I love NPR! It has long been a staple of my life as a regular listener and sustaining member of my Philly local station. Why. Mostly, I listen in the car as the show accompanies me on long trips and short trips. Different programming gives me driveway and parking lot moments, since I can’t tear myself away from the conversation to get out of the car.
Yesterday, I was listening This is the American life And there was a replay from 2006. It was called ‘With Great Power’. The throughline of each of the ‘Three Acts’ was the idea that with great power comes great responsibility for deciding what to do with it. There are discussions in various articles original Along those lines, from philosopher to politician, Spider-Man is a character in the movie.
I like the idea. When we have power in some form, we always have a choice about how to use it. Do we use it for good or bad? Do we take advantage of another person’s weakness when we have the upper hand? A highly developed sense of conscience is required to tip the balance towards justice rather than revenge.
The first act begins by exploring a scene from Schindler’s List Where the main character talks to the survivors and their families about his regrets that he did not do more to save the Jews during the Holocaust. The property he owned could have made the difference between living and dying for more people. The story tells about two people whose work with children is risky, and despite their dedication, they fear that they are not doing enough.
The second act tells the story of a woman who grew up with an absentee father who was abusive even when around and accused a girl of sexually assaulting her. He encounters her as an adult when he spontaneously stops by for a visit. That night, she suspects that he has committed a crime but is not sure of the nature, since he was acting suspiciously and then left. Years later, she hears about a murder that happened the same night and makes the horrifying revelation that her father was the culprit. He went to the police but they did not take his suspicions seriously and instead, buried his report.
Fast forward and another man who is wrongly accused of murdering the woman, is tried and convicted and sentenced to two decades in prison. His wife tries her best to free him. Somehow, the main narrator hears about him, and talks to the wife and confronts the police, insisting that they want to see her report, which was not admitted into evidence at the guilty plea hearing. They find it and he is released, but not until he has served 13 years. He was grateful to her and called her his angel. He didn’t feel divine and instead, felt overwhelming shame that he hadn’t spoken up more firmly in the beginning and that his father would have been investigated and this man would not have been implicated. He was angry that his father got away with murder before he died.
The third narrative is about a family who moves from a city to a neighborhood and finds themselves living next door to a vengeful man who does everything he can to make their lives miserable because of a property line dispute. He stalks them, spies on them, chases their kid who’s riding his bike, burns abominations on their lawn, kills their cat… you get the picture. Not a good person. They repeatedly report him to the police who do nothing. He turns other neighbors against them. Then, they discover information about him that could destroy him socially, professionally, and legally, and must decide whether to get him out. What they chose to do with the information baffled me. I don’t want to spoil it for you if you decide to listen.
I consider myself a person of privilege, if not power. I am white, well-educated, professional, financially middle-class, cis-gender, adjacent to power because ‘I know people’ in media and politics. For that reason, I have a responsibility to speak out against discrimination. For that reason, I have a responsibility to give what I can to benefit people and the planet. Therefore, it is my responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I was having a conversation about this with people attending a fundraiser last night. A company is called a beneficiary Laurel House which provides domestic violence services in our community. My role was to participate in a great opportunity called 40 Over 40. 40 women took pictures of us that show our strength and the new chapters in our lives as we cross that key age limit. I am 40 plus 27 at this time. The evening was full of good food, good fun and good company. At our table was a couple I crossed paths with last year. They took part in a musical called hidden Which was written by my friends Jenny and David Heitler-Klevans.
It told the story of a Jewish child named Ruth Kapp during the Nazi occupation of France and the lengths her parents went to protect her. My two table mates were Linda (she also participated in the film project) and Roy Braverman. She played the dual roles of the adult Ruth and Mother Superior (as Linda Glazerman Roeder), and Roy was in the orchestra. The show was amazing, heartbreaking and reflective of what is happening in the world right now. I had interviews with three women who portrayed Ruth for one Article Which was published by The Good Men Project. The dream of the producers and cast is to take the show to the Broadway stage. That takes money. I told them that if I had a gazillion dollars I would be happy to be an investor. In the meantime, I can spread the word about the show.
There is a difference between being powerful and being overwhelming. Our current administration does not seek to empower people to do good in the world. How do you use your power to be a superior and servant leader?
With photographer Amy Powell Paulhamus
–
