Is it ironic that this surge of racial tension against African-Americans has somehow become an unwielded force disrupting the black community at the same time we have a black president in office? There was the Jackson Jive incident, French Vogue had model Lara Stone in all out blackface, Henry Louis Gates, one of the highest paid professors at Harvard gets arrested for going into his house while black, and a black mother gets jailed for not sending her kids to an underprivileged school.

The majority of the arguments against reading into this are:
1.This is art and not minstrelcy.
2.Beyonce is a light-skinned African American, and therefore, because she is black, she is somehow impugn from any action she takes that could have racist implications.
3.Beyonce was probably paid a great deal, and since African-Americans don’t make much money, we should be content that a counterpart of our race is getting paid.

So respectfully, let me rip these meritless arguments apart one by one. And for the record, I am sick and tired of having to write about blackface and its continuous reoccurence within popular culture as somehow alleviated by the race performing said minstrelcy.

1. This is art and not minstrelcy.

So because Beyonce is wearing pretty clothing and is an attractive woman, shot by a photographer, this must mean it is art. In the same way that Mark Twain’s Huck Finn and its use of the word nigger over 200 times is art. Art isn’t immune from deconstruction, and in my opinion, this is more racist than it is art. I posted a blog recently about the French Vogue spread in which Lara Stone dresses up in blackface, and arguably, that is more artistic than Beyonce’s photograph. Why you ask? Well, many reasons.

a. The use of blackface only on Beyonce’s face and not the rest of her body.
The interesting thing about blackface, is that you put it on and take it off, in an essence, you are trying on blackness for a bit, in a performative way, which I would hope most blacks would resist the ideas of blackness as performance, e.g. hypersexuality, savagery, bestiality, irrationality, unintelligence, criminality, etc. I have a huge problem with the fact that the blackness touches only her face and not her entire body.

There was a lot of racist propaganda during Jim Crow, in which in ads for soap and other cleaning products, white actors would wear blackface on their body, but it wouldn’t touch their face. The meaning behind the superficial meaning, of soap being strong enough to wash the blackness off of you, was the implication that although you may be black on the body, the aspect of blackness that would suggest inferiority of the mind, was an indicia that could never occur on the white body.

Blackness can be fashionable as long as it isn’t permanent. Why else do you think a dark-skinned woman isn’t on the cover. And the blond hair even suggests that her blackness is truly artificial, because a real dark-skinned face wouldn’t have blond hair, she’d have to bleach herself. Blackness is trendy like the new lipstick Chanel put out, but for certain occasions, you might want to wear another color. You can try on blackness but you don’t want it to spread. This is what I see in the image. Yes she looks pretty, but do we need a light-skinned black woman to depict dark-skinned blackness? And do we especially need an emblem of dark-skinned black beauty being one that is falsified, and doubly shocking, is that this image is from a Western view. Here we get an image of black beauty that is fraudulent, from a Western gaze, somehow made acceptable because the model wearing the ashes of blackness happens to be light-skinned, and it is a blackness that must be confined for fear that it will become contagious, spreading to other parts of the body, and even other people. And if the idea of blackness as pollution seems new to you, think of how segregated bodies of water became during Jim Crow, public pools, rivers. Oh wait, wasn’t there a recent civil rights suit in Philly, black children were forbidden from swimming with other white children because it would change the pool’s complexity? Oh and it wasn’t based on skin color of course, one of the little black kids stole something, oh they’re so prone to criminality.
b. The primitive aspects of the photograph
Of course there is nothing wrong with artwork being primitive, but do we really need to go back to Josephine Baker shaking her ass in a banana skirt?

I mean the bone necklace, really? Let us not forget, the Josephine Baker hype was all in France. For this reason I find the photo to be more of a caricature than it is art. Don’t get swayed by the fact that Beyonce is attractive and a celebrity. I bet if you all saw a light-skinned black woman who wore blackface to class every day as a fashion statement, it would lose its artistic luster and lean to being more racist. Better yet, imagine if you saw a light-skinned person on the bus, or sitting in the audience at fashion week using her black compact to retouch her beige face. Not so cool now is it?
c.The thought-process behind the decision to perform in Blackface.

SHOWTIME! Spike Lee's Bamboozled, a brilliant analysis of market capitalism for blacks dehumanizing themselves

This is the most disturbing thing about the whole incident. I mean I don’t think Beyonce is an idiot, and I bet her business savvy father isn’t either. And I don’t think when they said, hey Beyonce, you’re going to have to put on this clown makeup so you look more Negroid, I doubt she was ecstatic about it, but the fact is that she did it. She knew in her mind, that tons of black fans purchase her music, she KNOWS how politically correct it is in America with respect to racialized performances, (even though the magazine was French, her fan base is largely HERE), she did a cost-benefit analysis to losing her black fans, and losing her money, and guess what she picked. Yeah peeps, now that she is big we’re expendable, that is what is really sad. It’s counter-intuitive to her image, she does act like a role model, professes herself as a Christian, in her interviews and in her songs, yet will demean certain people of her race for the right amount of money. There are many “acceptable” ways to sell out. Launch a crappy perfume, put your jingle to a lame company, start a fashion line with subpar clothing, but putting on blackface for money ? NOT HAVING IT.

2. Beyonce is a light-skinned African American, and therefore, because she is black, she is somehow impugn from any action she takes that could have racist implications.

Honestly, do I really even have to write about the dissonance between light-skinned blacks and dark-skinned blacks, the house negro and the field negro mentality, the ability to pass and the privileges afforded to that ability, do I have to talk about the racial sentimental literature. Maybe I do. Blacks who are the exact same color can be racist against their own. Blacks of different skin tones can be racist against each other. When I was born, my great aunt who is half white didn’t want to see me because she was pissed my light-skinned mother married my dark-skinned black father. But when my youngest brother came out all light-skinned, oh I remember sitting in the car when my parents showed him to her. To somehow believe that a black person cannot be racist, is bull, and I am even more offended that she is light-skinned and doing it. Did you all ever think, that perhaps the photographers wanted to do a blackface shoot, but CHOSE her because they could dupe one over on you? Well she is black so it’s okay. Think Jersey Shore, think how the use of the term guido and their tan-face and parties and the like is now made more acceptable because it came from people who (some of whom) were Italian. Do you honestly think the Jersey Shore could have worked as minstrelcy if say, Asians were performing it? Give the”artist” more credit, and remove the wool from your eyes.

What truly bothers me about the spread, is that in a fashion magazine, these looks, even if they are high couture, are supposed to be worn, I mean if this is an artistic fashion statement, why should the looks be confined to the pages of a magazine? Why shouldn’t light-skinned women be able to reapply dark face powder and foundation in the bathroom of a club, why shouldn’t other minorities be able to do it for that matter. Do we just expect that every other race should be responsible enough to know better?And if that is the case, what is the point of the photograph, is it telling us what NOT to do? Is it saying it is acceptable for minorities to don blackface, or is it forbidden in all forms? I think we all know there are enough ignorant people in the world that do not see a warning sign in the picture. But the question remains, if this is fashion, why shouldn’t everyone be able to wear it, or why shouldn’t light-skinned black women be able to wear it? Yeah I’m worried about young white Mary Anne Smith rocking this look for Halloween…well Beyonce did it so it must be okay!!!!

