"...Delicately Suspended Between The Forces Of Good And Evil."

If you think there's no justice in this world, then you're probably just too impatient. The cycle of adjustment rotates at an arc that looks practically flat to the naked eye. This may seem frustrating to those seeking immediate corrections, but swift justice is rarely accurate -- and itcomes with its own consequences in the long run.

Case in point: the 1932 hit movie Letty Lynton, starring young Joan Crawford as a young socialite who inadvertently gets away with murder. It turns out that the script adhered too closely to the plot of the play Dishonored Lady, and a court ruling killed the film's distribution; it's been hidden from public view since 1936. Hardly fair, since the both stories were inspired by true events. In 1947, Dishonored Lady received an official film adaptation, starring Hedy Lamarr. To this day, Crawford's performance has been minimally accessible via bootleggers and private screenings, but for the most part the entire film has been buried beneath decades of woeful neglect.

Thankfully, the internet tends to overrule these kinds decisions in favor of artistic freedom. Letty Lynton is now available for viewing on YouTube, in ten parts. Here's the first installment:

How long will stay up before someone takes it down? How long will it stay down before someone else puts it up again? Will a rabid retro-fashion craze be ignited over Crawford's floofy white dress, just like in '32? These are questions that only time can answer -- at least until 2025, when Dishonored Lady's copyright expires and makes an honest woman out of Lynton.

I was really intrigued by all the images I saw of Crawford in character. Something about the symmetry of her poses (and even her black/white outfits) really suggests the classic figure of that most severe of Cardinal Virtues, the lady Justice. I doubt this is accidental, considering the way the movie uses its titular hedonist to examine concepts of guilt and innocence. That shot of her in the floofy dress is a perfect example of this -- the dress screams girlish purity, but her face is eerie in its knowing ambivalence. One hand grasps the pale curtain and the other grasps the black curtain, as if she is delicately suspended between the forces of good and evil. Just as we always suspected, Joan Crawford is both Yin and Yang. Meditate on that, Christina.

Arriving, as it does, immediately after the Wheel of Fortune, the Justice card helps us make order out of the chaos we've experienced. It entreats us to adjust our position, to listen carefully and then attune ourselves to the music of the higher realms of consciousness. Doing this requires you to sacifice your prejudices and consider perspectives that challenge your subjectivity, and it also requires you to act on your decisions and set the standard for others to follow. What seems "just" to you may seem ludicrous to others, but that's what appeals are for. The important thing is that you are perpetually questioning and adjusting, questioning and adjusting, edging ever-closer to a more harmoniously balanced grasp on reality. [Via]

Previously On Arcanalogue: Adjustment