Briefly

A friend of mine got engaged today and she posted a dozen pictures from the proposal. (No, it’s not the one pictured here.) She and her fiancé went to a very remote and picturesque location — which would normally be quiet and deserted — but there was still someone to take a bunch of pictures of this very intimate moment. I seem to be the one who’s out of step with society on this point, but I am very uncomfortable with the degree to which we are turning our private lives into something that looks like “reality TV.” If this is what you want for your life, that’s your business. I’m not going to tell you you’re wrong. But I don’t want to live out my intimate moments for the world to share. I don’t want to be stage-managing the production of my life while I play a part for the world to watch later. If that’s the life you want, that’s your business, but when I am fortunate enough to ask a woman to marry me, it will be a moment of personal connection between that woman and me. The world will not be watching, then or later.

Hatred for the traditional family has been the subtext of progressive left ideology for decades. Although there has been a serious overreaction from social conservatives — many of whom believe a family can only look like what they have — there’s been serious disdain from social left theorists and from left-wing political regimes. Remember that The Communist Manifesto called for the “abolition of the family.” Now there’s a wing of feminism which is openly advocating the abolition of blood-related families. Feminist theorist Sophie Lewis is getting respectful hearings in the left-wing media for her new book called “Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against Family.” She’s not alone. Less than two years ago, a social psychology professor from City University of New York made waves when she said that white people who are creating white children are somehow supporting “white supremacy.” She wrote, “Part of what I’ve learned is that the white-nuclear family is one of the most powerful forces supporting white supremacy.” Ideas matter. These people are a tiny minority today, but much of the insane things you see being forced on society today started as tiny pockets of lunacy in academia. We can’t let these crazies win. We need healthy families more than ever.

Birmingham’s Sidewalk Film Festival announced the lineup for its 21st year today, and seeing that story reminded me powerfully of 14 years ago when my short film — “We’re the Government — and You’re Not” — was selected for the festival. Sidewalk was the first festival to which I submitted and it was a really big deal to me to have the film accepted here, partly because I knew it would get a big audience and partly because all the local people who worked on it could see it with an audience. The film ended up making it into 20 festivals over the following 18 months or so and it even won a few awards. But nothing was more exciting than that first acceptance and then being able to see it with a huge audience for its first screening. (Even better, they roared with laughter at the right parts.) I really need to make another film. My first film seems amateurish to me now — and I’m confident enough (or arrogant enough) to think I could do something great this time.