Going to the theatre: What a shock!

So, I didn’t mention this and I was deciding how to explain this but I recently went to the theatre. Since my last time I went, I saw the comedy musical, Young Frankenstein performed at my old community college. Personally, I enjoyed the performance greatly especially since I did love Mel Brooks’ parody films and original content. But let’s talk about Bled for the Household Truth, an independent play by Ruth Fowler.

But before I do, I want to say the first part of this article will be review and the second, a cultural analysis into with the play reminds me of.

Bled for the Household Truth focuses on the lives of an American businessman, possibly stockbroker, and the girl he decides to let rent his apartment together. Seems pretty good right? Well, there’s a catch. The rent is cheap but she has to be comfortable in wearing her underwear. So that’s how our girl Penelope (Pen for short [played by Alexandra Hellquist]) and Keith the stockbroker, (played by Ben Burdick), come together and make such an odd couple.

Now the play itself focuses on their relationship with Pen, wild and excited trying to make a name for herself, and Ben, a socially conscious guy who wants to connect with women but goes about entirely the wrong way and can't stand women even touching him. Around the end of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2 (This is a 2 Act play), both characters reveal their pasts as Pen's difficulty with her drug-abusing father and having to keep her family up and Ben's issue with seeing himself as inferior due to his mother's treatment of him at a young age, pulls a heart string for the two of them but sadly, their actions lead them down to their downfalls.

Also, two other characters are seen in this play. Billy, performed by Nathaniel Meek and Monica, done by Rachel Brunner, are both present with Billy being seen throughout as Pen's on and off again boyfriend and Monica as Pen's friend and close confidant. However, Monica is the only one who isn't seen until the near end of the play. But with Billy, he usually wants Pen to get laid with him throughout the play uncaring for her personal self-being. Monica appears near the end to help become ... well, more or less a stock character of a supporting friend and a poor underdeveloped foil character.

In the end, Pen suffers a drug overdose and unfortunately her fate is left ambiguous to the audience with Keith finally able to shatter his consciousness of touching women only too late.

Ok. Sounds like a simple modern tragedy in the vein of Death of a Salesman and other modern tragedies? Well yes, but the play has a great flaw. It uses shock material to either A) Keep the audience in suspense of what happens next or B) Disgusts the audience to demand a refund. I went with A because I saw the whole thing. That and I had to give Alexandra back her headphones because she was the one who got me into watching the play. But yes, you will see shocking scenes that are including a rape scene, suggestive blow jobs, some nakedness (not full but still there), masturbation, voyeurism and other things that make the play overall uncomfortable, which no doubt that's where they're going with this play. Unfortunately, it overbears the plots rather than actually helps the plot go along since there are multiple scenes like this and every scene break the audience can see Pen undress and sometimes Keith too adding more to the lessening comfort factor of this play. It's over-daunting and I'm sure that most of you reading this might not give it a chance.

For the actors, they have done their job well. They worked and acted the best from their script given and doing much to make the characters believable but sadly the blocking and play refuse to make us sympathetic due to actions these characters do, with Pen keeping Billy around though it's obvious he's a bad influence, Keith for his perverted sexual tensions with trying to be with a woman though saying his intentions are pure, Billy for his egotistical personality and refusal to treat Pen more than just a sex object, and Monica, ... well, she's another problem altogether. Monica is just a stock character that doesn't get any development time and feels more rushed. If Act 1 allows Monica to have a scene with a girls night with Monica while Keith is gone on a trip, this would give more time for us to sympathize and develop a relationship with her.

And I know I spoiled the play but that has a good reason because, I ask you guys not to see this due to the subject material and to well, your personal taste in wanting to experience live theatre for the first time. It's not good for a first experience.

But now it's time for a culture shock. But basically, you already know. This is the state of modern theater. Shock value with no respect anymore to characterization, plot, and other important elements. Also, the play doesn't really tell it's message. (I wasn't even sure other than the issue about we aren't communicating yet the play has communication along all four characters.) The message is gone and is replaced with shock value. It's a depressing regurgitation of the Postmodern Ideal of Subjective art. In fact, last night I asked this question as part of an icebreaker game and so I mentioned that narrative is important to art, even so in the stationary arts (painting (all types), and sculpture) but a cacophony of "Art is anything you want" generally pervaded the area. It's not surprising anymore but we all know that most people don't want to go to a postmodern art gallery. Even at the theater, many seats were empty and yet the theater itself still stands for the donations.

So to any person who loves the arts or just wants to appreciate a good art experience, whether learned or new, young or old, from all experiences, (excluding criminal of course) and let's look at art with a common sense lens. Call out bad art because that's what it is. And also, may I suggest instead if you are in LA right now, to see Disney's Aladdin at the Pantages. It'll be a much more fulfilling time for you.

Can You be "Great?"

Is “Greatness” possible today? One of my acquaintances had asked this hypothetical question in response to his recent review of Freidrich Nietzsche’s  Beyond Good and Evil. On focusing on the greatness of human ability, Nietzsche focuses his opinions and examinations on humanity in an aphoristic style with wit, nerve, and often shocking result. I know many might think Nietszche was supporting the path to Nazism but that was farther from the truth due to his works being entirely bastardized and manipulated by his own family (one sister and her husband both wrote their own such drivel of collectivism while Nietzsche himself) but apart from that, Nietzsche does himself delve into the idea of Greatness with his concept of the Ubermensch.

I have not read much Nietzsche other than the beginning parable of Thus Spake Zarathustra where The Prophet Zarathustra goes to announce the beginning of the Superman, the Ubermensch. But from the article itself, and my own reasoning. I came to conclude a sad but yet fortunate fact that, not everyone can be great. In fact, when we think of greatness, we often give very subjective ideas of what this is so we’ll stick with the ideas of Nietzsche for the time being.

