e·piph·a·ny – 3.a. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
I keep getting this itch to rent and watch They Live, one of the less-subtle entries into the camp-filled genre of “heroes who suddenly see things as they truly are,” cf. The Matrix, Dark City, and maybe some film noir like Chinatown or L.A. Confidential. I think these movies are strongly appealing for two reasons: first, there is a part of us that suspects we are all wheels in a machine that is largely hidden from our view. Second, we all want to identify with the observant hero because we want to believe that we are the one who sees the truth clearly, no need for special sunglasses. The problem is, most of us also acknowledge that the likelihood of the first case is much higher.
Lately, I’ve begun to suspect that the curtains between us and the truth aren’t as thick as we like to believe. In fact, it almost seems like we’ve put the curtains there ourselves, like people who refuse to see a bum on the street even when they trip over him and crush the poor beggar’s tin cup. On Sunday, Maggie and I finally went to see Munich (yes, I do bring everything back to a movie eventually.) In the middle of all that shooting and bombing and stabbing, the one scene in the movie that really disturbs me most involves two characters talking while a television in the background plays a foreign newscast. On this T.V., shrewdly left in sharp focus on one corner of the movie screen, you can see an airport worker squeegeeing up pools of blood from a bomb detonated in a crowded international airport. I’m almost positive it was archival footage, the real deal. It truly shocked me to see that, because the news in this country has traditionally been much more censored. We pride ourselves on our free press, but we use it to shield ourselves from true violence in the rest of the world. We might obsess about killer bees or the dangers of lead paint, but we hardly take the time to reflect on the roots of a conflict that has reached out so brutally into our country in this century. Even if we do have to think about it, well, Will and Grace comes on right after the news. Everything will be all right.
dude, you don’t have to go rent “They Live”, you can just borrow it from me…i love roddy piper
Oh man, sweet! I love that movie.
did this all come from the plastic walls hanging in shull?
They are hiding something in there!
You wrote what I’ve been thinking for a while now. *sigh* just like people saying if extra terrestrials do exist, is the government hiding it from us because they think we can’t handle it?….like the way the news makes everything look all hunky dorey with guest cooks showing us how to barbeque for our family in less than an hour. Our lives are so fucking easy. SO fucking easy. People just don’t get it. I wish I could pay more attention to the homeless, but it’s nearly impossible to tell the ones who are truely deserving from the ones who lie to your face, making a mockery out of you. It’s all a gamble. *sigh* I guess as long as we make an effort to reveal the truth it’ll help ease the angst. 😉
I guess I don’t really believe in E.T., but I do think popularized ideas of conspiracy like Roswell and faked moon landings probably appeal to people for the same reasons all these movies appeal to me.
As far as the homeless people go, I’m not sure if it matters whether or not they really deserve what you give them. In both Jewish and Islamic tradition, I think you will find that professional panhandlers have often been looked on as providing a way for worshipers to practice religious devotion. In other words, it is not so much the worth of the recipient that is focused on, but the act of giving alms which is always blessed no matter who the recipient is. This might almost have to be another blog, I’ve been thinking about this quite a lot.
True, but don’t you think that those people using the panhandlers for their own glorification in the eyes of god are doing it mostly for that reason and not because they feel compelled to do so? I realize that people do feel inclined to do it because they truely care for the individual as a person, but when you have an award, such as heaven, awaiting you in the end, don’t you think they were mostly doing it for brownie points? I’m just saying that that’s human nature and it’s also in our nature to be jaded and untrusting of those who will attempt to take what’s ours. I don’t like the idea of giving to people who will use it for drugs and I know the 4th street bums well enough to know that they will. I used to give no matter what. Now I guess I’m jaded. I can tell you tons of stories, sweetheart. Here and in mpls.
Don’t be too quick to judge the religious motivation. Whatever you can do for God, you can do for an intrinsic reward as well. I’m not even sure I believe in God anymore, remember? The point was that no matter who they are, they are giving you an opportunity to practice generosity, which is a virtue. Unwillingness to give what is yours is exactly the opposite of generosity.
Honestly, I don’t give much to the 4th St. bums, either, but that is because I have grown familiar with them. Because of that, I don’t have to put them in my blind spot whenever they are around to alleviate some sort of middle-class guilt. Willful blindness is really what this post was about. Give or don’t give, but don’t practice ignorance.
all right, all right…..agreed. sheesh.