Maybe Kanye West is a genius after all.
We are in the midst of a large ideological shift in America. Where the Bush administration left a lingering sense of disgust with the condition of American humanity on the pages of history, our new ideals are not opposite ones, but realistic ones. We are realistically gauging our misdeeds and trying to actively combat them.
Carl Jung called it the animus. In "Star Wars," it's called the dark side. Genesis 8:21 says "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." With President Obama winning the peace prize (deservedly or not), it is evident that the world is taking notice of our ideals once again. America has done bad things. We waged a war that was proven to be based on false information. We let our greed corrupt us to the point where our economy exploded, and we have jeopardized the future of our youth with short-sighted decisions about the environment. Yes, we have given in to the dark. But something is happening, and it is clear that we can't turn back time to make things right, but we can fight back.
The beauty of our culture is that it can mirror our ideals, or nudge us in new directions of action. There are some current works by popular American entertainers that illustrate our new ideology more than any words ever could.
Kanye West, "We Were Once a Fairytale"
A short film by Spike Jonze
This film features West in a club acting boorishly. He's the golden child, caught in drunken wonder over the fact that his song is playing through the club's speakers. He bumbles around, annoys people and has anonymous sex with a sexy female stranger. He ends up laid out on a tile bathroom floor, spent. He vomits. Flowers spew out of him. He finds a knife and cuts himself open. He pulls a demon puppet out of himself, and hands it a mini knife that was attached to his bigger one. The demon commits suicide. West is America. Full of promise, but selfishly squandering potential through bad decisions. We want him to succeed, but how many chances can we really give him? He's fighting the dark, though. Are we?
Brand New, "Daisy"
Brand New is a rock band from Long Island. Daisy" is a follow-up to "The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me," a brilliant album drenched in personal torment. "Daisy" is darker, moodier and more ominous. Singer Jesse Lacey has tapped into something so raw and pure and he's screaming bullets at it. Lacey writes songs that make gray clouds explode with thunder storms and then drizzle. In "Sink," he sings, "How darkly the dark hand met his end. He was withered and bony, exposed for a phony. But we heed the last words that he penned. Haste to disgrace the traitor. Do not wait til later."
Michael Moore "Capitalism: A Love Story"
I do not profess to be a Moore fan. I do not necessarily agree with his politics, but he does know how to make a good movie. What he really brings to light is the culture of disgusting greed that has mutilated and decimated our society/economy. While the rich get richer, the poor get laid off. Our society was built on the idea that we could work hard and get somewhere. Not the idea that we should refinance our houses and buy shit. How much money do we really need? What happened to altruism? That money isn't going to fit in a suitcase when you die. Michael Moore, in his own special way, is fighting the darkness.
So you see, enough with giving in to selfish, dark desires because they seem natural. Enough of accepting the dark without question. Fight. I'm not talking about religion, I'm not talking about spirituality. I'm talking about responsibility. A responsibility to get our shit together and be the person we wish to see in the world. A responsibility to change things.
Thanks, Kanye. You sure get the point across.
