No Subject

[Bob Krajewski <lmi-angel!rpk>]

James:

    I don't understand your statement, though, "you can't respect 
    good things... standing".

What I meant is that it's just not consistent to mock positive values
(whatever that means to you) and then expect to benefit from other people
exercising them.  Is civility really that much of a drag ?

OK, the world can be pretty nasty.  Can you understand the viewpoint of
somebody who thinks that maybe there's enough nastiness already without more
of it packaged as expression ?  Or art ?  (Hoo, boy !)  I should say I meant
nastiness as the CENTRAL OBJECT, without inversion, ridicule (which is what
Psychodrama intended, I will now grant), commentary, or catharsis.

As far as the interview goes, I'll admit that I did I thought it was
un-tongue-in-cheek; I thought I was good at spotting that but I guess ASCII
just doesn't communicate the nuances.  Does that make me stupid ?
(Actually, I'd rather be thick like Rossi but that's another kettle of fish
entirely.)  Pdrama should not be silenced (by whom ?), and I think you
should post more of the interview if you want.

    Your letter here smacks of "I'm too wimpy to stand up to Hate but something
    here bothers me (it might be toggling my own hypocracy) so I'll try and
    say something to insulate me from it.

And this smacks of ``anybody who says `feh' to taboo-breaking image is
either a coward or a reactionary.''  Because I can distinguish between
reports of negative things and art that incorporates them, I know that I can
make an aesthetic judgement of the latter, based on personal tastes that can
only be explained to outside world as arbitrary, without denying the gravity
of the former.  I will stick to the orthodox attitude art and non-art are
not the same thing (although I believe that in time and context
line-crossing does happen).

After reading your posting ``Questions,'' I can see that I was sucked in by
the combination of a well-executed life-as-art approach (in this case, an
interview --too bad David Bowie beat them to it a la Ziggy) and the
exploitation of a sensitive area of the ``American dream.''  I guess the
problem boils down to how you think the audience is going perceive the intent.
The stakes are higher the more volatile the subject matter.

    Have you ever heard their music?  Try the compilations, "Most Hated
    Bands in the World" or "Desperately Seeking Suicide" (an import).

Actually, I think I have (I can remember the name mentioned on WMBR)...