Nick
Catalano is a TV writer/producer and Professor of Literature
and Music at Pace University. He reviews books and music for
several journals and is the author of Clifford
Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter,
New York
Nights: Performing, Producing and Writing in Gotham
and A
New Yorker at Sea. His latest book, Tales
of a Hamptons Sailor, is now available. For Nick's
reviews, visit his website: www.nickcatalano.net
It is the mark of an educated
mind to be able
to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle
Aristotle's Poetics is the oldest, the most famous,
and the most debated essay on the art of writing and aesthetic
creativity. The great philosopher's definition of tragedy has
been memorized by students, his analysis of drama heralded by
academics, and his insight into comedy assiduously studied by
contemporary stand-up comics.
Aristotle’s
comparison of ‘poetry’ and ‘history’
is pivotal in any analysis of contemporary art forms. Ever since
his writings were recovered from Averoes's Arabic translations
of the original Greek and translated into Latin and other European
languages, debates have ensued over some of his terms. The most
controversial is the squabble over the meaning of catharsis
(kátharsi) which most agree is best translated
as ‘purgation’ or ‘cleansing.’ For our
purposes ‘poetry’ is best understood as meaning
the entire gamut of dramatic writing -- not only the tragedies
and comedies of yore but modern versions of ancient forms such
as film and TV. It seems safe to conclude that the Stagirean
master would nod in agreement that far into the future, our
contemporary film and television writing would fit comfortably
into his term ‘poetry.’ And he would similarly agree
that ‘history’ could apply to any future objective
analytical writing such as newspapers, television journalism,
as well as college textbooks.
The
key to understanding the significant implications of Aristotle's
comparison comes in his own words uttered thousands of years
ago: "Poetry is a more philosophical and a higher thing
than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history
the particular." (trans. S. H. Butcher). It is the term
‘universal’ that begs our attention. The philosopher
continues "By the universal I mean how a person of a certain
type on occasion speak or act, according to the law of probability
or necessity; and it is this universality at which poetry aims
. . ."
So
we may safely interpret his thoughts to mean that the exclusive
focus on just the facts of an event always fails to capture
the myriad complexities (emotional, imaginative, sensuous, psychological)
that truly cover the entire reality of its occurrence.
In
selecting Sophocles's Oedipus tragedy as an ideal creation
Aristotle insists that the ‘poetry’ utilized to
portray a given reality must be great. The creator must be able
to harness all of the elements of his craft in order to give
us an accurate (according to probability and necessity) complete
(emotion, imagination, sensuous, psychological awareness) and
compelling experience of the reality in question. And when he
uses the term "of a certain magnitude" we may conclude
from his thinking (as many scholars have done) that, all things
considered, the more epical and universal the theme of a work
may be, the greater its artistic merit.
In
Oedipus, Sophocles tackles the theme of appearance
vs. reality, one of the most problematic struggles in human
society. In order to understand and appreciate the scope of
the conflict the audience must encounter all of the elements
involved: the irony of being sure of something (Oedipus's assumption
of Polybus and Merope as his real parents) when the opposite
is the actual reality; the Shepherd ironically saving him from
death on Mt. Cithaeron, Oedipus unknowingly killing his real
father, Oedipus well-meaningly marrying his own mother, and
his tragedy finally being uncovered only because Oedipus has
a brilliant, focused intellect and a heroic determinism. The
irony and scope of the play can only be totally experienced
when the audience's intellects perceive it, when their emotions
grasp it, when their senses feel it, when their imaginations
divine it and when their psyches behold it. As Aristotle explains,
Sophocles is a great artist because has eminently managed with
his artistic tools to draw upon these many agents of human awareness
needed for the complete experience of this epical theme.
Familial
conflicts are another theme that humans must struggle with.
In Hamlet and King Lear, Shakespeare enables
us to experience the range and nature of elements involved in
the struggle as no compilation of historic, scientific psycho-social
writing could ever do. The cathartic awareness that we experience
when we see the protagonists wrestle with familial injuries,
hurtful betrayals, suicidal yearnings, thwarted loves, and violent
urges all rendered with the power of Shakespeare's mastery of
dramatic tools urges us to re-experience these great art plays
again and again. When we do so we revisit our own frustrations
and yearnings about those we hold dear. The plays engage us
in a comprehensive depth and scope of reality that no factual
analysis such as this essay that I am writing could ever do.
In
these plays there are obviously many other issues and themes
that gain our empathy too numerous to discuss here. But it is
important always to keep in mind a key element of Aristotle's
famous definition of tragic drama namely that it must be "of
a certain magnitude" -- the poetry must always contain
a theme which is crucial to human nature and society. And, as
we said previously, if it is masterfully constructed, it can
then be cherished as a meaningful work of art.
Film
is a modern version of the poetry that Aristotle spoke of and
he would certainly have welcomed its great ability to communicate
a vast array of experiences. He adds another essential point
to the aforementioned quote: "It is not the function of
the poet to relate what has happened but what may happen - what
is possible according to the law of probability or necessity."
Film critics need to keep these sagacious words in mind. If
we follow Aristotle's thinking we can perceive a big aesthetic
difference between films such as "The Gladiator" and
"The Martian."
"The
Gladiator" tells us that Marcus Aurelius was murdered by
his son, that Commodus was a deviate, and that the Roman republic
was saved by Maximus, the former general forced into gladiatorial
combat. These ‘facts’ are untrue and further, such
a hero as Maximus never existed. The film fails totally according
to probability and necessity and remains simply a gory replication
of violence in the Colosseum. “The Martian" however
organizes an adventure story around an impressive array of verifiable
scientific data; it introduces the audience to the ingenious,
sometimes dorky, scientists and engineers at JPL; it permits
us to view a detailed geography of Mars; it enables us to experience
the climatological and gravitational oddities of the planet;
it lets us experience the imaginative wonder and astounding
presentment of the human race on a planet 50 million miles away;
and it gives us an exciting preview of an epical event that
will, without a doubt, one day occur -- the exploration of the
Red Planet.
Thousands
of pages have been written about the sinking of the Titanic.
A hundred years later a recent report of the ‘facts’
claims that a coal fire in the bilge was yet another element
involved. Facts have been chronicled in hundreds of books about
the tragedy. But James Cameron's epic film gives us the entire
gamut of experiences of this tragic event as to what might have
happened according to probability and necessity: the emotional
stresses of all classes of passengers, both the heroic and cowardly
behaviour of crew members, the imaginative struggles of people
in love, the circumstantial ironies of dozens who sailed or
didn't sail for a host of different reasons, the economic and
psychological motivations of owners and senior officers, the
physical horror of a freezing Atlantic Ocean, the impossibly
tactile experience of a huge liner shattering at its beam before
it sinks. These experiences interact with the minds and imaginations
of the audience rendering a depth of insight into the endless
physical, emotional, imaginative, psychological complexity of
the event in a way no history book could produce.
At
a time when ‘fake news’ distracts our perceptions,
and when variegated interpretations of truth emanate from biased
news sources, it becomes all important, especially for younger
thinkers, to inhale and absorb the centuries proven sources
of truth and meaning that great creative ‘poetry’
can bring. The challenge is to discover where the greatness
lies and how we can gain understanding and assurance of its
merit. Surprisingly, only a few well tested guides can often
suffice and for those we can always rely on the wisdom of Aristotle.
