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Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
History was made to seem unfair
For more dictators who like to make believe they're part of a representative government, look no further than Julius Caesar, founding father of the Orange Julius, for those unfamiliar with history. Caesar's gradual corruption and evolution into a full-fledged tyrant has been one of the strong suits of HBO's "Rome" (finale airs at 9 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13), which started out at an achingly slow pace but found its stride by about the seventh episode. In fact, I couldn't believe it when I checked in with the show after several weeks and found that what was once a ponderous retread had been transformed into a dizzying blur of shipwrecks, sneaky plots, arrogant little Egyptian kings, seductions and traitorous heads on stakes.
I particularly love Cleopatra, the irrational, compassionless female character you daydream about after too big a serving of Geena Davis' level-headed idealism. But a lot of the characters on "Rome" have developed from two-dimensional cartoons into richer, more intriguing subjects. Titus Pullo's softer side, at odds with his basic nature as a killing machine, might seem a little trite to explore, but it was still impossible not to feel horribly sorry for him after he impulsively beat his true love's boyfriend to a bloody pulp, then regretted it seconds later. Even Lucius Vorenus is hard not to empathize with, caught as he is in an impossible position as one of Caesar's demi-puppeteers.
The only character that hasn't developed at all is Atia. Her conniving evil mommy role doesn't get any more interesting no matter how much screen time she spends manipulating her children. What does she care about? What's her weakness? What is remotely human about her? We should know more about this woman and understand a tiny shred of her motivation, if we're going to spend this much time with her.
In contrast, Caesar becomes easier and easier to understand as his power corrupts him and everything and everyone around him. Like many in his position, Caesar lost his taste when he gained his absolute power. That's the downside of bestriding the narrow world like a colossus, see. Have you ever known a giant to dress well?
Like J.Lo accessorizing with furs, diamonds and Ben Affleck during her "Jenny From the Block" phase, Caesar is all caught up in choosing his outfit and won't even tolerate the usual snide remarks from Mark Antony. Does J.Lo tolerate snide remarks from Marc Anthony? Methinks not, since your sense of humor is the second thing you lose when you gain power, right after your sense of taste and right before your sense of scale.
We know Caesar's omnipotence has debased him completely when he parades into the square with blood on his face. Is this a long-standing tradition, or was Octavian trying to make him look bad by smearing the blood in such a ridiculous way? It was just like when J.Lo's stylist ushered her into that awful beret-wearing period.
But like J.Lo, even while Caesar makes one tactical error after another, even while his demise begins to seem inevitable, our empathy for him reaches new heights. Why? Why not let Caesar be slaughtered? Why not let J.Lo fall from her pedestal, forcing her to spend less on pink diamonds and skin creams made from pig fetuses? Because we are tasteless people, and even as our leaders become increasingly tacky and self-indulgent, there's some little bit of the dream of excess and decadence that fades if they fade. Whether it's Donald Trump or Madonna, we want certain people to oppress us with their crappy taste until kingdom come, if that's what it takes to make sure they're never struck down by highly suggestible whiners with crooked teeth.
