The Better Angels Of Our Nature Are Dying

The “better angels of our nature” famously appears in the final paragraph of Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address in 1861. As Hank Davis observes “[it] mean(s) that under certain conditions we should go beyond what comes easily or naturally. Whether in thought or action, we should dig more deeply into ourselves and think or act in a way that is somehow more highly evolved or enlightened. By definition this will not come easily. For some it will not come at all”. Sadly, in our current political environment his latter observation seems to be particularly true. Last Sunday evening, I think that I witnessed the “better angels of our nature” die.

Before I continue with what might be a rather strange hypothesis, I think that it is necessary to understand that the term “better angels” implies that there is a hierarchy of these celestial beings. Simply, some are superior to others. And translated into human actions and intentions, it means that there are deeds and ideals that are more transcendent and perfect than others; individuals more capable of selfless direction and concern. As a constituency I have come to expect that those involved in the arts were such. This is not to say that they inherently rose above the petty fears and self-interests of the rest of us. Rather, that they often, through the nature of their craft and the circumstances of their popular attraction, served as a mirror to how we should be or what we should become. In their artifice there was an echo of a higher truth.

Last Sunday were the Academy Awards; an event viewed by millions across the earth and a stage like no other. In the midst of one of the most tumultuous periods in human history, Kelly Lawlor of “USA Today” observes that “ … this year the Oscars managed … to be an agreeable experience for all.” An agreeable experience for all!!! This is the antithesis of what I had hoped for and what I had expected. I was looking for “the better angels of our nature” to rise up in resounding fashion and damn the demons of Trumpian arrogance, falsehood and rank stupidity. I was anticipating a collective war cry for decency, civility and truth; something transcendent and affirming. Nada. Better it be, it seems, “an agreeable experience for all”.

Where were the angels of the past - Marlon Brando, Halle Berry, Sean Penn, Spike Lee, Vanessa Redgrave, Ed Harris, Nick Nolte, Michael Moore and Leonard DiCaprio heading the list? Where was the profound disgust and indignation over what the nation had become and where it was heading? Where were the moments of almost unbearable exposure of our common denial, complicity and moral complacency? Where was the outrage and call to action; the admission that collectively we have allowed things to go far too far; that we have only ourselves to blame?  Shamefully, particularly after the Oval Office events of February 27th, Oscars producers reportedly even denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky an opportunity to appear on the telecast.

So, although many might feel that I am making much out of little, I believe in symbols and the rude power of a popular consciousness. I believe that those who belong to the arts are, indeed, figurative representatives of what should be our better selves, our “better angels”. And I believe that there are signs that predict the likelihood of change and its direction. On Sunday evening the bell weathers of our ability to overcome the dispiriting meanness of the American nightmare were absent; the angels silent, dead or dying.