She’s not the first one to do this. First, I advise you all to check out Spike Lee’s Bamboozled which balances capitalism and the demand for blackface that is measured by blacks acceptance of it. Secondly, I know for a fact in Russia, there is a performer who was huge when I was there in 2004, an African man who performed in blackface, which spawned many torturous incidents for myself, and other black people there. It thereby became acceptable for other whites to make fun of us, follow us, and mock us, doing the performative gestures he did, for a quick buck. Oh yeah, it was fantastic to think I was getting demonized and had to walk with bodyguards because of something some idiotic black person did to be famous.

3. Beyonce was probably paid a great deal, and since African-Americans don’t make much money, we should be content that a counterpart of our race is getting paid.

Come on people, is this even an argument? Since when is it acceptable for blacks to sell out at the expense of their race? I must not have gotten that memo. If I’m running for election, and they tell me they’ll endorse my campaign for judge if I do a commercial in blackface, or better yet, will put me on the Supreme Court for life, I think I will have to, respectfully, decline.

Excerpt from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, where Eliza’s son performs like a Negro for fruit and berries. He was to be sold down the river the next morning…

Here the door opened, and a small quadroon boy, between four and five years of age, entered the room. There was something in his appearance remarkably beautiful and engaging. His black hair, fine as floss silk, hung in glossy curls about his round, dimpled face, while a pair of large dark eyes, full of fire and softness, looked out from beneath the rich, long lashes, as he peered curiously into the apartment. A gay robe of scarlet and yellow plaid, carefully made and neatly fitted, set off to advantage the dark and rich style of his beauty; and a certain comic air of assurance, blended with bashfulness, showed that he had been not unused to being petted and noticed by his master.

“Hulloa, Jim Crow!” said Mr. Shelby, whistling, and snapping a bunch of raisins towards him, “pick that up, now!”

The child scampered, with all his little strength, after the prize, while his master laughed.

“Come here, Jim Crow,” said he. The child came up, and the master patted the curly head, and chucked him under the chin.

“Now, Jim, show this gentleman how you can dance and sing.” The boy commenced one of those wild, grotesque songs common among the negroes, in a rich, clear voice, accompanying his singing with many comic evolutions of the hands, feet, and whole body, all in perfect time to the music.

“Bravo!” said Haley, throwing him a quarter of an orange

Not so funny now, is it?

Questions, Thoughts, Comments?

I hear a lot of people being called vain, narcissistic, and egotistical as an insult, as if retaining these qualities indicates that the person is somewhat flawed for possessing these characteristics. Somehow narcissism and vanity have come to be associated with selfishness, and self-absorption when they really have nothing to do with each other. How did this come to be? The age-old answer to any psychological behavior: insecurity in the reflection of the Other.

Somehow, in this world it has become narcissistic for an attractive person to look in the mirror for more than one second, to spend a lot of time working out because you like to have a nice body, to be proud of your accomplishments and acheivements, and if you have a lot of money, you have to pretend as if you don’t. Do you post attractive pictures and happy statuses on Facebook? Well if you are attractive and happy you must be a narcissistic in a negative way. I mean, there couldn’t be anything positive about being a narcissist right?

Let’s try to figure out how this word got subsumed with negative characteristics first.

Here is the dictionary definition:

nar·cis·sism

1.

inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.

2.

Psychoanalysis . erotic gratification derived from admiration of one’s own physical or mental attributes, being a normal condition at the infantile level of personality development.

So it is inordinate to be in love with yourself, I agree with that. Many people in this world are victims of self-loathing and desire to constantly change themselves suggesting that they are unhappy with themselves. But that isn’t self-love. Maybe it means Oscar Wilde Dorian Gray style…but then again when he was staring at the painting and the mirror for hours he was watching what he perceived to be the degredation of his soul and committed suicide because he couldn’t stand to look at himself. So that can’t be narcissism either. And interestingly, the painting which supposedly shows every sin he created as visible, never depicts the sin of vanity.

Why don’t we turn to the story of Narcissus to see what it actually means? In Greek Mythology, Narcissus was a very handsome man. Every woman and sea nymph wanted him but he ignored their advances. Like Eve, in Paradise Lost, he didn’t want to be with the person who was calling his name, who he was supposed to fall in love with: Echo. Instead he got pleasure from looking at his own countenance and ignoring hers. Interestingly, Echo could only repeat what others said as a curse by Hera. So we have juxtaposed, a woman who has no personality and can only embody the words and personalities of others, against a man who is so extremely focused on the Self. Although Narcissus dies from forgetting to eat and sleep as he is so fascinated with his reflection, I think it is important to note the waning symbolic heroine in this tale against the beautiful man who resists her, and why society condemns the act of narcissism with such a harsh punishment.

Freidrich Neitzsche argued that the Christian religion has put an emphasis on seeing greed, power, strength, extreme intelligence, and vanity as sins for two reasons: so people who possess these characteristics help those who are poor, powerless, weak, dumb, and ugly, but more importantly, to create a level of mediocrity in society. If you have to feel bad about your accomplishments even though you have the power to succeed through money, strength, intelligence, and beauty…well you shouldn’t. (When I say intelligence, I don’t just mean brains, but perhaps the ability to manipulate others.) Once you feel guilty about these things you’ll stop, and maybe focus on helping others who can’t, which maintains a level of mediocrity in society. Nietzsche also says the bird of prey cannot be the lamb. Society tells us we should be more like the lamb. And there are so many reasons for this I can’t even discuss them all. It even extends to the government, but for the purposes of this blog I will focus on insecurity.

There seems to be two types of narcissism:

1. A Divine Narcissism in which a person is in complete love with themselves both mentally and physically, so much so that people are drawn to this person. A Divine Narcissist never needs confirmation about him or herself from anyone because he or she is already complete. This is why they may seem untouchable, in complete contentment (which attracts others because no one wants to be around whiny self-defeatist types), which also withstands any form of manipulation because they are completely secure in themselves.
2. An Adolescent Narcissism in which a person retains narcissistic qualities but lacks mature social skills. This person may go on and on talking about their problems, or how awesome they are, ignoring that everyone else is bored with their conversation because they only speak to receive affirmations from others. This narcissistic phase begins when children first notice their self in the mirror. See Lacan, the Mirror Stage. However this desire for narcissism is laden with insecurity, so in fact, these people are not narcissists because they need confirmation of their beauty. Narcissus didn’t need anyone to affirm anything to him.

so the narcissistic queen? how can she be when she hates her reflection?

So, a divine narcissism is pretty hard to get to, but I think every one should be striving for it. To get to the point in my life when I am completely content in every single way without any feelings of insecurity is my number one desire. To feel I don’t NEED anyone to complement me would be a great feeling to have. And isn’t loving yourself the first step to happiness in like everything? So why has narcissism become so negative?

