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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Lileks on "Osama the Hero" |
| 2007-06-21 |
| Part of today's "Bleat" Loved this entry at Tim Blair’s site, but of course I love them all. He’s discussing a play called “Osama, My Hero,” which is a brave piece of dissent that forces us to confront our preconceptions. Or would, if anyone in the audience didn’t already share the author’s preconceptions about other people’s preconceptions. The play is described as “provocative.” Naturally. There's no finer word in the modern artist’s lexicon. That’s the role of art: to resist the affirmation of societal confidence, because it leads to things like war and big cars and bigger houses in cul-del-sac burbs where pot-bellied yobs have an entire room for their NASCAR cap collection. This cannot stand; the center must not hold. That rough beast isn’t going to birth itself, you know; we have to rip it out, saddle it up and ride all the way to Bethelem so we can get on with whatever comes next. And whatever it might be it has to be better than this, because THIS is television-as-anesthesia, food packed in tinfoil, guns in all the wrong hands (citizens and soliders, neither of whom can be trusted) and a general willful refusal of everyone else to understand that this is possibly the nadir of human civilization right here, and if they’d stop enjoying their life for one – single – second for a change, they’d realize it. Over here, look at us! We are provoking you! Come and give us a grant, or we shall be forced to provoke you again with a play in which the Pope wears a suit made out of wet fresh placentas and goose-steps around the stage singing Lili Marlene! As Blair notes, a play that makes fun of the other side would be provocative, but it would never enter their minds to do a play about a kid who’s head gets lopped off because he declares Salman Rushdie his hero. On some level they realize that the backlash would be dangerous, but they’ve laid a nice thick moist layer of rationalization over the worries: the nutters may be nuttery, but the people who oppose them are doing so for the wrong reasons, and that’s the real threat. It’s a long way from “Our Town” and “Ah, Wilderness.” And well it should be, because “Our Town” was built on a toxic waste dump and the wilderness was cut down to print TV Guides and Wall Street Journals, man. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 Thank you, Broadhead6. The sad thing is all the sheeple who lap this dung up. Never has the saying, "You are what you eat", been more true. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-21 23:46 |
| #7 Zenster - outstanding commentary. The sad thing is all the sheeple who lap this dung up. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2007-06-21 21:48 |
| #6 Obama ought to change his name. This is too confusing. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-06-21 19:46 |
| #5 As soon as al-Jazeera became sufficiently brave to cheer on Taliban/al-Qaeda during the Afghanistan intervention, Muslim co-workers told me in unison: "we are with Osama; he is the only one who is doing anything for Muslims." Nobody should be denying mass support for Islamic terror. Muslims who are not in al-Qaeda's frontlines, form the rear guard. And the rear guard is still polluting the free world. Denial is our public addiction. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-06-21 18:43 |
| #4 "Provocative" serves in the art world for what "new interpretation" does in the culinary sphere. A vast majority of the time it consists of being different for difference's sake. No innovative genius or dedication to creativity need apply. Just a casual uprooting of traditional normatives in the name of shock jock quality sensationalism. Examine the populatrity of gangsta rap if you have any doubts. Notice how "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" won an Academy Award? Obscenity and offensiveness have been elevated in place of excellence and craftsmanship. Repetition substitutes for depth and monotone for expression. How much of a leap is it to then begin extolling vicious murderers and criminal thugs as role models? Our politicians have abandoned all pretense at leadership whilst corporate icons publicly praise greed and lavish upon themselves in orgies of conspicuous consumption. This is a direct byproduct of moral relativism and represents the continuing triumph of style over substance. Only when this crop of millionaire dilettantes finds their veneer of sophistry has cracked and peeled in the sunlight of reality will their followers begin to realize that substance—like quality and reliability—has no substitute. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-21 14:26 |
| #3 I think this is great. We just need to remind anyone who's not certain that I-slam is a death cult that most 'slammers would like to reward the worlds terrorist #1. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan 2007-06-21 12:25 |
| #2 My favorite part of the whole play is the scene where ramshackle boats full of desperate, starving people set out from San Diego harbor. In a last ditch effort to make it out to the shipping lanes in hope of being picked up by a North Korean warship, their tale of hope and desperation gives solace to my weary soul. |
| Posted by: asdf 2007-06-21 09:52 |
| #1 Since when is Provocative a synonym for Dhimmitude? |
| Posted by: doc 2007-06-21 09:26 |