…And what it is ain’t exactly clear,” but it’s getting less fuzzy with each passing day.
I haven’t written a post in quite a while (sorry about that), partly because
I’ve been busy with other things, but mostly because the events of the past
three weeks or so have left me uncharacter-istically speechless. I’m angry,
confused, sad, and feeling rather hopeless – more so than usual. And as one who
chooses not to keep up with today’s exceedingly mediocre pop culture
(particularly during the Stupid Summer Film season), it wasn’t until Thursday
night’s Sharknado attack that I
realized much of the country must feel the same way. A critical level of Mass
Ennui, a sense that everything is coming apart at the seams. America is having a nervous breakdown.
For sure, there have been
hints coming from my circle (more of a long extended zig-zag line, really) of
friends. One is coming undone, losing her sense of personal identity due to the
injuries of a super-concussion and a host of huge related stresses. Another is
feeling totally empty, pointless, worthless, also no clear sense of self
because of PTSD, aging, and depression. Yet another is at the end of her rope
from a job she loathes and a year’s worth of aggressive but fruitless
job-hunting. Others are feeling generally desperate; still others are keeping
frantically busy; most are burdened with pressing responsibilities and an
obstacle course of additional problems. We’re all dumbfounded by the state of
the nation, world events, and a hazy, unpredictable future. We’re all
soldiering on, but most of us are ready to plotz.
Here’s a list (in
essentially random order) of the things about which I’ve felt I have nothing
new or important to contribute in the ongoing social and media conversations:
1) The inexplicable
behavior of a fantastically do-nothing, primarily absent Congress led by a man
totally lacking in courage or conviction about anything.
2) The increasing power of
a wildly extreme right-wing minority fringe that is swallowing the
already-unrealistic, heartless, GOP.
3) The frantic,
disjointed, disheartened Democrats who are spread thin across a vast spectrum
of urgent issues about which they can do essentially nothing.
4) A smart, even-tempered,
President who is being attacked, disrespected, and disregarded at every turn,
while he cheerfully attempts to cope
with an unprecedented number of domestic and foreign crises with zero
cooperation.
5) The plight of
traumatized foreign refugee children, as well as the uncertain fate of the
“dreamers” – American adults who were brought here illegally as children and
may well be expelled from the only country they have ever called home.
6) The global anti-Israel
(in many cases anti-Semitic) response to admittedly horrific violence against a
rogue government whose stated goal is the utter destruction/obliteration of the
Jewish State.
7) Vladimir Putin’s
apparent belief that he can re-create the Soviet Union and establish a
perception of himself as a great and mighty world leader.
8) Numerous planes falling
out of the sky – some by accident, some by attack, all to the mortal detriment
of ordinary civilians just trying to get from point A to B.
9) The increasing general
madness and particular mayhem against women by Islamic extremists in the Arab
world and Africa.
10) The deliberate
marginalization of numerous Americans through racism, poverty, misogyny,
unwarranted imprisonment, and both corporate and political greed and chicanery.
11) The dangerous
consolidation of media, among both delivery systems and content
providers/creators.
12) Inflation,
Frankenfood, gentrification, unaffordable housing, old-school police brutality,
and extreme weather.All of which is why a cultural phenomenon like Sharknado could grab the country’s attention. It also explains film’s and television’s solid diet of zombies, vampires, werewolves, suddenly powerless super-powered saviors, and an inordinate number of movies by Tyler Perry. When the horrors of reality surpass the terrors of imagination, we’re left with the poorly crafted ridiculous.
And I don’t know what to say about any of this.
No comments:
Post a Comment