by R Kadin » Mon Mar 11, 2002 9:42 am
Among the things that has attracted me to this board were the postings of those who have had some active participation in the work of OW and who, therefore, offer a calibre of contribution rarely encountered elsewhere. Your offerings to this forum, Mr. Schmidlin, fall clearly into that category and I, for one, would certainly welcome their return.
I'm not at all familiar with the dispute in question except to express my disappointment that, as can be the wont of any open forum, the good can sometimes get lost in the, uh, less-than-good.
In the interest of all who make a special effort to take time out of their days to come here to learn, teach, share, and just be entertained, I invite all posters first to appreciate what a unique and insightful place this site can be at its best and, second, to understand that it is what appears here which makes this site so.
To the extent that we all strive our best towards that end, not only will we invite an even wider circle of truly insightful contributors and enthusiasts, but we will also keep the bar high enough to make any small minority of thoughtless offerings stand out as the isolated lapses in judgement for which they deserve to be seen.
I'm not talking about the kidding, the fun-poking, and the heartfelt messages that help make this a community as well as a forum. Quite the opposite: it's as evident now as ever that the Wellesian legacy, if it is to be brought to its fullest possible fruition, needs the active support of groups such as this one; so, the more we can muster our collective energies behind ideas and initiatives that further that cause, so much the better.
Case in point: even as we write, there are hours of priceless TOSOTW footage languishing in so many steel cans awaiting a final assembly. Ours is a market-driven society; so, if the size of the demand for some kind of a finished product is known to be large enough, then a product there will be.
Among other things, let's use this forum as a fulcrum with which to overcome the inertia that's keeping this objective out of sight. By putting our heads together here, we CAN, I believe, help make this happen. And the more we can make our voices heard as part of the process, perhaps the more influence we might have in ensuring that a truly worthy effort is made by the best possible candidates for such a challenging task.
YES the result cannot ever be the same as if Welles had done the final cut and YES there will be disappointments; but, by heavens, at least we will one day be able to say that, YES we saw something of the master's last precious work - and, to my mind, that is an outcome which overrides all the risk. I would rather leave this life having seen Rembrandt's portraits, if only through a glass darkly, than never to have seen them at all.
Towards such a goal I would see you, Mr. Schmidilin, as an invaluable ally - all the more reason for me to support your return. And, this time, why not bring along some friends - LOTS of them?