Greatness for him is the Ubermensch’s style of life. He is a passionate man who loves life for beauty and misery. A culture hero who charges history in a new direction and carves his own path separate from the ethical norms of religious thought. He envies others for their talents but also relishes them seeing them as a mirror of what he can be but also pride himself in his talents and abilities. He can be selfish to achieve ends. In other words, the Ubermensch is highly individualistic. Creating their own story from beginning to end. But in order to achieve such, one must suffer according to Nietzsche. And that is the most difficult thing for many, many people to understand.

In an age of Social Justice Warriors, Postmodernism, and Religious Fundamentalism countering  any individualistic ideas, merit, or thought, this brings about the age of Ressentiment. Such resentment comes from those who can’t accept they aren’t as valuable as they thought of, are insignificant in the world, or seeing others better off than them in a multitude of ways. It’s then they wish to strengthen their nihilistic tendencies for destruction, primacy, and (to be on the extreme side) death. There is no love of life or accepting reality as it is. They don't enjoy their freedom or wish to make something of it to triumph. They are just driven by destruction of others before themselves.

The Social Justice Warrior claims they are pushers for equality and diversity but diversity of opinions other than left or left-center are always criticized. No Libertarians, Conservatives, Republicans, Left-Right, Objectivists, Liberalists, ... the list goes on and on. The Postmodernist wishes destruction on all the foundations of a civilization's intellectual and cultural achievements, all lying under a guise of oppression of thought and the so called "illusion of truth." They claim because the truth is all forsakeable, anything can go. But this is simply untrue. They hate civilization and culture because it's elevated man to higher potential and that they themselves can't comprehend it so they must make their own values to justify their hatred. They use such claims like "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" to claim all art is equally good when art that follows and respects form, style, substance, matter, symmetry, story, and most importantly BEAUTY is respectable. Because there is no truth, emotion is now truth because any reason, fact, or evidence is seen as counterproductive to a postmodernists' ideals. Religious fundamentalists claim the world is to be left to hell and pray in vain to a God that still leaves a silent answer. Instead of seeing beauty in our natural world, a Platonic paradise is seen as they grasp for it. But yet allowing that shows apathy to us who really see the world as it is. But the worse of their lot is the Islamic Fundementalists who demand all must convert or die in the name of their God. Religious sacrifice and killing infidels is seen as the highest form of flattery to God.  I know what I'm saying is cold but it's true. No prayers have been answers, our enemies still exist, these whackaloons I just mentioned still wander around making everyone's life hell.

But it goes psychologically, they can never be great so they make others just as un-great as they are. So yes, no one can be great and those who just can't except it or at least try to put up a good fight to try to be great wish only to destroy us. I ask of this of all of you, and I say this honestly, Even if you can't be great, that's no excuse to stop people from being great. Strive to be great, live dangerously "Build your homes on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius!" In other words, the difficulty of being great is to go through the suffering of what makes a man great! No one is willing to suffer to strive for that greatness, but I say I will. Even if it be a long road and I don't get my recognition til I die or 2000 years after, I will strive for greatness! I may suffer but I will get stronger! Life may be suffering at many points but I can understand it is difficult and I must pursue on.

It's a difficult thing but people need to make "greatness" great again. And the first step is to stop vilifying greatness.

Happy Late New Year and New Year's Resolutions

So I'd like to thank all of my readers who still follow me despite my very unorthodox and changing and lazy schedule for following me into 2018. And hopefully many surprises will happen and I promise that next time, I'll post my Airing of  the Grievances on my Blog to personally shame anyone and everything on Festivus. But lets get to the good news.

Happy New Years to us all and the best for each of us, this, for all time, and throughout this year. It's also important because this is the Year of the Dog for me as this will be the complete cycle of another Chinese New Year for I'll be 24 as of this year. And boy I do have some New Years Resolutions. Mostly plans and goals for myself.

Specifically I have 4 main ones. To some simplistic small goals to fulfill overall big goals/resolutions.

1) Lose some Weight. I have no real or clear goal but I do want to lose some body fat due to last years munchies and feasting due to some emotional and economic hardships and reanalyzing. So I'm hoping to lose 10 pounds overall in general if possible as I'd like to enjoy the upcoming 2018 Anime Expo again as I loved last years but I have to save up and really pay off some debts.

2) Pay off Debts. I got a lot to add onto but I know that I will fully pay of one I owe personally to someone else. I can't go into specifics in order to protect peoples Identities and for personal reasons. Also I plan to pay off more of my Credit card despite usual payments on to pay for car repairs.

3) Write More Often. I've been very lazy on completing my works and so I hope to finish 3 short stories, 1 play and a full draft of one novel. I'll be planning to write the 3 short stories soon with possible revisions later and I will be announcing my debut hopefully if I decide to though my original plan is to publish independently and then grow mainstream.

4) Read More Books. I have a lot to do with reading but I'm planning to read at least 6 books this year and work on 12 next year with a book a month unless I finish reading a book. So far on my list are The Vampire Lestat, We The Living, Nichomachean Ethics, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. All of various genres seen from Philosophy to Gothic Romance and Horror to Erotica.

So that's it. I hope you all can keep to your resolutions or decide not to have ones and you shouldn't feel pressured. For those who do, congratulations. I know there are characteristics that you want to improve on. Good luck and you can do it. And those who chose not to, good for you. It's for you to decide alone and no one's damn business.

Anyway, Eat Drink and Be Merry Darlings!