Ray Winstone: “Jerusalem” (William Blake Biopic In Limbo)

Ah, Ray Winstone (and, yup, still my “Number One Bear”).  I’ve been following the news of him playing the role of poet William Blake since 2004.  It appears that he won’t be starring in it (if it ever gets produced) as he stated, “I’m getting a bit old to play it now.”

What a shame.  I’ve been eagerly checking out that news, since William Blake’s works were forcefully fed to me by my woofy college professor.  If it wasn’t for my professor, I would have discounted Blake’s works (I originally found them to be simple and devoid of meaning).  Perhaps my views changed because my woofy professor loved Blake?  I’m not sure.  What I do know is that he made me realize that one of Blake’s works was a masterpiece: “Songs of Innocence and Experience.”

And for some reason, when I was reading Bearotic‘s post about the twisted, demented, and very sick online comic strip, The Other Family (a completely whacked out version of Bill Keane’s Family Circus), I can’t help but think of William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and Experience.”

I’ve divided the comic strips into three parts.  So if there’s anybody out there who’s doing a report on William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and Experience,” just read through these modern comics and you’ll get the main gist of Blake’s ideas…

The Birth Of Innocence and Ignorance

The Death Of Innocence and Birth Of Experience

Songs Of Innocence and Experience

Yes, in spite of and because of the comic strip’s absurdity, it actually perfectly portrays the juxtaposition of the innocent, pastoral world of childhood against an adult world of corruption and repression (thank you, Spark Notes!).  I wish this comic strip was around back then so that I could have gotten an A+.  ^_^

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