tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post114964889672210382..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Israel Putnam mural up in the air at GreenwichUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-1159554126938540222006-09-29T13:22:00.000-05:002006-09-29T13:22:00.000-05:00Let's leave aside the mother issues, please. They ...Let's leave aside the mother issues, please. They seem to be getting in the way of recognizing a difference between Roadrunner cartoon violence and a painting of a man being tortured. <BR/><BR/>It seems significant to me that this mural wasn't intended for an elementary school. It was created for the office of a town selectman. Even now, it remains on public display in the town library, so no one can complain it's been hidden away. <BR/><BR/>Was a scene of torture appropriate for a government office in the 1930s? Presumably it was acceptable then because (a) Putnam survived, and (b) the torturers were the ENEMY. <BR/><BR/>And as I wrote before, I suspect some of the modern objection to the scene has to do with changing aesthetic sensibilities rather than changing sensitivity to torture itself. <BR/><BR/>Then again, this week Congress confirmed that torture is now U.S. federal policy. Well, we'd call such treatment "torture" if it were inflicted on U.S. soldiers by our nation's enemies.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.com