I agree with Clive James that Wodehouse in Exile is one of the best documentary dramas I have seen in many a year. In addition to being a beautiful piece of work in its own right, it raises questions about our attitude to the past and our opinion of ourselves.
I am old enough to remember how Wodehouse was viewed in the 'fifties - as a traitor at worst and a coward at best. It was only gradually that a doubtless more truthful picture emerged of a benign, well-meaning but naive. The point I am trying to make is that our opinion of past events is partly governed by our distance from them. For example, when English people of my generation look back today on the events of the 1930s, we tend to assign ourselves a Churchillian role and to look with contempt upon Chamberlain and his followers. But what makes us think that we would not have been one of the majority of "appeasers"? What in our own lives has been so wonderful that we can automatically number ourselves among the heroes? Precious little, in my case.
I am old enough to remember how Wodehouse was viewed in the 'fifties - as a traitor at worst and a coward at best. It was only gradually that a doubtless more truthful picture emerged of a benign, well-meaning but naive. The point I am trying to make is that our opinion of past events is partly governed by our distance from them. For example, when English people of my generation look back today on the events of the 1930s, we tend to assign ourselves a Churchillian role and to look with contempt upon Chamberlain and his followers. But what makes us think that we would not have been one of the majority of "appeasers"? What in our own lives has been so wonderful that we can automatically number ourselves among the heroes? Precious little, in my case.
No comments:
Post a Comment