Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Idiocracy comes to life (again)
So, uhm. This is depressing. This video is pretty much the harbinger of the addition of "Ow My Balls" to the NBC prime time lineup. Apparently horse racing is not the sport of kings anymore.
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4 comments:
This is why horse racing should never be held in Baltimore!
I can't really quite place my finger on why the the whole "ow my balls" "jackass" phenomenon depresses me. It's not that I mind people acting stupidly or having fun doing so; I do those things myself, gleefully. I guess it's the "nothing is sacred" sort of mentality. I'm not addressing Preakness or any other venue in particular. It's just that the "jackass" attitude is not about fun for fun's sake or silliness for silliness' sake; it's about bringing everything down to a low, low level. Like chimps flinging feces.
Bleah. I'm babbling. It's not entirely clear to me exactly why Monty Python's jabs at The Establishment are funny while "ow my balls" is not, except for maybe closet Anglophilia.
I have laughed at Jackass myself (particularly the short-but-brilliant springboarding into a ceiling fan) and I have no doubt that doing stupid and/dangerous crap for entertainment value is nothing new... but I just found this bleak.
It might be the ubiquity of it that's disturbing. With some of these people, you get the feeling that they think you're a real dick for taking anything seriously at all. Nothing is to be taken seriously because none of our actions have consequences. There's something despairing about that. Also with some people, there's a real sense that they've found their level.
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