At last the 2012 Olympic Games are finally over, the media frenzy and commercialization has ended, and now we can collectively address the tragic shootings that occurred in Aurora, CO and the Oak Creek, WI those awesome pictures from Mars.
Seriously, while more science would be better, the fact that professional sports commands so much of our loyalty and attention is what saps so much attention away from talking about, much less tackling, any serious issues. It took less than a week for the Sikh shootings to get wiped off the pages of most major media websites, while the fucking Spice Girls reunion, the fashion sensibilities of privileged royalty, and Usain's ego eclipsed any mention whatsoever of inconvenient, upsetting reality.
The chest-thumping American medal count might have beaten every other country, but so does our body count.
Dude, take a break! The great thing about escapism is that it's escapist.
ReplyDeleteOur culture has been escaping for so long we no longer remember where we started. I watch television news and marvel out how much totally irrelevant crap gets pushed in our faces while the real business of strip-mining the economy and manipulating the commoners goes conspicuously unmentioned. No surprise, since the same moneyed interests control our access to broadcast media and the policies they would prefer to conceal behind HD video of some actress's boobs that might as well be the surface of Mars for any chance I will ever have of visiting there. We're given the illusion that we have some sort of relationship with celebrities while many of us have trouble naming our neighbors. Forget your troubles! Party on! That's the spirit that founded this country. Oh, and support the troops, whether you approve of how they're being expended or not.
ReplyDeletedaveriwsz: 90% of my damn life & work is escapist. But no I hear ya.
ReplyDeleteSoon as the elections are over I'll get back to funny beavers.
Sooner than later actually, as I just ran away to the mountains (again), and now everything's better.
cafiend: I like the traditional Nemean Games being revived in Greece as an alternative to the Olympic: sponsorship and advertising is banned and they don't go so far as to run naked, so there goes that commercial appeal.
I was working on some panels based on the idea that modern Olympians should compete in the nude. Fencing would be pretty brutal. Beach volleyball wouldn't have to change much. But the merger of nudity and potential injury in most sports would be unbeatable in the ratings.
ReplyDelete"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"
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