“Take the risk of thinking for yourself, much more happiness, truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way.” (Christopher Hitchens)
Ahem, amen. As America pretends to care about the Oscars, to hang on every word, to watch each alleged and putative star traipse and perambulate down and up the red carpet, as we feign an uncontrolled interest in the organically irrelevant, the news that must be addressed is again overlooked. Yet, I admit, it always fascinates me as to what makes a film classic in our own mind. What were the films that changed your life? That represented a seminal moment in motion picture excellence. And as neurology and psychiatry become more adept at singling out the particular brain areas that are affected during moments of entertainment, one day soon producers and directors will be able to target particular brain center activity for a particular reaction irrespective of what it means to and for the script and momentum of the story. Very soon, biofeedback and neurolinguistic metrics will be a part of the filmmakers toolkit to ensure audience approbation and the film’s success. The plot and art be damned!
Get thee to a notary! I also take time to pay tribute to a friend of my wife’s and mine who recently passed away, Lesley Gore, who enjoyed at the ripe old age of 16 international musical stardom the likes of which there is no comparison today. She reminds me of a time when the notion of international was more a kin to universal. With greater platforms and vertical delivery today more people are able to spread the message faster and with a greater range than eever before. But relative to the success of yore, today’s stars do not enjoy the same relative audience and relative penetration that they did then. Relative penetration. (Your pun here.)
Antepenultimate. I also speak to the notion that there is anything today that remotely could be considered shocking. That which shocks and shakes our collective conscious has been so diluted by virtue of the persistent and continuous exposure to virtually and literally everything that nothing is capable of horrid. Other than the neck tattoo.
Valedictory. In any event, I commend to you the attached disquisition on that which I find to be of critical importance at least for today. Perhaps.
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