Well, I was discussing mediocrity earlier. And one thing Divine narcissists have is happiness, and not every one has that. So since facebook photos and statuses has now so been closely correlated with narcissism I can use a few personal occasions in which my friends and I, on the road to Divine Narcissism every day have to suffer insecure people because of our happiness.

Not everyone is happy, a lot of people are sad and depressed. A lot of people have a life going nowhere, or they are in a crappy relationship, and they are much pretty settled in it. So when they see someone doing the things they wish they could do, looking the way they wish they looked, getting the job they wished they had, they get jealous and out comes the hate. The leveling of mediocrity occurs because they are unhappy, don’t know why you are so happy, feel insecure about their situation, and attempt to bring you back to their level. Because your happy statuses, happy photos, your lovely home or new car, you with your happy friends…well that doesn’t reflect what is going on in their life. Their own mirror has become distorted, so they must break yours to regain their sense of normalcy. I don’t know how many times I have posted happy statuses on facebook e.g. I’m doing a show on the radio, I got a new job, I met a hot guy, I just made a lot of money, and out comes all these hater comments. Usually from someone who is insecure, and as Jay-Z says I just brush my shoulders off, but these people persist. It ‘s like an image of a tree, you are always climbing even if you are at the top, and the insecure jealous ones are at that bottom, they think the journey is too far, they acquiesce to defeat before they even start, so to make themselves feel better, they denigrate your happiness in the hopes that you will fall down the tree, maybe even to their level, because Misery loves Company.

So if someone calls you a narcissist, vain, egotistical, or even self-absorbed, before you let the insult go to your head (pun-intended), determine which kind of narcissist you are. And if you are a Divine one, you’ll know it is because the self-hater wishes they could be more of a self-lover, like you. If they are unhappy in any facet in their life, or if all they usually do is complain, take comfort in the insult. It means you’re doing everything right!

Questions? Thoughts? Comments?

© The Siren, All Rights Reserved, 2011-2012

You need to understand why you are attracted to sadists.

Sadomasochistic sex is an interesting microcosm for the world. One person is in control and the other, a willing victim, follows. One person derives pleasure from inflicting pain; one person derives pleasure from receiving it. Freud and many other psychologists see this as a perversion, an illness, those who engage in this type of bondage where this slave/master dynamic exists are sexual deviants. But I would disagree.

Sure there are extremes, I’m not talking about slicing off digits and breaking people’s noses; I am talking about the consensual physical and mental pain that excites both parties, and the fantastical elements involved. And to varying degrees every sexual relationship needs some level of this for excitement. If we think of sex as a drug, seduction is the elixir for it; pain and pleasure must exist for it to be intoxication; without intense lows you will never feel those highs. Perhaps, ye masochists who are reading this can think for a second about the previous partners you dismissed…what was that specific thing they did that turned you off? Was it that you realized you were in complete control of them, did they say they love you too soon before you had a chance to fight for it, did they want you to boss them around in the bedroom? I’m guessing the answer is yes to some of these questions, and I bet you were done within a week of finding this out. I’m also guessing it wasn’t because the person was physically or mentally abusive, because…admit it, you kind of liked it.

A lot of masochists are extremely successful ambitious people, we’ve gone to school forever, have prestigious titles, are well-respected, beautiful people, we think we can do anything we want, we pretty much have, and a lot of people hate us for it. Our friends think, well I don’t understand why she will take crap from this asshole, after everything he has done, when she doesn’t take shit from anyone in any other facet in her life. Think about that for a second, and you will understand why you seek out sadists.

Have you ever heard the saying that men in power only want to be dominated and humiliated by women in bed? Well it can be the same for women in power as well.

Masochism is a way for people who are constantly on top of things, in charge of things, in control of things, stressed out by errands, by important matters, and by deadlines, to be completely free of these things. We can become like a child to our lover, indulge our regressive ego, and realize love through such exquisite pain. We can shed ourselves of this false self we have created, or Richard Alpert (See Be Here Now) if you will, maybe through childhood we cultivated this false self to be pleasing to our parents. We can free ourselves of all our burdens, and let someone else have control for a while. We can embrace this true naked part of the self, or what Jung would call, the shadow: our dark nature. It is completely antithetical to our lives. We have no control, we can’t understand it, it is the one thing we want that we can never have; the person who resists our influence.

i'm sorry but this scene in nip/tuck was just so awesome

I think it is really important for people who are trying to understand their magnificent psychology and identity to look at the sexual partners they have had, and what fascinates them sexually. Frankly, you can only discover your sexual identity from your partners. For me, it may have been the look he gave me, as if ordering me to do something, I would be at his beckoned call. Or maybe I saw him be mean to someone, and I was like wow, this is pretty hot. It is different for everyone, but I liked that in one aspect of my life, I didn’t have to be in control. And why would anyone ever want to replicate the mundanity of life in the bedroom? When I have everything I want so soon, it is BORING. Why? Because masochists pretty much get they want or know the exact equation to get what they want for in every other sphere of their life. We eat challenges for breakfast, so the fact that you control us and we can’t figure it out is very seductive.

Thus, we have the sadists. If masochists desire freedom to escape the burden of control they have in society, sadists hold the reins in the bedroom because they really have no control in life. Think about all the assholes and bitches you have dated in your life. Did they really have anything going for them, with respect to money or a career or even happiness? And even if they did, I bet this was nothing in comparison to the power you had over life. Often sadists are completely powerless on paper, the only control they have is over you in the bedroom, which gives them this illusion of balance. Perhaps they resent your success or your ambition or your popularity. Perhaps part of them wants you to miserable as they are. Perhaps they are jealous of how you stick to your guns and have schedules and get shit done. This is not to say that sadists are incapable of completing things; it’s just that masochists complete it better. Maybe us masochists are jealous of the aimless life with no responsibilities that many sadists live. I know I am…every time law school finals month of hell rolls around!!!!! I am even jealous of the mental bliss of my dog and have often prayed we could switch places. Yeah, it is that stressful sometimes… but I digress!!!!

bruno gets trapped in a room with a dominatrix

Fun fact: When I got a five year fellowship to go graduate school for the PhD, my sadistic ex-boyfriend said I am not going to bow down to your fellowship. Most people would think alover would be happy for their partner’s acheievments, except of course those who resent them for it. I mean, really? Yeah right now he is 29 with no degree, smoking an 8^th a day, and living with his mom, but the sex was pretty good.

So as you see sadomasochism, when it is consensual really can restore balance in one’s life even though at the moment is seems illogical, insane, and completely out of balance with the way you conduct yourself in the world. Masochists who are so concerned with schedules, and deadlines, and careers, and money, and finances can finally be free and live in the moment, our rational minds don’t think the same way when he or she is telling us what to do, or says something mean, or spanks us, or doesn’t return our phone call. For sadists as well, they get a willing slave who can give them a taste of power they can never get in the real world, or even if they do have power for some reason their life seems chaotic, and you are the one thing they are sure they can control.

