Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner and adapted from the 1982 book Shoeless Joe by Canadian writer W.P. “Bill” Kinsella, uses baseball as a metaphor for reconciliation, particularly between fathers and sons. The cornfield represents a healing space, where people reimagine the past, symbolizing hope and potential. Critics argue the film relies too heavily on emotional manipulation and lacks intellectual depth while glossing over important issues of racial segregation.
The film’s famous line, “If you build it, he will come,” heard by Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) in an Iowa cornfield, is the voice of his father in an attempt to reconcile their father-son bond. It is a corny (sorry for the pun) but effective film moment, even while ignoring factual accuracy and accountability. The “he” is the ghost of baseball great “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who appears along with other deceased players from the 1919 Chicago White Sox. In the final scene, Kinsella gets to “have a catch” with his deceased father, finding emotional closure and supposedly mending their estranged relationship.
Fred Trump was a successful, self-promoting real estate developer who groomed his son, Donald, to be ruthless in business. In his father’s eyes, Donald understood that weakness was the greatest sin of all and adopted a “killer” mentality to win his father’s favor and secure his place as heir to the family business. “Serve Yourself and Save” was Fred’s business slogan. We see that working today in President Trump’s assault on America, undermining the very principles of freedom, while embracing hateful actions. “Build hate, and they will come” might very well be his battle cry.
We are entering one of the darkest periods of American history, both literally and figuratively. Attacks on our cultural centers and museums by President Trump have been forcefully brutal, unequivocally damaging our cultural heritage for generations to come. Public resistance alone will not stop the assaults. Voters must appear en masse when election time comes and force our legal system to battle the insurgency.
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, a key figure in Myanmar’s fight for democracy, famously stated, “The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear,” a sentiment reflecting her decades of struggle against military rule, which earned her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She became the de facto leader (2016-2021) but faced criticism for human rights issues before being ousted in a 2021 coup. The same words that brought her international fame and recognition in the fight for democracy were used to remove her from power. Her elected civilian government was overthrown.
Suu Kyi faced charges, including claims of election fraud in 2020, inciting unrest, violating the Official Secrets Act, and corruption. The court sentenced her to 27 years in prison, and now she is thought to be under house arrest.
President Trump has actively sought the Nobel Peace Prize, maybe to appease his dead father, claiming victory in brokering various international peace agreements and ceasing several conflicts during and after his presidency. The Norwegian Nobel Committee snubbed him, and he has little chance of ever getting the award, except for the newly created FIFA Peace Prize, a fake award specifically invented by FIFA President Gianni Infantino to curry favor with Trump. With good reason, his attacks on American culture have been persistent and harsh.
Surrounded by a handpicked board of trustees, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, D.C., recently added Trump’s name to the center. He is also the board chairperson. Congress named the performing arts center a living memorial to Kennedy in 1964, the year after his assassination. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior, but Trump and his supporters did it anyway.
New plaques under the portraits of former presidents at the White House, in a series of claims and criticisms, including Joe Biden and Barack Obama, were “eloquently written descriptions of each president and the legacy they left behind,” according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
In February, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) scrapped an award for underserved communities under pressure from the Trump administration. A month later, in March, he signed an executive order to eradicate race-centered ideology from the Smithsonian museums, zoo, and research centers, then fired Shelley Lowe, the first Native American chair of the NEH.
He dismantled the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), claiming it was unnecessary. The city removed the Black Lives Matter plaza in Washington, DC, because Republicans threatened to withhold millions of dollars of federal funding. As the purge continued, his assaults got more trivial and juvenile. A painting depicting the attempted assassination of Trump in a victory gesture replaced a portrait of Barack Obama in the White House.
Trump had removed “The Courage Back,” an important photograph from 1863 documenting the horrors of slavery, from Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia. He fired most of the oversight board for the NEH and the Commission of Fine Arts while he forged ahead with plans to build a ballroom in place of the White House’s East Wing.
In a disappointing move, officials selected Alma Allen, a Utah-born, Mexico-based self-taught sculptor, to represent the US at the 2026 Venice Biennale, a prestigious international cultural exhibition in Venice. Jerry Saltz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for New York magazine and Vulture, said on social media, “He [Allen] is a meh artist. Any artist who took this on would be cursed. There is a pox on America that comes from the corruption and dysfunction of our State Department.”
In Cleveland, Trump cut funds to the Manufacturers Growth, Innovation, and Transformation (MAGNET) center, which helps small and medium manufacturers build on innovation. He demanded the Cleveland Guardians change their name back to the “Indians,” claiming Native American people wanted this, and threatened to deploy the National Guard.
The Trump administration has actively challenged Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies through executive orders and pressure on institutions, affecting local entities in Northeast Ohio. Cultural institutions statewide face financial strain as the administration cuts $2 million in annual federal funding for Ohio Humanities.
Fifty-four years ago, in 1971, massive anti-Vietnam War protests in Washington, D.C., dominated the news, and activists marched to stop the government through mass civil disobedience. Authorities arrested over 12,000 people, which was one of the largest mass arrests in U.S. history. We can and should do better.
American soul singer Marvin Gaye summed up the sentiment when he released “What’s Going On” the same year.
For only love can conquer hate
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today, oh
Wishing you the best in the New Year. We are going to need it.
Bruce Checefsky is a filmmaker and photographer, and published writer. He is the recipient of three Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, and four CEC ArtsLink Fellowships.