Date: Sat, 27 May 2006 21:56:42 -0700 (PDT)
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: [Puptcrit] Cultural Variations, from Alan Cook



If you think my message pertinent enuf to send to
puptcrit, you have my permission to do so.

It ALWAYS bothers me when some people decide some
subjects discussed have nothing to do with puppetry.
LIFE has to do with puppetry. Puppetry creates the
illusion of life--this cannot occur in a vacuum.

I enjoyed reading your comments and found them
pertinent to the discussion.

As to why parts of Africa have been in turmoil since
the colonials left, it shows the failure of
colonialism, which ripped off natural resources
(diamonds, oil, rubber, rope, crops) for the profit of
outsiders at the expense of natives. In some colonies,
an infrastructure of native civil servants were
trained, and a viable system of roads , trains, ports
continued (India came thru pretty well in
comparison--but they had an intact culture too). In
the USA missionaries tried to obliterate "heathen
religions" to excess. Lots of mistakes were made.

Go see WAH-WAH, the movie, set in Swaziland. That
country survived colonialism better than most of
Africa, but even there, AIDS has been a huge problem.
International help can make a difference in solving
problems. but locals need to be allowed to participate
in the process.

If Western Culture is so superior, how did we end up
with so many Nazis destroying people, cities and
artists? And why were the Nazis so brutal in Greece,
the Cradle of our civilization?

I have a couple of simple hand puppets from Athens,
made during WW II by local artists speciically so that
kids of the time would have SOMETHING GOOD in their
childhood. The Athen Puppet Theatre celebrated a 25th
anniversary, but I'm told it no longer exists. Yet it
was important and did something to make things better.

We can all aim to emulate that.

ALAN COOK


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