God, I feel like Benedict Anderson with this chart:

Therefore, if you’re into sadomasochism, you are an extreme person, and the identity in the bedroom is the opposing reflection of who you are in real life. The first step is admitting it and realizing that you like the struggle and the pain. Once you have admitted it the trick is to find a sadist to respect you, one more time… RESPECT you, and engage in this as masquerade, knowingly. This may be a complicated idea, but perhaps tell your lover how you like it in the beginning, at least this way you are still affected by the pain but can reassure yourself, that your lover is really only acting this way because you told him or her to. And then the real torture will be trying to convince yourself that it is of your own making, since you know that deep down your lover is a sadist, why else would you be attracted—-which makes it really perverse and even better in my opinion because you are knowingly being complicit in your own masochism this time, but you still aren’t sure if it is true This is of course easier to do  if you are comfortable enough to talk to about it.

Of course there are many issues that contribute to sadomasochistic desires such as relationships with the parents. At least in my experiences, we often seek to emulate the relationship our parents have or do the exact opposite to rebel against it; there really is no middle ground. However, in my research it would seem that heterosexual women who had very strict fathers desire sadistic men; yet their ideal man would be strict and sadistic but would also indulge their childlike fantasies by giving into their every whim: basically becoming their father with extras. Think about how in Secretary the sadist told his secretary specifically what she could eat, but then said she could “have all the ice cream she wanted.” This kind of man would scare you when he raised his voice in a good way, would suggest what wine you should order (you’d still order it though perhaps) but would let you buy anything you wanted or take you anywhere you wanted. Or on the contrary, heterosexual women who either had fathers that spoiled them completely, or had pushover fathers who perhaps they couldn’t make the relationship work with the mother are attracted to sadists—the more extreme and sometimes even violent ones—because they want the stereotypical model of the scolding father that they were denied as a child and overcompensate for the lack… these women like to get beaten down it seems. Although this isn’t the same for everybody, you be the judge.

As a Libra, I am unfortunately one of those people who feels that even when everything else is going wonderfully for me, I still think that the perfect landscape painting of my life has me in love, it is tragic really!  But in the interim, it is nice to know that even though I only fall in love with men who make my heart scream and writhe in pain,  in the projection of myself to everyone else in the world, and on paper, I am holding the whip.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic since this is a theory I am working on

For some amazing literature on Sadomasochism check out:

The works of Marquis de Sade

Georges Bataille, The Story of the Eye

Leopold Von-Sacher Masoch, Venus in Furs

The Collected Works of Carl Jung

Secretary: Film

The Scariest Type of Serial Killers: White Trash

family dinner in the texas chainsaw massacre, could you please pass the peas?

When I look back to all the horror films I have ever watched, the ones with white trash stay in my mind. But mind you white trash is more, much more than just class. In fact, in an essay by Angelina Price “Working Class Whites,” she describes two subsets within working class whites: the country bumpkin and white trash. What is the difference between the two? Only morality. The poverty is the same, the need to protect the family is the same, the national pride is the same, but when I look at Leatherface’s family from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre…well something is just off. Some examples of the country bumpkin in our popular culture are “Roseanne,” “Little House on the Prairie” and even Charlie’s family in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and one of my favorite shows “Trailer Park Boys.” Well Trailer Park Boys may be white trash, I haven’t watched enough episodes yet, but I think the serene peaceful music at the beginning of the show symbolizes some kind of utopian existence.

if you want to view paradise, simply turn around and view it

Some examples of white trash in popular culture are Deliverance, The Hills Have Eyes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, House of 1000 Corpses, and The Devil’s Rejects.

does anyone know, did he end up being gummo?

Squeal Like a Pig!

Oh Deliverance, not quite a horror film, but nonetheless horrific. Why. One word. Rape. I don’t know about you guys, maybe it is because I am a woman, but for me rape is the most heinous thing to watch in a horror movie. I can watch murder, stabbing, beheading, but rape scenes make me want to vomit in a theatre.

But Siren, how does this relate to white trash?

Deliverance

Well, If we look at the concept of whiteness, or how society perceives it, as pure, superior, dominant, truthful, beautiful, all of these positive characteristics, then white trash is the dark to its light. It is the antagonist to its wonderful perception, threatening the the meticulously built tower of colonialism to come crashing to the ground. Therefore, white trash rape of a white individual symbolizes the way white trash inserts itself through a chink in the armor. It is a disease, the underbelly sludge of the society that most whites, and pretty much everyone does not want to exist. So, in Deliverance, we have this image of white trash in complete nature, and a group of white men coming to explore, to conquer a river that will no longer be available, yet the remnants of white trash refuse to disappear. The anal rape then, in this scene, is the utmost fear, that white trash will penetrate, infect, shatter, and destroy the positive images of whiteness that our society is built upon; and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Pulp Fiction

The aspect of anal rape as well, appears in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Butch and Marcellus Wallace stumble into Zed’s store trying to kill each other. Yeah, any normal person would call the police, but Zed and his white trash cronies have some immoral stuff planned: more anal rape.

i know you all remember the music that was playing in this scene...

Again this parallel between the atrocity of rape and murder is again presented. Although Butch wanted to murder Marcellus five minutes before, the fact that he is getting raped, by white trash no less, is enough for him to go back and save Marcellus, not knowing if Marcellus will still intend to kill him afterwards. Tarantino loves to do stuff with race, and to me this scene is most symbolic, because it presents and intra-racial percpetions of racial hierarchy.

an undying crush on christopher walken

While white trash Zed is raping Marcellus, with an army of gangsters at his beck and call, it shows that even the most dejected degenerates of white trash, by the color of their skin, are seen as more superior than the most powerful black male in L.A. Yet, Butch, the All-American male with a decorated American veteran for a father, the man who has seductive encounters with foreign women who would drop their panties if he would but ask, a man with so much pride that he can beat a man with his bare fists, is the one who penetrates Zed with his exagerrated phallic sword. Pride was a major topic of conversation between Butch and Marcellus. ” Feel that sting, that’s just pride!” And note that he takes a long time in Zed’s shop picking the weapon he is going to use, to make it more symbolic. I think this scene shows the intra-racial battle within whiteness, although white is still seen as far more superior to other races, there is the imminent need for the suppression of white trash.

The Hills Have Eyes

So, I actually have this film on DVD. But I don’t think I can watch it again. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it is the backlash of the white trash that America wanted to forget when it tested nuclear weapons on a deserted area of California.

“death by flagging”

And, yes the white trash serial killers in this movie have… family values. That’s the thing that trips me up with this horror; the white trash family value impenetrable shield, that has no qualms about penetrating and defiling the family values of others. The really scary thing about white trash, is that they aren’t wearing a Jason mask. They look like normal people you could talk to. However, the white trash in this movie are marked by God, or America, same difference right? The nuclear testing has disfigured their faces. Their ugliness is easily visible. So, in this film, unlike in Deliverance and Pulp Fiction, the rape is enacted on women: a clear threat to white American purity that could spread the infection through procreation. There is a scene when two of the white trash serial killers trap a family on a roadtrip, they suck the breastmilk from a mother’s breast, who just had a newborn child, rape the mother, with her family watching, and then kidnap the baby.

