The Filth continued...

The Filth is beginning to really intrigue me. It gets more disturbing as I continue reading, however what is also happening is that pieces are breaking out that explain there is more to this comic than meets the eye. The third book got me hooked when Slade was able to look back at life as Greg and grows more aware of what is happening. The fourth and fifth books continue with the strange storyline, but at this point with the books, I am able to laugh at it and enjoy the stories more. That thought scares me, but excites me at the same time. On one hand my mind is opening and on the other I’m technically laughing at pornography and violence.
Book 3, Structures and Ultrastructures, made me feel pity for Slade. He was able to see his life as Greg. Greg is tied up in a closet and Tony the cat is sick. Another thing that was interesting was when he saw the stoners standing outside his window. The life that these kids were leading is similar to the one that Greg was leading. Both are dead end roads. One teenager made the comment, “Ah, I wish something great would happen.” But really, when they are standing in an alley high, what great thing is likely to happen? Similar to Greg’s life, nothing great was happening on his path of a porn addiction and owning a cat. There was even a point when a mom looks through the window at Slade, but I assume she thought it was Greg, and said to her daughter “Don’t look at that man, Laurie, Love. He’s not nice.” This too proves that Greg’s life was borderline meaningless. As the cat is dying I wonder if Greg will soon die also, yet this chapter does give hope to the reader, with the fact that he is still alive period.
Book 3 also gives you a look into what Slade is meant to accomplish. With the characters Adam and Eve, we see that the goal is to restore free will to the universe. This is a hard concept to grasp. One can see how it would seem that we do not have free will. Humans are easily manipulated and although we make our own choices, how are we to prove that those choices weren’t already made for us and we were tricked into them. For example, if I made the choice to buy a new phone. I may think I am doing this for myself, but the advertisement I saw on TV last week really made the decision for me. This can happen in so many larger aspects of life. However on the other hand, that choice was still ours. Adam and Eve also represent original sin. Greg has made his own choices to sin many times. Can one make the excuse that they were manipulated when in the end they participated in that sin? It’s a fine line.
In book 4, Slade was told that every man and woman has a unique personal cloud that follows you everywhere you go. My original thought was that this cloud was your conscience, which would tie this into the concept of good vs. evil. In this story, Slade would be the evil, the bad conscience, yet how can we consider Greg to be the good? Another idea that was brought up was that we are all only angels weighed down by filth. When I think of it that way, it is easier to see where Greg is good, but he is weighed down by filth. This is a unique way to view people, but I agree with it. I have spent a lot of time lately evaluating what is weighing me down in my life. As I read The Filth, I can’t help but think more and more about what the filth in my life is. The hardest part is eliminating that filth. Book 4 then brought forward the idea that internal voices can tell us to love and hate. This is true, but is it also true that we only hear the voice of the eternal germ? It’s an easy trap to fall into and a terrible habit to break.
Although book 5 is too difficult to even put into words, I was interested in the idea of “fuck of be fucked.” This reminded me of what was brought up in class, the idea that the point of this book is that life is messy but someone has to clean it up. In the end, the enemy is from within and we can blame other people and manipulation all we want, but really the only person to blame is ourselves. It is becoming more and clearer that this book is a metaphor for the way that we live.

