>>to me, it was eye opening to see that someone suffering from schizophrenia was as highly functional as Nash was...& as innovatively brilliant...<< I haven't seen 'A Beautiful Mind' but intend to asap. I'm currently laid up in bed with the 'flu; just as well I had prepared for this by buying myself the Jaco Pastorius biography for 'reyes' and I read it all yesterday and was struck by the similarity between Nash and Jaco's cases, particularly the mental illness part. It seems as a society we are unaware of the plight of those in severe trauma, or afraid to try to help when we become aware, or give up trying to help when it seems that the person has a 'death wish' and is 'beyond help'. Is anyone ever really 'beyond help'? I stress 'as a society' as I am aware that family and friends do their best to help their loved ones through these difficult times. I don't want to resort to the cliche that genius and madness are two sides of the same coin but in the case of Nash and Jaco (and many more?) it may be true.
I was surprised that the bio mentioned Joni Mitchell in many places but talked of the 'Mingus' project only in the discography. For me, 'Mingus' is one of the highpoints in the careers of both Joni and Jaco. Any thoughts on this? Regarding Hollywood (and Ron Howard), we (the public) are not surprised at the sanitized versions of anything, particularly homosexuality. Subtlety is not what we expect or demand or get. What surprises me is that the filmmakers still seem to have a very poor opinion of the audience's ability to accept positive homosexual characters in films, unless the film is a comedy and homosexuality is the (how should I put it) 'butt' of the joke. Do actors really have a fear of playing homosexuals, thinking it may reflect badly on their image? Don't they think that the audience is able to distinguish between a role and a sexual preference? If, say, Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise or George Clooney made a film playing an unsympathetic homosexual, do they think that they would find work hard to get? Would we, the public, punish them at the box office if we saw them in homosexual roles? Why? I find this a fascinating topic and am constantly amazed at the willingness of European actors to accept these roles without a thought for their work prospects. What is this difference in perception between America and Europe regarding 'machismo'? Any thoughts on this? Mike in Barcelona NP manu chao 'clandestino'
