Paris in Taichung

     It has been a bittersweet French weekend in Taichung. Besides the French bread, which has turned to stone in the refrigerator, three cheeses from France made our tummies smile last evening, even if the wine was Spanish. With the reservations for the Paris Opera House and a few nights in Marseilles made, we watched the musical film version of "The Phantom of the Opera" Friday evening. 

     The phantom, Erik, was a terrorist at the opera for the love and respect he was denied because of the way he looked. In the book, by Gaston Leroux, his mother abandoned him. The Persian (not in the Broadway show) cared for Erik, saved his life, brought him to Paris, but saw how he had become a monster. The Phantom taught Christine Daae^’ to sing like an angel; she loved Erik for what he was, and for his loving her. The police hunted him. In the book, he died fulfilled, loved by Christine. In the musical, The Phantom escaped the opera fire and laid a rose at Christine’s tomb in the final scene.

Waking up yesterday morning to read about the carnage in Paris made me hate the U.S. and French governments for causing desperation in the Middle World. They protect themselves with banks made of marble with a guard at every door, so the desperate resort to the murder of innocent victims in frustration. Do terrorists harbor some ridiculous hope that public pressure will make our corrupted governments change their mind about forcing their economic will on the world? No; it is just revenge and frustration.

 I watched the 1973 version of "The Count of Monte Cristo" last evening, a film about French government corruption, by Alexandre Dumas. Revenge, with unlimited wealth, is possible, but one can never get back the wasted years, or the lover you lost. The Count's biggest motivation was that his father was starved to death by corrupt officials. It is still true for the families of terrorists. What else is there in the world to cherish but love and family? 

Who will lay a rose at the graves of the Paris massacre victims? Keep the governments out of this. Only those who cherish love and family can understand.