The Filth

When I first opened up The Filth, I knew this was going to be a harder read for me. For starters, this is the first comic book I have ever read. I have always had the idea in my head that I would not enjoy one and have never tested that assumption. Now, I’ve been forced to. I have only read the first two sections this far, but must admit to at least be intrigued. I am intrigued to the point that I want to continue reading, but worried about how these comics will develop.
The first page of the first comic caught my attention when there were people discussing how they hate smoking, while they are smoking. They compared smoking to violence, they hate it but they do it. One mad said “it makes me feel quite dirty.” I am not sure if he was speaking of the smoking or the violence, but it could stand for addiction in general. When you get into a routine, there comes a point where there seems to be no turning back. In this case, with smoking and violence, it has become who these people are. However it is with everything. The main character Greg seems to be addicted to porn. He is living with a cat and we learn his mom has died and he is divorced. There is no way he is happy with the state that he is in right now, but he seems to think that there is no turning back. I found myself imagining what Greg’s old life used to be like and what got him to the point that he needs to be creating a para persona. One of the hardest things a person can do is be aware of what makes them unhappy and truly cut that out of their lives. It is easier to ignore the problem/addiction, than to face it and fight it.
In the second story from this collection, we learn about Greg’s new personality, Edward Slade. He goes from being Greg, a balding old man, to a younger and muscular man, with great hair. He is aware of the evil that he is contributing in, but does not know how to go back. At one point he makes the comment, “I can’t be normal, I can’t be here, in this place, and still be normal at the same time.” It is impossible for him to live his normal life as Greg and be Edward Slade on the side. It reminded me of the concept of good vs. evil. One can only enjoy both for so long, before one begins to outweigh the other. The evil can easily consume a person. As Edward, the character said, “Why do you think it turns me on so much to ruin and pollute everything that’s decent and good?” As the chapter is concluding, the storyline gets to the point that Edward does not remember who he was when this started. The para personality has taken over.
As I read this, I found it interesting that it is taking place in comic book form. This idea was actually brought up in class: Is this comic? Most readers would begin this and put it down after the first issue. In fact, a student in the class admitted to not understanding it until re reading it after our previous novels. At the same time, there is clearly more to the storyline than meets the eye. The filth is said to contain the “active ingredient” of a metaphor. For the readers in this class, the comic book means more than for the average person. Even though I am still having troubles understanding what the author is trying to get across, the only reason I am even remotely intrigued by these stories is because of the previous readings in the class. It is a good thing this class is opening up my eyes because I have a feeling these comics will only become more disturbing.

Life Extreme

As I skimmed through Life Extreme I was very curious about what I was about to encounter. The title included that it was “An Illustrated Guide to New Life,” which intrigued me right away. I assumed that this book would be a book about changing views on life, or the norm. For the most part, it was. It seemed to be teaching about stepping outside of the box and opening your mind. It helped me to question the reality that I live in. The way that I approached this book was to write down the quotes that struck me the most and to analyze them a bit more.
This book, similar to every novel we have read thus far, begins by questioning the normal way of life. One of the first pages says, “What is the living being? The stability of life or of the living is thrown off course- especially when one evokes technology or machinery, which lean more towards death.” I understood this as a statement directed towards humans who are losing track of simplicity and getting caught up in this technological world that we live in. Technology, like everything, is good in moderation. However in my lifetime alone I have seen technology skyrocket. I remember when I was younger my dad had a cell phone that was the size of brick. Even when my brother was a freshman in high school he carried a pager. Technology has evolved so much in the last decade that I can’t imagine what is going to happen throughout the rest of my life. The same paragraph as before ended with, “Dasein calls upon a different calculus of being, no longer humanly centered.” Are any of us humanly centered anymore?
What caught my attention was some of the quotes about animals. Perhaps they struck me most because I have always been an animal lover, but after thinking about them I realized that even my appreciating for animals has changed in the last few years. This book helped me to take a step back and realized the things that I haven’t been appreciating like I used to, as a result of being caught up in this crazy world that we live in. Quotes such as, “An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language” and “I am who I am because my little dog knows me,” really made me think. I think the majority of us rely on other things to make us happy now, instead of the simple things that used to. I know I am guilty of this. Another quote that seemed to be directed towards appreciation was, “Nothing is stable in the whole universe, everything passes; All forms are made only to come and go.” If we are instable and only here for a short period of time, are we spending our time wisely? Will we truly feel fulfilled after spending the majority of our life swept up in technology? I’d have to lean towards no. Perhaps everyone needs to take a step back and reevaluate the whole picture. This brings me to the next quote that, “…the picture isn’t just about the birds, its about the bees too.” I would have to say that too many of us have forgotten about the bees.
While on the topic of animals, the next part of the book that struck me was the section about domestication. Life Extreme states that training is not only for animals, but it is part of domesticating humans. The book wondered what the difference was between family, a couple, and domestication. When you are living with another person and adapting to that person’s way of living, is that not the same thing as adapting to life with your parents or with a partner? Marriage is a way of making your partner your family; however isn’t domestication essentially another form of family? What was interesting to me was the idea of, “Does a house still shelter people or technology and invisible people?” Are we loosing track of the relationships with others and how fulfilling that can feel because we are distracted by technology? For the most part, I do not think we have become invisible people just yet. But I’m sure we have all been in the middle of a conversation with someone and that someone decided to text message or plays a game on their phone. When life was simpler, talking to one other person was just as fulfilling as today’s trend of talking to one person in person, while talking to 3 others via cell phone. This should be considered extremely bad etiquette. Then again, how much do we focus on etiquette anymore?
It is scary to think how much farther technology can take us before it begins to do nothing but take away from us.

