Indy and Dottie
My first introduction to Dorothy Parker might not be what you expect. You probably picture my house growing up as jammed with books and me one day stumbling upon The Portable Dorothy Parker and that, as they say, was history. That would be an entirely fictitious history, one that Dorothy herself would probably like, she did after all say "I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true." The "truth" of it was, there where shelves and shelves of books, though Dorothy wasn't on them, and I viewed the shelves mainly as the stuff that was behind the tv. Yes that's right, I was not a bookworm as a child. I had a few books I loved and didn't really branch out till after high school, otherwise known as, the time when I got to pick what I wanted to read and wasn't assigned horrid and asinine books, My Brother Sam is Dead anyone?
One of my favorite shows was The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Ah, Sean Patrick Flannery, you are a god, and will always have a special place in my heart. I squealed like a little fangirl when I got to meet you this summer (luckily not to your face) and had so much fun talking about the show, I did after all bring my original Young Indiana Jones Chronicles fanclub magazine that I ordered through Scholastic, yes I am that dorky. Ironically this show, without me knowing it I might add, did what George Lucas set out to do, teach kids about history through the life of Indiana Jones. While I was more into the romantic travails of Indy fending off a young Ernest Hemingway, the Spanish Civil War wormed it's way into my brain. Pancho Villa worked his way in while I was admiring Indy's horsemanship. Damn that boy can ride! It was a silly episode though about Indy trying to balance three very different women, for the sake of humor, one a blond, one a brunette, and one a redhead, that caught my eye. It wasn't the goofy storyline, obviously he should be with the brunette, she was smart and streetwise and surprisingly Anne Heche, it was the literary world that caught me. Of course the members of the Algonquin Round Table did straddle different worlds and often had people in the arts and theatre other than just writers, it was the writers that Indy meets one day that transfixed me.
The whole table was there, from Benchley and Parker to Woollcott and Ferber. Woollcott and Parker actually go with Anne Heche's character to the Broadway musical Indy has been stage managing wherein Hemingway gets upset that Woollcott won't be quiet. What struck me rewatching the episode (yes, cause I'm that kind of person who won't let the opportunity to rewatch Sean Patrick Flannery pass me by) was that they really did capture the essence of the table. The biting humor along with the camaraderie. Benchley with his arm around Mrs. Parker's chair. The other tablemates telling Indy exactly how the press works. Indy being accepted as one of their own because he makes a biting comment about the scarcity of an Alexander Woollcott first addition saying that a second edition would be even rarer. A book to which they use Dorothy's famous quote, "This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown aside with great force." Even if that was about another book entirely... I wanted to be in that room! I wanted to be at that table! One can dream...
I leave you with the finale of that episode.
Terrific! I had no idea that Mrs. Parker had met Indiana Jones. What a great find--and what a great introduction to the Round Table!
J.J. Murphy said... December 2, 2011 at 9:53 AM
Yes, Indiana Jones sure did get around!
Miss Eliza said... December 2, 2011 at 2:28 PM
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