Those blasted Mayans...what Apocalypse?

December 21, 2012

I thought I had a front row seat to the Apocalypse, the last great show on earth. According to the media, the Mayans promised it, so did the Hopi Indians, solar experts, the Bible, the Chinese Book of Changes (called I Ching), the Hindu religion, geologists studying geysers at Yellowstone National Park, physicists at Berekely Uni and…programmers at the History Channel. For several days leading up to December 21, the History Channel aired end of the world specials with such titles as Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, Nostradamus 2012, Last Days on Earth and Doomsday episodes of Decoding the Past and Brad Meltzer’s Decoded. Similarly, the Discovery Channel aired such shows as 2012 Apocalypse and the National Geographic Channel launched a show called Doomsday Preppers, which is a documentary series about survivalists who prepare for cataclysmic events such as the 2012 Apocalypse. And there were countless other Doomsday specials and series that saw air time on other channels. To put it simply, we were inundated with warnings that the world would end TODAY!

But we’re still here. Why? What happened? Was everybody wrong? How could it be that all these disparate groups came to the same conclusion about the same exact date, yet were all mistaken?

Predictions are a tricky business. Just ask anyone who used to work for the Psychic Friends Network before it declared bankruptcy in 1998 (why didn’t they see that coming?). And End of the World prophecies are far more complicated than individual predictions. History has given us a long list of people who failed in that endeavor…most recently, Harold Camping, whose Family Radio International plastered the country with warnings that the Day of Judgment would come on May 21, 2011, then recalculated after 5/21/11 came and went. The next date Camping selected was October 21, 2011. When he found that the world was still spinning on October 22, 2011 and people were still doing their things, Mr. Camping wisely decided to hang up his Doomsday hat. Nostradamus, the most famous predictor of catastrophes, wrote about his “visions” in vague terms. For example, consider his quatrain that supposedly predicts the attacks of 9/11…

“Volcanic fire from the center of the earth
will cause trembling around the new city:
Two great rocks will make war for a long time.
Then Arethusa will redden a new river.”

People who want to believe that Nostradamus had the great gift of prophecy have found very inventive ways to apply this quatrain to the horrible events of 9/11, but I think anyone with a degree of common sense would take issue with these assertions. This quatrain could apply to practically any war, any city with the word new in its title (look out New Lenox, Newark, New Braunfels, New Bedford, New Orleans and New Haven) and any catastrophe that involves a volcano.

What about the Bible’s book of Revelations? It clearly predicts the End of the World. But like Nostradamus, it is non-specific. The author of the book, John of Patmos, speaks of earthquakes and lightening, famine, plagues, pestilence. He paints us a picture that includes falling stars, scorched earth, seven seals, four horsemen and mythical beasts. Consider Revelations 4:8…

“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night.”

How are we supposed to predict the date of the End of the World with information like that? The bottom line is…we’re not. The Mayans couldn’t do it, Nostradamus couldn’t do it, Harold Camping couldn’t do it and neither can we. As Matthew wrote in the New Testament, “of that day and hour knoweth no man” (Matthew 24:36).

End of Days prophecies make for great entertainment, but they are poor guides for us to follow. However, if any of you stopped paying bills or maxed out your credit cards with the belief that December 21, 2012 would rid you of all debt, I extend to you this comforting thought: if the past is any indication of the future, you’ll have many upcoming Doomsday prophecies on which to hang your hopes for debt deliverance.

Musings on the finale of HBO's BOARDWALK EMPIRE

December 10, 2012

As my readers know, this blog is all about the melding of history and entertainment. Fortunately, there is never any shortage of material that fits into that category. One of my favorite history as entertainment programs is HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. For those who are unaware of the show, Boardwalk Empire is the creation of Martin Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, Terence Winter, Tim Van Patten and other very talented filmmakers. It chronicles the exploits of Enoch (Nucky) Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi) as he uses largely illegal means to control Prohibition-era Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Nucky Thompson is technically a fictional character, but he is based largely on corrupt politician/racketeer Enoch L. Johnson (Nucky Johnson), who controlled Atlantic City from the 1910s until his imprisonment in 1941. In Boardwalk Empire, the fictional Nucky Thompson cavorts with an assortment of real-life historical figures ranging from prominent members of President Warren G. Harding’s cabinet to gangsters like Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Arnold Rothstein. The African American character Albert “Chalky” White seems to be loosely based on a real-life boxer from that time named Chalky Wright, though the character on Boardwalk Empire is a bootlegger, not a boxer and the real Chalky Wright actually spent very little time in Atlantic City in the 1920s.

The season two finale of Boardwalk Empire aired a little over a week ago (Sunday December 2, 2012). It was good and left me longing for more, but it wasn’t as surprising as the finale for season one, and it wasn’t as exciting as the previous episode promised it would be. The season one finale brought viewers the death of James Darmody, one of the most complex and pivotal characters in the series. The episode prior to the season two finale brought Al Capone and Chalky White to Nucky’s aid and promised an unsteady alliance for the final episode. I was a little disappointed by the conclusion of season two because, based on the ending of season one, I was expecting to be hit with something totally unpredictable. Unfortunately, the season concluded the way I expected it might with villain Gyp Rosetti meeting his Maker and Nucky regaining his empire with his brother Eli Thompson by his side. I would have preferred to see something a little bit more by the way of a cliffhanger for the main character. I also would have liked to have seen more of the plight of former Prohibition Agent Nelson Van Alden. Those of you who watch the show know who I’m talking about. Former agent Van Alden is one of the show’s most dynamic characters who, at the end of season two, is in the midst of a transformation from incorruptible do-gooder to gangster. It is a great journey for the character and one I would love to see further developed.

I think I was expecting more from the finale of the second season because the actors and filmmakers of this series have consistently done an incredible job of sucking me into the drama and giving me characters I legitimately care about (even the really bad ones). Viewers of Boardwalk Empire have a lingering sense of inevitable catastrophe as we watch the series unfold. We seem to be forever waiting for the volatile characters to explode and take much of humanity down with them. It’s an excitement we relish…unpredictable, simmering just below the surface, ready to surprise us at any moment. That is why I was mildly disappointed by the last episode of season two. It promised the volcanic detonation I had come to expect, but delivered the equivalent of a few sticks of dynamite exploding in an abandoned distillery.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love the show, recommend it highly and can’t wait for the start of season three. I just want a payoff in my finales that is not what I expect…like when Nucky Thompson killed Jimmy Darmody at the end of season one. Now that was a finale!