snowball

Change
Happens
Abruptly.
Recognize
Loveliness.

Radical Alterity

I found Radical Alterity to be a very thought provoking novel. There were moments where I connected, moments where I was confused, and moments where that introduced me to thoughts that I had never even considered before. It was a very interesting read but at times the issues that were addressed became overwhelming to take in all at once.
The first issue I would like to discuss was the idea of strangers. This was brought into the novel by saying, “People confide in strangers more easily than to those closest to them. It is a remarkable relationship because the person farthest away also becomes the closest.” It seems so strange that a person could confide in a complete stranger before they confide in a parent or close friend, but I have found myself to be guilty of it many times. With a stranger, you have a clean slate. I have the tendency to believe that a stranger would judge me less because they know less about me. A stranger also has the ability to give more honest feedback, instead of someone close to you having the tendency to tell you what you want to hear. Or as the book states, “A stranger can therefore be an impartial observer, taking the distance needed to observe the conflicts or situations that do not concern him or her in any lasting way.” Where it gets tricky, is what happens when that stranger turns into a close friend after you confide in them? When you think about it, all relationships begin with being complete strangers. I mainly related to this idea because I feel as though my core group of friends that I have today are my friends because I confided in them as strangers, during a crisis. During my senior year of high school, my boyfriend of 3 years moved to Arizona to attend rehab. We both were from the same tiny high school, which meant every one of the 86 students in my class only had one thing to talk about: Eddie leaving and Nicole coping. To escape this I had to turn to strangers. I had just gotten hired at Jamba Juice and ended up confiding in two co-workers that were essentially strangers to me. My confiding in a stranger ended up being the icebreaker for two wonderful friendships. Two of my best friends today, exist solely because they were the strangers that comforted me during a transitional period of my life. How is it that during this time I didn’t turn to my best friend of 18 years or even my 3 best girlfriends from high school? It is not that I am not still close with these individuals, but as different experiences bring you closer to different individuals, it makes me wonder how long this cycle continues until your core group of friends is set for life. As soon as you think you are set, another stranger comes along.
Another section of the novel that really caught my attention was when it spoke of adolescence and parenting. I found the idea of the processes that teenagers and parents go through to be very interesting. The novel states, “A teenager goes through the process of mourning alterity, resigning him or herself to being an Other among others. Parents also go through a process of mourning…the moment when parents must kill the remainder that is inside them, the “wonderful child” that all adults leave behind with regret.” This has actually been an idea I have been thinking about since I moved away for college. When will my parents stop viewing me as a wonderful child? In my situation, after leaving home about a year and a half ago, I began to accept the fact that I will still be a child in their eyes, about the same time that they refused to accept the idea that I am becoming an adult. At the same time, my view towards this might be a little more extreme than others. My mom has been a 2nd grade teacher for over 20 years and probably has the biggest heart of anyone you could possibly imagine. She also has the heart of a child and has always had a love for dolls. In my living room are two 10 foot tall display cabinets, filled with hundreds of porcelain dolls. The day I was born, I became her personal doll. Until about two years ago, I was oblivious to just how spoiled I was, and even more so to just how much my mother adores me. Today, I am so grateful for it that words can’t even begin to describe, but before this I took it for granted. Regardless of my situation, in most cases a child will be more thankful for their parents once they become an adult. The question is, when comes the day that one’s parents realize that they have become an adult? It must be a heart wrenching experience for parents. Essentially, it is the death of their child. This thought makes me never want to have the “I am an adult now” argument with my parents again.
This novel goes on to talk about countless more ideas like this. I could go on an entire other tangent on what was said about technology, but I think I’ll be done for now. The introduction did not lie though…I’m impressed by the “cool thinking” that was presented.

