05.30.07
Posted in Social commentary at 3:29 pm by Administrator
The following motion picture is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for brutal violence, sexuality, nudity, and the smoking of tobacco products. Yes that’s right folks the MPAA has reached a new low when deciding whether or not a film is suitable for us simple folks. You see we perceive teenagers as being these sponges that soak up all of the things around them. They have no ability to think for themselves instead they see something and they do it. This is the dangerous kind of thinking that you may recall when shows like Beavis and Butthead went under fire for encouraging kids to drop bowling balls off roofs.
Will this really decrease smoking amongst teenagers? Here’s a clue, they are going to still smoke and movies have nothing to do with it. I’ve seen people smoking in films all the time and not once did I ever think to myself “oh gee I should take that up it looks so damn cool.” Will a film be rated R simply because the people in it are smoking? Would lighting up a cigar be the same as dropping a couple of F-bombs? Will our society ever just realize that people make their own choices and that films, music, and television are not to blame for all of our problems? Of course we won’t because we are a scapegoat society and we always will be.
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Posted in Social commentary at 3:19 pm by Administrator
“Humor is an almost physiological response to fear.” – Kurt Vonnegut
Without a doubt my number 1 literary influence is Kurt Vonnegut. A world-class satirist who used his own brand of dark humor to laugh his woes away. I always felt his work supported my perception that this world is one button push away from finally ending its miserable existence. Yet if one were to read between the lines there was a lot of hope within his characters.
I discovered his treasures late in the game but have since read quite a few of his best works. I can list off some of my favorite books of his but somehow I’m not sure this is what he would want written about him. His works felt like a grandfather sitting me down and telling me the ways of the world. Vonnegut’s astute observations about this life were not unique but he approached them from a different avenue than most authors who fancy themselves in the realm of social commentary. The most alarming thing to me is how all of his criticisms still ring true to this very day. If ignorance is bliss then knowledge is depressing. This is probably why Vonnegut attempted suicide at one point in his life. The more you learn about the world the far less hope you tend to have about it.
What do we do in the face of such horrible truth? The answer is simple, strange, and insensitive, sometimes you just have to laugh. If you’re spending all your time crying and gasping at the news then a lot of your precious energy is being wasted. One of his most popular novels, Cats Cradle leaves us with the image of a dead body sitting high on a mountain, face to the sky, with his middle finger forever positioned toward the clouds. Somehow I would like to believe this is what Vonnegut imagined his legacy would be. The man who stuck it those in charge and yes even perhaps the biggest boss of them all.
“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” – Kurt Vonnegut
So here is the obligatory list of recommended reads if you wish to dive into his works head first.
Slaughterhouse Five, Hocus Pocus, Cat’s Cradle, Time Quake, and Breakfast of Champions.
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Posted in Social commentary at 3:11 pm by Administrator
Why hasn’t anyone in the media truly slammed American Idol for being the cesspool of vomit and fecal matter that it clearly is and always has been? Why do I turn on the news in the morning only to see the anchors bantering back and forth like idiots about what happened on another nauseating episode of Fox’s television version of the bubonic plague. Am I the only one who finds this show to be diarrhea inducing?
Music is an art form and art should not be relegated to a popularity contest. Even worse the American public are the ones voting and its very clear, especially from album sales that a) the winners never sell as much as the losers, and b) America has no idea what the hell constitutes talent or originality. If you dare to display these qualities you’ll be booted out faster then babies from Britney Spears vaginal canals. Can you imagine if Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Hendrix, or John Lennon were to audition for American Idol? They wouldn’t make it past the first round that’s for damn sure.
Yet people continue to vote and I have a theory behind why this show has continued to be so popular. We have so little control over our own lives its nice to watch a television show and decide the fate of someone else’s life isn’t it? It’s the kind of power we wish we truly had but thanks to Fox we can get it every year by voting for the person whom we pity the most. Whenever Simon tells a contestant the truth they either a) kiss his ass because they want to look humble or b) the audience boos him despite the fact that he’s right most of the time. America will vote just to prove him wrong most of the time, as was the case with Mr. Hicks.
So how did you reward Mr. Hicks after his grand win America? You bought more copies of Daughtery then you did of whatever shit he came out with. The real musicians struggle every day to make it but these one hit wonders just have to win a contest to get there. There is something deeply troubling about that and unfortunately nothing is going to change. You will continue to watch. You will continue to laugh at the people who suck and cheer on the new flavors of the week year after year and I will continue to die a little more each time.
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