Things change. It is obvious. However, platitudes remain just that – platitudes – no matter how many times they’re rolled out. Although they may be only used once, their repeated use should inoculate the person and prevent them from suffering again. This immunity is not common, particularly for those who are able to follow the simple instructions. “stay at home”Oder “avoid clichés, at all costs”It’s difficult to remember or interpret.
Not so far away was the day when even mentions of sexual practices might be made in passing. This could be with the help of nervous clearing, the bat of an eyes, or the intentional and calculated addition of classical allusions, to avoid the speaker appearing to have been influenced by these professedly impure acts. This was why it was so important to mention gender. These unspoken, unnamed habits were still illegal and punishable by law amongst men. While the feminine equivalent had a more classical name and is generally not tolerated in the public eye, they are considered legal and acceptable.
It was not only classical literature, but also biblical that allowed us to refer to such abominable and yet common practices. Because of the nature crimes committed within the walls of the Cities of the Plain and Sodom, Gomorrah suffered divine retribution. In more modern times, we have passed beyond the age when the natural can be criminal, and also beyond the clichés of vilifying and ridiculing via censorious judgment or humour. Even though the series used the theme often, it did not use the title Carry on Sodomy. This despite scripts that frequently employed censure and ridicule as a way to get laughs out of audiences who might otherwise be judged and disregarded.
Sodom & Gomorrah are volume four of A La Recherche De Temps Perdu. This is the Remembrance Of Things Past. It was shocking to see that a significant number of French high society could trace their roots to the cities on the plain at this time. There would have been a lot of laughter, raised eyebrows and sneers. Gentlemen would converse on their journey to the brothel. The workers were not counted because they had to act in poverty. But times do change. It is no longer the homosexuality discussion that can shock but rather the destination for the conversants.
Now, when we see gay people and their stories, as well as lesbians and homosexual women, we can’t be shocked or surprised by being exposed to views we don’t like in public. It is almost impossible to associate ourselves with the type of society that the revelations have been made. Even though these lives and their attitudes may be still present in our world, they are far removed from what we know. We are reminded that images of galeried art have little to do with our daily lives. But because they don’t speak in our language, the cultural distance we feel from the artworks we admire is obvious.
Although times might change, the tendency to make false statements persists. Marcel Proust’s observations on doctors are almost current. They tend to be optimistic about treatment and pessimistic about the outcome. “Wine in moderation, it can do no harm, it is always a tonic… Sexual enjoyment? After all it is a natural function. I allow you to use, but not to abuse it, you understand. Excess in anything is wrong.”It is tempting for the patient to abandon water and chastity at once. Additionally, he recognized the fact that humans become research subjects once they reach a certain age. He was at the point of exhaustion when a man in pain became an instrument for studying chemical reactions. This is referred to as “aging” in our time.
Then, we might, just like the English schoolboy, become more resistant to certain propensities than previously possible through physical activity. Many English prime ministers were able to profit from the Eton Wall Game while remaining on the opposite side of it in private. “Suppose we took a turn in the garden, Sir,”Swann said it, and Comte Arnulphe in a LispingM. de Charlus responded to his voice with an artlessly indebted precision, which seems to indicate that his development, mentally at most, was not complete. “I, oh, golf chiefly, tennis, football, running, polo I’m really keen on.”Minerva was subdivided and became goddess of wisdom in some deities. She then incarnated a part of her in Athene Hippia, who is purely a horse-loving, sporting deity.We may also find that the limits we place on ourselves are too restrictive.
The Old Etonian Prime ministers would have handled the classic allusion admirably, which is likely why they still do. While times may be changing, we can only see how they have changed if we are able to recall the past and connect with its characters.