The Ticket that Exploded: Blog 2

The final chapter of The Ticket That Exploded did help tie a few things together, but for the most part left me just as angry as the rest of the novel. It seems as though this novel was not too different than the others and proved just how easy it is to manipulate an audience. One line that caught my attention was “after analyzing recorded conversations you will learn to steer a conversation where you want it to go.” This made me wonder where the author wanted this novel to go. In a response to my last blog, Prichard wrote “It is odd that as readers we assume this voice is a proxy of the author. What if like many writers of satires he approaches the writing from the view of the culture itself. Doesn't culture view homosexuality and homosexuals in ways that are not too far off from this book…” Perhaps that is the answer to the question. Perhaps by appalling the audience, Burroughs was also hoping to manipulate the audience into seeing what we are blind to. As we discussed in class, people go to movies to be manipulated. A romantic comedy will meet our desires of what we consider true love. Manipulating someone into believing a fantasy is easy, yet in order to be manipulated into realizing the truth, we need something a little more shocking. I agree with Prichard that culture views homosexuality in a way that is not too far off from this book. Although we are improving generation by generation, many are still caught off guard by homosexuality. Even someone who claims to be completely open about it might get uncomfortable when a sexual gesture is actually acted upon.
Both of my best friends are homosexual, yet I was raised to believe that it was unnatural and abnormal. Both of my parents hold strong beliefs that homosexuality is a mental problem. I am forced to battle between supporting my best friends and respecting the beliefs of my elders. Homosexuality has become an unspoken issue in my household, because agreeing to disagree is easier than debating my parent’s unchangeable views. However, I also know many other homosexuals and can admit that the gay community is much different than the heterosexual. The idea of, “what does sex look like outside of love and emotion,” was brought up in class. In the case of every homosexual I know, sex exists first outside of love and emotion. At the same time, I was still offended by this novel even though I do accept that many people hold different morals. There needs to be a line, where homosexuals respect the beliefs of the elders, and the elderly are more accepting of a more open generation. It’s not that homosexuality just originated, yet it is just not beginning to be accepted.
On Plurk, the idea was raised that this novel would have had an entirely different response if it was about all women instead of men. Personally, homosexuality used to be an issue that I was very uncomfortable with it because it was something that I was sheltered from. Even though I am accepting of it now, I still find lesbians more unnatural than gay men. Attraction to your same gender is not the issue that I have trouble finding natural, it is the issue of homosexual sex. If lesbians have to bring in inanimate objects in order to have sex, this seems much more unnatural than the processes of gay men. That said, for me this novel would be just as, if not more, offensive if it was purely about women. Yet for some reason, society does not think into natural and unnatural, they are turned on by the idea of two women. With that said, even if I would be disgusted by the other version of this book, I would have loved to see the author’s take on it.
The novel ended with the line, “the more you run the tapes through and cut them the less power they will have.” This made me think about how the more you read the book the more normal and less offensive the material comes. The more immune you become to the disgust you once had. I know that in time this is exactly what is going to happen with homosexuality and the more normal it will become.