The Lamentations of Lowry – Chapter 17: Wussification

One of my son’s favorite movies is The Incredibles. He fancies himself a speedster like Dash and loves to demonstrate how his little legs can move.

One of the themes in the film is how everyone loses when people are not allowed to be their best selves. It is a philosophical sibling in some ways to Atlas Shrugged.

The trend towards a toothless and bland populace may be traced back to the early 1980′s, with toys and films that affected an entire generation. From commentator Eric Snider-

In the 1980s, the Care Bears were a major contributor to the wussification of America. Children who once roamed the streets barefoot, playing with broken glass and poking dogs with sticks, were now taught to share their feelings and to care about people. Fun cartoons like G.I. Joe reminded kids how satisfying it is to kill others; lame cartoons like The Care Bears said, “Let’s all sit around and talk about our hopes and dreams!” And what were the consequences? Everyone born since about 1975 thinks they’re “special” and “important” and “unique,” when in fact most of them are “ordinary” and “useless.” Thanks a heap, Care Bears.

The Care Bears Movie is a disturbing glimpse into an Orwellian future where caring reigns supreme and good old-fashioned misanthropy is forbidden. The Care Bears — emotionless, ambisexual drones who frolic nakedly in the clouds and giggle in a most unsettling fashion — rule Earth with an iron, furry fist, spying on citizens in a search for the slightest hint of uncaring. Each Care Bear is named according to its personality: Friend Bear, Cheer Bear, Tenderheart Bear, Pansy Bear, Wuss Bear, Big Fat Crybaby Bear, etc. There’s also the gloomy Grumpy Bear, who is clearly a genetic defect and must be looked upon with pity and loathing by the others of his species.

Much deep reflection is prompted by this pop culture cancer. It does make one wonder- What kind of bear would one be?

I hope none at all. Maybe the hunter who shoots the bear and makes a rug.

Staying Classy

On comedian Wanda Sykes stint at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner:

From Deadline Hollywood‘s Nikki Finke:

…I do think her overall performance was inappropriate for the room, and I say that as a liberal Democrat. Sykes herself was prescient when she began her performance with these remarks: “This is truly an honor to be here. It really is. I keep getting asked the same question, ‘Are you nervous? Are you nervous?’ With this administration, what is there to be nervous about? If I do a good job, I get great press. If I screw it up royally, Tim Geithner gives me a bonus.”

Mike Lupica from the New York Post also weighed in.

Isn’t the real issue here one of class? And not upper and lower class, but the class borne of consideration and self-respect.

But we’ve lost that. We’re not even trying, and the media doesn’t care enough to be fair. And society loses.

Fine Form

30 Rock was especially good last night. Enjoy!

 

more about “Hulu – 30 Rock: The Ones – Watch the …“, posted with vodpod

The Lamentations of Lowry – Chapter 15: A Requiem

This post truly is a lamentation. I lament the fall of greatness, a fall that seems premature given the potential already demonstrated by this man, Vince, the marketer of the marvelous ShamWow.

It is alleged that Vince, full name Vince Shlomi (Mazel tov!), was in a violent confrontation with a purported prostitute. After coming to terms on their arrangement it seems the woman bit Vince’s tongue and refused to let go. He hit her, many times as some pictures I won’t link to show, and he fled to the lobby of his posh South Beach hotel to summon security.

This is a most unsavory turn of events. Clearly Billy Mays now holds the high ground in the InfoWars.

What other shining stars have fallen ignominously due to ill-thought ventures?

• The one-and-only Paul Reubens (see this if necessary)
• The great Wesley Snipes

Who makes your list of star-crossed personalities?

Link of the Day

This site, Tacky Weddings, exposes some truly unbelievable…creativity. This one is astounding.

Enjoy!

LOL!!!!! IRF 4ever!!!!

Eric Snider has a great column on the different kinds of comments found on the Internet.

I enjoyed the column, but thought it missed one other category- the one where people comment on posts that are many months old. If it weren’t for the recent comments box on the right of this blog I would even notice some of these, but I find them curious. As a visitor, I would think that seeing a lack of activity for many moons would indicate a lack of interest or even fatigue on the issue (such as Prop 8). Come on people, just because you have freedom of speech doesn’t mean that you have to use it.

Another missed category is the over-enthusiastic mommy/friend blog commenters. These are true comments from a relative’s blog:

oh. my. goodness.
these are sooo fabulous. your sister is so lucky to have you and your budding talent come and visit!

or

I have been stalkin your blog for a while. I think I found it through {redacted} a long time ago. I LOVE your pictures. You do such a great job. Thanks for all the tips. If you ever want to stalk me you can email me, our blog is private. {redacted}@gmail.com

I could post many more. The last one is especially amusing. Let’s reimagine the comment:

Hi. I don’t know you, but I like to look at your blog. Especially the pictures. Of your kids. You don’t know anything about me. We’ve never met. You can’t even see my blog unless you’re invited, so there is no real way to know if you’d even want to see it unless you actually contact me so that I can invite you. And once I’ve invited you I will make you my friend. My forever friend!!

Anyone else read/received some wacky comments?

