enough to be released

Posted by daneatkinson last year: no fame so i cut off all my fingers 02.25.05/21:45PM - This morning I was woken by the shrill of my alarm clock. I sat up in bed. What odd dreams I've been having. Not unsettling, or frightening, but - odd. I opened my mouth wide and put my fingers inside of my mouth followed by the insides of my lips. There seemed to be a number of chaps, rough area and frayed bits of skin. I took one silver of skin from my lower lip between my thumb and finger and pulled. Doing so made my lip smart; which in turn made me wonder why on earth did I do that? Which makes me wonder about a great many things. Like games of cryptic crossword puzzles.

People speaking like their politicians whom think they're celebrities and vise versa. Have you ever known a politician, movie star, or celebrity give a straight answer to a question? Of course not. And I'll tell you why: because celebrity is about evasion. A celebrity is somebody evading the fundamental truth - that they don't matter. Nobody matters. Everybody exists, nobody has value. Eventually the sun will explode and swallow the earth. Eventually the universe will die a cold death. What will celebrity matter then? Nothing. In order to inhabit celebrity it is necessary to avoid the truth, or else it corrodes your fame. Hence double-talk.

The Academy awards will be taking place this weekend but you won't find me in front of the television. On the red carpet they'll say we're very much in love, I'm even wearing a vial of my life-partner's blood around my neck to signify our eternal connection, and three months later they're both with other people. They'll say it was a joy and a pleasure working with X, when what they mean is I hate him, he stole my limelight, I wish he were dead. They'll say before I collect this award I'd like to thank to following people, when what they mean is Me! Me! I did it! My glory! I'm at a state of annoyance shifted along side a kind of desperate pleading. I really don't understand much at all. Can't it just tell me what is going on? What do you think? What are you, anyway?

If you were to ask me I'd say I'm the guy who's about to start his own country. I would make it sound like some roller coaster laden paradise when in fact it would be nothing more than an island laced with high-powered explosives. And, after killing thousands of innocent people, I'd go on 60 Minutes and tell everyone I was the leader of a worldwide death cult. End post.

fwd >>

I’ve been away from the limelight I must admit. The weekend has its side-effects and sometimes I myself never want to escape from it. In fact, to my amazement I finally lifted my hand in painting with wax candles and oil paints on canvas. A first to heal myself in sometime and to erect some artistic abilities from the usual florid psychotic episode of writing.

So, the big news is the 78th Academy Awards, when watching it you'll never know there was a war going on. You wouldn't know that the U.S. President has admitted to impeachable offences, illegally spying on citizens, or that Patriot Act 2 was just confirmed, making McCarthyism seem more like the not-so-distant future than the past. In a fairly common combination of self-congratulation and cowardice, Sunday nights Oscar movie award extravaganza failed to say much at all but what else should we expect, really? This is, after all, the big awards of Hollywood not Hands Across America. But perhaps we expect more because Hollywood says a lot about where our culture is heading. As George Clooney had said in his acceptance speech, "We're the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects.”

Is Hollywood feeling the free speech chill that comes from living in a time when this administration calls any dissent traitorous, or do these folks really just not have that much to say?

But what did you want? ...that's right...Jon Stewart. He really did well I might add and had some interesting digs at the Bush administration, which I wasn't sure everybody in the audience got. He lead a cry of "No Blood For Oil!" and told everyone that they should be Artists Who Say Something?

But of course, these folks are entertainers. You have to give them a hand that the movies they made this year really did push the envelope if rather inadequately for many tastes, but that's all they could be expected to do. Progressives love Artists and love to think the artist is above all these petty concerns and can do the visionary thing. But often, what is forgotten, is that artists especially in Hollywood have to make a living and political activism really isn't an actor's job description. Though it is nice when they take part, and helpful.

Could somebody have said something with Meaning? Well, if you were attentive enough you may have found comfort in the knowledge that at least the movie themes this past year have spoken to true issues, including:

A) Ethics in Writing/Publishing: Capote;
B) Gender Identity Rights Issues: TransAmerica;
C) Homosexual Union Rights: Brokeback Mountain;
D) Illegal and Unethical CIA Covert Operations: Syriana;
E) Corporate Assassinations and Covert Operations: The Constant Gardener;
F) Racism and Police Corruption: Crash;
G) Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll: Walk the Line; and finally,
H) The Risks Associated with the Scientific Modification of Food Products: Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Finally, If I cared what the Academy thought of music I'd probably have a beret on and be drinking a latte at this shameless stereotype. Over at PopPolitics, Jacyln has some words about the Oscars first-ever rap performance ("It's Hard Out There for a Pimp" from the film "Hustle & Flow"). Short story was that "bitches" will be allowed, while the F-word and the N-word weren't. As a whole, Jacyln's reaction sums it up neatly:

"To review. Saying "fuck," a word, however crude, for a very basic sex act that most adults enjoy, is totally offensive and can not only get you major league fined by the FCC but is way too awful to even think about saying on the hallowed Academy stage. But calling a woman a bitch -- saying, to be conservative, that she is equivalent to a dog -- that's totally OK. And using that word in the context of this song about how hard it is for a pimp -- a man who sells women for a living -- in the soundtrack to a movie about said pimp and how great and misunderstood he is: also completely fine."

Gee, a song about pimps worrying about rent, Cadillac’s and gas money.

Pure Genius.