What they want the way they want it

[smokingboot]

Trying to write, I've backed off mightily from social media. The question here is, what story is burning? As far as the eye can see, the story being told across the world, in blogs, tweets, statuses,etc, is a political one. People get weary, not just because the story is complex and involves some very dull chapters, but because it entails an element of personal discomfort where one's own moral choices are concerned. Also it lacks easy outcomes, the fights are ugly, the heroes hard to identify. So the burning story is the one people commentate on but also wish to escape. Art - by which I mean all acts of expressive creation and imagination - can elucidate the truth, or escape it, or combine both. But I don't think the latter option is easy.

Social media is full of Art. It's also full of tat of course. Combining a story worth telling with a story people want to hear is not easy right now.  Who is the villain? The person who doesn't belong or the person who doesn't agree?

One of the things that always tickled me about the Batman was the way he enjoined readers to identify with the plutocrat. Part of the fantasy of Bruce Wayne was the sheer loadedness of him. He just had all the money in the world, plus all the looks and all the skills, a remade Scarlet Pimpernel with added goth. The 'Dark Knight' aspect gave him wallop over the past 10 years. But it is fascinating that he should be so loved despite being one of the class who presumably have made Gotham what it is - and there's also an irony that this gorgeous able inheritor of wealth should have as his opponent  a small ugly laughable entrepeneur known as the Penguin, who was bullied at school, and had to work hard to become a successful gangster. Who'd have thought people would buy it,would cheer the rich kid with all the advantages against the  funny looking little guy with no friends and no stuff? It's pure playground, quite nasty when considered. Is it a story worth telling? Hard to say but it was certainly worth selling. Batman's a mint.

What are the stories now? Zombies, well that's about the deadly horde who will swarm in and destroy. Harry Potter is about strange becoming normal; Harry's great but he'll end up like everybody else, yes, ever so special,until we grow up, settle down to kids and quiet and a job at the ministry. Game of Thrones can't really be judged until all's done, but even then I would say the TV  series is iconic in a way the books really are not.

This morning, the workmen in  next door's garden  have got their music blaring and have done since 8.30. I hate sound when I am trying to work. It has pretty much rendered continuing this entry impossible, and god alone knows how I am going to get anything done,in fact I may have to leave the house. Next home; detached/soundproofed if possible. Next story; waiting somewhere in the haze.