We decided to rent The Thin Red Line. Wasn't sure about whether or not I'd like it or not - aside from Apocolypse now, I'm not a fan of war movies generally.

Just as the really intense fighting scene was coming to a climax, our screen began to shrink vertically. It got smaller and smaller as the fighting became more and more violent. Finally, as we could hear screams of anguish, the screen settled at a 2" band of picture, through which the action was barely discernable.

"Wow", I said to my husband, "that's a really effective metaphor."

"Yeah, I get the part about the thin red line, but . . ."

"It's explaining how war minimizes our humanity, and makes us smaller in the eyes of everyone." (By now I am in full English teacher flight). "It shows how we are all diminished by violence, and how we need to turn from it to attain anything of lasting value . . . .blah, blah, blah. . . ."

After about ten minutes or so of this, my husband said to me, "It's kind of weird that the director let this continue so long. It would have been really annoying in a theatre.

At which point we turned off the V.C.R. and realized our T.V. had broken.

te ("Nice metaphor," said my husband) ach