Tuesday 23 October 2012

Balance in a monetary-based economy

I'm sprawled out across the sofa, at around half five Tuesday afternoon, watching the pemier for the new Bond movie Skyfall with Blake livestream on YouTube. Outside, the eerie East Anglia suberban Autumn draws towards a wet dusk. On the screen, the camera pans across the huge throngs of Bond fans, dizzily shouting and screaming at the camera man, or moving absent mindedly to the iconic Bond tunes blasting over several megaphones.
Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
Some gape in vague ecstasy, others fire high screams and jubilantly falsely familiar smiles into my livingroom, their arms extended yearningly. Daniel Craig's face has been printed onto peices of card and laminated; young fans hold these up to cover their faces when they notice the camera on them.
I turn to Blake; "If humanity ever does evolve in the... Resource based economy direction... Which is such a lazy way of refering to what I mean... But if we ever do... We will look back on this and cringe."
Blake reminds me that although I shouldn't get taken in by this sort of thing, my quality of life will decrease if I allow my repulsion to blind me from percieving and enjoying other aspects of this and similar events. This resembles a discussion we shared when we watched 2012's closing Olympics ceremony; me wincing, Blake calm, fascinated.
"The clothes, the expressions, people, the propaganda..." He's able to watch this charade and enjoy the fact that so many people are united in mutual appreciation for a work of art. He remarks on the absurdity of celebrity worship, but his remarks are devoid of bitterness. What an O.G.
The man with the midas touch
A spider's touch
Such a cold finger
Beckons you to enter his web of sin
But don't go in
I think one of the reasons I real so disgustedly is because I haven't fully committed to understanding my perspective. Let me try here. Only within the last year have I learned to recognise the dysfunctionalities of human culture; zen master Blakey has discovered, been inscensed, and accepted.
"You can't let it drive you insane," he says. Balance. "There are millions of live, beating hearts gathered there."
Seeing people shed tears and rejoice for one of the movies which I would say best epitomises glorification of the corrupt British secret service which is fucking with us hardcore off screen, watch them cheer one of the instruments of their captivity, irks me. I'm reminded of one of my later acid trips, what I felt when I turned to my friends and watched them roll on the floor stuffing their faces with junk food and smoke faster than they could spew them out in delerious laughter. Willing slavery! But not freely willing, since we don't actually have a clue what's going down.
These friends of mine suffered addiction to junk food, narcotics and their own egos, and they are also soulful, compassionate and funny people. Living organisms, enjoying themselves. 
I look at them and I see not both sides, but the whole.

2 comments:

  1. This is simply a wonderfully expressed state of mind. I like the way poetry and political opinion mix here, illustrating among other things, how very different forms or concepts can coexist. Our society sends mixed messages all the time and it sometimes becomes impossible to feel empathy for what can be perceived as a madding crowd -- the causes aren't always apparent and emotion can be taken for hysteria. Also hard to distinguish enjoyment for a work of art from hypocrisy and hard to realize that wrong ideas can turn into a work of art.
    Another thing about the latest James Bond: Daniel Craig reminds me so much of Putin (well, okay, a nicer version of Putin) – is it possible that no one has seen the resemblance? Does James Bond become an International symbol putting the British Secret Service and the KGB on the same level? Am I imagining things?

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