Skip to main content

Perhaps The World Should End

Apparently, as we all know, the Mayan calendar tediously predicts the end of the world this Friday - or, rather, tediously, the media of the West has inundated us with stories and films about this for the last few years.  The end is rather an anti-climax.  Except, a horrific massacre of children in America reminds us that doom is not farcical, but horrifically potential, in all our lives as individuals, if not as whole communities; after all, America is in mourning but it has survived this onslaught.  Calls for gun control are worthy but a little naive, though gun control is an essential step for America as it seeks to become a mature and civilised nation - naive, because American culture, and by extension, the cultures of Britain, Canada, Australia, and Europe - are exceptionally violent.  As Frankie Goes To Hollywood said about thirty years ago, "sex and violence are the new gods."  Not quite new.  About as new as the Mayans, probably.  However, the point of this post is, as a Catholic, I see the world as fallen  I see hope in this recognition.  Atheists too often see the world's problems as the fault of others - other laws, other politicians, other beliefs.  But the fault is in all of us; as humans, we are partly evil.

Now, what world would Satan build for us if he were real?  A world of war, pornography, brutal financial systems, polluting multinationals destroying the world's ecosystems, random killings, and massive inequality?  A world of hate, terrorism, and a cheapened private sphere, where poetry, prayer, contemplation and down time are almost impossible to locate amidst a global Internet babble?  Yes, this world of ours, this Western world of capitalism, and empire-built declining prosperity, has its Satanic mills and military-industrial complex.

But, there is a God, too, so we also get things like joy, hope, creativity, sport, love, giving, art, music, medicine, and philosophy.  Violence is in the heart of our entertainment worlds, our imaginations: the biggest grossing film of the year in the UK is Skyfall, a violent fantasy.  The most popular TV shows are Homeland, filled with gun battles and espionage, and The Killing, filled with sadism and torture.  I found these shows entertaining - because I am human, a sinner.  But that does not mean I think they are ideal.  I regret the time I waste on cheap popular culture, but it is hard to focus on uplifting fare all the time; though we must seek virtue.  One concern we must have is with these video games, best-selling thrillers, movies, and shows, that constantly emphasise serial killers, hit men, and snipers, sold to us constantly in the media.  No wonder children want to take up arms, and shoot people.  This is a sick world we inhabit.  I hope it won't end on Friday - but if it did, what would be lost?  A lot of good, yes, but some evil, as well.

Comments

David Clarke said…
What I find particularly bizarre about the whole Mayan calendar thing is the fact that the actual end of the world as we know it - the impending environmental disaster which is hurtling towards us even faster than many experts had feared - gets little to no coverage.

Popular posts from this blog

CLIVE WILMER'S THOM GUNN SELECTED POEMS IS A MUST-READ

THAT HANDSOME MAN  A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought.  Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that

IQ AND THE POETS - ARE YOU SMART?

When you open your mouth to speak, are you smart?  A funny question from a great song, but also, a good one, when it comes to poets, and poetry. We tend to have a very ambiguous view of intelligence in poetry, one that I'd say is dysfunctional.  Basically, it goes like this: once you are safely dead, it no longer matters how smart you were.  For instance, Auden was smarter than Yeats , but most would still say Yeats is the finer poet; Eliot is clearly highly intelligent, but how much of Larkin 's work required a high IQ?  Meanwhile, poets while alive tend to be celebrated if they are deemed intelligent: Anne Carson, Geoffrey Hill , and Jorie Graham , are all, clearly, very intelligent people, aside from their work as poets.  But who reads Marianne Moore now, or Robert Lowell , smart poets? Or, Pound ?  How smart could Pound be with his madcap views? Less intelligent poets are often more popular.  John Betjeman was not a very smart poet, per se.  What do I mean by smart?

"I have crossed oceans of time to find you..."

In terms of great films about, and of, love, we have Vertigo, In The Mood for Love , and Casablanca , Doctor Zhivago , An Officer and a Gentleman , at the apex; as well as odder, more troubling versions, such as Sophie's Choice and  Silence of the Lambs .  I think my favourite remains Bram Stoker's Dracula , with the great immortal line "I have crossed oceans of time to find you...".