- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
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Does modernism and commerce and traffic remind you of Strange Days or City Hall?
This is my final urban-vignette, which I wanted to post in the General Discussion rather than the Writing section of USMB, since there are political-overtones relevant to TrumpUSA which I didn't feel comfortable simply posting as 'formal folklore/literature.'
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As the Mad Hatter stared at his precious watch, he took account of all the kinds of 'invisible desperation' in a Gotham City riddled by crime and criminality and cloaked in the 'veil' of frustrating bureaucracy. The mayor simply didn't want to report on the kinds of crimes in the modern city that would confound the optimism of consumers who would otherwise fuel the economy. To prevent panic, the press was biased and 'chose' not to report on the gravity of the crimes that made capitalism look so ugly.
There was of course the heroic masked vigilante Batman, a strange wealthy man who dressed up like a flying-bat and roamed around Gotham trying to prevent the sort of crimes that went 'undetected' by mainstream radar. Batman grew up as the princely inheritor Bruce Wayne, son of Thomas Wayne (CEO of Wayne Industries). Bruce grew up and inherited Wayne Industries and decided to double as Batman by night, but no one knew this --- not even the eerie Mad Hatter.
BATMAN: Crimes in Gotham warrant priesthood.
HATTER: You'll never be able to 'expose' everything.
BATMAN: Are you referring to the deranged crimes?
HATTER: Yes --- the disappearance of prostitutes for example.
BATMAN: No journalist wants to cover that 'awkward' story!
HATTER: That's what makes you such a 'dark knight.'
BATMAN: Do you believe it's capitalism itself that's constructed this 'dark city'?
HATTER: Personally, I think commerce creates piracy, and piracy makes crime 'cool.'
BATMAN: It's challenging convincing people that crime is not 'cool.'
HATTER: People will do anything to look and even feel 'cool.'
Batman and Mad/Hatter were rivals and nemeses. Hatter often aided and abetted and sometimes even funded criminals, crime-syndicates, and maniacs (such as Black Mask) in Gotham, while Batman tracked the suspects involved in these 'capitalism-corrupting invisible crimes' in modern-day Gotham. Hatter never understood why Batman would chase crime in the hope of actually 'curing' criminality, while Batman never grasped why Hatter was so darn 'mischievous' about the apparent 'presence' of evil in the modern city. One thing was for certain, Gotham was a symbol of civilization (if not complete civility).
U.S. President Donald Trump, a former capitalism-baron, tweeted (Twitter), "If critics of TrumpUSA feel that crime goes unreported, maybe these protesters should be censored themselves." Trump was frustrated with all the street chatter about the 'dire need' to publicize crime, especially since Batman himself had suggested that crime-journalism was no longer 'easy.' When Hatter read Trump's tweet about censorship-implications, he told Batman, "If censorship becomes a 'standard' for controlling hysteria, America (and capitalism) will become a cauldron for indulgences."
Batman came up with one plan to deal with all this craziness. He decided to use Wayne Industries to sponsor school trips to the Gotham Art Museum. Bruce Wayne was present during these field-trips himself. During the museum tours, Bruce would tell the interested students, "Since crime and censorship is a real problem in the age of networking and media, what Americans need now more than ever are students who care about the 'human value' of art." Art, after all, was an expression/symbol of liberty. Would Batman be able to at least 'cure' apathy (if not 'criminality' as the eerie Mad Hatter suggested)?
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This is my final urban-vignette, which I wanted to post in the General Discussion rather than the Writing section of USMB, since there are political-overtones relevant to TrumpUSA which I didn't feel comfortable simply posting as 'formal folklore/literature.'
====
As the Mad Hatter stared at his precious watch, he took account of all the kinds of 'invisible desperation' in a Gotham City riddled by crime and criminality and cloaked in the 'veil' of frustrating bureaucracy. The mayor simply didn't want to report on the kinds of crimes in the modern city that would confound the optimism of consumers who would otherwise fuel the economy. To prevent panic, the press was biased and 'chose' not to report on the gravity of the crimes that made capitalism look so ugly.
There was of course the heroic masked vigilante Batman, a strange wealthy man who dressed up like a flying-bat and roamed around Gotham trying to prevent the sort of crimes that went 'undetected' by mainstream radar. Batman grew up as the princely inheritor Bruce Wayne, son of Thomas Wayne (CEO of Wayne Industries). Bruce grew up and inherited Wayne Industries and decided to double as Batman by night, but no one knew this --- not even the eerie Mad Hatter.
BATMAN: Crimes in Gotham warrant priesthood.
HATTER: You'll never be able to 'expose' everything.
BATMAN: Are you referring to the deranged crimes?
HATTER: Yes --- the disappearance of prostitutes for example.
BATMAN: No journalist wants to cover that 'awkward' story!
HATTER: That's what makes you such a 'dark knight.'
BATMAN: Do you believe it's capitalism itself that's constructed this 'dark city'?
HATTER: Personally, I think commerce creates piracy, and piracy makes crime 'cool.'
BATMAN: It's challenging convincing people that crime is not 'cool.'
HATTER: People will do anything to look and even feel 'cool.'
Batman and Mad/Hatter were rivals and nemeses. Hatter often aided and abetted and sometimes even funded criminals, crime-syndicates, and maniacs (such as Black Mask) in Gotham, while Batman tracked the suspects involved in these 'capitalism-corrupting invisible crimes' in modern-day Gotham. Hatter never understood why Batman would chase crime in the hope of actually 'curing' criminality, while Batman never grasped why Hatter was so darn 'mischievous' about the apparent 'presence' of evil in the modern city. One thing was for certain, Gotham was a symbol of civilization (if not complete civility).
U.S. President Donald Trump, a former capitalism-baron, tweeted (Twitter), "If critics of TrumpUSA feel that crime goes unreported, maybe these protesters should be censored themselves." Trump was frustrated with all the street chatter about the 'dire need' to publicize crime, especially since Batman himself had suggested that crime-journalism was no longer 'easy.' When Hatter read Trump's tweet about censorship-implications, he told Batman, "If censorship becomes a 'standard' for controlling hysteria, America (and capitalism) will become a cauldron for indulgences."
Batman came up with one plan to deal with all this craziness. He decided to use Wayne Industries to sponsor school trips to the Gotham Art Museum. Bruce Wayne was present during these field-trips himself. During the museum tours, Bruce would tell the interested students, "Since crime and censorship is a real problem in the age of networking and media, what Americans need now more than ever are students who care about the 'human value' of art." Art, after all, was an expression/symbol of liberty. Would Batman be able to at least 'cure' apathy (if not 'criminality' as the eerie Mad Hatter suggested)?
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