I think I must have one of those faces you can’t help believing.
Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).
— Alfred Hitchcock, director
Tag: relationships
This question is opposite to the extreme of the more often-uttered lament that “government should do more to help folks stay married.”
In other words: Does the government have an interest in discouraging lifelong unions?
Unquestionably. It does.
Think about it. Although I’m not a lawyer (and don’t play one on TV), my understanding is that “marital privilege” is a phrase describing the right of a husband and wife not to testify against one another in court. Or, for that matter, any other legal proceeding.
Even if not universally applicable to courtrooms, we’ve gotta believe the idea instructs a lot of behavior at the ground level.
Recall an episode or two of The Sopranos where Adrianna thought this might help her out of a pickle. Or White House Counsel John Dean, who inexplicably married his girlfriend on the eve of giving testimony on “Watergate.”
The divorce process has even more potential. Issue areas need not be bounded by any pesky concern about “relevancy,” because, you know: Anything and everything is said to be by-definition relevant to matters concerning “the best interests of the minor children,” we’re told.
On top of that, the emotional stir of divorce actually seems to have an inherent knack for reaching into the sole of moviation for a lot of individuals such that they pro-actively, willingly dish the dirt on their former loves. The marketed image of legal system “equity” (meaning, this is a place to get even, if nowhere else) creates motive to provide detailed answers to questions “the system” could never have thought to ask.
Imagine:
- The inside scoop on financial records and tax returns.
- Neatly photocopied medical histories otherwise locked behind pesky HIPAA restraints.
- Candid revelations about sexual proclivities, voting histories, and attempts to circumvent handicapped parking space restrictions.
It all strikes me as a lot more efficient and a lot less time-consuming than any of that bulky data-acquisition stuff George Orwell thought would be needed to make his science-fiction world work in 1984.
Maybe no one is acting on this. But we can’t say that government has no motive to do so.
Having a family is like having a bowling alley installed in your head.
Said shortly after he became a stepfather.
obsequious
- marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness
— Merriam-Webster
For me always goes back to: “Don’t be so damned obsequious!” James Bond (“James St John Smythe”), to Sir Godfrey Tibbet, A View to a Kill.
All right, Doctor—. Let’s hope we have time to argue about it.
Captain James T Kirk (William Shatner).
— “The Corbomite Maneuver,” Gene Roddenberry
As long as there are children, there are hostages.
Lex (Ariana Richards):
Alan?
Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill):
Yeah?
Lex:
What if the dinosaurs come back while we’re all asleep?
Dr Grant:
Well—. I’ll stay awake.
Recall that we are introduced to Dr Grant as a man who is both uncomfortable with children and actively disinterested in changing that. At one point, he answers a question by telling a story designed to frighten the lad who’d inquired of him.
The dialogue above symbolizes his growth through his character arc in the movie. All the more so in that it is not only compassionate, but plays against his nature — responding to feeling with feeling, as opposed to an attempt to dissuade through logic.
Generally damn good parenting.
— Steven Spielberg, director
We also need to realize that every happy, successful couple has approximately ten areas of disagreement that they will never resolve.
— Diane Sollee
Rather flies in the face of promises made by opportunistic divorce lawyers and jealous “friends” intent on exploiting marriages in distress.