Word: meaninglessness
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...handed symbols would be intolerable. If the tapestry metaphor provides a unifying principle, the images betray an artificial sense of indeterminacy: church icons, an eagle, the color orange, the children, a shepherdess and a shepherd, the fortress and the arbor, all these comprise a fabric of pretentious love and meaningless hatred. On a note of tragedy the tapestry grows sordid, but Cyril is so consistently enervated even the tragic sensation becomes a cheat...
According to Mark, racism is "a belief that skin colors really are important." His assertion, as it stands, is meaningless. Are doctors who advise sickle-cell anemia tests to more black patients than white patients racist? Are geneticists who advise light-skinned people to wear protective clothing in warm, humid climates racist? Are historians who point to the exploitation and oppression of blacks, Indians and Chicanos racist? Should they deny reality? Should they suggest that blacks were targets of discrimination on a geographical basis, a metaphysical basis, a divine command? Such questions make Mark's definition look ridiculous, but, alas...
...this is apparent in Mr. Sweeney's portrayal. Ms. Weeks' direction at times is good--the scenes with the Valet at the very beginning of the play, for example, are played with a dash of puckish cynicism, and work well. But the production throughout is marred with sloppy blocking. Meaningless turns and faltering steps abound; the scene at the end of the play when the characters finally realize the permanence of their condition fails because of weak direction...
...urges citizens to "write in my name if you feel like it." Rebutting the charge that his campaign is "diffident", McCarthy declares that if he does not win, he will "send hordes of greasy youngsters out to attack the system." However, Morris Abram Jr., president of Greasy Youngsters for Meaningless Platitudes, says he will "only support a candidate whose positions are in the best interest of mankind." James Reston editorializes, following an exclusive four-hour interview and acupuncture session with Abram, "Youth Today forces all of us to aspire to the highest standard...
...being that time of the year again, I thought it extremely appropriate for TIME to expose Christmas greeting cards for exactly what they are worth [Dec. 6]. I have sent these meaningless cards for years and only very recently realized the alternatives. To my favorite charities, I will henceforth donate a sum equal to what my cards would have cost this year. Scrooge would not have been so bad after all, if only he had given his money away to those less fortunate than himself. I now know how he would have felt had he done...