"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that
spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."
spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."
-- Chapter 2, Verse 15 in the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, via Wikipedia.
Unless I'm mistaken, top Gannett publicist Tara Connell will emerge from this with more authority over the editorial side of the entire company than perhaps any one person has held before. She already controls ContentOne, the former Gannett News Service. That pairs nicely with the production hubs. She appears to have the strong support of her boss, Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore, and the ailing Chairman and CEO. (This assumes, to be sure, that Connell doesn't get laid off, or retires; I'm not sure anyone's safe.)
In a way, I admire what she's accomplished.
And yet, I'm reminded of the final scene from Lillian Hellman's 1939 play -- later, a movie, starring Bette Davis, left, as Southern aristocrat Regina Giddens. In The Little Foxes, Regina outsmarts her crafty brothers for control of a lucrative cotton mill. With her daughter Alexandra at her side, her older brother Benjamin offers, grudgingly, admiration for her victory.But, Wikipedia's entry observes, "The price she ultimately pays for her evil is the loss of Alexandra's love and respect."
Good movie. Great cautionary tale: Set your goals carefully. (I know.)
Related: Watch another pivotal scene with Herbert Marshall as Regina's husband. Plus: More video favorites on our YouTube page.
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Whatever happened to Kate Marymont? I thought she was supposed to be the top journalist at the Crystal Palace.
ReplyDeleteIf only Bette Davis were alive today. She'd get Martore and Dubow in a room. Then, after she let's out a puff of smoke from her cigarette, she'd tell them: "Fasten your seatbelts! You're going to have a bumpy night!"
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