Talk:Jonas Mekas

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BetacommandBot (talk) 22:43, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Avatar publication
I have a microfilm print of something Mekas had printed in Avatar, out of Boston, in August 1967. It concerns his musings on the evolution of spirituality in America, and the place of saints such as St. Therese of Avila as bridges between ordinary humanity and Christ. --Bluejay Young (talk) 20:24, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

sub-literate
"In 1954, he became editor and chief" ...I haven't a copy of Film Culture, so I can't check the masthead, but I am certain that it doesn't say "Editor and Chief." Most likely, it just says, "Editor," as few magazines include the redundancy "in Chief" as part of the editor's title, unless there is a surfeit of titular editors. Somebody with a vintage copy of the Journal should correct, as this looks pathetically stupid to people familiar with titles in journalism. Bustter (talk) 04:59, 29 November 2009 (UTC)


 * If you're so sure of yourself, why not go ahead and make the change yourself? And if you're unsure, then you have no business being so arrogant. Rosekelleher (talk) 16:46, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Barbara Rubin
Seems to me there ought to be at least some passing mention of Barbara Rubin, who worked closely with Mekas and did stuff like storm the projection booth with him at a film festival in Belgium to screen Flaming Creatures. He obviously thought very highly of her; see the videos of him reminiscing about her: There's a draft article about her currently under review, it would be nice to link back to it.
 * http://www.webofstories.com/play/jonas.mekas/83
 * http://www.webofstories.com/play/jonas.mekas/84
 * http://jonasmekas.com/40/film.php?film=32
 * and his tribute to her: http://jonasmekas.com/40/film.php?film=32

Rosekelleher (talk) 23:49, 8 October 2014 (UTC)


 * I went ahead and added her to the "See Also" list. That's not really enough, but the article is so terse it's hard to know where to fit her in. Rosekelleher (talk) 18:05, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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In 1944, Mekas left Lithuania to escape wartime conditions.
So he left "war time conditions" by travelling in the direction of Germany??? WRONG direction!!! The German Wikipedia says that he typed leaflets for a Anti-Nazi newspaper and that the typing machine was discovered by the GESTAPO...therefore he did not leave Lithuania voluntarily! Another thing is, why did he never come back to Lithuania after its liberation from the USSR? Okay, he was 68 years old... 80.151.9.187 (talk)

Avoiding giving too much weight to one source
In this edit, a user removed a swath of content that seemed to go against Casper's allegations against Mekas. Much of the section was not great (some was pure WP:OR, while other information was of dubious relevance. However, I'm admittedly puzzled by the removal of this source, which was published in the same publication as Casper and seems to criticize the allegations. From a WP:NPOV perspective, I think it makes sense to include both in the bottommost section (assuming that the section should exist). — Mhawk10 (talk) 22:19, 26 April 2022 (UTC)

Controversy over wartime activities
I’m deeply disturbed by efforts to continually revise this page in favor of Casper’s journalism. The page is repeatedly modified to present Michael Casper as the lone voice in this debate. Quotes from long-established Sovietologists and Holocaust historians are being regularly removed. An historically disinterested and objective contributor should acknowledge that Casper’s allegations are controversial in the eyes of respected scholars. Not a single historian of the Lithuanian Holocaust has expressed support for Casper. On the contrary, two respected historians (Robert van Voren and Saulius Sužiedėlis) with longer academic careers and more accolades than Casper have doubted Casper. But any reference to their criticism of Casper is regularly removed. Casper’s support has come from two film critics and a JTA journalist - none of whom are trained historians. 66.65.110.16 (talk) 09:36, 18 July 2022 (UTC)

Link Maintenance
I've removed all external links in the body ofthe article, and some unnecessary links in the External Links section. Will attempt to convert some of the latter to inline citations before removing maintenance template. Matuko (talk) 02:19, 18 September 2022 (UTC)

NPOV in Lead - Mekas's Wartime Activities
There is an ongoing issue with the lead in this article. The depiction of Mekas's wartime activities primarily adheres to Michael Casper's presentation, with counterpoint from fellow historian Saulius Sužiedėlis consistently removed, citing reasons of "clarity" (diff) and lead length (diff).

Acknowledging the need for brevity in the lead, we also need to consider Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View policy and to present a balanced view of significant perspectives. Sužiedėlis's critique is noteworthy, and its repeated removal could suggest a one-sided view. 2600:4041:5C0E:E500:CD63:D31B:2B38:39FB (talk) 00:50, 22 July 2023 (UTC)


 * Agreed. Perhaps this can be resolved by simply stating that there is a debate among historians over Mekas's wartime activities? 66.65.115.181 (talk) 02:43, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

Mekas’s disputed role as editor
There has been a dispute on this page regarding whether or not Mekas should be credited as an editor of Nazi collaborationist newspapers. Michael Casper claims Mekas was the editor. Mekas has said he was “practically” an editor based on his contributions to doing layout. He later said he was boasting to improve his cv. Sužiedėlis finds no editorial credit given to Mekas himself and finds it inconceivable that the leadership of Lithuanian fascist groups would entrust an editorial position to a person in their late teens and early twenties.

Given these ambiguities, it seems that a neutral point of view would acknowledge that the very notion that Mekas held an editorial position is part of the dispute among historians. 66.65.115.181 (talk) 21:21, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

Confusion over the inclusion of runtime in various entries in the filmography
See title. I think there should be consistency here, and the runtime should be removed from these entries. Also this section beginning with "source:" doesn't strike me as great. 2601:240:D200:55E0:2C27:6F37:CEF0:FEE (talk) 15:00, 29 October 2023 (UTC)