingI went drifting
Through the capitals of tin
Where men can’t walk
Or freely talk
And sons turn their fathers in
I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they don’t want God in itI went out riding
Down that old eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own nameI went with nothing
But the thought you'd be there too
Looking for youI went out there
In search of experience
To taste and to touch
And to feel as much
As a man can
Before he repentsI went out searching
Looking for one good man
A spirit who would not bend or break
Who would sit at his father's right hand
I went out walking
With a bible and a gun
The word of God lay heavy on my heart
I was sure I was the one
Now Jesus, don't you wait up
Jesus, I’ll be home soon
Yeah I went out for the papers
Told her I’d be back by noonYeah I left with nothing
But the thought you’d be there too
Looking for youYeah I left with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you