I’ve had friends in the entertainment industry, actors, musicians, illustrators, etc who are intelligent and insightful but I can’t say this to them for obvious reasons. The entire profession is a fucking scam. It’s a fucking scam on the human race, designed to lull people into a false sense of security, or call it escapism, hope, fantasy, whatever, but what it comes down to is “extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds.”
Flip on the radio and on 9/10 stations there’s some dumb song spouting such drivel as “DONT WORRY BE HAPPY” or “ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE” or “JUST SOAK UP THE SUN / LIGHTEN UP” and these saccharine stupid beats and 3-chord dumbassery are designed to hypnotize the masses into thinking the world is a dandy place. Likewise 9 out of 10 movie theaters are playing some movie by Disney or some equally vapid superhero slop where a mythical caped crusader makes the world’s problems go away, and if you get right down to it, this shit has been going on since the first Greek stoner invented the story of Perseus or Hercules. And all of this, since the dawn of storytelling and music and cave paintings is all a fucking lie.
There’s no beauty in the world. Sure there are flowers and sunsets and waterfalls but why can’t we just call them that? Flowers and sunsets and waterfalls. Why do drugged out poets and coked up musicians and clownish actors have to sell us the idea that there’s some supernatural “beauty” to these things or anything?
I’ll tell you the answer. Because we’re incapable of accepting anything as it is. We’re incapable of accepting truth or reality without having some special rose colored lighting applied to cast a contrived and artificial glow on everything. We have to sing about this shit, or pay others to sing about it, or invent delusional stories, or pay others to invent delusional stories, because we’re all So. Fucking. Desperate. To. Lie. To. Ourselves. that existence is something more than what it is.
And what is it? Take a damn look. It’s cruelty and pain and rot and suffering and strife. And in the midst of it is 1 dumbshit species that writes poetry about the beauty of stars–which are nothing more than violent flaming balls of toxic gases and radioactive waste exploding trillions and quadrillions and quintillions of miles away. Make a fucking wish.
16 comments
Yes and no. I’ve had a taste into the world of arts and entertainment as a model and actor.
The arts in of itself are NOT a scam. The industry, however, has been captured by the rich- as the rich ALWAYS does to ALL industries- especially Hollywood.
What gets bankrolled and mass produced are the movies and messages the rich want to send- work hard, be a good worker bee, don’t complain, there will be riches for you AFTER you die, etc
There are still independent artists, directors, producers etc trying to make a film but they have little to no budget and don’t have the mega reach so many ppl don’t even know these films are out there.
There actually are quiet a lot of films, and even anime, that are very thought provoking and not at all the dumbed down crap that the US mainstream popularizes. Go to other countries- it’s not AS bad- they produce more of these.
I wouldn’t say ALL of the arts are a scam- but everywhere where the rich have dug their claws are.
*I meant to say you can search for foreign made films and watch them with subtitles, which I have been doing for years.
Back When I watched a ton of movies and tv shows and animes, most of them came from other countries. The American mainstream market produces mostly generic dumbed down crap for the masses. But hey, thanks to the internet, you can bypass that crap. Go foreign. There’s LOTS of good films and shows made by other countries. And most everything now has English subtitles. You just gotta search for it.
Yup you’re right, not all arts & entertainment are candy fluff. Many non-American films dive deep into the truth, not always wrapping things up with a stupid morality tale or “Hollywood ending” like we always seem to get.
Ofc there’s also the underbelly of arts, the counter-culture movements like punk rock, metal, etc which often tell it like it is. It’s really just the mainstream stuff I’m griping about, but it’s impossible to get away from the mainstream stuff.
And there’s a dual scam happening. Just like you said, there’s the rich scum who are exploiting us by promoting the “Hollywood ending” because they know it’s what the peasants want to hear, so they can scoop up our money as we buy tickets and mp3 downloads. But there’s also a sort of deception at the artist’s end.
I think a lot of artists, even great ones, are themselves so desperate that they create their own Hollywood endings because, like the rest of us peasants, they wish they could believe in it. I’m sure when Bobby McFerrin wrote “Don’t Worry Be Happy” he believed it, or at least wanted to, and he even got Robin Williams to appear in the video because I’m sure RW wanted to believe it also. But as we saw later, it didn’t work for Robin Williams. Artists try to fool themselves.
