A 51-year old movie offers a lesson is still very pertinent today

For moviewatchers, this is the best time of the year. With the Oscars coming up in a week, there are a slew of wonderful, rarely seen movies on the cable airwaves. TCM offers some particular treats this month -- movies that, in some shape or form, were nominated for or won Oscars. Yesterday morning, it was "Inherit The Wind", the 1960 version of the story written based on the famous Scopes Monkey trials held in Tennessee in 1925.

In addition to watching some great actors chew up the scenery (who knew Gene Kelly could play such a hardass, cynical reporter? Or that Dick York could play such a serious, thoughtful role? And it is always fun to see Spencer Tracy and Fredric March strut their stuff.), the story offered up a moral tale that is still very relevant today.

The basis of the movie is York teaching a high school class about Darwin's theory of evolution. That is an issue for another day of discussion, however. The key here is what happens when York is put on trial for even offering the idea as a theory. Tracy has the Clarence Darrow role of being his defense attorney. He isn't any more sure that Darwin got it right than anybody else. But he will defend to the death the idea that the theory should not be squashed out of hand. It can be debated and decided.

March is the William Jennings Bryan character. He believes the Bible has to be taken literally. And that means that no theory that even hints against anything in the Bible can be allowed into the public forum. In theory, he wins because York is indeed convicted in court. (The state law forbid the teaching of evolution) But, when the time comes for the sentence, the judge (Harry Morgan had fun in this role) doesn't waste any time to hear arguments on sentencing. He fines York $100 instead of sending him to jail and skedaddles. Tracy, of course, says, he will appeal because his client has done nothing wrong. March, who had been waiting for his big moment to give a dramatic speech, is stunned. He gets up to give his speech anyway as the courtroom begins to clear. Nobody is listening to him anymore. It is too much for him to handle. He has a heart attack and dies.

Tracy, who had been a longtime friend, is sympathetic. When Kelly presses him to say something mean (and this very newsworthy), he refuses. Instead, he says simply, "He was a great man. He just got lost at the end."

How is this pertinent today? Well, look at what is going in Wisconsin. In theory, this is a battle between two vastly differing fiscal views. The governor says he simply wants to balance a budget and that he is not interested in how it happens. But nothing is that easy. If we don't sit down and listen to each other (and only listen to people who agree with us), we are doomed as a country. Yes, there are laws that need to be obeyed and followed. That has never changed.

But we got to be a great country by admitting that past actions weren't always correct or needed to be altered to fit into today's times. There was a time where slavery seemed like a reasonable idea. Today, or course, we know better. There was a time where women couldn't vote. Again, we corrected a mistake.

And we got there because somebody was willing to listen to the other side.

That isn't happening in Wisconsin. The governor has said he won't negotiate on anything. From this distance, he sounds like the March character in the movie. In essence, he is saying, "I know what I believe. No fact or reasoning can get me to change my mind. So, this is my decision and to hell with everybody else.'

That kind of attitude plays well with the base and looks good on television. (In this case, it is the right wing. But it could just as easily have been the other way.) But we get things done in the real world by working together. We may never agree with them but, if we don't at least consider their point of view, we are truly lost. In the end, that is what happens to March in the movie. He got caught up in his own fire and fury. If TV had been around in the 1920s, they would have been berserk with joy promoting one point of the view or the other. But it would have offered nothing to the debate and would only have inspired the other side to be meaner and nastier.

That's why this movie is so important and should be watched by everybody. We need to see what happens when you can't see the forest for the trees. Simply put, we need more Spencer Tracys and fewer Frederic Marchs in this world.

But the talkies and bloggers don't want that. They want controversy and they don't care if there is collateral damage along the way.

There is a great moment at the end of the movie. WGN radio had placed a microphone in the courtroom to get the verdict live. After the judge does so, the technician starts to put things away. The microphone is disconnected. March's speech simply is wild yelling into the air with nobody in the courtroom ... or across the country ... listening. It is sad to watch. But it reminded me of many people I see on cable TV these days. They are simply babbling talking points but they have no idea what many of those points actually mean. In that way, they are already dead in the head.