Being There

My favorite book of all-time is "Being There" by Jerzy Kosinski. It is the story of a man, who was a gardener who got displaced. Through a series of misadventures, he becomes the nation's foremost philosopher and perhaps candidate for President. A simple man with little brains who loves one thing--television. It is a great story about how our society makes people famous, who don't deserve to be famous. If you don't want to read the book, which isn't very long, you can watch the film starring Peter Sellers. It was close to the last role he played. He did a brilliant job. Andy Warhol talked about everyone would get that 15 minutes of fame. Marshal McLuhan spoke on the medium is the message or massage, depending on your point of view. Our society promotes fame and fortune. There are famous people out there who shouldn't be famous. I am not talking about those folks who do criminal things to be famous. I am talking about folks with no talent who get famous. Consider William Hung. He couldn't sing, but he became a joke and actually released a cd of music. There are a lot of other examples. But, back to me, since this blog is about me and my world. TV has shaped my life. Movies too. Music too. But, mostly TV. My values and character has been shaped by TV and some movies. I guess it is a sad state of affairs, but I watched a lot of TV growing up. Kids shows, westerns, comedies, variety shows, the list is endless. I wasn't allowed to watch really violent shows at first. Later on, I got to watch those. What if we didn't have a TV? I don't know. There was a kid in our high school who didn't have a TV. He was a brainiac. Does that mean that TV corrupts and makes everyone dumb down? No, because there are a lot of stimulating shows on TV, but sometimes you just need mindless fluff. If you read "Being There" or see the movie, you will know something more about my psyche. And thus, something more about me. Be afraid. Be very afraid.