Slices of Life
The Seventh Commandment and the Cinema
Why tales of adultery bore me to tears.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, my husband Kevin and I saw the movie Anna Karenina. For the record, Lincoln was my first choice, but it was sold out. This particular version of Tolstoy’s story was mostly beautifully rendered and decently performed, although I thought the casting of Count Vronsky was way off. Regardless, as I left the theater I felt disheartened. This story, like so many others, is basically a celebration of adultery. Well, perhaps “celebration” is not quite the right word, but certainly our sentiments – and our prurient interests – are focused on the unfolding of the illicit passion that drives the plot. Why is it, I wondered out loud to Kevin, that in real life most of us are horrified when we see a friend’s marriage crumble …