The Lamentations of Lowry – Chapter 14: Demons Among Us

My previous post on the rampant TV-caused teenage pregancy caused me to investigate further the major perpetrators of the broader media-borne cultural malaise. For your consideration, the Demons Among Us:

This joker seems to play a notorious lothario on Gossip Girl. Whenever I see him I want to punch his smarmy face. Is he considered attractive with his greasy hair and retro-moneyed attire?

Many women seem to have forgotten the days when this guy had a head about 2 times too big for his body. Now we’re supposed to believe that he is “dreamy.” In reality, he seems more like one separated at birth.

Finally, the Shmonas Shmothers. I dain to mention their name. As this videographic evidence shows, there is myriad evidence as to the unsuitability of these children. Fey gesticulation, feminized voices, overly done coifs, and emasculated attire are all evidences of their perniciousness. As I often say, “Never trust a man in skinny jeans.” One more thing…they can’t sing, yet we are forcefed their mediocrity.

If I intend to provide an appropriate counterbalance to these lupus in ovis aries’ guise, and I do, there is one clear place to start the list of worthy men. These paragons require no embellishment:

Jack Bauer

Jonas Blaine/President Palmer

Jean-Luc Picard (I know…it’s been a while)

Who else makes the Man List?

Remembering MLK, Jr… sort of.

I stole this embed from an Entertainment Weekly blog. Basically it is 40 speeches worth of inspiration in about 2 minutes.

We’ll never give up …our Independence Day.

The Lamentations of Lowry – Chapter 12: Let’s Talk about Sex

Who doesn’t think of the immortal and saucily-named Salt-n-Pepa when they read the title of this chapter? I’ve always wondered how Spinderella felt, being relegated to the middle “n” position while Salt & Pepa had higher profile positions. She was definitely the hot one…but I digress.

I want to talk about sex. A recent study highlighted the following fact: Teens who take abstinence pledges are just as likely to have sex as teens that don’t. CNN broke it down for me just like that. According to a Johns Hopkins OBGYN, they seem to be “useless.” Fascinating…but there’s more.

William McGurn at the Wall Street Journal points out what may be deemed “the fine print.” The headlines mask the real message of the study:

The first to notice something lost in the translation was Dr. Bernadine Healy, the former head of both the Red Cross and the National Institutes of Health. Today she serves as health editor for U.S. News & World Report. And in her dispatch on this study, Dr. Healy pointed out that “virginity pledging teens were considerably more conservative in their overall sexual behaviors than teens in general — a fact that many media reports have missed cold.”

What Dr. Healy was getting at is that the pledge itself is not what distinguishes these kids from most other teenagers. The real difference is their more conservative and religious home and social environment. As she notes, when you compare both groups in this study with teens at large, the behavioral differences are striking. Here are just a few:

- These teens generally have less risky sex, i.e., fewer sexual partners.

- These teens are less likely to have a teenage pregnancy, or to have friends who use drugs.

- These teens have less premarital vaginal sex.

- When these teens lose their virginity they tend to do so at age 21 — compared to 17 for the typical American teen.

- And very much overlooked, one out of four of these teens do in fact keep the pledge to remain chaste — amid much cheap ridicule and just about zero support outside their homes or churches.

Let’s put this another way. The real headline from this study is this: “Religious Teens Differ Little in Sexual Behavior Whether or Not They Take a Pledge.”

 The doctor quoted is named Bernardine- no offense to the Bernardines out there, but I wonder what kind of an impact names have on sexual behavior? This could be another tool for parents concerned about preventing early sexual behavior. Name your child Pincus or Herpesia or Pedofile and they won’t lose their virginity for a long time- maybe never! Again I digress…must be the subject matter.

So as McGurn concludes (If I was him I would give my child the sex-proof name of Chlamydia McGurn) what is more critical is the broader belief set of the youth, more than any specific pledge. This jives with what we learned from previous studies, explained by ABCNews in 2006 (“Racy TV Shows Increase Teen Sex Activity, Study Says”) and CBSNews earlier this year (“Study: Racy TV Linked To Teen Pregnancy”).

Mere exposure to racy TV increases sexual activity, and may even get your daughter pregnant! As an advocate for individual rights I find myself troubled by what may be an effort to control what is on the tube. I can already see the TV rights slogan (modeled after the one used by gun owners): Racy TV Shows don’t get girls pregnant, seemingly polite boys who make bogus virginity pledges get girls pregnant.

Actually, these studies only demonstrate a correlation between sexual activity and risque television programs. As with the virginity pledge study discussed above, the headlines fail to address the sociological factors that affect a variety of choices, including what TV to watch. It just reveals the shocking truth that involved parenting and familial mores has a lot to do with a child’s behavior, sexual and otherwise.

But if you remain unconvinced, name your child Rapist Pervert {Last Name}, R.P for short, and make sure they only watch Veggietales. Better safe than sorry.

Separated at Birth

Here is a picture of two of my least favorite people, Russia’s Medvedev and Venezueala’s Chavez.

What I didn’t realize until now is that Rowan Atkinson (of Bean fame) may be the perfect choice to play Medvedev on film.

No luck yet on casting Chavez.