First, I was going to tell you what was wrong with the Lost finale.
It is: That it was exactly like the buildup to the war in Iraq.
All the unanswered questions. Why can't we wait to find out from Hans Blix, U.N. inspector, whether or not there are WMDs? Why do we have to invade now?
Who made up those yellowcake stories?
What about the Downing Street Memo?
WAIT...EVERYONE IS FORGETTING. You are all forgetting!
Oh, and then it KILLED ME that people were content. Absolutely no reason why anything happened and instead simple absurdity and the absurdity is defended.
And there's me, infuriated, sitting in my chair, computer at hand. WHY DOESN'T SOMEONE DO SOMETHING?
Someone must be held accountable for this...Lost Finale...Who is going to pay for all the holes in the plot.
Who is going to pay for all the wrong of the war? Are we just going to pretend that all that stuff never happened? The Polar Bears? The lootings of the greatest archeological legacy that existed on the planet?
But I never quite got a chance to tell you that.
And then I was going to talk about some people I think are wise and how wisdom is horribly underrated. We don't even pay attention to the wise in our culture. Wisdom is invisible but we've never needed wisdom like we need wisdom now. Well, maybe we have needed it. But as a species, we tend not to run up against utter catastrophe like we have lately--over the past 75 years or so.
We've had our crazies but they are kind of globally enabled in a way they've never been. Genghis Khan did pretty well for himself though, considering.
And then I was going to discuss the depredations of age.
But no! No, I do not have time for that. I have things to do, people to see. Mostly: Things to write. Things almost no one will read.
Here's an article about quitting the internet. Something I'm not in a position to do but something which I pathetically think will make me superhuman. Until I remember those years I lived without the internet and how the NY Times and other books and magazines simply stood in for it in terms of time-wasting.
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE. And don't forget (1) We might be doomed (2) We should try to save ourselves anyway. Because what the hell.
One of my partners on our blog wrote a piece about the state of things and well, how much terrible crap there is and how really it isn't new...well, she said it better. You might look at it. It's called Curmudgeon.
That being said and the LOST finale not withstanding I guess, in spite of everything, I still choose optimism. I still choose to believe that we can, will, and do save ourselves. It is and must be choice though- not a la-la-la don't worry be happy ethos.
In view of global tragedy and corruption and personal terror and fear as my darling child struggles with illness I guess I just must choose optimism. Maybe it goes back to my grandfather. He used to tell the story of the fears before the personal automobile came into being. The experts of the time were much afraid that, at the rate the world using horse driven carriage and cartage, the world would be covered in horse shit and horse carcasses. It was a very real fear. They had the math to back it up- it also didn't happen. The world changed as a result of these and other fears and innovators innovated and now we worry about the internal combustion engine instead of horse shit but, well, I need to believe that we will fix THAT with even newer problems and that the drive to keep fixing it is reason enough for my choice of optimism.
Clearly this is a simplified version but at the same time, in it's simplicity, it kinda says it all:
our narrow focus cannot be all there is. Our job as humans is to become better at being humans and as long as people somewhere are still working furiously on the horse shit problems I choose to be optimistic about their efforts. Maybe I need to be optimistic about their efforts.
As for the LOST finale- it was always about Jack.
Posted by: Our Boom With a View | June 06, 2010 at 06:55 PM
Thank you for your comment. Reading it, I realize that I probably cannot be an optimist. But it would be sooooo nice.
But I can be hopeful. I hope so much your child will get better soon.
All talk about the finale is just propaganda--It wasn't always about Jack. They made that shit up at the end.
Just like they did with the Iraq war--saying it was all about regime change and democracy.
(I'm kidding, but this is the absurd reason the Lost finale pissed me off so much.)
Posted by: ozma | June 09, 2010 at 11:10 PM
I never watched Lost (I live in India), but I like the way you connect things. Amazing little essay. So much truth and wisdom in such a few short lines.
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HEY! Where are you? I'm missing you on Twitter and stuff. I'm sending out a search party!
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