Caulfield and Batman

I've been reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and researching the censorship and banning that have taken place throughout the years. One of the authors I keep coming back to highlights the extreme paranoia accompanying the repeated decision to deny adolescent readers access to Salinger's novel. Pamela Steinle maintains that the invention and use of the nuclear bomb was the even that rocked America's faith in individual's abilities to choose correct action. Adults no longer trust the conceptual abilities of teenagers because the adults have lost the solidity of their own thinking because humanity now has the capability of destroying the planet. So, Holden Caulfield (the main character in Catcher) is not a character to be trusted as he questions American social structures and importance of adult interaction throughout his journey. He is a 'hero' who bleeds, experiences fear, and stands as an outside observer of society.

Recently, I listened to a podcast that discusses the cultural shift from the heroic, perfectly untouchable Superman to the dark, twisted character of Batman. It seems that with the advent of nuclear firepower, society no longer looked for a hero that could save them from looming disasters. Suddenly, there was a need for a hero who could enter into dark, difficult problems facing ordinary people. Or, as my podcasting friends pointed out, there was a need for a hero that could be met in the grocery store when he ran out of milk, bleed if you punched him in the nose, and die if a bullet was fired at his chest. As the moral framework of society was being shaken from the obliteration of Japanese men and women, an ordinary someone was needed who could prove himself better than the bleak experiences that created him.

Being so much more than simply disgruntled and malcontent with the world he lives in, Holden Caulfield's piercing observations sever him from the community of human experience as he stands apart from society, judging, critiquing, and attempting to better the forces that created him. Playing the part demanded by his social status, Bruce Wayne's nightly transformation into Batman allows him the space to subvert the system that created him and provides the opportunity for rebellion against the current societal framework. Both in the remote position of being able to push against perceived moral boundaries, Caulfield and Batman raise questions and force readers to question the legitimacy of cultural morality and the individual's contribution therein.

Marriage & All that Stuff

I found some G. K. Chesterton Quotes on marriage and sex and all that stuff there. They are quite fantastic and thought I should share.

"Love means loving the unlovable - or it is no virtue at all." - Heretics, 1905

"A man imagines a happy marriage as a marriage of love; even if he makes fun of marriages that are without love, or feels sorry for lovers who are without marriage." - Chaucer

"Women are the only realists; their whole object in life is to pit their realism against the extravagant, excessive, and occasionally drunken idealism of men." - A Handful of Authors

"The whole pleasure of marriage is that it is a perpetual crisis." - "David Copperfield," Chesterton on Dickens, 1911

"A good man's work is effected by doing what he does, a woman's by being what she is." - Robert Browning

"Women have a thirst for order and beauty as for something physical; there is a strange female power of hating ugliness and waste as good men can only hate sin and bad men virtue." - Chesterton on Dickens

"Marriage is a duel to the death which no man of honour should decline." - Manalive

"The first two facts which a healthy boy or girl feels about sex are these: first that it is beautiful and then that it is dangerous." - ILN 1/9/09

"I have little doubt that when St. George had killed the dragon he was heartily afraid of the princess." - The Victorian Age in Literature

And that, my friends is that. Here's the link.

Good night, and good luck.

Looking for a Hole

My academic writing is a bit dodgy at the moment, so I'm trying to write a paper and my words are hitting the page with about as much grace as a ton of bricks falling into a swimming pool full of pasta. It's not going well, which isn't really helping my cause. Ideas that were well formed a couple of days ago are getting stuck somewhere between my ears and elbows, and I'm not real sure what to do about it. My creativity is severely lacking even in this random quib about my life because I can't think of something creative to say about life.

Why did I decide to write everyday? What was I thinking? I think I need to find one of those daily inspiration sites that will send me something to write about.

Valentine's Day

Well, a year ago today, I was in Oxford, England drinking tea in a pub, reading Jane Austen, attending an incredibly romantic concert without a date, and having ice cream with friends. It was glorious. I remember it was the first Valentine's Day that I did not spend the whole day being depressed about being single. It was quite an accomplishment particularly since all of Oxford was decorated with hearts and pink and cute couples. However, it happened. And it was a lovely day.

This year, however, instead of bemoaning my singleness, I am missing the person responsible for my not having the title of 'single' attached to my Facebook profile (if in fact I decided to put it on Facebook). So instead of drinking tea in Oxford, I'm drinking tea in Wisconsin. And while there is no concert in a 200 year old concert hall for me this evening, I do get to electronically converse with that one guy, which is quite fun.

I promise this blog will not become a long lament or anything. But it is Valentine's Day. So, I get some leeway, right? I really do not enjoy those laments, so I assure you, this will not become one of those.

A Story

So, I just finished Graham Greene's 'The End of the Affair,' and although it is a morally questionable read, it is one of my favorite books. Strange? Probably, but it is amazing. I always feel like my heart should break after reading it, as it explores the differences and similarities of love and hate and how one man works through them all. As the two lovers meet and devour each other, Greene explores the idea of both hate and love consuming the very essence and life of a person. So much is consumed, in fact, that at the end of the novel nothing is left. Nothing, except for the One Thing that never runs out, and even He isn't wanted because of what was taken.

A Decision

I have made a decision.

You know how there are those Flickr photo challenge things where you have to take a new picture of yourself everyday for a year? I think I might try the same thing with writing. Granted, I probably won't have profound things to write about everyday, but it's worth a shot. And I have always wanted to write more, so perhaps this is a good reason to do it.

This little blip will count as my first attempt.

I can't think of anything profound to say other than I really like this guy I know. He's quite amazing. And I'm really sad that it's Valentine's Day tomorrow and he's two time zones away. Maybe someday that won't be the case, but for right now it is, and it stinks.

Deodorant

Have you seen the names they give woman's deodorant!?
Seriously??!!
Why on earth would you call deodorant 'Sexy Intrigue'?
Really?
It smells good, but why the name?
So, now we are objectifying women through the names given to deodorant?!
Who wants sexy armpits??
Come on now.