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podcast friday
Nov. 22nd, 2024 07:45 am It's been another good week for podcasts but the most gripping to me was Behind the Bastards' four-part series on Lawrence of Arabia. "How Lawrence of Arabia Invented Modern War." (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV)
I can't recall if during my brief teenage obsession with the man after seeing the film on IMAX I actually managed to read Seven Pillars of Wisdom but I certainly want to read it now. This is an interesting series because despite some clear cases for Lawrence's bastardry (like, you know, screwing up the Middle East in ways that may, in the Year of Our Lord 2024, lead to fucking nuclear war, not to mention the war crimes), he remains likeable and sympathetic—including to Robert and Margaret—pretty much throughout the story. So while famously he was literally a bastard, figuratively it's a more complex case to make. And yes, they do go into Dune at the end and the problem with a story—both the real version and the space version—that is essentially a polemic against white saviours where the white saviour is pretty cool though, ngl.
Anyway, fortunately for ace people looking for a problematic historical role model, and unfortunately for my teenage self who shipped Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif's versions of the characters (and also for director David Lean, who did as well) we actually have as much closure on the answer of Lawrence's sexual orientation as we ever get with any historical figure. Which is pretty cool. (I know, I know, Sherif Ali is a composite character anyway, but counterargument: Omar Sharif's pretty pretty eyes.)
Stepping back into history is actually pretty instructive for the present moment, come to think of it. Also, how you maybe do a guerrilla war against a far more powerful empire, if you have to do that kind of thing in the future.
I can't recall if during my brief teenage obsession with the man after seeing the film on IMAX I actually managed to read Seven Pillars of Wisdom but I certainly want to read it now. This is an interesting series because despite some clear cases for Lawrence's bastardry (like, you know, screwing up the Middle East in ways that may, in the Year of Our Lord 2024, lead to fucking nuclear war, not to mention the war crimes), he remains likeable and sympathetic—including to Robert and Margaret—pretty much throughout the story. So while famously he was literally a bastard, figuratively it's a more complex case to make. And yes, they do go into Dune at the end and the problem with a story—both the real version and the space version—that is essentially a polemic against white saviours where the white saviour is pretty cool though, ngl.
Anyway, fortunately for ace people looking for a problematic historical role model, and unfortunately for my teenage self who shipped Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif's versions of the characters (and also for director David Lean, who did as well) we actually have as much closure on the answer of Lawrence's sexual orientation as we ever get with any historical figure. Which is pretty cool. (I know, I know, Sherif Ali is a composite character anyway, but counterargument: Omar Sharif's pretty pretty eyes.)
Stepping back into history is actually pretty instructive for the present moment, come to think of it. Also, how you maybe do a guerrilla war against a far more powerful empire, if you have to do that kind of thing in the future.