So the rest of the film revolves around saving this child from the white trash degenerates. It doesn’t seem that they want to hurt the baby at all, they want to raise it as their own, to create, another immoral white trash child. Well, we aren’t having that are we? Interestingly, in this film one of the little girls sacrifices herself and gives the child back to the family. And it seems ironic, that although our society likes to insist that children can often not tell the difference between right and wrong, she is the only one with a semblance of morality. She knows what her family does is wrong, which would seem to say that white trash exists outside of the state of what we would call natural law.

little red riding hood save the day

House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects

These have to be two of my favorite horror films, directed by none other than the brilliant Rob Zombie. What I love about this film, is that the script is written in such a way that the viewer identifies with the white trash. They have the family values, although askewed, and let’s admit it, they are pretty fucking cool. How does this work, well they do have morality, not one many of us choose, but they believe in something, Satanism is their religion.

the family on its way to night church

They pray, they worship, they make sacrifices to Satan, and then come home and have a family dinner. They are intelligent, funny, and sexy. Cheri Lynn Zombie is beautiful.

And I have a total crush on Otis Driftwood even though he rapes women and sleeps with their corpses.

And the ice cream cone scene is touching, we all could see that happening, a road trip, making fun of our older brother, with everyone laughing. Not only that, they have more pride than America itself, they go out sacrificing themselves, gunned down by an army of police, yet the serial killers in this films are the most triumphant. Zombie’s decision to portray a sympathetic white trash family with religious values, yet still addicted to violent crimes was a brilliant move that turned the genre of horror film on its head. Dr. Satan showed the physicality of Freddy Krueger’s violent crimes within the unconscious mind. And Tiny’s sympathetic third degree burns was such an amazing touch. Infantile in his adulthood, adorable disfigured exceedingly strong Tiny, I would love to share a bowl of Cheerios with him!

my love

And I dedicate this piece to Tiny, an actor who changed the meaning of horror as we know it. Rest in Peace my gigantic friend.

So, hopefully, when you watch horror films, you’ll notice what is going beyond the veil. Horror movies don’t exist to just gross us out and scare us, they are making an actual statement on society, look at the killers and the victims, why are they triumphant and why do they die, what does race, gender, and ethnicity have to do with artistic glorification of horror. Why in Hostel, did the serial killers pay more to torture American victims, why do black people usually die first, what does it mean when they don’t, why does Jigsaw in Saw punish racists, adulterers, and narcissists. I hope this blog will help the rest of the world see that all art, as superficial as it seems, always has something to say.

© The Siren, All Rights Reserved, 2010-2011

cool, now i can pay my rent

 No, it’s true, women have this crazy money making device between their legs, but we are told at a young age, to not capitalize upon it, because it is morally wrong. But the problem with that idea, is that it suddenly becomes okay to derive profit from “it” once you are married. Then it’s okay to ask your dude for two thousand dollars for a handbag, or that weekend at the spa. And even worse, often this contractual agreement, is usually a property transfer from father to husband. So, to keep this patriarchal thing going on, women must believe it is immoral, or if they are in the business of selling their sex, there is usually a male hierarchal figure they must submit to, often known as a pimp. Isn’t it crazy that is our junk but men get the dollars from it?

if a pimp goblet isn't a kingly symbol of patriarchy i don't know what is

 As I was watching one of my favorite fairy tales from my childhood, Rumplestiltskin, I noticed how prevalent these ideologies were throughout the tale. For those of you, who haven’t read it, in the tale of Rumplestiltskin, a father boasts to the king that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The king believes her father, and forces her to stay in a room in the castle spinning straw into gold, under threat of death. She cannot do it, for her father lied, and the demonic creature, Rumplestiltskin, appears. He does the task for her, three times, asking for personal objects. The last time he spins straw into gold for her, he requests her first born child. She marries the king, Rumplestiltskin comes for the child, and she has to guess his name in order to retrieve the child back for him. She finally guesses his name at the last instant, and gets her son back.

 So most people who have read the story, think that the moral of the story is that people shouldn’t boast, as the father did, or they may face grave danger if they cannot stand behind their words. I do think that is a small part of it, but it does not reflect the themes the tale tries to illuminate. I believe the tale problematizes the ways in which fathers often see their daughters, as a way to aggrandize their wealth. I believe the tale shows one way in which women can use their sex to manipulate men, and how men in turn can manipulate women by it. Finally, it shows the dangers of promiscuity, which worst of all, concerning children, is the uncertainty of paternity.

 So, first of all, the father realizes that he has this one opportunity to talk to the king, and he claims that his daughter is such a skilled spinstress that she can spin straw into gold. The father doesn’t have much money, and perhaps he thought the king would meet her, and fall in love her, and she wouldn’t have had to do this impossible task. But the bottom line was, he used his daughter in the hopes that she would make him richer, with no regard for her wishes, since at this time in the story, the daughter has no desire to be with the king.

most daddies really hope their daughters marry rich men, oh, he's a doctor, when can we meet him?

 The king as well, views the daughter as a tool to create more wealth for his kingdom. She is given no food, no water, no nice clothes, she is locked up in a room with no windows, just barrels of hay standing in between her and her death. She has no choice in the matter, and is an object through which the king and her father can become wealthy.

 Rumplestiltskin as well, manipulates her by breaking her spirit. Now I think most of us know that in fairy tales when something happens, it is usually a symbol for something more important that would reveal itself in the child’s unconscious. And because I agree with this type of literary theory, I think it is important to analyze the objects that she is forced to give Rumplestiltskin so he will save her life. I also think that the objects that she gives Rumplestiltskin are subterfuge for actual sexual encounters she has with him.

First, she gives away a necklace from her deceased mother, which is very hard for her to part with. To me this represents, the way in which her loving mother, and also society would perceive the act of her engaging in prostitution for money. Most people believe that once someone you love has died, they will always stay with you, and know what you are up to. So in her mind, her mother sees what she is doing and is ashamed of her.

Secondly,  she gives away a ring that she owns. To me, if she indeed slept with Rumplestiltskin so he would spin straw into gold, the ring represents the sanctity of marriage and her perception of it, which has been defiled by Rumplestiltskin.