Maybe you would even have stories about this since you worked in the biz. There are scummy exploiters at the top telling artists to “keep it happy!” while at the same time the artists themselves, especially if they’re young, beautiful and on the way up, have a natural desire to project happiness. So for us it’s a double whammy.
Or maybe it’s a triple whammy because we desperately want to believe, so we’re working to fool ourselves. “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is a catchy ass song. It even feels good to listen to sometimes. But other times, like now, I’m like… I’m such a sucker.
As to the 2nd half of your post- yep- humans are too fragile to accept reality. The made up rose colored world is one where we can plod along thinking “life is great.”
Well, that mirage is fast collapsing as millions now realize life is pretty sucky. Gen Z and Gen Alpha know this reality. Now that the middle class has shrunk and is almost non existent. It’s the rich vs the rest of us plebs.
Yeah- for a BRIEF period of time- from 1945-1980, things were actually great for Americans.
1980-2000 : things were still ok (as in the bubble had not yet burst)
thanks to Reagan and all those asshats who have screwed us over stolen the lives from us masses- well, we’re just SOL to be born not a boomer. You can thank all the fucking boomers that shut the golden era and gave us all poverty once again. Thanks boomer.
Life isn’t AS horrible in some other countries (Scandinavia, Japan, Singapore, etc). Hell, life is better even in Canada though they aren’t far behind (Canada is usually 20 to 30 years behind us in terms of what happens to them).
Is it an illusion? Partly-but it’s also a projection of human desires, fantasies and a living out of our worst fears/terrors without actually experiencing it IRL…like sci-fi horror movies such as Alien and Aliens.
But Hollywood has also given us gems like Mary Poppins, the James Bond series, Schindler’s List, and thousands of other great movies and tv shows that entertain, inspire, excite and so forth.
Not to mention great music also….that also gets your blood pumping, or make you feel deep emotions-sadness, joy, elevation, that we might never experience otherwise.
I believe the artists that create the music they do aren’t ‘faking it’….and use their creative imagination to share that with us. Sure there are copycats as well who are trying to profit off other people’s originality but people can usually spot them and avoid their work.
The universe is a beautiful place, stars, planets, it’s origin, etc. Ofc it’s also hostile and indifferent and deadly. You have beauty on Earth too, but also a lot of ugliness, pain, disparity of wealth and that creates suffering for billions of people.
I absolutely believe it’s possible to create a utopian paradise on Earth but in this era we prioritize greed over sharing wealth. I think it is possible to raise the standard of living for the poor without causing hyperinflation that rotten rich people keep trying to frighten people with to keep wages low.
As I recall Switzerland heavily taxes corporations, has a minimum wage of $75k/yr…which keeps people’s standard of living high and they enjoy a great life. If they can do it, why not the rest of us? There are evil interests working against a utopian civilization for everyone.
Back to the entertainment field…honestly I’m grateful for the movies, shows, music I’ve experienced…it’s enriched my life in many ways and ofc it stimulates you mentally as well.
Just imagine what billions of people who don’t have access to that great culture miss out on.
Boil it down to its basic level…say there’s a street magician and singer…they entertained you for a few minutes, made you laugh, wonder, moved you with music and you toss them a few coins…I think that’s a fair exchange for the little distraction/pleasure they brought into your life…same thing on a larger scale.
Hollywood isn’t going to pay our bills, fix potholes, solve power outages, or help us get rich…but what they give us still has meaning and value for us.
To have a better quality of life, you need politicians who put average people first, not the rich and work towards the utopia or ‘heaven on Earth’ I mentioned earlier.
We can end poverty and make most if not all lives great…but I think we’re still a long way off from that which is why people try to get rich to escape the rat race.
Great thoughts, Soda. You’re making me rethink this.
Yes the arts & entertainment industry isn’t necessarily the total snake-oil scam I ranted about. Maybe 50% of it is (certainly the money side). But there are also artists who genuinely feel that life is beautiful and they want to share the feeling.
