- Sep 22, 2013
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This is a 9/11-patriotism parable inspired by The Guys and The Dark Knight Rises.
Merry Christmas!
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"When I think back to 9/11 and the news-story of the two terrorist-hijacked passenger airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers skyscrapers in NYC which came cashing down in fire and black smoke, I realize how the modern geopolitical landscape can feel so unsecured. This is the reality of life on Earth --- it requires patience, teamwork, and faith. There's no way to anticipate the impact of traffic destabilization. The only thing we can do is visualize the tremors to create a way to 'address' madness."
"Seeing the planes go into cherished American buildings in NYC is like watching a terrible fight in high-school between two students (perhaps equally-matched in strength) whom you'd really rather not see fighting(!). It's like your sensibilities about everyday pedestrian 'sanity' are shaken up. No one wants to see this kind of news as image of the 'real world.' Sometimes, I find comfort in comic books, since comic books speak to a social interest in using cartoon-like art to capture the trauma of dramatic turbulence (e.g., Nazi Germany). I think about the comic book superhero Batman (DC Comics) who deals with criminally-insane terrorists who overhaul our basic wish for everyday traffic cheerfulness."
"The anti-Western terrorists who destroyed the Twin Towers in NYC on 9/11 were not people you want to sit down and chat with about basic/social governance ideals regarding the globalization of capitalism. No, sir. These are fundamentalists (armed) with a desire to spread their omens about the physical/fleshy impact of capitalism-complexity. They want us to viscerally feel the scope and depth of human ambition being punished by the weight of its own vanities. Terrorism is, by definition, a force of hell."
"As Batman dealt with a terrible form of urban anarchy that bordered on Apocalyptic terrorism in the comics-adapted film The Dark Knight Rises, so did various American patriots, politicians, paramilitary crusaders, and poets address the root causes and symbolic significance of traffic-destabilization we saw on 9/11. Batman has to contend with, for example, a brutish masked 'prophet of doom' named Bane who is stirring up complete anti-social urges among the people of Gotham City with his eerie brand of proselytization, propaganda, and pain. The best way to feel like an American patriot may be (perhaps) to consider why/how Batman uses laser-vision to control sheer fury."
"This Christmas, I purchased a DC Comics tile-painting for my entertainment-room wall, and I look at it when I want to think about how modern-day artists/writers use the power of word and image to convey human imaginings of the perceptions of pure chaos in times of great intrigue/turmoil. I look at this painting when I think about the mob of people staring in bewilderment as they saw the Twin Towers come crashing down on 9/11. I wonder about how art is basically a 'vehicle' to transcend 'metaphysics earthquakes'."
"In The Dark Knight Rises, the heroic Batman sometimes works with his some-time rival and some-time ally Catwoman (a female vigilante) in dealing with the complete urban chaos created by the brutish nemesis named Bane. As Batman and Catwoman embrace in sentimental poses and/or work together in vigilant coordinations, we feel 'enlightened' about the scope of human imagination regarding our basic ability to work together to create harmony. In other words, Batman/Catwoman gives us a sense of...anti-terrorism evangelism."
"So why should we use art to meditate on the social values and the sanitization of patriotism? Perhaps it's because art is a 'vehicle' for transcending madness. Perhaps it's because art is a 'vehicle' for evaluating trauma. Perhaps it's because art is a 'vehicle' for understanding anarchy. This Christmas, I might encourage my son to make doodles/drawings of fantastic characters/figures who remind him that calamities such as 9/11 do not undermine our basic social yearning for Utopia. After all, isn't patriotism really about...innocence?"
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Merry Christmas!
====
"When I think back to 9/11 and the news-story of the two terrorist-hijacked passenger airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers skyscrapers in NYC which came cashing down in fire and black smoke, I realize how the modern geopolitical landscape can feel so unsecured. This is the reality of life on Earth --- it requires patience, teamwork, and faith. There's no way to anticipate the impact of traffic destabilization. The only thing we can do is visualize the tremors to create a way to 'address' madness."
"Seeing the planes go into cherished American buildings in NYC is like watching a terrible fight in high-school between two students (perhaps equally-matched in strength) whom you'd really rather not see fighting(!). It's like your sensibilities about everyday pedestrian 'sanity' are shaken up. No one wants to see this kind of news as image of the 'real world.' Sometimes, I find comfort in comic books, since comic books speak to a social interest in using cartoon-like art to capture the trauma of dramatic turbulence (e.g., Nazi Germany). I think about the comic book superhero Batman (DC Comics) who deals with criminally-insane terrorists who overhaul our basic wish for everyday traffic cheerfulness."
"The anti-Western terrorists who destroyed the Twin Towers in NYC on 9/11 were not people you want to sit down and chat with about basic/social governance ideals regarding the globalization of capitalism. No, sir. These are fundamentalists (armed) with a desire to spread their omens about the physical/fleshy impact of capitalism-complexity. They want us to viscerally feel the scope and depth of human ambition being punished by the weight of its own vanities. Terrorism is, by definition, a force of hell."
"As Batman dealt with a terrible form of urban anarchy that bordered on Apocalyptic terrorism in the comics-adapted film The Dark Knight Rises, so did various American patriots, politicians, paramilitary crusaders, and poets address the root causes and symbolic significance of traffic-destabilization we saw on 9/11. Batman has to contend with, for example, a brutish masked 'prophet of doom' named Bane who is stirring up complete anti-social urges among the people of Gotham City with his eerie brand of proselytization, propaganda, and pain. The best way to feel like an American patriot may be (perhaps) to consider why/how Batman uses laser-vision to control sheer fury."
"This Christmas, I purchased a DC Comics tile-painting for my entertainment-room wall, and I look at it when I want to think about how modern-day artists/writers use the power of word and image to convey human imaginings of the perceptions of pure chaos in times of great intrigue/turmoil. I look at this painting when I think about the mob of people staring in bewilderment as they saw the Twin Towers come crashing down on 9/11. I wonder about how art is basically a 'vehicle' to transcend 'metaphysics earthquakes'."
"In The Dark Knight Rises, the heroic Batman sometimes works with his some-time rival and some-time ally Catwoman (a female vigilante) in dealing with the complete urban chaos created by the brutish nemesis named Bane. As Batman and Catwoman embrace in sentimental poses and/or work together in vigilant coordinations, we feel 'enlightened' about the scope of human imagination regarding our basic ability to work together to create harmony. In other words, Batman/Catwoman gives us a sense of...anti-terrorism evangelism."
"So why should we use art to meditate on the social values and the sanitization of patriotism? Perhaps it's because art is a 'vehicle' for transcending madness. Perhaps it's because art is a 'vehicle' for evaluating trauma. Perhaps it's because art is a 'vehicle' for understanding anarchy. This Christmas, I might encourage my son to make doodles/drawings of fantastic characters/figures who remind him that calamities such as 9/11 do not undermine our basic social yearning for Utopia. After all, isn't patriotism really about...innocence?"
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