 Lastly, on the third night that the king asks her to spin straw into gold, she has nothing left to give, and Rumplestiltskin asks for her first born child. In this instant, I believe that Rumplestiltskin has destroyed her concept of motherhood, because it should no way be associated with this type of promiscuous sex.

father pimping out his daughter in kubrick's "eyes wide shut"

 The king marries her, and we must take into account that it was conditioned on the fact that she increased his wealth so much. Once she gives birth to the baby, and Rumplestiltskin demands it, the king wonders if it is his child. And to me this reifies the idea that the possessions she gave Rumplestiltskin symbolized sexual encounters with the demon. I mean you have to think, why would a demon, who can spin straw into gold, desire a watch and a ring? He was breaking her. And for this reason, I think the tale shows that prostitution and what we conceive us as respectable femininity often cannot coexist, because if they do, you lose respect for yourself, you shame your friends and family, and you can never be a good mother to your child, what morals could you possibly teach them? Not only that, you could get pregnant, AND NOT KNOW THE NAME OF THE FATHER.

yeah, ladies, this is just a damn shame

However, when the daughter finally finds out his name, on the day he comes to take her child for good, the queen interestingly names a few other names before she calls out Rumplestiltskin, even though she knows what it is. It seems a bit sadistic doesn’t it? I think this reflects the one instance in her life, when the daughter actually has power over the men who have manipulated her for so long. If she doesn’t guess the name the king would lose the heir to his throne and be viewed as powerless. And if she guesses the name Rumplestiltskin won’t be able to take the baby to hell. So I think she deserves to revel in the pleasure for a bit. Yet it also shows that this process, this objectification of her body, has made her quite cold and indifferent. I don’t think most mothers would taunt their child’s kidnappers, so again, the tale argues that prostitution can seriously destroy all facets of a woman’s femininity. And if you decide to prostitute yourself, great prizes may be won, but you risk too much in the process : respect from others, feminitity, and motherhood.

 I plan to be applying some more psychological and feminist analysis to some of the fairy tales I read as a child, and if you know of any good ones, or have any comments, I would love to hear from you.

I am confounded by the fact, that my friends know how long and stressful law school is, how many years I have toiled, how much mental energy I have spent studying and torturing myself translating legalese and understanding what we know to be the law. I am jealous of you artists, you musicians, you writers, you dancers; I often want to go play in the park and roll around in the dandelions as well. And I am happy for you, you made your choice. And I love that you are pursuing your dreams. I would totally drop out of law school and just play music if I wasn’t trying to save the world and fight injustice on a large scale with my brain. And I want all of my friends to be happy! But I want to be happy too…

after their romantic picnic, johnny gets thrown in jail for drinking and driving, and he uses his one phone call to ask me for free legal advice and to represent him, also for free.

Yet this does not give you the right, when shit goes down in your life, when you get arrested, when you get sued, to call me up, not offering me any compensation, but request that I dispense my legal knowledge to you free of charge, also known among law students, as brain rape.

It seems the same way for doctors. You can’t go to the bathroom, oh my friend Laura is an M.D. She can write me a prescription for free! I won’t even have to get health insurance. Or maybe your head hurts, Tim the brain surgeon can sneak me into the hospital and give me a CAT scan, a $5000 procedure for nothing!

I have two words to say to you people when you do things like this. Fuck you.

For whatever reason, you didn’t pursue a career or have knowledge of anything useful in the professional world, for if you did, you would know that time is money, and would have offered to either compensate us financially or provide us with some goods or services. You’re a personal trainer? Cool, I’ll tell you if your narcotics were unreasonably searched and seized and if you were wrongly imprisoned if you can give me many free workout sessions. Or you’re an accountant? You can do my taxes this year. You’re a taxi driver? How about you come pick me up when I need it?

Realize that we start charging at $200 an hour and we go upwards from there, often to $595 an hour.

Does this seem excessive? Well, considering the stress, and the research, the fact that we could get sued, the fact that our day doesn’t end at 5pm, that we went to school for 8 to 10 years, no it really isn’t. Especially when we break our backs for you, on a case that we would need Yahweh’s blessing to win because we are, in fact, changing the law simultaneously when we try the case. Yeah it’s a big deal. I’m not just going to stop what I’m doing to assist you, when you have done something substantive for me, like never?

What irks me even more, are those people who attempt to ask you for legal advice, for free, while you are paying for a good or service from them. It’s like, are you really going to ask me that, while you’re doing my nails, and then try to charge me when it is over? how about I just not pay for this appointment? This is the benefit of knowing complicated things that the majority of people can’t comprehend. And your legal question is complex. It is going to take me a while to figure it out. Not only that, to even research a question on the legal databases cost actual money.

honey, this massage and facial is $200. oh by the way, im thinking about suing the hospital because i impregnated my wife after my vasectomy, what do you think i should do?

And as it is with doctors, and lawyers, and car mechanics, this undeserved sense of entitlement seeps into other professons as well. For example, the hospitality profession. So your friend is a bartender or a waitress, of course you go to see them at their job, but is that why you really go? Or are you just trying to get free food and alcohol? Or even worse are you one of those degenerates who sits at the bar with no money, expecting the bartender to risk their job giving you free this and that, and you then proceed to tip nothing. Here’s a tip, pun intended, If you ever get anything free, at a restaurant, you tip the percentage of the item at full value, and you throw in extra. If you get a steak dinner and 2 drinks for free that would cost $50 and you aren’t given a bill, you tip $20. $10 for the 20% tip on the meal, and $10 because you understand this is a job for your friend. Just because there isn’t a paper bill in front of you does not mean the huge favor done unto you does not exist.

I don’t understand why this is so hard for people to comprehend. There are only a few people who I will give legal advice to for free. My mother, my father, my sister, my two brothers, and three female friends. Two of those female friends are also lawyers, or have a legal background and have they have all really helped me in my life.

So even though, my friends, I do love you, and I am pretty much a generous person, please realize intelligence that is specialized such as this is not free, especially in the form of advice, and you’re gonna have to pay somehow.

Fin

So yeah, I admit it. I watch “True Blood.” Seen every episode they’ve done so far. I like gore. I like dark. I like the fact that the idea is novel, and I’m a big fan of mythology and demonology. Mixing high religious art with trash is pretty interesting as well. And yet, I am troubled by the metaphors the series present, not because I don’t understand them because I do, but because the masses of people who aren’t intellects won’t understand the metaphor enough to get what it’s saying and what it isn’t saying.

Vampire Discrimination and African American Discrimination in the Rise of Jim Crow

Now if you haven’t seen how painfully obvious this metaphor is then you need to get a clue. This show clearly juxtaposes their fictional representation of how difficult it is for vampires to be considered “equal” or humans against the Civil Rights movement in America. The hate signs, the burning crosses, the “we don’t let your kind in here” I mean come on. And it has been done before, very recently in District 9, the director in the film likens the experience of newly arrived aliens to Apartheid in South Africa.

What do we think about this? Is this metaphor comparing vampire strife to African-American strife helpful to understanding the Civil Rights Movement, or does it just trivialize everything?

I have to say that triviliazation of a suffering of a people bothers me unless it gives it due justice, for example, a lot of politicians, activists and the like, tend to compare gay marriage rights to the Civil Rights Movement. They say that “gays are the new black.” I have to say this bothers me, not that I have anything against gays, to me gays are life, I love the gays. But comparing one aspect of the Civil Rights Movement, that blacks could not marry or marry interracially, is not the same as blacks fighting for the right not to get lynched or executed unfairly, or for us to drink at a public water fountain. I’m sorry it. just. isn’t. And man, every time I drink from a fountain I think about this. Every time.

So, even though the show is set in present time, it cleary presents itself as existing during Jim Crow, we have huge slave plantations, voodoo witches, the fashion is very dated…i mean the only sign I can tell that this show takes place in the 21^st century is that they have cell phones. Really that is it.

