- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
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Americans love fantastic stories and movies and comic books offer outlandish characters in crazy stories about justice and fantasy-lands.
Batwoman (DC Comics) for example is a vigilant masked urban crusader who tackles some of the worst problems of modern civilization such as terrorism and criminal insanity and urban gang crimes.
We might consider how a modernism-iconic folk-avatar such as Batman reveals our new age interest in fitness-oriented psychiatry, to complement our new world of fast-paced Wall Street Starbucks 'consciousness.' We zoom by coffee shops on our way to our offices in NYC and then read about truly strange crime stories in the news (e.g., 9/11, Boston Marathon bombing, Enron scandal, Waco, Los Angeles Race Riots, the Menendez Brothers murder trial, the Fisher-Buttafuoco suburban scandal, etc., etc.).
Perhaps because modern civilization is so traffic-oriented and commerce-based, we live like ants all the while oozing our frustration (a primal backlash perhaps!) towards all this 'post-industrialization activity.' We see this frustration often take very bizarre forms (e.g., post office workers shooting employees).
So how can Batwoman serve as our 'new age folk muse' and diplomat for our modern social interest in 'imagination-fitness' (an interest in daily mental health)? After all, the modern America sees a demand for 'lifestyle-psychiatry gurus' such as Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil, and Deepak Chopra! So how should we advertise/hype this modern insanity?
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"As I survey the modern urban landscape in America, I notice that the city has become a cesspool for piracy and convenience-oriented crimes. Narcotics-trafficking, mafia activity, and gang-related corruption all signal the city's facilitation with traffic-based intrigue. Youngsters today see crime-glorification movies and wonder if they should grow up and don a 'mask' of modern eccentricity! I am Batwoman, and I believe I'm an 'angel' of values in this modern civilization of great and subtle 'tribulation.'
As Batwoman, I can scurry on the rooftops of Gotham City (USA) and inspect the eco-terrorism lab of Ra's al Ghul, the fear-toxin silo of the hideous masked villain Scarecrow, the crime syndicate operated by the ghoulish Penguin, and the narcotics-empire controlled by the eerie clown-faced super-criminal known simply as 'the Joker.' Tackling criminal insanity and terrorism in Gotham (and modern civilization) brings me to epiphanies regarding the sheer sensitivity of the human condition in this sea of traffic and commerce (and piracy and power-merchants).
The Christian Bible says that the AntiChrist (the fearful adversary of Jesus Christ) will ascend to Earth at the End of Days and draw humanity away from virtue and temperance. Could this AntiChrist be a Hollywood (USA) movie star (making films such as The Wolf of Wall Street) or a Wall Street tycoon (such as the fictional/iconic Gordon Gekko!) corrupting our sense of the American Dream? Could the AntiChrist bring messages about the 'imagination' of anti-urbanization oriented terrorism (e.g., Boston Marathon bombing) and pure anarchy? How would the AntiChrist enhance the evil dominions of the likes of Penguin, Scarecrow, and Joker?
When I watch a modernism-paranoia themed film such as Dark City or The Crow or The Terminator, I realize that we're afraid of the spiritual consequences of value-less and non-evaluative rampant commerce, consumerism, and traffic. We imagine that creatures/demons rise from the 'deep' to 'punish' us for our Starbucks and Burger King 'indulgences.' These 'adversaries' will test our faith in the modern network, the modern city, and eventually the modern human!
What we therefore have to contemplate is how modern civilization creates a sort of 'lifestyle psychosis' compelling us to create productive models of order and chaos. Why did 9/11 scar America? Why did the Boston Marathon bombing remind us of modern frailty? Did we lose our appreciation for the sanctity of City Hall and Central Park (NYC)?
Imagine, for example, that the AntiChrist ascends to Earth and takes the form of a malevolent criminal named 'Croc.' Croc has malicious 'jaws' and a terrible mind and seeks to undo everything we hold dear about nature, humanity, and yes, governance. Croc wants to kill/decapitate prostitutes and drink their blood; Croc wants to lure stockbrokers into his apartment (for drinks) so he can murder them...and eat them(!); Croc wants to find helpless homeless people in Gotham and cut their throats and then skin them and burn them as 'sacrifices' made to this modern urban cesspool; Croc wants to paint graffiti all over the Statue of Liberty.
If 'Croc' (or the AntiChrist!) is real, then how can we find inspiration in the advice of daily-fitness gurus and modern urban spiritual coaches such as Dr. Phil and Deepak Chopra? Should we be more attentive to the words/wisdom of Mother Teresa and Martha Stewart? These are deep questions which, if we leave unanswered, might open up proverbial 'hellgates' to even worse psychiatric 'conditions' such as complete anti-social consciousness (e.g., The Purge: Anarchy)!
