I fell asleep last night 20 minutes into The Matrix. That’s not to comment on the entertainment value of the movie; I do enjoy it, even the twentieth time around. Anyway, when I awoke at 3:30am, there was this autobiographical documentary on B______ K_________ [a popular political writer] on the tube. I watched in my sloggyness, not knowing where was to be found, and not wanting to look for, the remote.
I’ve read nothing of hers and, prior to the documentary, knew of her only by name. I learned, in my boredom, that B_______ trained in biology cuz she thought it was practical. She wrote poetry in the margins of her textbooks throughout school as a sort of guilty pleasure that she kept hidden. After many years, she mustered up the courage to send a poem of hers to a publisher and the rest is… [Yeah yeah, like I give a rat’s ass!]
When I nearly could not stand any more, she voiced an opinion of hers that interested me, with which I, reluctantly, happen to agree. She said “there is a sacred tenet in our society that holds: ‘as long one works hard enough, and is smart, then one will get what one deserves’; that I, incidentally, happen to believe is bologne.”
I, myself, have voiced this same view as well; just not as eloquently, and usually, with a great deal of profanity. I was struck by the rare humility she must have as a writer. She must recognize that she, herself, is lucky to have a gift with words that enables her to evoke emotion in her readers. That it is not necessarily the political attitudes in her works, many of them fictional, that inspires her following.
So… I was like “ok”. Maybe I can identify with her. Of course, I totally took for granted that she actually applies that same philosophy to her own accomplishments. Because all of the sudden she starts copping this holier than thou attitude and spouting off social and environmental policy dogma. “Hold the ef’in’ phone” I thought, “where was that exemplary attitude of a few minutes ago. Just cuz you researched some shit and poetically slung a few words together about it doesn’t make you an expert! And, just cuz you metamorphose your thoughts into print doesn’t make them Truth.”
Fortunately, there was only about ten minutes of the documentary left. The one that followed, “Beating the Odds; an Introduction to Statistics in Society” motivated me to get the fuck up and get on the bus to downtown — to pound on something, my drums to be specific.
7 replies on “Writers”
Two questions:
1. If researching something enough to form new and coherent ideas on the subject doesn’t make one an expert, then… what does? I thought that was, like, the definition.
2. I’m looking at the timestamp on your post. Am I reading this right: you woke up at 3:30, watched TV for 10 minutes, then took the bus downtown and played drums for three hours… at DAWN?? If so, you are a NUT. I guess that’s why you went from novice to badass in two short years.
-viqx
RE: No. 1
First of all, and granted I have not read any of the author’s works, the novelty and coherence of the author’s ideas may be suspect, especially since she primarily writes fiction. I mean to say, how explicit can ones message be when one must decipher it through the medium of a novel or short story.
Secondly, the amount of time and effort required for one to become “an expert” varies according to the difficulty of the subject matter being examined. Social and/or evironmental policy are both tremendously difficult multi-faceted disciplines to which many have devoted entire careers. I’m certainly not arguing that the author should refrain from writing about her beliefs from her perspective; I just think her absolutist attitude is unwarranted given the amount of time (I estimate no more than 5 years per publication) that she personally, has spent on her subject matter.
RE: No. 2
Yes I am a NUT. Waking up so early this morning was not my plan. I couldn’t get back to sleep.
I got to the space, via the 4 line ~ 6 am. I practiced for 2 hours. I’m completely exhausted now. At least now I know that I’ll sleep tonight!
while i didn’t see the documentary, i have read several of her works. i’d say that whether you agree with her environmental message, on a whole they seem extremely well researched. and i disagree that fiction is not a good medium for getting one’s message across.
ever read the story of B by daniel quinn. like him or not, the guy has a message, and the fact that it is a novel doesn’t hinder him in the slightest.
by the way, why is b–k–‘s name blanked out? we’re not talking about burger king are we?
I think Thug just doesn’t like being preached at, especially at 3am and I can appreciate that.
I don’t know anything about social or environmental policy, and almost as little about fiction. As a result, I still can’t figure out who B_ K_ is supposed to be.
I posted this over at crappy’s blog, but i wanted to make sure you see it…
oops, sorry i was late with this, thug, but jkf is right. opinions are free game. it’s when you assert false “facts” that damage reputation that you are in trouble. plus bk and gwb are “public figures” so you have to act with malice.
Thanks great sandwich… for letting me know that I can express my opinions, as long as their not presented as fact, about public figures and the like.
That school sueing it’s gripey students for copywrite infringement still’s got me a bit spooked though.