- Sep 22, 2013
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The Roman-era figures Hannibal and Vespasian changed the way historians look at empire-construction, and surely, the two 'characters' provide us great 'history storytelling fodder' for new age capitalism empire-building optimism/pessimism (i.e., Wall Street) for the profit-gauged Trump Administration.
Does history therefore inform our understanding of celebrity? That's a question Woody Allen posed.
Here's my attempt to address the question using a fictional short-story about Wall Street media ducklings.
What do you think?
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Bud and Conrad, two American step-brothers and aspiring bureaucrats in NYC, were being compared to Hannibal and Vespasian, respectively. Why? Like Hannibal, Bud had overthrown the 'tyranny' of a wolfish reign of a Wall Street tycoon and was steadily becoming the NYSE's hot-shot 'pro-humanist,' changing how people conceived of 'citizenry-engaged' might (over the forces of the old school emperors). Like Vespasian, Conrad had established an underground stockbroker 'fraternity' that represented an urban expansion of educated-professional network faith and was changing 'profiteerism culture' (for the good of 'Wall Street sociology'). One New Yorker article called Bud and Conrad the 'Green Arrow/Green Lantern' of the modern urban landscape!
Everything changed when the NYSE PR specialist retired and the powers-that-be hired a devilish and cutthroat woman named Stacee Satan. Satan believed that promoting the base-instincts of profiteerism and hyping the cutthroat attitudes that made capitalism 'glorious' marked the true road to the future and was therefore symbolic of the new direction of goal-directed politics promoted by the Trump Administration. Bud and Conrad hated Stacee, though Conrad was attracted to her physical beauty. Bud warned Conrad, "If you let her get inside your head, she'll have you hypnotized by 'Wall Street gold'."
When a certain prodigy-writer for the New Yorker (named William Story) started writing a series of pieces (with complementary politics-oriented cartoon-drawings) of Bud and Conrad (as Green Arrow/Green Lantern) battling with the 'evil Stacee Satan' (aliased 'Black Claw'), people took notice of the great sociocultural 'intrigue' in Wall Street culture, and even the iconic actor Michael Douglas (who portrayed the iconic Wall Street tycoon Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone films) talked about the writings of Story and referred to them as 'modern-era scrolls' about American paranoia! Bud and Conrad sensed a movie was in the works in Hollywood. They were right.
Martin Scorsese was directing a new film about 'Wall Street culture' titled "The Fabulous Floor" starring Leo DiCaprio and Bridget Fonda. The film was inspired by the New Yorker pieces by William Story. Bud and Conrad wondered how Fonda would portray the figure obviously representative of Stacee Satan. Bud remarked that Leo would probably portray him, while supporting characters/actors would create the atmospherics necessary to present the cultural symbolism relevant to the deeds of Conrad. The Scorsese picture was a big hit, and people would walk up to Conrad and say things like, "Hey, if you're Green Lantern, help me predict if my diversified funds this year will get me in 'good tidings with Jesus'!"
Bud was sitting in his office and reading a history of Hannibal and wondering to himself. "They used to compare Conrad to Vespasian, and then later to 'Green Lantern' (with colorful pedestrianism-intrigue related writings), but now Conrad is being compared to James Bond, and I blame Stacee Satan!" Conrad told his step-brother Bud that Stacee had changed the way Americans were casually talking about 'profiteerism-related' intrigue and morality-less 'thrills,' and Bud replied to him, "Stacee's gonna turn the NYSE into something out of Beowulf!" Meanwhile, Stacee was sitting in her lavish new office and grinning. She thought to herself, "I just might become the gender-deified Anita Hill!"
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BUD (left) and CONRAD (right):
Does history therefore inform our understanding of celebrity? That's a question Woody Allen posed.
Here's my attempt to address the question using a fictional short-story about Wall Street media ducklings.
What do you think?
====
Bud and Conrad, two American step-brothers and aspiring bureaucrats in NYC, were being compared to Hannibal and Vespasian, respectively. Why? Like Hannibal, Bud had overthrown the 'tyranny' of a wolfish reign of a Wall Street tycoon and was steadily becoming the NYSE's hot-shot 'pro-humanist,' changing how people conceived of 'citizenry-engaged' might (over the forces of the old school emperors). Like Vespasian, Conrad had established an underground stockbroker 'fraternity' that represented an urban expansion of educated-professional network faith and was changing 'profiteerism culture' (for the good of 'Wall Street sociology'). One New Yorker article called Bud and Conrad the 'Green Arrow/Green Lantern' of the modern urban landscape!
Everything changed when the NYSE PR specialist retired and the powers-that-be hired a devilish and cutthroat woman named Stacee Satan. Satan believed that promoting the base-instincts of profiteerism and hyping the cutthroat attitudes that made capitalism 'glorious' marked the true road to the future and was therefore symbolic of the new direction of goal-directed politics promoted by the Trump Administration. Bud and Conrad hated Stacee, though Conrad was attracted to her physical beauty. Bud warned Conrad, "If you let her get inside your head, she'll have you hypnotized by 'Wall Street gold'."
When a certain prodigy-writer for the New Yorker (named William Story) started writing a series of pieces (with complementary politics-oriented cartoon-drawings) of Bud and Conrad (as Green Arrow/Green Lantern) battling with the 'evil Stacee Satan' (aliased 'Black Claw'), people took notice of the great sociocultural 'intrigue' in Wall Street culture, and even the iconic actor Michael Douglas (who portrayed the iconic Wall Street tycoon Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone films) talked about the writings of Story and referred to them as 'modern-era scrolls' about American paranoia! Bud and Conrad sensed a movie was in the works in Hollywood. They were right.
Martin Scorsese was directing a new film about 'Wall Street culture' titled "The Fabulous Floor" starring Leo DiCaprio and Bridget Fonda. The film was inspired by the New Yorker pieces by William Story. Bud and Conrad wondered how Fonda would portray the figure obviously representative of Stacee Satan. Bud remarked that Leo would probably portray him, while supporting characters/actors would create the atmospherics necessary to present the cultural symbolism relevant to the deeds of Conrad. The Scorsese picture was a big hit, and people would walk up to Conrad and say things like, "Hey, if you're Green Lantern, help me predict if my diversified funds this year will get me in 'good tidings with Jesus'!"
Bud was sitting in his office and reading a history of Hannibal and wondering to himself. "They used to compare Conrad to Vespasian, and then later to 'Green Lantern' (with colorful pedestrianism-intrigue related writings), but now Conrad is being compared to James Bond, and I blame Stacee Satan!" Conrad told his step-brother Bud that Stacee had changed the way Americans were casually talking about 'profiteerism-related' intrigue and morality-less 'thrills,' and Bud replied to him, "Stacee's gonna turn the NYSE into something out of Beowulf!" Meanwhile, Stacee was sitting in her lavish new office and grinning. She thought to herself, "I just might become the gender-deified Anita Hill!"
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BUD (left) and CONRAD (right):
