I’ve had it up to my ears reading pundits begging, beseeching and groveling that Americans take the upcoming 250th July 4th anniversary with historic joy and pride. Independence Day is a favorite holiday of mine—not least because it’s not pushed to a Monday, like, say, “President’s Day,” which allows Americans to bridge a three- or four-day mini-vacation—and it gives me a pleasant jump in the step. I don’t need to be reminded, and, really, the “milestone” of 250 doesn’t mean a lot. It doesn’t take much imagination to know that two weeks from now, opportunists will take the occasion to spell out what’s wrong with the country—watch The New York Times, The Atlantic and whatever operation Bill Kristol is running these days.
The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan at least takes a novel—if off-kilter to me—approach to the call for suitable ceremony, under the headline, “’Rocky’ and the Love of America.” She admits her words are “hokey,” even as she writes that Sylvester Stone’s movie united the country, moviegoers who “embrace [it] to its deepest heart.” I saw, and was underwhelmed by Rocky—although by default it’s the best of Stallone’s subsequent 80 or so films, and only went because of The Village Voice’s hype in 1976. (The New York Times’ Vincent Canby panned it.)
Maybe Peggy also read the Voice, which was first out of the box in its (qualified) acclaim, and went to her local theater, and shed a tear at the end, salting up her tub of inedible popcorn. And Noonan’s memory is a little foggy: Rocky wasn’t released nationwide until December of ’76, long after the Bicentennial hoopla was forgotten, as were the avalanche of Bicentennial advertisements.
But first her requisite lament about the upcoming 4th: “We need more love in things. The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a transcendent moment in the political history of man, comes in a few weeks. Do we sense the mounting excitement? I do not, not yet. But we should all be gentle about it and treat it as something with meaning, and also maybe use it as a corrective for our kids and the young people in our lives. They haven’t seen America publicly loved a lot the past few decades.”
Aye, aye Captain Peggy, and rest assured this reader with keep July 4th in my heart and, if lucky, my wife will permit a small fireworks display in our back yard (Maryland doesn’t have the good stuff, like you can buy in the South) and chuck a few cherry bombs and firecrackers, and wave sparklers in dedication to Jefferson, Washington, Paine and Franklin, among others.
As I wrote in April, in reaction to Matthew Continetti’s similar plea to make the 250th a “boogie night,” 50 years ago I was little moved by the Tall Boats and the canned TV extravaganzas, and didn’t wrap myself in Rocky’s grandeur. Noonan takes it to an extreme, noting, after Rocky knocks down reigning heavyweight champ Apollo Creed: “The next few rounds are the Battle of the Somme, endless bombardment but the battle lines don’t move. Rounds 7 through 14 are Verdun, brutal attrition, with lines collapsing and re-forming.” Historians might find that heretical, invoking the Somme and Verdun, but then again they’re probably the same dolts that proclaim Trump’s presidency the worst “battle for democracy since the Civil War.”
The picture above is of my sons Booker and Nicky, awash with July 4th excitement one year in a trip to Bermuda to see my brother Gary and his family. The boys, seven and nine, were suitably patriotic, and didn’t need a “corrective” on the meaning of the occasion.
Take a look at the clues to figure out the year: Two wild-card teams played in the World Series; the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (55-106) finished last in the A.L. East; Boston’s Pedro Martinez had lowest ERA in the Majors (2.26); Jim Thome won the Roberto Clemente Award (humanitarian); Yann Martel won the Booker Award; Richard Russo took home the Fiction Pulitzer; Dave Eggers’ You Shall Know Our Velocity and Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto are published; A Beautiful Mind wins Best Picture Oscar; Levon Hawke is born and Linda Lovelace dies; the first episode of American Idol airs; and Jimmy Carter has a five-day visit with Fidel Castro.
—Follow Russ Smith on Twitter: @MUGGER2023