Week 48: Grease

Dear Avid Reader,

Debt crisis averted. Until November. Seriously, we need to tax the rich and large corporations. They are enriched by the work of EVERYONE in the country. I'm cool with there being rich and poor people, but there is such a thing as gross wealth inequity and we need to address it.

Rant over.

If You Can't Be In Athlete, Be An Athletic Supporter

Censorship is a weird, but totally understandable. No where else in the natural world do creature stop themselves from doing something. If it occurs to a dog to run, they run. A monkey might realize it's great idea to throw a branch, and nothing stops him from doing so. There is no civilization in the animal world. well, there actually is some socialization amongst animals. Insects especially have the capacity to set aside immediate individual needs for the desires of the whole. Where was I going with this?

I guess more accurately animals show no signs of shame. Animals are violent to each other in front of there young. They also have sex in front of each other. But humans don't do this. There exists a fear of damaging a child psychologically. And this is why censorship is totally understandable, because humans are right about the potential for damage. Animals lack the ability to understand complexity and therefore have no way to grasp the subtle power dynamics of their situations. They can never develop an Oedipus Complex. This is what truly separates man from the lower forms, the ability to drive one's self mad.

I'm Gonna Get My Kicks, While I'm Still Young Enough To Get 'Em

Obviously the mental health of children is a real concern, and content exists that could imperil the youngster. This is the understandable part of censorship. The weird part comes in when the line is being drawn. Taste, it would seem, is a very devious enemy in the battle of expression versus the welfare of minors. This is because it usually side with the majority. Taste can be a real d-bag that way.

Sometimes America thinks it's way of doing things is totally right. Actually America does this all the time. And the way America sees it, at least when it comes to movies/TV, violence is OK, genitals and female nipples are not OK, and you should never say the word "fuck" unless it's only adults. These are the ground rules. But there are gray areas, like the word "bitch" or "ass", and what movements are allowed when trying to indicate sex is happening. Because everyone is different, this grey area is always moving, expanding, and contracting. It has led to a polarization of views and, like the political discourse, allows for only those on the extremes to be heard. Sad really.

The frustrating thing for me is not the fact that important discussions of art are reduced to body parts and dirty words. It is the stupidity of how some people behave. More liberal supporters end up defending the most disgusting and vile things in the name of freedom. And more conservative folks set up defenses along lines that are way too restrictive for fear of a slippery slope. And of course there is hypocrisy. An excellent example of this is the movie/musical Grease.

No Use Crying Over Spilled Milkshake

I love Grease. It's a great movie. But I'm sure something strikes every person who watches this movie first when they are kids and then when they are older. That something is that the main plot is about how a nice girl decides to jettison her beliefs to become more promiscuous in order to please a man and, to a lesser extent, her peers. Isn't this the exact thing that most conservative parents teach their daughter NOT to do? I'm being serious here.

I'll let you in on a secret: folks in the theater think Grease is a hilarious joke. This is because every high-school in this country loves to put this play on but always balk whenever it comes time to pick other material that they deem controversial. How can this happen when Grease so packed to the gills with sex? Is it really all that much better than say Avenue Q? And why give a free pass on Hamlet? You got like five on-stage deaths. How did Grease slip through the cracks? Is it the music? The era? is it because the Baby Boomers watched it as they came of age and now they give it a free pass? How did this happen?

Like A Beautiful Blond Pineapple

Of course this is an example of conservative hypocrisy. I don't have an example of liberal hypocrisy because this movie this week is Grease. That and because I lean to the left politically.

If you don't like that you can start your own blog. Writing is the second thing that separates us from the lower forms.

Until Next I Blog,

James