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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels June 19, 2004 'Olive Harvest' invites discussion There is an interesting phenomenon which may be observed among primitive tribes, worldwide it seems. For example, among the Kwakiutl and related tribes of the Pacific Northwest, before the European invasion, there was a sense of "privileged retribution." If one's longhouse was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, or if one lost something, or got a head cold, it was a given that "someone has to pay." "Someone" obviously not being a member of one's own group. It doesn't seem in this case that any sort of black magic was imagined: it did not matter that members of another group had no actual responsibility in the matter. The offended party had a moral right to inflict retribution on this group since they were not really "human." Among primitive peoples worldwide one finds this tendency to assume for one's own group the quality of "humanness." The name "Navajo" appears to mean "humankind." As opposed to "otherkind." One finds exactly the same distinction among tribes of the Amazon basin isolated from the external world for millennia, as well as in some ancient isolated Asiatic groups. I have to assume from the pandemic nature of this kind of "chauvinism," for lack of a better word, that there was at some time actually some survival value in it. Perhaps preservation of a genetic stock in the face of brutal competition for resources. But it should be clear that in this modern "civilized" over-crowded world it is very ANTI-survival. Yet such chauvinism threatens virtually every group identification: national, regional, religious, racial, monetary, and even sexual. Whatever. If there is some psychological nourishment in a group identification, then chauvinism is very likely to creep in. Hanna Elias' film "The Olive Harvest" is a two-pronged head-on attack on this problem. In the first place he seeks to humanize the factions in the Middle East conflict. This film does this quite effectively and informatively for the Palestinian side; he intends to next do this for the Israeli side. His second innovation is to force the two groups to work together in a common endeavor. In the present case he had an entirely Israeli crew, and an entirely Palestinian cast. BRAVO! There is much worth discussing about this film, from both the artistic and political viewpoints. But this would distract from the main point of this column. The only disturbing thing about this showing occurred during the discussion period following the film. When the lights went on one suddenly found oneself aswim in a sea of dopey female narcissism. Elias unwittingly encouraged this, by emphasizing how the "nourishing mentality of womankind", or some such, could save the world from violent conflicts if they only participated more. Perhaps there is some small grain of truth in this. Not to be overvalued. But one gets the impression that if Elias were braced by a pack of rabid wolverines, he would find something good to say about them. History shows that in the relatively fewer cases that women have acquired state leadership they have, on average, been no less bloodthirsty than men. More generally, nature appears to be remarkably even-handed in its distribution of qualities both exalted and despicable between the sexes. There are obvious differences. Women on average are more interior, and subjectively sensitive and reflective. Which can be good. Men tend to be more oriented toward making things happen. Which can also be good. But if there is an innate superiority in humanity between the sexes, I sure haven't seen it. It is ironic that the female chauvinists in this community, in their collective swoon over Elias' endorsement, have missed his real message. Aaron Corbet Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams