Noon-Dark Thoughts

In 1940 Arthur Koestler wrote a book, later made into a movie, which caused an upheaval in ideological alignment. The title of the book is Darkness at Noon. Koestler had been a member of the Communist Party in Germany during the tumultuous thirties. He was among a group of prominent Hungarian Jews who had emigrated years before. Among these refugees were scientists, mathematician, photographers and Hollywood director and producer.

Koestler’s book was condemned by the American left for denouncing our ally, the U.S.S.R. The book exposed the senseless brutality of the Soviet regime which took the lives of many literary and intellectual luminaries, their best and brightest. The American Communist Party was a voice condemning racial injustice and income inequities while supporting labor rights etc…

It is the name of the book which captures my attention. Ironically the title was provided by Koestler’s fiancé who also translated the manuscript into English as they separately fled Nazi occupation of France.

The darkness alluded to what could well be the long shadow we are living under today as American-style fascism is clearly taking root in our state legislative bodies and federal courts under the directive of Donald Trump. He has set up the apparatus for sedition. Just as conservative Germans thought they could use their madman while all the time he was using them, so too is the megalomaniac from Mar-a-Lago cut from the same cloth. While the far right is salivating over the enactment of their reactionary agenda the wreckage of Democracy and destruction of the planet is the toll.  

Whether it be proto-fascism, Soviet communism or Putin-style absolutism the common thread is the aggrieved masses relinquishing their reasoning and their conscience to an charismatic, deranged figure with a pocketful of unfulfilled promises. He excels at generating fear and loathing while all the time his only interest is fealty and self-aggrandizement. The mendacity, vulgarity and imbecility are all disregarded and the individual gets lost in the narrative which belongs to the man at the top.

It is no longer morning in America. It is noon and it is dark. Another title with that word noon comes to mind which belongs to a different chapter of American history. The academy-award winning film, High Noon, was also seen as a cautionary tale. 

Exploiting the tide of anti-Communism in the late nineteen forties Sen. Joe McCarthy threatened the right of dissent with wild accusations aimed at such respected figures as General George Marshall to President Truman’s State Department. as being riddled with Soviet spies. He managed to destroy the careers of Hollywood, writers, directors and actors as well as other public figures.

The movie, High Noon, directed by Carl Foreman and produced by Stanley Kramer, was seen as a rebuke to McCarthyism. Foreman, himself, was among the so-called Hollywood Ten to be blacklisted. The film was told in real time and starred Gary Cooper as sheriff of a town in the wild west. Awaiting the arrival of team of thugs, he is abandoned by the cowardly town folks who represented those voices in Hollywood who refused to stand up against the witch hunt and, instead, named names to save their own careers. Elia Kazan was one of them.

It became a battle of well-made allegories as Kazan tried to explain his role as informer with the film, On the Waterfront. This, in turn, was answered by his former friend, Arthur Miller with his theater piece, The Crucible.

Surprisingly, Eisenhower, Reagan and Clinton all loved High Noon and played it over and over. Perhaps the message was lost to some. The popular arts are embedded with ideology either reinforcing or challenging values. Sometimes we are blinded by the noon-day sun.

On the other hand…

The art of the above-mentioned films has endured long after their cryptic messaging. The genius of the filmmaker taps into our humanity and engenders our own creative juices. This may be a way of altering perception and breaking the hold of the puppet-master.

Even in these troubled times one hopes the somnambulant MAGAs will wake from their mesmerized state and see the naked emperor. Grievances, real or imagined, need to be addressed. Perhaps the darkness at midday is merely a solar eclipse no match for our collective radiant souls and good sense.