Crucible

• Poor Donald Trump wants us to know he’s the victim of a witch-hunt, too.
• To be fair, maybe the Coalition and Trump are trading on the good reputation of witches.
• But much like polls, political terms tell us something about society and language.

The cynical political power of metaphor

• They are the containers you put ideas in before you hand them over to the world.
• But the pedigree and message of political metaphors can get dark, very fast.
• When Premier Dan Andrews was up in the polls, some political pundits accused Victorians of suffering from “Stockholm syndrome” — a traumatic bonding as might happen between captives and their abusers.
• Metaphors are effective spin doctors when it comes creating political realities and influencing public perceptions, all the more so in the current climate of general scepticism towards experts.

Cappuccinos and witch-hunts

• At a café in tech company WeWork’s headquarters, the “cappuccinos” were called “lattes” because CEO Adam Neumann insisted they were.
• Most importantly, witch-hunts were at the discretion of the powerful and at the expense of the less powerful.
• Witch-hunts left many thousands of victims in their wake – usually the less powerful at the hands of the powerful.
• Read more:
  From 'technicolour yawn' to 'draining the dragon': how Barry Humphries breathed new life into Australian slang

Language, kayfabe and keeping the bastards honest

• More than a few scholars and journalists have drawn parallels between something called “kayfabe” and contemporary politics - especially right-wing politics.
• Kayfabe is a pro-wrestling term referring to “the performance of staged and ‘faked’ events as actual and spontaneous”.
• An even more understated part of kayfabe are the “marks” — they are the ones who don’t know it’s all scripted.
• We love metaphors, but accountability and honest debate disappear in a mist of kayfabe when powerful people use them.

• Have you ever wondered what goes through the mind of an author, artist or composer when they create a certain work?
• It could be defined as the efficient use of psychological theory to turn a subject’s life into a coherent and enlightening story.

Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe and The Crucible

• In his article The Psychology of Artistic Creativity: With Reference to Arthur Miller and The Crucible, he shared that the playwright was well aware of the personal burden he had placed in his work.
• His famous work, The Crucible, tells a story that takes place during the 17th-century trials of women accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.
• By that time, Miller, who was married, had already met Marilyn Monroe and was fascinated by the actress.

Kafka was also a son

• In the story, a father harshly sentences his son to death by drowning, a wish that the son fulfils by throwing himself into the river.
• In his Letter to his Father, published a few years later, Kafka reproaches him precisely for the emotional abuse he suffered, among other things.

Elvis’s loneliness

• He usually did so by making mistakes in the lyrics or by laughing while singing it.
• In other words, the mistakes Elvis made seemed to have a psychological explanation behind them: Elvis was protecting himself.
• The singer was very afraid of loneliness throughout his life, and this made it difficult for him to sing the song.

Beethoven and death

• In my psychobiographical research on the figure of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), it was very difficult to find an obvious transfer of his story to his work.
• Beethoven suffered multiple illnesses, some more serious than others.
• Although he treated all of these with a stoic attitude, on one occasion he did believe that he was dying.

• Additional winners include Adele "I Drink Wine" (Liam Moore), The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power "Title Announcement" (Brian Branstetter), and 94th Annual Oscars (David Korins).
• HERE
  "We are so proud to honor the production designers and artists who create a vision to transport the audience into different worlds.
• ADG President Nelson Coates, ADG, and Art Directors Council Chair Evan Rohde, ADG, presided over the awards ceremony with actress/comedian Yvette Nicole Brown serving as host.
• Winners of the 27th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards:

• MONAT Gratitude announced today that it is accepting applications for the third cycle of its grant program to enrich youth education programs across the globe.
• Eligible nonprofits in the U.S., Canada and Europe can apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 through June 4.
• So far in 2022, MONAT Gratitude has invested more than $380,000 in youth education programs through the grant program.
• Eligible organizations can learn more and apply for a grant by visiting the MONAT Gratitude grant page at monatgratitudegoal.com .