Robert
Pattison right after he saw the pictures of Kristen Stewart snogging their
director. Or me after looking at the current news.
|
Why
in the name of all things holy is a TOP news
item entitled, “Kanye and Kim Expecting a Baby”?! Why is this news? Two half-wits fucked. Big damned
deal. What is wrong with our society
that we have begun celebrating and supporting talentless, brainless thugs and
sycophants? Why are any of the Kardashians/Jenners gracing the covers of
magazines and earning mention on the nightly news? And who the fuck cares that “Hef” is marrying a bimbo 60
years younger than he is? It’s a freaking miracle that the girl has lived 26
years because most babies whose brains stop forming at the stem don’t endure.
What’s
really gross is that both stories serve only to remind us that Kanye/Kim and Hef/CurrentTwat
have sex. Gahhhhhh. Just the suggestion of either Kardashian or Kanye in the
throes of passion (gaccckkkkkk) or of an 86-year-old penis (mouth-vomit) are
enough to gag a maggot. A friend of mine told me yesterday about working with a
mentally challenged youth who would eat the contents of his diaper and then
puke it back up. Honestly, Hef’s dick is more disgusting.
So
why does anyone give a shit about these pseudo-celebrities? I think I have the
answer. Our media is not driven by what’s credible or accurate or of quality. As
it’s always been, what steers the great capitalist herd of our current society
is how much money a television show or a magazine or a movie or an album makes.
The difference is that advertisers bow to whatever group drops the most cash,
and unfortunately for all intelligent life, the all-important demographic of
18-34-year-olds are mostly dumbasses. Education, critical thinking, and exposure
to the ideas of great minds are becoming less and less encouraged. Kim Kardashian
on a magazine cover sells because the folks buying have been told that she is
special and glittery and worthy of admiration; and instead of judging her
merits for themselves, the cattle-class follow along in a big, fucking, stupid
pack, dropping shitbombs of Benjamins to remind us they were here. It’s a
vicious cycle.
The media says, “This book is fabulous!” Idiots believe and buy.
The book becomes a best-seller. So it must
have been fabulous. Gone Girl by
Gillian Flynn is a perfect example. The book was touted as the amazing novel of the summer, it sold a bazillion copies, and
Reese Witherspoon snapped up the movie rights. The problem is that it sucks. It
has plot holes the size of my ass after the holidays, and to anyone with an
I.Q. over 90, the central “twist” was as surprising as the outcome of the last
presidential election. Why is this book being heralded? Because word-of-mouth
and celebrity endorsement mean everything
to people who haven’t used a brain cell in their entire lives.
50 Shades of Grey is another example.
Jesus. I read the first couple of chapters, and I wanted to give myself a home
lobotomy with a blunt knife and no anesthesia. The writing is horrid, but it’s a
#1 New York Times Bestseller, so
people are turning over the cash faster than a freshly released convict at a
whore-shop. Has no one heard of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”? We are being led
by swindlers, people. Wake the fuck up! Quit fueling this insane cycle! Think for
yourselves. If you don’t, you will have only yourselves to blame when you are
led straight off a cliff at the bottom of which you won’t even find your
dignity.
I endorse and echo your comments 150%, Bloggurl.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the issue of meritless fame you describe remains a growing phenomenon in our culture that triggers in me nothing but ire. In this age of Internet immediacy, so little is required for some talentless buffoon or other to leverage his or her 15 seconds of "greatness" into a lifetime of celebrity. In the old days (whenever they were) at least a person had to demonstrate a consistent pattern of excellence to earn enthusiastic and well-deserved accolades from the public. Now all that must happen is for some salivating and avaricious parent to post a video on YouTube, and her talentless son is catapulted into the suggestible public eye, where (with the assistance of greedy "handlers") he rides the wave of overnight fame to a life of unlimited comfort and screaming girl-toys. Bing Crosby must be rolling over somewhere.
My second observation concerns the level of literacy (or lack thereof) consistently demonstrated by the youth of our culture, to which you also refer. As a writing teacher (like you), Bloggurl, I find my fury flamed by Santa Ana winds whenever I encounter students whose "basic writing" skills lie as fallow as cornfields during the Dust-bowl years of the 30s. Not only do these students display in their prose a total ignorance of correct uses of punctuation (commas and apostrophes in particular); but when their omissions are described, their attitude can be best summarized by, basically, "So...?" Simply, they really don't care. The aphorism "If it's worth doing at all, it's worth doing well," falls on deaf ears, and even if they hear it, their reaction is a shoulder-shrug and a look that embraces an awkward blend of dismay and defiance.
The truth is, I only see the circumstance growing worse in the years ahead, Bloggurl, as technical gadgetry increasingly supplants common sense, literacy, and intelligent discourse.
So sad. Too bad.
Hess
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHi, Hess-
DeleteTalk about astute observations! What in the hell are you doing reading this drivel!? You are completely correct that the level of our literacy--and our culture--is rapidly declining, and how CAN it reverse? We can't stop an avalanche! All we can do is arm ourselves with the proper tools to dig ourselves out when the thing is over.
Bloggurl
Just, yet, another reason I do not watch the news. Books aren't alone in what you have described. Movies right up there too. Number one at the box office only means money for the butts in the seats. It doesn't mean the movie was GOOD.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHi, Lisa-
DeleteWhen will I learn?! I have simply GOT to stop watching the news. I keep telling myself that it's important to be "in the know," but the things I learn on the "news" are soul-suckingly negative, flimsy, or both. MORE ON THAT at 11!
Bloggurl
Supremely and superbly stated! A national mind-set of 'I want it all; I want it now; I don't want to work for it' is demonstrated daily in every media outlet. A small amount of fame can blow to hurricane proportions overnight because the MSM is more concerned about viewer-ship than content. Give me a classic novel and some good conversation...screw the news.
ReplyDeleteHi, JK!!
DeleteSeriously! HOW are we going to take back our world?! I can't believe how easily the masses have become baby ducks. Or better yet, LEMMINGS. You and Lisa and Hess and I can set up our lounge chairs, order some banana margaritas, whip out our NOVELS and watch the idiots fall off the cliff together!
Bloggurl
Banana Margaritas?!?!?! I'm in!
ReplyDelete