I was thinking of being lazy today and just posting an article I wrote elsewhere about Turkish accession to the European Union, but I decided most of my readers would rather see this:
Pretty fucking sweet, no?
Except there's something wrong. Hard to explain. Figaro remembered the clip above from his childhood and showed it to me while we were snaked to the gills, and then we looked for more. It looks like the man who was Piffy, based on the one video we saw of him as a grown-up, may have turned into (?) a nutter. Maybe he hasn't; maybe the video we saw was a weak part of an ongoing online YouTube joke, but he seems to be a nutter.
And then one asks oneself, poor kid, his parents were probably awful to him in my terms by making him practice that act ad nauseum, and who knows how that would ever not make you a nutter? I've been on extremely intimate terms with enough people whose parents could only show their love in difficult ways (which made them difficult people in the end) to feel sort of queasy at this prospect. Not queasy out of sympathy, but queasy that I have to think about these things in terms of complete strangers. It feels far too intimate. But maybe it's my fault for watching him on YouTube when I wanted to be further amused by his act. Maybe it's my fault for wanting other people to amuse me once in awhile.
But what the fuck is WITH people posting videos of themselves on YouTube? I only realized this weekend that there are THOUSANDS of people who do it. I sort of knew from having to cover that Loney Girl shit for my work magazine, but I didn't understand until just now.
What I don't understand is why it's such a mystery to me. With this blog I can pretend it's just a question of personal expression and I'm not just splashing my own brand of nutbarishness across the screen. I write for a living for a crappy industry-promotion magazine so this is a way to be allowed to write with my real opinions, swearwords and shitty grammar. But those seem like lousy excuses even to me, and I'm sure most people would say it's probably something like the same exhibitionism that makes people post emotional videos of themselves on YouTube.
The thing is, videos are different. Harder to just look away from. More raw than words. Stopping it feels like you're insulting the person who made it. And then being presented with the video feels like a hijack of my faculties for intimacy, and that makes my tummy feel funny. From what I remember of TV, that was part of the reason I had to stop watching it. Too many highly personal narratives. On reality television, even on fucking commercials. Too much for me.
I suppose what I'm saying is that the fact that a woman who likes porn and streetfights as much as I do has to make an effort to look away from alot of things these days shows we live in degenerate times.
9 commenti:
I suspect that that's not really the same guy. I'm sure his parents pushed him way too hard, but I bet the worst part of all of this was growing up and not being cute and 'talented' anymore. It's the classic childstar syndrome and what messes so many of those people up...
I was just wondering about the pervasiveness of youtube with my sister the other day. You can pretty much find anything and everything on there. I guess it's just another arm on the branch of our current emotionally-starved obsession (like you said).
Yeah. I like YouTube but I always just thought of it as a way to see funny things that had been on television.
I kind of hope it's not the same guy. But . . . ugh, I can't think about it anymore.
There is a huge difference between video and words. Video is so much more vulnerable because the interpretation is up to the audience. With words, you could say the same but the author has much more control by putting more or less of themselves onto the page. There is less control with home made videos and photos - more reality. There is so much in one's facial features and actions if one takes the time to study them.
Yeah. Words can be editted endlessly. They're like a blunt object that can be used with surgical precision. Videos are only like that in the hands of the specially trained.
Hey I just read your Turkey piece Mistress. Very well written! I enjoyed my afternoon there while honeymooning, I kind of wish I had taken more advantage of spending a week only a few hours away...
Ah, you were on your honeymoon, what were you really supposed to have taken advantage of besides your newly-fettered love slave? If I ever have a honeymoon, I'm only going outside to rent more porn.
Nah, I'm lying, but you know what I mean.
I totally know what you mean. You could only do that for so much each day, then you get hungry and want to see this foreign part of the world that you're in (if you indeed went the 'foreign' honeymoon route)...
that kid was cute in a very scary way. i try to stay away from YouTube because it could get really addictive and i'm already addicted to TV enough as it is.
just the other day i watched Robin Williams and Billy Connolly stand-up shit endlessly. that was fun.
and i think i'd rather a written journal than a video one: i don't wanna have to look at people. :shudder:
Exactly. I look at enough people all day.
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