Tara as the Runaway Slave

I was shocked at the slave master rapist/slave mistress thing they did with Tara this season, the fact that it happened on a plantation, the fact that there were bloodhounds, ahem, I’m sorry, werewolves chasing her while she was runnin’ away on massa’s plantation. I mean it was pretty crazy. But here’s my problem with it. It wasn’t deep enough. It didn’t mean enough. Especially for people who don’t know what the show is doing with it. And I think this trivializes this aspect of slavery. It was much worse.

Excerpt from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, When Eliza crosses the icy Ohio River, carrying her child, while she runs away from the slave traders. This passage was why I decided to study Literature. Immeasurable Love.

“The frosty ground creaked beneath her feet, and she trembled at the sound; every quaking leaf and fluttering shadow sent the blood backward to her heart, and quickened her footsteps. She wondered within herself at the strength that seemed to be come upon her; for she felt the weight of her boy as if it had been a feather, and every flutter of fear seemed to increase the supernatural power that bore her on, while from her pale lips burst forth, in frequent ejaculations, the prayer to a Friend above–”Lord, help! Lord, save me!”

If it were your Harry, mother, or your Willie, that were going to be torn from you by a brutal trader, tomorrow morning,–if you had seen the man, and heard that the papers were signed and delivered, and you had only from twelve o’clock till morning to make good your escape,–how fast could you walk? How many miles could you make in those few brief hours, with the darling at your bosom,–the little sleepy head on your shoulder,–the small, soft arms trustingly holding on to your neck? [...]

Eliza was standing by the window, looking out in another direction, when Sam’s quick eye caught a glimpse of her. Haley and Andy were two yards behind. At this crisis, Sam contrived to have his hat blown off, and uttered a loud and characteristic ejaculation, which startled her at once; she drew suddenly back; the whole train swept by the window, round to the front door.

A thousand lives seemed to be concentrated in that one moment to Eliza. Her room opened by a side door to the river. She caught her child, and sprang down the steps towards it. The trader caught a full glimpse of her just as she was disappearing down the bank; and throwing himself from his horse, and calling loudly on Sam and Andy, he was after her like a hound after a deer. In that dizzy moment her feet to her scarce seemed to touch the ground, and a moment brought her to the water’s edge. Right on behind they came; and, nerved with strength such as God gives only to the desperate, with one wild cry and flying leap, she vaulted sheer over the turbid current by the shore, on to the raft of ice beyond. It was a desperate leap–impossible to anything but madness and despair; and Haley, Sam, and Andy, instinctively cried out, and lifted up their hands, as she did it.

The huge green fragment of ice on which she alighted pitched and creaked as her weight came on it, but she staid there not a moment. With wild cries and desperate energy she leaped to another and still another cake; stumbling–leaping–slipping– springing upwards again! Her shoes are gone–her stockings cut from her feet–while blood marked every step; but she saw nothing, felt nothing, till dimly, as in a dream, she saw the Ohio side, and a man helping her up the bank.”

So yeah I think in some ways “True Blood” trivializes the experience of slaves and African-Americans in Jim Crow by not delving into the metaphor. I mean when I saw the burning crosses in the last episode, I was like, really? However, in this season they are using the metaphor in an interesting way, perhaps giving more credence to Civil Rights and racial and ethnic injustice wholly.

Rewriting Racial Discrimination by the Victim becoming the Victor: The Inferior is now the Superior

So one of the most interesting and perhaps problematizing thing about using vampires as a metaphors for blacks is that they both exhibit the same stereotypes yet they exist on different platforms, or do they? So for instance, both blacks and vampires are associated with hypersexuality, being evil, and being criminals. Whites/Humans are not supposed to mix; we should remain segregated. However, the slavery and racism in America was based on the fact that African-Americans are inferior and sub-human, yet here on “True Blood,” vampires are superior and super-human. Like W.E.B. DuBois’ term double-consciousness suggests, blacks must be these docile creatures and masquerade as compliant because we are a clear threat, in the same way that vampires in True Blood must pretend to be “equal” to gain the same rights and constitutional privileges as humans do. So on the one hand, as Russel and Hitler would suggest, there has to be one superior race. Why should we be inferior when we are not? “Why should we pretend to be the lamb when we are birds of prey?” –Nietzsche “Why should we want to be equal to you, when we want to eat you?” — Russell.

Okay this is a bit scary, and I don’t agree with the superior race thing in anyway. However, by repositioning racial and ethnic minorites on the racial hierarchies, through fiction, the victims of racism in our world history are now more superior. People who have been discriminated against because of race or Anti-semitism can have their uneasiness sublimated into the fictive representation of the oppressed vampire, who by nature is stronger and by nature will win. Vampires are stronger than humans, Tara kills the slavemaster (at least in theory—cept for her kind of white lover killed him and also her black husband, Monster’s Ball style). So in this way it is cool. It is the recognition that hatred is an emotion that transforms, manifests itself in anyway and this metaphor of vampirism presents that image, and therefore specific fixation on one point of history loses the larger message.

However, as an African-American woman speaking honestly, it is hard for me to lessen the importance of the suffering of my people by having it compared to aliens or vampires. I admire the novelty of it, just as long as it is given due justice and explanation to masses of non-literary people who don’t get it. Cause yeah, the race thing and the history behind it is a part of my identity. It.just.is.

Thoughts? Comments?

Sooooo, let’s get into this shall we?

Influence as Manipulation

Oscar Wilde once wrote that “There is no such thing as a good influence. All influence is immoral — immoral from the scientific point of view. Because to influence a person is to give him one’s soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else’s music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him.”

This quote I believe identifies one of the major themes in Inception, which is addressed at the beginning of the film when Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) says. ““What is the most contagious parasite?” “An idea.” From the tiniest seed, it spreads like a virus.

The Art of Manipulation

The film makes it seems so easy. It actually takes a bit a time to sink in. In the film they accomplish inception by violating the victim’s mind, but really this is simply a metaphor for inception or insinuation that occurs through regular human interaction. One has altered the other’s unconscious; the film cleverly uses the human mind, literally, to illustrate the way inception occurs.

What is inception? It is manipulation. It is taking something someone feels insecure about and turning that idea on its head, substituting your idea for theirs. Then you guide them into acceptance of this idea, very subtly, so subtly that they come to hold this idea as their own, that they forget that you are the one who gave them that idea. Once they begin to echo this idea and it has begun part of their consciousness, they are under your spell, and you can use this tool to convince a person to do anything you want. Make them think they are lost, lead them out of the maze, and they will follow you unto whatever end…

is there a target sexier than cillian murphy? ooh i don't know. but i do want him to play lead in a screenplay im working on

Let us look at how the main character Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) is manipulated in the film. First Cobb makes a planned encounter seem like chance, he takes his passport and acts as if he found it, he seems so selfless and gains Fischer’s trust. So if Fischer ever doubts him, he can reassure himself by thinking it was fate that they meant, when really Cobb planned it all along. Then, the inceptors find something he feels uncertain or insecure about: the death of his father. It is important to note, that one cannot accomplish inception on someone who is completely content with their life and ideas.They will not yield to your advances. Even if a person seems content about something, you can spark an insecurity by commenting on something they may be sensitive about. So, after the characters decide to use his father’s death as entrance into his mind, metaphorically and physically, they put him in an uncomfortable position to get him to talk about the issues surrounding the insecurity (kidnapping). This is key, because then you know how to distort the idea they have in their mind. This is followed by placing him in an unknown place (the bar where he knows no one) where his only “friend” Cobb comforts him and eventually gains his trust. It is ironic that all this is occuring in the safety and contours of Fisher’s own mind. It seems as if this represents the extreme power of inception; that eventually you cannot even trust your own thoughts as reality because you have substituted another’s for your own.

