GOING, GOING, GONG!
When we see a struggle between two opponents, it’s quite natural to look for a rooting interest.
We tend to favor underdogs, the mouse vs the cat, David over Goliath, good guys over bad guys. Sometimes the side we root for is arbitrary, or based on personal, unarguable preferences.
For instance, when my life is nadir-ing and I find myself actually watching college football, I apply a toilet training distinction—I root for the team with the more anal-emissive offense, and against the anal-retentive.
I’ve come to love Sylvester and Tweety and the Road Runner cartoons, but I didn't used to. The rooting interest was too obvious: Tweety and Road Runner were the good guys, Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote were the bad guys. The thwartings of Syl & Wile just seemed gratuitously sadistic.
Then, as I got older, I was amused to find myself rooting for Sylvester and Wile. E. Coyote. I suspect most grownups do. No matter how numerous and painful his failures, I want Wile E. to keep trying until he kills that annoying, worthless bird. Nonetheless, I'm going to hang on to my Acme stock.
We tend to favor underdogs, the mouse vs the cat, David over Goliath, good guys over bad guys. Sometimes the side we root for is arbitrary, or based on personal, unarguable preferences.
For instance, when my life is nadir-ing and I find myself actually watching college football, I apply a toilet training distinction—I root for the team with the more anal-emissive offense, and against the anal-retentive.
I’ve come to love Sylvester and Tweety and the Road Runner cartoons, but I didn't used to. The rooting interest was too obvious: Tweety and Road Runner were the good guys, Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote were the bad guys. The thwartings of Syl & Wile just seemed gratuitously sadistic.
Then, as I got older, I was amused to find myself rooting for Sylvester and Wile. E. Coyote. I suspect most grownups do. No matter how numerous and painful his failures, I want Wile E. to keep trying until he kills that annoying, worthless bird. Nonetheless, I'm going to hang on to my Acme stock.
And Sylvester, when you catch Tweety, don't mess around with bibs and salt shakers, bite the damn bird's head off immediately. It's the lesson of James Bond movies.
Anyway, when stories were told of persecution by the Chinese government of a small religious group, I naturally assumed that the Chinese government were the bad guys and Falun Gong were the good guys.
Then I forgot about it--until I saw pictures, on sfmike’s blog, of a Falun Gong “performance.” [Warning: these pictures are disturbing.]
Now, I hate to say it, but, based on the sfmike’s pictures, I sort of sympathize with the Chinese government. This is a terrible point to reach in my life.
Even the most repressive regimes are expected to perform some basic functions, such as locking the doors of the damn insane asylum.
Maybe this Mose Allison classic will "cleanse the palate."
Then we'll have to investigate how these fucks slipped through Homeland Security.
Anyway, when stories were told of persecution by the Chinese government of a small religious group, I naturally assumed that the Chinese government were the bad guys and Falun Gong were the good guys.
Then I forgot about it--until I saw pictures, on sfmike’s blog, of a Falun Gong “performance.” [Warning: these pictures are disturbing.]
Now, I hate to say it, but, based on the sfmike’s pictures, I sort of sympathize with the Chinese government. This is a terrible point to reach in my life.
Even the most repressive regimes are expected to perform some basic functions, such as locking the doors of the damn insane asylum.
Maybe this Mose Allison classic will "cleanse the palate."
Then we'll have to investigate how these fucks slipped through Homeland Security.
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