But It's Fiction, Sir!

Here we are, once again with our eyes before a carefully-crafted, compelling piece of art. Cinema, as we know, is the single most powerful tool for conveying a message. It doesn't matter if the content is faithful to the truth, what matters is the narrative. The award-winning case presented by this film is clearly anti-capital punishment. Does it matter that it's false? (Let's use the de jour term, "Revisionist"). Depends on one's viewpoint. History has proven that we too often succumb to repeated logical fallacies when they align with our own beliefs. Lies repeated become truths. Fallacies of authority, falsehoods of associated "success". We've witnessed far too much of it lately, and perhaps that's why this entry from 33 years ago feels eerily familiar.

Prof. Alex Taylor call Hollywood out for one of its most egregious lies. But it won an Oscar, so who cares?

 Published in the Gainesville Times, Tuesday, September 13, 1988.

Gunfighting Blues

A young me once asked my father if he was ever forced to draw his weapon and fire. Had he ever participated in an actual gunfight? Was it like those we watched on the television or at the movies—Dirty Harry, etc? His answer was usually stoic, reverent, and largely dismissive, albeit a “yes” with a huge disclaimer attached. No heroics, mainly survival, he’d say. A person was trying to kill you, after all. Pistol training, to some degree, went out the window. You point, you shoot, you maintain cover, you protect citizens and your fellow officers. It all pure adrenaline. Thanks to body cams, the internet, and sites such as YouTube, we can place ourselves directly in the firing line, witness to lightning-fast changes in situational demands, and the shock of terror when things suddenly become deadly. It’s all Hollywood to most—Cops-‘n-Robbers—Dad would say, until that first round zings just past your skull.

I imagine the task of describing one such encounter in a 500-word column with any degree of impact was a difficult task, yet here it is. Originally published Tuesday, September 9, 1988 in the Gainesville Times, Prof. Taylor lays bare the never-ceasing danger to all police. It could have been written yesterday. ('cept the .38 part!)

Sheer Lunacy!

 

Success!
I am pleased to say that, after 15 months' thumb-twiddling in Covid Purgatory, I was finally able to access the Gainesville Times archive and retrieve the final 25 columns written by my father. 

From August 30, 1988 comes a smattering of levity. Oh, and to the ladies who read the last bit, that's '80s printbait... I think.

 

 

Next Taylor Tuesday column is no laughing matter. Our Professor describes a very personal encounter as a young patrolman one night, long ago.