Yes, friends of light entertainment, I've had another letter from the British TV licencing company. And, as the title of the post suggests, it's like the sequel to a cheesy movie. I can almost see the tag line: Even more paragraphs in bold, even larger font and this time ... it's in red!
As in every sequel the content is pretty much the same but more over-blown. One sentence in particular stands out. They're playing the number game again - even more boldly than before. "Every day" they say here "we catch over 1000 evaders". An impressive number! Means that at this rate it would still take them 164 years to catch the entire population of the UK. Also means that they would catch 365,000 evaders per year. Attentive readers may now say: "Wait a second! Didn't they claim in their first letter that they caught 80,277 evaders per year?" Well spotted. Contradiction! But don't panic, terrorists never make sense. Maybe 365,000 is number of people they drag to court and 80,277 is the number of people convicted. As I've said before, even terrorists make mistakes. That's why they apologise. Besides, they have a much more effective way of distracting the reader from this obvious use of random figures: In good old comic book villain-style they add: "You could be next." Where, of course, the strong emphasis is on you. You can almost see pointing finger. The only thing missing from this picture is the evil laugh.
I've also been informed that they will soon let loose their dreaded enforcement officers on my property. These Stormtroopers of licence enforcement, the SS among privately run crime fighters, could now pay me a visit any time. They will then presumably hound me until they have found me guilty and possibly burn me at the stake. I'm thrilled already. What will they look like? What will they do? What will they say? And will they really sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger?
As an interesting aside note that they target, harrass and attack potential evaders in the same sort of way that Bush and Blair used in their (witch) hunt for weapons of mass destruction. Presumed guilty even if proven innocent. The "War On Telly" maybe...
Stay tuned. I have a feeling this will be a trilogy.
Welcome to this outlet for one of many facets of myself. This may include anything from views on current events, general ramblings and rant to short stories by yours truly.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Brave New World
On a more serious note this time:
I've just come back from watching Brokeback Mountain. It's a depressing story that left me feeling a bit empty inside. Very touching as one of my friends aptly put it.
Without giving too much away, it's a story about two cowboys working together in the wilderness of Wyoming who discover that they want to be more than just friends. They have a short, passionate affair. After their work is done they part and try to lead "normal" lives. But they cannot forget each other. Unfortunately, they live in a society that has no understanding or tolerance for their feelings.
What this made me think of again was what is still called "the American Dream" and what has become of it. In Germany, when doing history lessons, we were taught about it. It was like a mantra that pupils recited after their teacher. "Why did people emmigrate to America?" - "Because they were oppressed in their home countries. Because they were persecuted for political, ideological or religious reasons. Because in America they could be free." America, the Promised Land where people were free to think, say, believe whatever they wanted without fear of repercussions. While I believe that this is more of the fairy tale version of history I do think that it has some truth in it. Over several hundred years America has been like a magnet for people from all over the world. All their hopes and dreams summed up in the famous Bill of Rights (I'm not pretending here that I know it well but bits and pieces I remember): "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". That's what it says on paper...
Recent news and stories like Brokeback Mountain, however, make me think that under the beautifully varnished surface of its historical reputation things have started decaying. How free are you really? Freedom of speech? My favourite example is what happened to the Dixie Chicks. They dared to speak up against the president. Not that the government punished them - it didn't even need to. Religious freedom? It is there, surely. Still, after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington I wouldn't have wanted to be a Muslim in the US. Pursuit of happiness? Well, this is where I come back to the original topic: two gay cowboys. Now that story was set in 1963. But what would happen to two gay cowboys somewhere in Wyoming or Texas today? Would they be outcasts? Would they be able to find work? Would they have to fear for their lives? I read some nasty comments about the film and the topic in general on the Net. Mr. Bush has made it clear on several occasions (and that also seems to be the will of his vast, conservative, Christian backing) that he is against legalising same-sex marriage. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong here) that merely being gay or at least engaging in anal sex as gay men may do might even get you into prison in some states.
In the past, people may have swarmed to America to enjoy all those liberties that the country was famous for. Today, gay couples emigrate to Canada to get married. I believe that sets an interesting new trend. Not all is as they would have us believe in this Brave New World.
I've just come back from watching Brokeback Mountain. It's a depressing story that left me feeling a bit empty inside. Very touching as one of my friends aptly put it.
Without giving too much away, it's a story about two cowboys working together in the wilderness of Wyoming who discover that they want to be more than just friends. They have a short, passionate affair. After their work is done they part and try to lead "normal" lives. But they cannot forget each other. Unfortunately, they live in a society that has no understanding or tolerance for their feelings.
What this made me think of again was what is still called "the American Dream" and what has become of it. In Germany, when doing history lessons, we were taught about it. It was like a mantra that pupils recited after their teacher. "Why did people emmigrate to America?" - "Because they were oppressed in their home countries. Because they were persecuted for political, ideological or religious reasons. Because in America they could be free." America, the Promised Land where people were free to think, say, believe whatever they wanted without fear of repercussions. While I believe that this is more of the fairy tale version of history I do think that it has some truth in it. Over several hundred years America has been like a magnet for people from all over the world. All their hopes and dreams summed up in the famous Bill of Rights (I'm not pretending here that I know it well but bits and pieces I remember): "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". That's what it says on paper...
Recent news and stories like Brokeback Mountain, however, make me think that under the beautifully varnished surface of its historical reputation things have started decaying. How free are you really? Freedom of speech? My favourite example is what happened to the Dixie Chicks. They dared to speak up against the president. Not that the government punished them - it didn't even need to. Religious freedom? It is there, surely. Still, after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington I wouldn't have wanted to be a Muslim in the US. Pursuit of happiness? Well, this is where I come back to the original topic: two gay cowboys. Now that story was set in 1963. But what would happen to two gay cowboys somewhere in Wyoming or Texas today? Would they be outcasts? Would they be able to find work? Would they have to fear for their lives? I read some nasty comments about the film and the topic in general on the Net. Mr. Bush has made it clear on several occasions (and that also seems to be the will of his vast, conservative, Christian backing) that he is against legalising same-sex marriage. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong here) that merely being gay or at least engaging in anal sex as gay men may do might even get you into prison in some states.
In the past, people may have swarmed to America to enjoy all those liberties that the country was famous for. Today, gay couples emigrate to Canada to get married. I believe that sets an interesting new trend. Not all is as they would have us believe in this Brave New World.
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