One work of art that always stops me in my tracks is Louis Armstrong “What a Wonderful World”. He didn’t write it, but his performance of it is infectiously optimistic. Like he, a demonized minority who grew up in the ugliest period of American racism, truly believed that we would progress beyond the ugliness one day. Still hasn’t happened but that doesn’t change the song.
But I guess my counter-argument to that is what I wrote in response to eternaldarkness above, that some of the artists themselves are kinda delusional. It seems to come with the territory of being a great artist, they they’re detached from reality and living in their imaginations which often skew toward optimism.
I dunno man. I suppose it all comes down to the fate of the world which no one knows. If it turns out that the world is on a collision course with hell, then yes all of this inspiring stuff is nothing but a con, or at best a drug to keep us distracted until hell hits. On the other hand, if the world does have a sort of utopia in its future, then these artists (and even the selfish Hollywood execs pushing a happy agenda for their profits) are doing us a service by helping us through the darkness.
It can go either way.
I’m just really pissed that we won’t see utopia in this lifetime, so if we’re pragmatists it doesn’t help us much. You & me & probably the next few generations are going to suffer and die without seeing any progress, so it does feel like a scam on most days.
There is no “utopia.” There will never be a utopia on Earth bc there will always be the rich and powerful taking over the world and it’s resources. And the rich and powerful will always keep their ppl enslaved to them, and poor. The US is one of the worst, next to the British Empire.
Just take a look at thousands of years of history. Has human history ever been anything but the rich enslaving and controlling the poor??
There is also no “heaven” either. Religion and the riches of an abundant afterlife was made up to keep the peasants working and from revolting. After all, if you’re “good” and don’t complain, you’ll be rewarded in heaven.
If ppl knew a heaven didn’t exist, they’d want a good life NOW and they’d revolt against the rich who enslave us.
Thanks d2d, likewise.
I agree, some artists are genuine, some delusional, some use drugs to reach that heightened state to make their art.
But in general they do provide something that inspires us-at least the good ones.
I guess in a way it does make the day to day drudgery of life more bearable.
You are right that it’s impressive Louis Armstrong created a great song in very harsh times…because they envisioned a better life. And while there are still problems, I think it worked to an extent, it made people more compassionate and open minded about others.
A lot of it is based on ignorance and treating others as subhumans, which people have to overcome.
Yes that’s true, we may not get a utopia within our lifetimes, unless we win the lottery or get rich some other way.
I think Eternal has a point-we may never get a utopia because the rich don’t want us to have one…they need docile worker slaves, staying in their lowly lives, making wealth for them.
But even revolting against the current system would be a Herculean effort. They only peaceful way to do it would be to organize millions to vote and win elections.
Then when we became the dominant party, now you’d have the power to make the corporations do your bidding and share the wealth more evenly.
A lot of parties and people currently are in the pockets of the rich/powerful elites and they’re largely untouchable.
I only wanted a few basic things in my life (like a wife and my own house) and I wasted 30 plus years trying to get there but didn’t and my life is half over.
So imagine how hard it would be to dedicate your life to changing the political system….that’s why most people don’t bother. Even striking for some fair pay is hard enough on its own.
I don’t want a dystopian future that we often see in movies and I think that’s mostly been avoided at least in my area in Canada…but if the rich manage to cut taxes, then cities will look worse due to a lack of maintenance and it spirals down from there.
I point back to the Switzerland model-they’ve shown us that it is possible to make a quasi-utopian state on Earth, it’s a beautiful, safe country with a high standard of living.
But ofc there are forces working against it and sadly millions of people suffer as a result of the disparity of wealth.
Which sadly circles back to each person working like a dog to make their own life better because nobody is going to save us.
And should we lose our health, family/friend support system, life just becomes harder, even unlivable…so sadly we’re forced to opt for ‘ending it’ in the worst case scenarios.
Sometimes I’ve felt lucky (despite my many mistakes), that with my brains I’ve been able to get so far in life, finding a decent stable job, nice car…and an ok life, I’m just missing a significant other (and a house). I wonder how some people with low or average intelligence manage to survive.
I guess some don’t and end up homeless. It’s terrible such things happen in the richest countries on Earth…but that’s how things are now.
