a somewhat disturbing thought:
after i read Crichton's most recent work, Next, i was asked by a friend what i felt about the book. i replied that it was very political, and reflected on the trend that his novels were showing beginning with Prey and continuing through State of Fear. i advised the friend to read the novel if he was interested in some interesting political views.
but why was my assumption (a generalized one) that there was little value to be had in political views, or that reading about political views was undesirable? when did being entertained supersede the importance of being educated? why is modern society's take on politics so bankrupt of consideration for the actual issues being discussed? at some point, where one stood on an issue became more important than the fact that there was an issue at all. somewhere along the line, what began to matter more than understanding and knowledge was experience and enjoyment.
somebody needs to stand up and really challenge "educated" people to consider taking a step back from culture and to take time to think about whether or not the small follies that engage an exorbitant amount of our attention have any true lasting value. i'm talking about vapid television shows (reality television, dramas, and the like), internet videos (youtube), social networking tools (twitter, facebook, etc.), and so on. naturally, i am only familiar with culture at my own age level, but is not such widespread phenomenon in this demographic indicative of the environment under which it developed?
many of my thoughts on this matter are as of yet undeveloped, but this dissatisfaction which i am describing seems only to grow with each new experience and with each new pointless cultural twist.
on the flip side, perhaps i simply am unable to see the usefulness of culture. i suppose that my frustration with mainstream attitude is more or less trite, but i will stand by my views when that attitude comes to be reflected upon matter less trivial than television shows such as healthcare reform. perhaps i ought to take anthropology classes as i'm curious as to the comparison between the current "go-with-the-flow" sheep-like attitude of many with corresponding societal attitudes in the past.
a paradox of interest to me for some time has been the discrepancy between America's ideal of the rugged individual with the real "individual" who is no more an island than Mongolia. to desire to be a rugged individual requires at some level affirmation from others that one is a rugged individual, and so one fails to be a rugged individual due to that very affirmation. but this thought requires its own entry to be really fleshed out to any appreciable level.
more ramblings to come.
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in other news, i've decided to use this space to maintain a competition between my various thoughts and my creative writings. feel free to enjoy both.
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1 comment:
Culture is so much more than entertainment. Your own attitudes, even if differing from the mainstream, are born of a certain culture. The Church is itself called to be a culture unto itself, even while its members are distributed throughout the rest of society. We are called to be a holy culture, in the world, but not of it, pure, yet humble, to be light and salt.
And culture, even in entertainment, is not mutually exclusive with "the important stuff." These things you mentioned - youtube, twitter, facebook - can be tools for the greater good. Same with television, and even music. Take rap music for example. It is so culturally rich, yet at the same time socially conscious and brings to light a subsection of our nation that without rap we would have a different or more limited view of.
Culture is unavoidable. Any time a group of people comes together with a set of shared values, that is culture.
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