Pre-Study Break

So I've been obsessed with a recent internet (as an aside, I think I'm going to coin a new word: 'intercest'; denoting a certain kind of controversy that expands at an exponential rate, thanks to the special hothouse growing conditions of the internet) palaver--it goes without saying that the obsession arises partly from the desire to be doing anything other than studying.  Though it also piqued my interest due to the work I was doing on Heart of Darkness.  It concerns a television show which just premiered on HBO--I haven't seen the program, and it's possible I never will--I don't have a t.v. and I'm certainly not its target audience.  ANYWAY. 

 It's called Girls and it chronicles the lives of four well-off young women in New York City.  It had a lot of hype apparently.  The four principles are the real-life progeny of people who have already made successful careers in the American entertainment/media/arts world.  This fact has people crying nepotism...which on the surface seems like a valuable complaint--but I suspect that many of us would or already have used connections to get ahead in the world.  I first learned of it from the Gawker media sites, then checked out what Gavin McInnes and Benjamin Leo were saying about it on StreetbonersandTVCarnage.  One of the writers of Girls is Lesley Arfin, whose writing I've always enjoyed.  To get to the matter at hand--the main issue people had with the show concerned the fact that though it takes place in one of the most diverse cities on the planet, the main characters are all white, and the minorities that do show up are maids, doormen, bums, etc.  I have spent a few of the small hours pouring over blog articles and comments--some people are quite pissed--and this is after the airing of one half-hour episode.  I suppose the makers can be happy that a lot more people have heard of this thing now.

My main interest lies in the fact that many people were personally affronted that they did not see themselves represented in, what even the makers admitted, is a show about some very priviledged people who lack self-awareness.  As someone who is addicted to the internet, not television, where at least I have a little choice about the crap that assaults my eyeballs, I find it hard to relate to people who place that much importance in the products of mass media.  Nevertheless, I can understand that people might get pissed off if the majority of minority televisual representation is of the servant/underclass type.

I remember going to see the Lord of the Rings movies when they came out--I've loved the books since I was a kid, and ended up loving the films almost as much.  When seeing the books visually represented I was immediately struck by the colour binary between the forces of light and Sauron's minions.  I had long curly hair at the time and it occurred to me how much like the Uruk-Hai I looked--I certainly had nothing in common with the elves and Nordic men on display in the looks department.  I always wondered about that afterwards--I knew that academically, Tolkien studied the myths and languages of the English and Scandinavian peoples, so it wasn't such a stretch that his heroes would come out of that milieu.  But I did ponder if he had any racial theories, in the manner, say, of an H.P. Lovecraft.  Not that wikipedia is the Bible, but I read a bit about him on there a couple of weeks ago--to wit, he did not harbour any hidden racial agenda.  Even if he had, I don't think it would change my love of his books.  Lovecraft is full of overt racial sketchiness, but I bloody love his stories.

And the 'intercestuousness' of the whole Girls thing kind of blew me away.  Accusations of racism, the inevitable 'shove it up your politically correct ass' responses, the character assassination, etc etc etc.  Crazy...I mean, it is the internet, so everything should be taken with a grain of salt, but wow--it got me thinking that maybe the fuss isn't really just about the show, but that perhaps there is a snowballing of a certain feeling out there--now how's that for a clear, precise summation?  

It is interesting to witness the collision of the ironic hipster racism one encounters in places like Vice and Streetboners and the larger media world, populated by people who have no desire to be 'in' on the joke.  I can commiserate with the ironic pose up to a point--for I firmly believe that a strict politically correct stance that is unleavened by humour and yes, irony, is nothing but an ideological straightjacket. However, would I like it if someone was 'ironically racist' to my face?  I don't have an answer for that--well maybe I do--it really depends on who's making the joke.  Set and setting, as Timothy Leary used to say regarding psychedelic trips--is all important.  People started dredging up some things Lesley Arfin has said/written in the past, and taken out of context they really do not sound that pleasant.  The internet is a very unforgiving echo chamber that's for damn sure.  Here's a good take on the whole situation: http://oneuniquetoken.com/2012/04/22/girls-talk/

I'd hazard that it's fair to say that maybe it is after the coronation of a black president and increasing racial diversity in the midst of a worldwide economic downturn, that all our racial buggaboos will start to get a full airing....

Time to read The Woman Warrior.