Talking and Writing
Facing the ambivalence of Kaldor's problem, assess the ideas below and share an opinion whether these considerations are relevant, useful, helpful or decisive in his reaching the final decision.
Most of the terran art is based on the struggle of good and bad, and is a history of wars – armed or ideological. Therefore, it would become a deadly danger for a tranquil and regulated society like Lassan. It’s life and further survival that we should prize, not civilisation.
Lassans are sluggish and unambitious. They need new incentives to liven their creativity and boost civilisation.
Each civilisation has its own inner laws of evolution and development. Any alien or untimely help or information would be left unaccepted.
The Lassan world has to have all Earth’s knowledge and art, but the access to the information banks must be only allowed to the select.
Each society has its way, but develops under many influences of its neighbours. Terrans and Lassans are related and have common roots. They have to share their achievements.
In the absence of historical and cultural context most works of art will prove to be beyond understanding and will remain unappreciated.
Terran art’s treasure of wisdom and aesthetic beauty outweighs its negative aspects and makes them negligible.
Lassan society is mature enough to preserve and withstand their own values, once those were threatened, and Earth’s cultural influence would remain purely esthetical.
Despite Earth’s turbulent history Earth survived and its science and culture always flourished. So would Thalassa’s.
Thalassa’s human population is tiny. It will never reach the critical mass, capable of taking the society to the next rung of civilisation, creating trends, theories or history making inventions. They have to be helped.
Take a few minutes and write down a list of your favourite fiction books, works of fine arts, musical pieces, plays and films. Say what you love them for and share your opinion whether they would be equally suitable for the planet of Thalassa in the light of previous discussions.
How much is and can oursociety be boosted by foreign and national art and culture? Write an argumentative composition to consolidate and sum up all the previous discussions about values, art, its contents and impact on the society.
Role-play
I
magine
Moses Caldor has recently seen the film "Pleasantville".
This generated a lot of controversy in him and he is between minds
now about his initially good intent to share the library resources.
He will presently talk to Mirissa about his apprehension. She will
be inquisitive, thirsty for knowledge and look on the bright side.
Read through the comments on the film to pick up some
well-phrased ideas for the conversation. When through, Moses,
possessed with his doubts, will start the uneasy conversation with
Mirissa.
Fantastical writer Gary Ross makes a directorial debut with this inspired and oddly touching comedy. When a somewhat unusual remote control transports youngsters from the real world to TV land, David and Jennifer get into the sweet 1950s sitcom "Pleasantville." Everything is in black-and-white and everything is perfect – if you shoot a basketball in the air, it will ALWAYS land RIGHT in the hoop, guaranteed. Everything works like clockwork – the father comes home from work and the mother has the dinner on time. Everyone respects each other. But once David & Jennifer start interacting with everyone, that's when everything slowly becomes imperfect – and everything slowly changes to colour. David, an obsessive Pleasantville devotee, understands the need for not toppling the natural balance of things; Jennifer, on the other hand, starts shaking the town up, most notably when she takes football stud Skip up to Lover's Lane for some modern-day fun and games. Soon enough, Pleasantville's teens are discovering pre-marital sex, rock & roll, free thinking, etc.
"Pleasantville" tells the story of two strangers who bring colour to a black-and-white town of the late 1950s by upsetting the traditional value-system of the locals and leading them into various temptations.
"Pleasantville" targets the «normalcy» of suburbia in the US of the 1950s.
Their conservatism is soon challenged by these two youngsters who introduce them to the values their decade inherited from the sixties and all the iconoclastic eras of history: abstract art, rock’n roll, women’s liberation, "Catcher in the Rye", pre-marital sex and adultery – to which, if the movie had not been so cautious not to blow its family-movie cover, might have been added tobacco, alcohol and drugs.
Now the "enlightenment" in this black-and-white town never goes unnoticed, for all those who bite into the apple suddenly acquire colour. So soon war breaks out between the inquisitorial black-and-white forces of reaction and the persecuted «coloured people», a bunch of enlightened liberals who just seek the freedom to «express themselves».
