Sunday, January 18, 2009

Rico72, 1/15

"Fear is the aesthetic du jour"

I found our discussion of people constantly living in fear very interesting.  It seems like every single year there is something new that we have to look out for.  I remember back at the end of 1999 people were panicked the world was going to end because computers would crash.  I even knew a family that bought a bunch of water and canned foods to store in there basement because they were preparing for the worst.  The news that night was reporting any technical issues that were reported and almost seemed desperate for something to happen.

Now we are constantly looking out for viruses such as SARs or Bird Flu.  We are told a bird can kill us!  We are taught what to do and not to do through fear.  One of the best lines in the movie "Mean Girls" is when they are in Sex ed. and the teacher simply says "If you have sex you will get pregnant, and you will die."  This pretty much sums up how Americans are taught to live in fear.

I believe we will probably go through another crisis in 2012.  This is the year that the Mayan calendar ends, and some believe it will be the end of the world.  Although I personally do not believe it, I think the media will do a few reports on it and then depending on ratings they will continue accordingly.  Another movie quote I'd like to reference comes from Men in Black (I swear it's relevant).  When Will Smith asks Tommy Lee Jones "Why the big secret (talking about alien life on earth)?  People are smart.  They can handle it."

Tommy Lee Jones replies, "A person is smart.  People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it.  1500 years ago everybody new the earth was the center of the universe.  Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago you knew humans were alone on this planet.  Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

This quote sums any society up.  An individual person is smart and can be capable of rationalizing a situation, but a mass of people just follow what they are told.  If something goes wrong they all panic together instead of figure out how to fix or deal with a situation.  Men in Black is funny in the sense that the agency makes a joke about how the world is constantly about to be destroyed by some "death beam" or "galactic civil war" but it always gets taken care of and none of the public knows about it.  

My personal biggest fear is simply the world destroying itself.  We have the weapons to do so, and one more conflict could put us over the edge.  I guess I should cut back on the 24.

1 comment:

CMC300 said...

You have some great examples, Rico72, that show our culture's obsession with fear. I particularly like your movie quotes, especially the very relevant Men in Black quote. I think the issue of 2012 is particularly interesting. The end of the world seems to be a very popular theme in movies lately. There is even a movie called 2012 that will be coming out. It seems that movies and shows with this theme do get good ratings. It is almost as if our culture wants to be scared.

-Starfish