Many of us have thoughts or ideologies that we feel are essences of our identity, that hum through our existence. But do we ever trace these ideas back to our original sources? I base a lot of my understanding of the world on extreme philosophers. I chose them because they echo the ideas  I already possessed, perhaps in a more articulate way than I. But is that really how it happened? Did I choose them, or through someone else did they choose me? I regurgitate Wilde’s words as if we are one and the same, or is this part of me just a shell echoing the brilliance of his identity? I think this is beautiful that I still cannot tell.

Yet, this is why it is immoral as Wilde says. One way or another, you are manipulating someone’s mind for something narcissistic. It may be a subtle narcissism: I am a teacher and want to impress this idea upon my students so they go out into society with this mindset, affecting everything they do. Or it could be obvious narcissism: I want to be with this person, or I want to change this person to my liking so I will alter the way they see reality to be in concert with mine and reflect my own identity. This is the danger of advice as well. I know it sounds strange to say there is no good advice. Many of you are thinking, but what if the advice is for example, stop doing drugs? How is that bad? Well, im really not talking about bad in a religious sense, but the fact that this person is basing their life and subsequently each decision they make on something you said, is certainly questionable.

I think it is important for all of us at some point in life, to take a step back and look at who we are, and decipher how much of our identity has been shaped by the advice of our friends, our family, our lovers, and our teachers. Most often the choices we have made that are not in rhythym with who we are, much like Dorian Gray’s quest for hedonism, are based on the inception of others.

The Corporate Art of Inception

I love that the film aka, Christopher Nolan, decided to comment on this. Because he didn’t have to. Of course, getting a person to do whatever they want MERELY through suggestion, well, there must be a prof’t in it, right? So in this film, we have the corporate mogul who wants to know, how can I control the global economy through manipulating someone’s mind?

This happens all the time people. I guess the best way to illustrate this would be through advertising. Commercials come on the television, interrupting the daily flow of our sitcom or whatever, are catered towards the people watching said show, and make us feel insecure about something in our lives, therefore we must buy this product. Think about it, you are watching a show, and a commercial comes on about a new Swiffer Wet Jet. The lady’s house in the commercial is sparkling clean; her floors are brilliant. You look at your own. They are dull. You get depressed. Tomorrow you are getting a new Swiffer Wet Jet. But it wasn’t the commercial. It was your idea right? Think about advertising and all of our holidays.

Better yet…think about some of the weirdest presidential elections in the United States where the odd man out won: JFK and Barack Obama. Both are visible emblems of difference; JFK with this bright red hair and his Catholicism, Obama’s blackness and questionable heritage. And what were their political platforms?  Kennedy’s was anti-conformism and Obama’s was simply “CHANGE.” And all the while, we’re running around saying yes we need a change we need a change it’s true! As if we thought about it ourselves. When really we were insecure about the state of our country, someone gaves a viable alternative, we accepted it, and claimed it as our own idea.

And if you don’t think this is evil yet think about how propoganda is used for war and for racism and for slavery. We were discontented with something, the government offered something else, and soon we were ready to die for it.

“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

-Yeah that was Hitler, do you see what I am saying?

Be careful if you try this on anyone, it could end badly if you don’t know what you’re doing. Hypnotism is also a good way to start inception. It can be simply having the person take deep breaths, and/or giving them repetitive commands. The human mind is such a thing of art, isn’t it.

Thoughts, Comments?

Once, a long, long time ago, all people had four legs and two heads. And then Zeus threw down thunderbolts, and split everyone into two. Each half then had two legs and one head. But the separation left both sides with a desperate yearning to be reunited. Because they each shared the same soul. And ever since then, all people spend their lives searching for the other half of their soul.

Are you finally settling down or just settling? Both men and women, even if they reject the majority of society’s rules, feel pressured by marriage. Even if we never discuss it with our significant other, the pink elephant in the room sometimes gets more imposing and threatening as we get older, and often appears when you start dating someone for a certain amount of time. So does this mean when we get to a certain age we should just settle for the sake of settling down? Should we ever bother trying to find  “the one”? And what is “the one” exactly? And what if, we search and search and search for the perfect person, only to wake up one day and realize were 70 and still alone?

Join Nana-Adwoa and I as we explore the mysteries behind finding love tonight on Nightly Candy Chat at 11pm EST. You can call in at 646-716-6360

Some of the Topics We May Discuss Are:

Does Sex on the First Date Ruin a Potential Relationship?

How to tell if you’re in a Bad Relationship

Why is Marriage even Necessary and Why Are Women So Obsessed With it?

Why Are Men So Freaked Out By Marriage?

Be Careful What You Wish For

How to Bring Love into Your Life

How to tell if Your Partner is “The One”

Why is it that some of us are so intensely drawn to a person of the opposite race? Is it because of the visual difference? Is it because it is somewhat forbidden? Is it because they represent something completely foreign to our nature? Is it because of the environment we grew up in? Or is it just HOT? Join me and Nana-Adwoa on Nightly Candy Chat this Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 11pm EST while we discuss the following the topics. You can call in at 646-716-6360.

Encounters with the Other

Racial Sentimentalism and Stereotypes

Miscegenation in Literature, Film, and Art

Betraying the Race/Leaving the Herd

The Master/Slave Dichotomy

The Trophy Wife

Racial Hierarchy

Breaking free from the Status Quo

The Appeal of the “Mixed” Child

Myths about Sexual Behavior and Appearance

If you have any other topics you would like us to focus on please post a comment below!

Charles Baudelaire, excerpts from La Chevelure (Hair), written about his black mistress, Jeanne Duval

Sweltering Africa and languorous Asia,
A whole far-away world, absent, almost defunct,
Dwells in your depths, aromatic forest!
While other spirits glide on the wings of music,
Mine, O my love! floats upon your perfume.

Blue-black hair, pavilion hung with shadows,
You give back to me the blue of the vast round sky;
In the downy edges of your curling tresses
I ardently get drunk with the mingled odors
Of oil of coconut, of musk and tar.

A long time! Forever! my hand in your thick mane
Will scatter sapphires, rubies and pearls,
So that you will never be deaf to my desire!
Aren’t you the oasis of which I dream, the gourd
From which I drink deeply, the wine of memory.

it's time to take out our secret weapon, we call her, black man's kryptonite --UNDERCOVER BROTHER