“ALL THE OUTRAGES”…..
Let’s start with vocabulary, shall we?
Ok, now, there are so many directions that this blog post could go. We could go political, obviously, but it seems like that is just a guarantee for failure these days and it would very much be so with this post. We’ll start simple.
I’m amazed these days when I try to read some entertainment reviews and I’m guessing by many of them that they are written by thirty-something-year-olds or less. (I wonder how many will actually “get” what I just wrote..?) I say “amazed” but not it a good way. Incredible lack of “reporting”, a ton of conjecture – especially in cases where a product hasn’t even been seen or heard yet – in the form of fact when it is actually only an opinion. The worst examples are the presumption of “If you don’t believe what I’m writing now, then your own viewpoint is completely null and void”; a form that has become so ensconced in modern culture it is borderline dangerous. These articles and writings are usually very poorly formed ones as well and don’t belong in professional publications online or otherwise. I’m shocked at magazines or online outlets that actually allow some of these “articles” to be posted under their brand, and perhaps they should reclassify them as op-ed pieces. It’s downright embarrassing because it’s as big of a tarnish to their name as it is the writer. I’m all for freedom of expression, but if you’re going to call yourself a journalist, then…journalize with integrity, and with respect to your inner hurt-feelings over what I’m about to write, realize you should choose the right words to express what you’re feeeeeeeeling when you write it. When you over-emphasize your intent it makes all the difference in how your reader intercepts your point, and in the long run, you. The old adage is true: Once it’s out there, it’s out there, and sure, it can be edited, but the original is still there, somewhere in digital history somewhere. Freedom of expression also brings freedom of interpretation.
Let me expand on that reasoning.
Perhaps my ability to see things this way is due to being in my early 50’s. Perhaps it’s a variety of things. Who knows? Maybe it’s just good old common sense. But maybe it’s just because I know the meaning of words, appropriately.
Like the word “outrage”.
Today I read the following headline: “Marvel fans OUTRAGED at Mark Ruffalo spoiling Avenger film title reveal”. I seriously Laughed Out Loud. Yes, I LOL’d. Some might say I actually guffawed.
Really? They were OUTRAGED?
This writer is trying to tell me that a group of comic book/superhero movie fans – films about action heroes THAT DON’T EXIST IN REAL LIFE – were OUTRAGED – because an actor made a pre-planned “slip up” regarding a movie title that comes out next year?
THAT is a source of outrage for you?
I absolutely shudder to think what would happen if something TRULY horrible happens in your daily lives.
I’d like to say this is the only example, but of course, it isn’t.
I like science fiction movies and always have, and I’m a huge Star Wars fan. I saw the original trilogy in the theaters. Most of the online fan community that I’ve read “commentary?” from in recent years have been that same age range who got their SW exposure on VHS and even DVD, or whose first viewings of the Original Trilogy (meaning the films from the mid-70’s and into early 80’s) didn’t happen until they’d seen the prequel trilogy that began in 1999.
With the release of the very apparently divisive “Episode VII: The Last Jedi”, directed by Rian Johnson, in the sequel trilogy began by J.J. Abrams, the vitriol that you will find online is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, almost as horribly nasty as what you could read around the 2016 election cycle. If you thought the ugliness around Clinton & Trump was bad, you ought to read about how many childhoods were crushed, how the hatred toward Kathleen Kennedy is boiling, and what so many “guarantee” they KNOW Rian Johnson did on purpose to sabotage the SW Universe. Because, you know, so many directors are given the opportunity to walk into a multi-billion dollar franchise with the intention to mess up everything that came before. We’re 9+ months after the release of this film (as of this writing) and STILL some of the online community vows to never ever spend another dollar on SW material because of a multitude of reasons ranging from over-use of females in the movie (what?) to something called a “Mary Sue” complex to ridiculous explanations about gravity and bombs to just about anything you can think of that happened in Episode 8. Forgetting all about the fact that these are SCIENCE FICTION (emphasis on FICTION) movies and that suspending belief from reality is intended to be part of the fun of going to the films in the first place…I don’t understand the reasoning behind the pick-apart other than just having a bitch fest to direct anger toward. It’s not to say there may have been some directorial choices that even I would have questions about – and I have worked in the film industry as an actor, writer, and director – but I’m certainly not going to spend hour after hour writing incendiary and borderline incriminatory posts about the director, the studio and some of its top executives simply because I didn’t agree with those choices. In some cases, there are YouTube videos regarding this one film and the hatred about it that are LONGER THAN THE FILM ITSELF. Houston, we have a problem.
Why?
Oh yeah, because they’re OUTRAGED.
And they obviously have WAY too much free time.
I’ve posted my thoughts a few times on these YouTuber’s pages about how utterly ridiculous I find their statements – because it is in fact a MOVIE, a FANTASY MOVIE, at that, and you know, in life, things just are not always perfect. You either like a film, or you don’t, but stating that it “ruined your childhood” MIGHT be a tad overstating it, and if a MOVIE ruined your childhood, then dearies, you need some serious counseling. THAT is just not how reality works. You’re at a 17, and we need you at about an 8, on the scale.
What’s bothersome about this is that there are REAL THINGS in this world that DESERVE your OUTRAGE.
Things like the current political climate that gets further and further out of control every day; things in your local city and culture that could certainly use some assistance from citizens…..homeless and pet populations that are spinning wildly out of control with dwindling assistance programs…. and literally hundreds of other REAL and FALTERING items associated with HUMAN LIVES that are getting pushed under the carpet every day – both in our humble little homes and across the world. There are living beings – people with hearts, souls and minds that need your attention, your energy, your anger, your angst, your love and your drive – your ‘OUTRAGE’ – that could actually benefit….
WHERE is your sense of OUTRAGE at those things? Those very REAL things?
Are you too afraid that you’ll miss a frame of the Avengers title reveal if you care about someone or something else, or something bigger than “fantasy”? Trust me, we all understand that reality can be scary, but unfortunately “reality” has to be the base where we actually live, and when you get a few years into your belt, you’ll REALize that it’s necessary to function. Proclaiming yourselves to be OUTRAGED at something so actually trivial as a comic book superhero movie is really truly nothing more than “ridiculous” in normal terminology and the REAL world. And if you look up the word “normal”, you’ll find it is what it is expected to function in the world. The world you will find you have to function in to have any semblance of life – even if you are a bit quirky. Quirky is fine – hell, quirky is even sexy to a good number of people – but learn that when you’re proclaiming yourself to be OUTRAGED at this kind of thing, to the rest of society, you’re making yourself out to be more than a bit distanced from reality…. step back and look at the bigger picture, and you may just understand what I’m saying.
I do “get it” – there’s plenty of things that I disagree with that come out in our entertainment and other fields; things I would have done differently, etc., but I also know that there will be something else that comes along that I can enjoy. It isn’t the end of the world, it didn’t “ruin my childhood”, etc.
Too tired to open a book or dictionary, or take a class that might expand your mind, beyond the realm of regurgitated stories that in actuality, you already know the end?
Challenge yourself.
Learn something new.
You just might be surprised at what you find.
You just might find yourself OUTRAGEOUSLY smart.