Somehow Form a Family

I love it when what I am reading, watching or listening to accidentally dovetail. (hello synchronicity!) That happened this week as we concluded watching "Deadwood Season 2" on DVD just as I was finishing listening to Kent Haruf's Plainsong on audio.

It seems to me that there are so many ways people can be shitty or cruel that when the theme you take away from the art you are taking in (doubled in this case) are the many ways that people come together it's nothing less than a balm.

"Deadwood"

Much has been made of "Deadwood" (season 3 also recently started)-it's dense Shakespearean language and Machivallian plots-but what struck me most from Season 2 was the ability of humans to form a family even in the oddest or most extreme circumstances.

This was borne out visually as well as in the story in the 3rd episode of the 2nd season, "Farewell to a Gleet". In it the mighty heavy, Swearengen, is brought low by a bladder stone. If the idea was to make the show less Swearengen-centric it was a failure as he emerged at season's end stronger and more prominent than ever. But we did have a few fascinating shows that demonstrated the chaos that ensues when there is a leadership vacuum. All of Swearengen's satellites bumped clumsily through their orbits absent his pull. Enforcer, errand boy, whore-all of whom we had seen him abuse daily, all wept with joy when the stone passed without the need for dangerous surgery. Then in a beautiful shot, they all tumble together on the bed in a chiaroscuro of light and limbs. It was some masterful filmmaking.

Plainsong

This is book is one of those deceptively simple ones you enjoy immediately but whose import comes back to wallop you days later. It tells the story of the inhabitants of the small town of Holt, Colorado. We have the schoolteacher coping with the mental illness of his wife and the pregnant down on her luck teenager who goes to live with two elderly bachelor brothers. Their stories mirror each other for the whole book finally joining in the most natural way at the end. I had read the book before but enjoyed the audio even more as it is a story that lends itself to being told aloud.

Despite the occasional (or frequent in the case of "Deadwood") violence in these works I was left optimistic and glad I came to them at the same time.



*"Deadwood Seasons 1 & 2" are available on DVD, Season 3 is now showing on HBO*