Post by domenicaflor on Apr 13, 2004 0:21:21 GMT -5
Due to Easter, I did not watch the re-run of "Pravda", but I did rework some of my original thoughts of the episode and I always look forward to more good discussion.
"Pravda" is a great double-entendre for the Russian newspaper and the Russian word "truth" In his speech to the students, the Sentinel's chief editor mentions (paraphrased) "seeking truth, seeking life, you areall winners". In this episodes, all the journalists who are supposed to be seeking the truth turn out to be liars, and no one wins. The men who are supposed to be mentors and positive role models turn out to be fakes. The supposedly benevolent philanthropist turns out to be a bigot and an philanderer. It is the police, and particularly Goren, who are left to do the real truth seeking.
There are aspects of "Pravda" which to me parallel the second season episode "Bright Boy". In both episodes we have examples of father and son relationships which fail when good intentions are taken too far, and when bruised egos are protected at any cost. In "Bright Boy", the dyslexic father with a decidedly average life attempts to live vicariously through his son Robbie, and thus goes to extreme lengths to ensure that his son is accepted into a college program for gifted children. In "Pravda", the father lives vicariously through the success of his son as a journalist for a major NY newspaper, and when that emotional investment is betrayed by the revelation of plagiarism, he must protect his own name and dignity at any cost.
Interestingly enough, in both episodes we hear Goren mention his father and baseball. In "Bright Boy", since he knows that Robbie just wants to play baseball like an average kid, Goren talks about going to baseball games with his dad, and also emphasizes some of that father-son bonding. In "Pravda", however, his mention of baseball has a very different reference. He describes being with his father and meeting Willie Mays, the baseball super-hero, and finding him to be a "very angry man". Long-standing discrimination and prejudice can lead to bitterness and resentment, even for someone considered as a role model for the racial integration of sports teams. And behind the larger-than-life legend was an only too human, fallible, man. It's Goren's reminder to us that when we look up to someone, be it a father, a son, or a celebrity, sometimes the truth is disappointing compared to the spotless ideal image that we have in our minds of the one we esteem.
When we look further ahead to the episode "Mad Hops", we see Goren draw a parallel between his own father and the Coach. Goren started playing JV basketball but quit the sport because it did not fullfill his needs, it did not get him what he wanted: presumably, a bond with his father. From there, Goren learned the hardest lesson, that one has to live his own life for himself and not for someone else. These are the lessons learned by Robbie and also the plagiarizing journalist.
Just as the father in "Pravda" measures his own success by the (false) successes of his son, the Coach also uses lies and false successes of the young players to construct a family for himself that he never had before. Both men were so absorbed by definining their own self-worth via their career roles, that they lost their morality as men, father figures, and leaders.
"The Sentinel" is the ficticious name of the newspaper in the episode. The editor, who is supposed to be the "sentinel" guarding the truth and validity of the publication, also was so absorbed by his own pride that the journalist's lies escaped him until it was too late.
Of all these men, Goren stands as the "sentinel", the guardian of truth. Kind of like Polonius, who exalts Hamlet: "To thine own self be true." Easier said then done, for these criminals.
Domenica
"Pravda" is a great double-entendre for the Russian newspaper and the Russian word "truth" In his speech to the students, the Sentinel's chief editor mentions (paraphrased) "seeking truth, seeking life, you areall winners". In this episodes, all the journalists who are supposed to be seeking the truth turn out to be liars, and no one wins. The men who are supposed to be mentors and positive role models turn out to be fakes. The supposedly benevolent philanthropist turns out to be a bigot and an philanderer. It is the police, and particularly Goren, who are left to do the real truth seeking.
There are aspects of "Pravda" which to me parallel the second season episode "Bright Boy". In both episodes we have examples of father and son relationships which fail when good intentions are taken too far, and when bruised egos are protected at any cost. In "Bright Boy", the dyslexic father with a decidedly average life attempts to live vicariously through his son Robbie, and thus goes to extreme lengths to ensure that his son is accepted into a college program for gifted children. In "Pravda", the father lives vicariously through the success of his son as a journalist for a major NY newspaper, and when that emotional investment is betrayed by the revelation of plagiarism, he must protect his own name and dignity at any cost.
Interestingly enough, in both episodes we hear Goren mention his father and baseball. In "Bright Boy", since he knows that Robbie just wants to play baseball like an average kid, Goren talks about going to baseball games with his dad, and also emphasizes some of that father-son bonding. In "Pravda", however, his mention of baseball has a very different reference. He describes being with his father and meeting Willie Mays, the baseball super-hero, and finding him to be a "very angry man". Long-standing discrimination and prejudice can lead to bitterness and resentment, even for someone considered as a role model for the racial integration of sports teams. And behind the larger-than-life legend was an only too human, fallible, man. It's Goren's reminder to us that when we look up to someone, be it a father, a son, or a celebrity, sometimes the truth is disappointing compared to the spotless ideal image that we have in our minds of the one we esteem.
When we look further ahead to the episode "Mad Hops", we see Goren draw a parallel between his own father and the Coach. Goren started playing JV basketball but quit the sport because it did not fullfill his needs, it did not get him what he wanted: presumably, a bond with his father. From there, Goren learned the hardest lesson, that one has to live his own life for himself and not for someone else. These are the lessons learned by Robbie and also the plagiarizing journalist.
Just as the father in "Pravda" measures his own success by the (false) successes of his son, the Coach also uses lies and false successes of the young players to construct a family for himself that he never had before. Both men were so absorbed by definining their own self-worth via their career roles, that they lost their morality as men, father figures, and leaders.
"The Sentinel" is the ficticious name of the newspaper in the episode. The editor, who is supposed to be the "sentinel" guarding the truth and validity of the publication, also was so absorbed by his own pride that the journalist's lies escaped him until it was too late.
Of all these men, Goren stands as the "sentinel", the guardian of truth. Kind of like Polonius, who exalts Hamlet: "To thine own self be true." Easier said then done, for these criminals.
Domenica
Patrick Roy, 2006 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame