Hello people
I went to see a play tonight, which was both fantastically disturbing and disturbingly fantastic, or vice versa. And while I was watching it, I had a number of confused thoughts, but the one that took priority was: I must write about this on my blog while it's fresh in my mind!
It basically centres on this old couple, Fred and Doris, whose whole lives are spent sitting in watching TV. They never, ever go out. (It's never really made clear how they survive without ever going out, but the play is nonsense really, and a lot of things aren't explained properly.) While he appears to only think about the TV shows, it is made clear how much Fred depends on Doris, and is scared that she will leave him and go 'into the outside world'.
Someone knocks on the door and starts gibbering about religious nonsense. Then, a girl in a hoodie, carrying a knife and a gun, breaks into the house, claiming to be 'the result of what this country has come to.' It becomes clear to the audience at this point that the entire play is about stereotypes - Fred and Doris represent the boring older couple with no life, the voice outside represents a super-religious person, and the girl in the hoodie represents the 'teenage hoodie culture' person, that the media seems so very fond of condemning.
Anyway, the hoodie girl becomes very scared by the voice from outside, saying that she is disturbed by what he is saying, because she wants to be more than that. Then a policeman comes in - a very stupid policeman - as in, the ''Ello, ello, ello'' types from fifties and sixties comedies. He's another stereotype! And then, he goes out and comes back with a massive gun, as a stereotype of a different kind of policeman!
Anyway, the hoodie girl forms a bond with Doris, who adopts her as 'the daughter she never had'. Hoodie Girl persuades Doris to come into the outside world with her, and Doris reluctantly does so, leaving Fred in front of the TV. Fred eventually notices, and becomes very scared and disturbed. The TV goes wrong and stops working - but occasionally the news comes on, with the newsreader reporting very disturbing things that are supposedly happening in the outside world.
Doris and the hoodie girl come back, and Fred is very relieved. Next time the news comes on, Doris warmly greets the newsreader - and it is revealed that he is not in fact on the TV, but actually in the room with them. Then eventually Rosie, a tart with a heart, comes in and reveals that they now all need to leave Fred on his own, because his TV license is expiring. No one, apart from Fred, is real - they are all TV characters! Stereotypes!
All the fake characters take this very well - except hoodie girl, who is terrified about leaving, and wants to be a real person with real free will. But they eventually leave Fred on his own - and then Fred dies.
As I said, I found this play to be really, really disturbing. It might not be so intriguing the way I say it here - but from where I was sitting, I felt a real connection. I found I could relate particularly to hoodie girl - because she is terrified of being a stereotype and wants to be a real person. I feel exactly the same way, because I'm very much a one-off - I'm not a stereotype at all, but only because I've forced myself not to be. I'm also scared of becoming like Fred, because I do watch a lot of TV, but I think that there must be more to me than that, if you know what I mean.
Anyway - this play has kind of inspired me to make a new start. I get inspirations like that every few weeks, but this one has been über-strong. This blog post probably seems a bit random to any reader, but I felt a particular revelation tonight, and I just had to get it written down. So I hope this has been entertaining in some way.
No entries for 'People to Love and Admire' this week, I'm simply not in that kind of mood.
I have a lot of projects over the summer - but I hope I'll be able to update this from time to time, or whenever.
Take care, guys! Have a great summer, and remember to keep checking back here!
Saturday 16 July 2011
Tuesday 5 July 2011
My optimistic ideals
Hello guys!
Okay, so it's been over a month. Yes, I'm taking the shame. Every day I think about this blog and I feel guilty for letting it fall by the wayside... but I'm updating it now, so never let it be said that I never do anything for you.
Something has been occurring to me recently which I feel I need to share on here. In a few months time, it will be a year since I decided to be a political activist, and over the last few weeks I've realised that sometimes, I'm just an activist for the sake of complaining about something. Which is stupid, I know. So it's something I'm going to improve.
For example, I'll get an email from Avaaz.org or 38 Degrees or another NGO that I subscribe to, I'll sign their petition and then I'll forget about it. I don't do any research into it or anything. It's just because something I have learned to have confidence in has asked me to do it, I just get on with it without a second thought. This is obviously something that I'm going to try hard to stop doing, because independence is the most key part of my values. This is why I'm not loyal to any particular party; because if I was, I'd end up supporting something that I wouldn't normally support (or condemning something I would have supported.) So, anyway: it's never too late for a new start, and today I've decided I'm going to research more into the causes that I believe in, so that I can justifiably quote my opinion without just jumping on a bandwagon.
Now, this post is called 'My optimistic ideals'. The reason for this is because after my own independence, another thing that is very important to me is seeing the good in people. I know it's naive, but I genuinely believe that everyone has a good side, and that once they realise that, then they can use it to really help people and to make a difference. I think that a lot of the time, people can get so lost in the practicalities and politics of situations that they forget what is really important: people feeling secure and satisfied. Statistics mean nothing if people are not benefitting from them. (Sorry, I am fully aware that I am rambling here, but it makes sense in my head.)
Okay, People to Love and Admire. Now, for this post it's a bit unusual, because for the first time, both my people are fictional characters, but they are two of the best and most inspirational fictional characters I have ever come across!
1) David Reynolds
David Reynolds is a very intellectual, sharp, gay teenager in an online series called the Naptown Tales. I don't usually mention people's sexualities when I'm talking about how cool they are, but with David it's pretty vital. Basically... at the start of the series he meets and falls in love with a boy called Jeremy, and everything after that happens as a result of this occurrence. David and Jeremy decide to publicly come out (in a very conservative state in America) and play a fundamental part in changing people's attitudes towards the LGBT community, not just in their state, but right across America and even further. Politically-minded David takes no liberties in his campaigning - I think he's a politician through and through, but a very kind, compassionate one. He obviously has other issues that he feels strongly about other than LGBT, but that is the thing the series focusses strongly on. They're well worth a read...
2) Flora Poste
Flora Poste is the main character in a book by Stella Gibbons called Cold Comfort Farm. In the book, she goes to live with her cousins, the Starkadders, who are the most cut-off, reclusive and frankly boring people in the world, kept at the farm by the domineering Aunt Ada Doom, who apparently 'saw something nasty in the woodshed'. Flora (who is strong, capable and a bit arrogant) walks into their lives and single-handedly decides to sort out everyone's lives for them - which inevitably leads to a happy ending for everyone, including the great aunt. I love Flora because she is so charismatic and so cool that she can just walk in and take control like that. I like people with this power, it's a good power to have. Obviously it can be misused, but on the whole it's a really useful (and pretty awesome) trait. (Again, this book is a really fantastic read if you have a bit of time.)
I'll see you guys around, I guess, if I can be bothered to update this any time soon... hopefully I can...
Okay, so it's been over a month. Yes, I'm taking the shame. Every day I think about this blog and I feel guilty for letting it fall by the wayside... but I'm updating it now, so never let it be said that I never do anything for you.
Something has been occurring to me recently which I feel I need to share on here. In a few months time, it will be a year since I decided to be a political activist, and over the last few weeks I've realised that sometimes, I'm just an activist for the sake of complaining about something. Which is stupid, I know. So it's something I'm going to improve.
For example, I'll get an email from Avaaz.org or 38 Degrees or another NGO that I subscribe to, I'll sign their petition and then I'll forget about it. I don't do any research into it or anything. It's just because something I have learned to have confidence in has asked me to do it, I just get on with it without a second thought. This is obviously something that I'm going to try hard to stop doing, because independence is the most key part of my values. This is why I'm not loyal to any particular party; because if I was, I'd end up supporting something that I wouldn't normally support (or condemning something I would have supported.) So, anyway: it's never too late for a new start, and today I've decided I'm going to research more into the causes that I believe in, so that I can justifiably quote my opinion without just jumping on a bandwagon.
Now, this post is called 'My optimistic ideals'. The reason for this is because after my own independence, another thing that is very important to me is seeing the good in people. I know it's naive, but I genuinely believe that everyone has a good side, and that once they realise that, then they can use it to really help people and to make a difference. I think that a lot of the time, people can get so lost in the practicalities and politics of situations that they forget what is really important: people feeling secure and satisfied. Statistics mean nothing if people are not benefitting from them. (Sorry, I am fully aware that I am rambling here, but it makes sense in my head.)
Okay, People to Love and Admire. Now, for this post it's a bit unusual, because for the first time, both my people are fictional characters, but they are two of the best and most inspirational fictional characters I have ever come across!
1) David Reynolds
David Reynolds is a very intellectual, sharp, gay teenager in an online series called the Naptown Tales. I don't usually mention people's sexualities when I'm talking about how cool they are, but with David it's pretty vital. Basically... at the start of the series he meets and falls in love with a boy called Jeremy, and everything after that happens as a result of this occurrence. David and Jeremy decide to publicly come out (in a very conservative state in America) and play a fundamental part in changing people's attitudes towards the LGBT community, not just in their state, but right across America and even further. Politically-minded David takes no liberties in his campaigning - I think he's a politician through and through, but a very kind, compassionate one. He obviously has other issues that he feels strongly about other than LGBT, but that is the thing the series focusses strongly on. They're well worth a read...
2) Flora Poste
Flora Poste is the main character in a book by Stella Gibbons called Cold Comfort Farm. In the book, she goes to live with her cousins, the Starkadders, who are the most cut-off, reclusive and frankly boring people in the world, kept at the farm by the domineering Aunt Ada Doom, who apparently 'saw something nasty in the woodshed'. Flora (who is strong, capable and a bit arrogant) walks into their lives and single-handedly decides to sort out everyone's lives for them - which inevitably leads to a happy ending for everyone, including the great aunt. I love Flora because she is so charismatic and so cool that she can just walk in and take control like that. I like people with this power, it's a good power to have. Obviously it can be misused, but on the whole it's a really useful (and pretty awesome) trait. (Again, this book is a really fantastic read if you have a bit of time.)
I'll see you guys around, I guess, if I can be bothered to update this any time soon... hopefully I can...
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