Wow Soda you’re not only making me re-think this, but you’re making me see how much more complex the role of arts & entertainment is, even fluff stuff.
I agree with everything you said about the political situation of the human race, throughout history and to this day ruled by malicious, self-serving money-hoarders, and the only conceivable way for us to bring them down, or even just put them in check, is if the rest of us can pool our efforts.
I suppose this is where the arts come in. Music, movies, books have the power to unite people. A great artist can not only unite people but give them a shared dream, a common purpose. Sure, the Beatles’ drugged-out lyrics may not have been in league with the works of philosophers, but even a vapid cliché like “ALL WE ARE SAYING IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE” served as an anthem to unite people, and thus the anti-war movement gained traction.
I do believe that’s a totally valid use for “entertainment”, regardless of if you want to live or kill yourself: to unite people in the effort to reduce suffering. Stop these insane wars. Fight back against the cruelty of government.
Maybe I’m just frustrated because all the great protest and social-change songs and films are from 50 years ago, before my time, and it seems like most of the stuff on the radio and in theaters is fake smiles and pep talks without giving us a united purpose or “movement”.
I mean yea like you said, it’s out there, but compared to the powerful artistic/social movement of the 60s, it feels like today’s entertainment is just, like eternaldarkness said, scraps from the table of the rich so we’ll keep plowing their fields.
And when you add the loneliness factor like you mentioned, the need for simple companionship despite everything else we might achieve (because how can anyone save the world if they’re struggling with loneliness & depression) it seems like we’re really screwed.
But I guess as long as we’re still here we should keep trying?
I mean, arts and entertainment includes a lot of what makes human life bearable, and how we can even understand the human psyche. Several philosophy books are in fact novels. Likewise, I think it’s essential to read a lot of novels to be a good philosopher. Maybe it’s just an excuse I use to consume my pulp, but I have my novels that allow me to peel back the skin of human civilizations in ways that other people miss out on, I’m relatively sure.
I mean if you’re attacking the arts, you’re attacking all artists, all visual artists, musical artists, and so on down the line. I mean sure Johnny Cash wrote a few happy songs, but most of his work is deeply meaningful. Heck, some of his sad songs make me happy. Folsom Prison Blues is a jam.
It goes the same with popular authors. Kurt Vonnegut wrote popular novels, but they’re dark. Cat’s Cradle, his most famous work arguably ends with almost everyone dead.
You want to talk about film and television? Maybe you’re not watching the good stuff. I’m going to write a whole post about Soylent Green, now there’s a dark film that explores the meaning of what it is to be human. NOS4A2 is a show that pulls no punches exploring the darkest parts of the human soul. I’d argue that most vampire fiction is pretty brutal on human nature, or it should be, fuck Twilight.
Humans need narrative though, and narrative requires a little shaping of the story. Framing the story might be “lying” in your eyes, but it’s an essential defense mechanism against madness.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that people need happy or simple narratives from time to time to calm them. Even in those simple narratives there are often dark undertones, like Inspector Gadget; happy story about a bumbling detective with a bunch of gadgets he can call on, or the replacement for the original Inspector Gadget who now tries to defeat him weekly as Dr. Claw. In the second scenario Penny is desperately trying to hide from him his true origin for the entire show.
I mean the Saw movies might be popcorn horror for me, but Mr. Crocket is horror on the level of high art. I’d say that’s the best I’ve found. Though I love Pet Sematery, you never get to see the Wendigo in any of the movies so that’s a significant hinderance to those movies achieving true greatness. You want to meet the killer, I think, come face to face with the evil at some point to really get the full scope of a great horror movie or show.
That’s true for the average person who just needs an occasional bounce in their step to carry on a meaningful life. Heck it even applies to severely depressed people who, in their heart, want to live. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone an aspirin for a headache.
But I’m talking about my case, and anyone who is as far down the spiral as me, where I’m absolutely convinced philosophically as well as emotionally that life on earth–if not life in the universe, if not the universe itself–is an enormous fucking mistake.
