Another day in Cuenca.
When I go to a restaurant in Cuenca, I find myself mispronouncing my Spanish. I mistakenly keep saying “Cuenca, por favor.” That is a mistake. To get the bill in a restaurant, you are supposed to ask for the “Cuenta por favor.” That is to say, “The bill please.” “Cuenta” literally means “account” so therefore, it can mean both a “bill” for food, or a “story,” in the sense that a “story” is an “account.”
My “Cuenca cuenta” is a bit of a relief to the hectic schedule I have had these last few weeks. I am living in a hotel in Cuenca as the guest of a Catholic family who owns the hotel. To visit the different parishes, I don’t have to travel that far. I can also come back to the hotel, take a nap, catch up on blogs, and even watch a movie on the television.
Today, I went to Mass at St. Blase, which is only four blocks away from the hotel. If you have downloaded Google Earth onto your computer, you can view my pictorial of the parish by clicking here.
While at Mass, my mind has always tended to wander, as it did again today. I found myself thinking and praying a great deal about “What it means to be a Christian in the modern world?” The call of the Gospel is to announce the Kingdom of Heaven, and that bears a responsibility to fight injustice in society. “How does a person do that?” I start to meditate, but I’m a bit scatterbrained, my mind easily shifts to other random thoughts.
My much relaxed “Cuenca cuenta” included sitting in my room yesterday and watching a movie (something I haven’t done for quite a while.) It was a filmed version of the musical “The Fantasticks.” I already mentioned the musical once when I was in Berlin, but since it is my favorite musical, I am not ashamed to mention it twice.
I was watching the movie out of sheer curiosity. I wanted to see how they would take something that depends almost entirely on imagination, and turn it into a film, a medium which dictates the imagination for the audience.
I would never watch the movie again. It was awful. The only reason I could ever recommend anyone watching the film is if they were interested in the history of bad choices made during media adaptation. It was however interesting to see what the creative team tried to do, but they ultimately failed.
Stick to the stage production. It is perfect the way it is.
Frustrated at myself for not being able to concentrate on the Mass, I tried to refocus, only to realize that there was a connection between my wondering thoughts and my prayer. There is something about “The Fantasticks,” whether on stage or on film, which really speaks the quandary about fighting for justice in the modern social context.
In “The Fantasticks,” Louisa, the female ingénue, pursues her fantasy. She runs away with a bandit, and they dance, and dance, and dance. As they dance across the world, she sees many horrible things. It turns out that the scenes that Louisa witnesses are scenes of her true love suffering, but she doesn’t recognize him. She does however start to become concerned. Her bandit answers her growing anxiety with some simple advice, “The mask… the mask.” If she will only put up the mask, what is treacherous is made tremendous. Even torture can seem pleasant if you just wear the right mask. (no… I was not drawing any overt connections to current U.S. policy, but if feel like you have to make that connection, go right ahead.)
I know that “The Fantasticks” is just a love story, but as they say, “All stories are love stories.” Louisa’s journey tells us something about ourselves. There are so many tragic things in the world that are crying for justice. The climate changes of the Earth, sweatshop child labor, lack of education, lack of food, war, corruption, drugs, prostitution, racism, I could go on and on, and for the better part of the last five months, I have. Why doesn’t it change? Why aren’t people listening?
“The mask… the mask… everything is beautiful when you wear the mask.”
It is masochistic, but true. Schodenfruede. We take pleasure in the pain of others. The injustices of the world can become amusing, if we choose to wear the mask. We lie to ourselves willingly, because the alternative means seeing the world the way it is, and that is just a bit disturbing. That would require us to change.
We’re all like Louisa. We all put on the mask, because we are told to do so by our fantasy, our imaginary life with a glamorous bandit. Eventually, Louisa is left heartbroken, she cannot bear to go on, and her bandit leaves her. Such will be our fate as well if we lack the courage to see life the way it is, if we continue to wear the mask. Just like Louisa, the truth has a way of catching up with us, no matter how much we lie.
I’m not big into blaming people. I don’t think it helps that much. I believe in telling good stories that promote growth and change.
“Cuenta por favor!” Give an account!
Tell a tale of truth.
The truth? I believe the truth is that Louisa is responsible for her actions, but she is not to blame for her actions. It is the bandit’s lie that deceives her. It is a small distinction but important. Responsibility calls us to action, while blame leaves us feeling worthless and helpless.
I believe, just like Louisa, we are responsible for the injustices we preserve, but we are not to blame. A lie has been told to us, and we’ve believed in it. The question becomes when we will be courageous enough to see the world the way it is, and act according.
We are not helpless. We just have to be brave enough to take off the mask.