God bless America..."
====
Batwoman (DC Comics) for example is a vigilant masked urban crusader who tackles some of the worst problems of modern civilization such as terrorism and criminal insanity and urban gang crimes.
We might consider how a modernism-iconic folk-avatar such as Batman reveals our new age interest in fitness-oriented psychiatry, to complement our new world of fast-paced Wall Street Starbucks 'consciousness.' We zoom by coffee shops on our way to our offices in NYC and then read about truly strange crime stories in the news (e.g., 9/11, Boston Marathon bombing, Enron scandal, Waco, Los Angeles Race Riots, the Menendez Brothers murder trial, the Fisher-Buttafuoco suburban scandal, etc., etc.).
Perhaps because modern civilization is so traffic-oriented and commerce-based, we live like ants all the while oozing our frustration (a primal backlash perhaps!) towards all this 'post-industrialization activity.' We see this frustration often take very bizarre forms (e.g., post office workers shooting employees).
So how can Batwoman serve as our 'new age folk muse' and diplomat for our modern social interest in 'imagination-fitness' (an interest in daily mental health)? After all, the modern America sees a demand for 'lifestyle-psychiatry gurus' such as Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil, and Deepak Chopra! So how should we advertise/hype this modern insanity?
====
"As I survey the modern urban landscape in America, I notice that the city has become a cesspool for piracy and convenience-oriented crimes. Narcotics-trafficking, mafia activity, and gang-related corruption all signal the city's facilitation with traffic-based intrigue. Youngsters today see crime-glorification movies and wonder if they should grow up and don a 'mask' of modern eccentricity! I am Batwoman, and I believe I'm an 'angel' of values in this modern civilization of great and subtle 'tribulation.'
As Batwoman, I can scurry on the rooftops of Gotham City (USA) and inspect the eco-terrorism lab of Ra's al Ghul, the fear-toxin silo of the hideous masked villain Scarecrow, the crime syndicate operated by the ghoulish Penguin, and the narcotics-empire controlled by the eerie clown-faced super-criminal known simply as 'the Joker.' Tackling criminal insanity and terrorism in Gotham (and modern civilization) brings me to epiphanies regarding the sheer sensitivity of the human condition in this sea of traffic and commerce (and piracy and power-merchants).
The Christian Bible says that the AntiChrist (the fearful adversary of Jesus Christ) will ascend to Earth at the End of Days and draw humanity away from virtue and temperance. Could this AntiChrist be a Hollywood (USA) movie star (making films such as The Wolf of Wall Street) or a Wall Street tycoon (such as the fictional/iconic Gordon Gekko!) corrupting our sense of the American Dream? Could the AntiChrist bring messages about the 'imagination' of anti-urbanization oriented terrorism (e.g., Boston Marathon bombing) and pure anarchy? How would the AntiChrist enhance the evil dominions of the likes of Penguin, Scarecrow, and Joker?
When I watch a modernism-paranoia themed film such as Dark City or The Crow or The Terminator, I realize that we're afraid of the spiritual consequences of value-less and non-evaluative rampant commerce, consumerism, and traffic. We imagine that creatures/demons rise from the 'deep' to 'punish' us for our Starbucks and Burger King 'indulgences.' These 'adversaries' will test our faith in the modern network, the modern city, and eventually the modern human!
What we therefore have to contemplate is how modern civilization creates a sort of 'lifestyle psychosis' compelling us to create productive models of order and chaos. Why did 9/11 scar America? Why did the Boston Marathon bombing remind us of modern frailty? Did we lose our appreciation for the sanctity of City Hall and Central Park (NYC)?
Imagine, for example, that the AntiChrist ascends to Earth and takes the form of a malevolent criminal named 'Croc.' Croc has malicious 'jaws' and a terrible mind and seeks to undo everything we hold dear about nature, humanity, and yes, governance. Croc wants to kill/decapitate prostitutes and drink their blood; Croc wants to lure stockbrokers into his apartment (for drinks) so he can murder them...and eat them(!); Croc wants to find helpless homeless people in Gotham and cut their throats and then skin them and burn them as 'sacrifices' made to this modern urban cesspool; Croc wants to paint graffiti all over the Statue of Liberty.
If 'Croc' (or the AntiChrist!) is real, then how can we find inspiration in the advice of daily-fitness gurus and modern urban spiritual coaches such as Dr. Phil and Deepak Chopra? Should we be more attentive to the words/wisdom of Mother Teresa and Martha Stewart? These are deep questions which, if we leave unanswered, might open up proverbial 'hellgates' to even worse psychiatric 'conditions' such as complete anti-social consciousness (e.g., The Purge: Anarchy)!
God bless America..."
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