I believe this in the core of my soul, just as certainly as I believe it’s an enormous fucking mistake to have children, to breed new life in this place that is defined by suffering and inflicting suffering. To me, the game is corrupt, so why try to convince people to keep playing?
That’s the “lie” I’m talking about. Because even sad songs are ostensibly there to make people feel better, feel commiseration, feel less alone, and find the strength to carry on living. You have to admit that that’s an enormous assumption to make–that living is always better than dying.
In a burning building, I’m not going to tell people to grin and bear it, I’m going to tell people: if you feel flames get the hell out pronto. But the thing is, it would be equally irresponsible to assume that nihilism (which is basically what I’m espousing at this point) is the cosmic truth. It would be idiotic to make songs, movies, art & entertainment coercing people to kill themselves. So you see the logic in my conclusion: both sides are scams. Happy songs are a scam. Suicidal songs are a scam. All art that purports to tell us that life is good, or bad, or worth living, or worth dying, is just some dumbass with an opinion claiming to be right. So maybe to lessen the noise it would help if everyone shut up unless they had something conclusive to say.
But apparently there’s a huge trillion dollar market for entertainment, so obviously people want to be shown how to feel. I partake myself, on good days, but I’m fully aware that they’re all just manipulating our emotions as they see fit.
“You have to admit that that’s an enormous assumption to make–that living is always better than dying.”
>>the problem is that when artists DO make songs in favor of dying/suicide, they get yanked off the market. as soon as ONE tiny group of ppl complain, things get yanked/pulled/funding gets taken away/etc. i’m sure there are a small % of artists who DO want to make that kind of music and want to put it out there. but those die hard live-even-when-you’re-miserable groups won’t let that stay out in the market. it’s NOT the artists’ fault.
and there’s also the corporations/rich bastards who benefit by keeping ppl alive but miserable.
that’s why MAID and suicide is not available. you think those AHs want ppl committing suicide and getting out of their debts? hell no. they would never let that happen.
whenever something happens in life, or when you look at rules or policies that don’t make sense, it ALWAYS MAKES SENSE when you follow the money.
i’m a financial analyst. the second i majored in that in college and veered away from the hard sciences is when my eyes first opened- when you follow every stupid law and policy and inefficiency- it ALWAYS leads back to $$$$. ALWAYS. and i’m not exaggerating. i’ve tried to dive into the roots of so many things, and it always comes back to $$$. SOMEONE benefits- and so the system keeps churning the way it is- bc the ones in power, the ones who benefit, will NEVER let go of their power and money.
*financial systems analyst – worked for the gov’t not corporate, which is a whole ‘nother fuckery. but corporate is in so many ways worse.
ppl here in america fucking LOVE capitalism. but capitalism is what causes ALL this shit.
also, ppl are idiots for crying “communism.” firefighters and USPS are “communism.” do these idiots not want those services??
“the problem is that when artists DO make songs in favor of dying/suicide, they get yanked off the market”
Yup that’s a big problem, and I guess that’s the root of what I’m griping about. It’s a scam because we’re only seeing one side of the coin. The other side gets censored, demonized or even punished (look at all the lawsuits where someone blames a song for a kid’s suicide–like yeah I’m sure THE SONG was the reason, not negligent/abusive parents who shift the blame to a song?).
You’re right, all it takes is one group to make a big stink and suddenly we’re in Orwellian censorship territory where only shiny happy patriotic songs and entertainment are allowed.
There were actually a few good songs about suicide back in the late 60s-70s when artists were exploring, protesting the norm, breaking the rules. But these songs were under the hardest scrutiny by the government so the lyrics had to be cloaked in weird metaphors and secret codes, to the point that nobody knew what they were about. So idk if that accomplished anything. But at least they tried.
I guess we sorta have that situation today, like with doom metal & screamo, it’s all about death and killing yourself but the lyrics are so distorted & unintelligible that nobody knows what they’re saying.
ppl have to partake in “feel good” entertainment. that is the only way for slaves to go on living without feeling miserable, or as miserable. you can’t blame the individual ppl- we are enslaved and have no fucking choice. it’s either become a power hungry, money grubbing demon OR go off oneself. OR live in perpetual misery. I mean that’s all the choices we got. for most ppl.