5/15/07 4:23 pm
As a wall-eyed genius once wrote in his play about folks trapped together with No Exit; ‘Hell is other people’.

Yau man now knows it’s true. But unlike most people who go to hell, he’s being canonized into well-deserved tele-sainthood. He comes out smelling like a rose. And Earl deserved the win. Lisi deserves her new chin. Alex deserves scorn and derision, and Rocky probably deserves all the lady-love he is, no doubt, now knowing. I hate to say it but he looked great at the reunion. Cassandra played a brilliant, un-winnable duck and cover game. Not my style, but it worked. Ask Becky when you see her.

And then there’s Dreamz.

I thought he’d give it up. I did. My Stacy said no way; that all season long they’ve been cutting him as a lunatic and Yau Man as a ‘threat’. She saw it coming. I love her for it, but hate that it happened.

In hindsight, of course, you say, a wild card is not to be trusted. You bring a wild card into the game and all bets are off. Literally. Yau didn’t think Dreamz was a wild card though. He thought he was a person like him. Because it’s hard to imagine people NOT being like you.

And I realize, amazingly, the have and have-not thing; the ‘class’ issue that the season started with really did impact the game.

Not tribally-- not who had tea cups and sofas. (And obviously not racially, with three African Americans in the final three.) But in that, the one actual have-not in the game, Dreamz, played with such an ingrained, street-hardened ‘survivor’s’ mentality that it truly blindsided all of us who were taught that one’s ‘word’ means something. Who were taught that honor and honesty somehow count for more than money or a last best chance.

I think knowing where our next meal is coming from and where our next night of bed-rest will take place, gives us the time and the security to project ourselves into the future. Where we can see how something immediately gratifying might have long term ramifications. I see that maybe we take for granted the socialization and the education that teaches how a little self-sacrifice can have a tremendous long term benefit. That teaches good will, integrity and a guilt-free conscience are worth A LOT -- to the folks you are dealing with and to one’s self.

Most of us didn’t grow up on the streets. Maybe if we had -- with few long term opportunities, learning to seize the few chances right before our eyes, we might have done what Dreamz did too. He probably earned 20,000 dollars more than Yau in the game. And he got the truck. That ain’t chicken feed. We might have taken the immediate gains too, unaware of (or willing to endure) the hatred and nausea that would follow us.

But the problem for me is, it makes me kind of tired and sad and angry, really. I think his kind of thinking is why, in the real world, so many people find themselves in jail or on the streets. Because of their own short-sightedness. And by extension, the shortsightedness of the system that cannot help them see a long-term future of hope and health. I don’t know how to fix that system. I don’t know anything except personal responsibility. Dreamz was lucky/smart/special enough to get on Survivor – he’s now rich and (in)famous. Most folks from his former situation don’t get that break. He played it as best he could, I guess, but I resent his way of thinking. Or rather, the way of thinking, he is emblematic of. And even if I can understand it objectively, (if I do) I don’t like it.

Honestly, it scares me. Not Dreamz, of course, but what his actions say to me.

I don’t want to be a duck and cover survivor, but today, suddenly, I feel like even here off the island, where we’re all just trying to get along, there are folks who just don’t think the way I do, and will see me harmed for their own short term benefit without worry of the impact on their own lives. Or on mine. Hyperbole or no, it’s true.

The haves and the have-nots. The fundamentalists. The wild cards. The Dick Cheneys. The folks who toss people onto the street. The people who toss away their futures for a thrill or a buck. The Others. I want to interact with them. I want to understand them. But I can’t get inside their skulls. It makes me want to pull the covers over my head, or put a gate up in front of my un-gated house. Hell as other people.

Yes, all this from a f’ing game show.

A show we love because it IS reality.

The season’s over. And it was a bummer in the end.


But this blog, friends, I’ve loved it. So until next time, I wish you all peace, love and understanding.

J

 

 

Skins--最近在看的一个E4的剧，讲的是一群Bristol十七八岁的小屁孩儿的故事，号称电视版猜火车

 

其实对号称”XX版XX“一直没有什么好印象，这些大多是噱头。看这个剧的初衷，也只不过是几个主演都长的比较顺眼罢了。

 

看了几集之后倒是挺有感觉的。毕竟现在雅俗共赏的片子不多了。现在的大片总是做的特眩，剧情特傻，其实就是速食面，看过之后没什么印象。要么就是号称艺术片，一派说教意味，故作姿态在那里装洋蒜。所以开始喜欢Skins，有搞笑的情节，残酷的现实，看完之后能够思考，足矣。

 

这是一个拍给成人看的青春片，里面有青春的眩目，成长的迷茫与现实的残酷。每集都以一个人为主要人物来拍，他们过的生活不过是成天成夜的Party，这些孩子纠结在一起寻找一丝久违的温暖。

 

Tony是个优秀的帅哥，喜欢阅读尼采，花花公子，性格默然，拥有着美丽的女友Michelle，还成天随心所欲的拈花惹草，当着Michelle的面勾引女校的女生；Michelle还躺在床上睡着的时候，就抓紧时间引诱一下自己的gay朋友Maxxi；每天把耍自己的爸爸当作乐趣。Tony不会对什么人动真感情，他做每一件事情都是随心所欲，完全不关心别人的感受。他整个生活圈里唯一能让他动一点真情的大概只有Sid

 

Sid是Tony的死党，大好人一个，真心喜欢着Michelle。善良的对待每一个朋友，不过每次帮忙朋友导致自己遇难，都默默的承担。他的家庭表面看上去还算完整，爸爸是个暴躁狂，每天不是批评他，就是数落他妈妈的不是。终于有一天，母亲忍无可忍离开了家，离开了Sid。

 

Cassi是一个有点小神经的善良女孩，有厌食症。为了逃避厌食症的治疗，她会偷偷的在裙子地下藏秤砣，然后去秤重；她会在一整夜疯狂的Party之后，推醒熟睡的Michelle，告诉她她妈妈今天回家，用被子给Chris的重点部位摆一个高耸的样子，然后给Sid盖好被子，在他的额头轻轻的一吻。关于她的厌食症，其实她只是需要一个人来关心她，告诉她：EAT. 她的爸爸是个画家，那个跟她爸爸不停做爱的女人是她爸爸的模特，两个大人就像行为不负责任的孩子，Cassi照顾着自己的baby brother。她被Tony和Michelle安排给Sid，但是看似神经的Cassi却明白，Sid喜欢的是Michelle。第二集里那些关于Cassi和Sid很温馨的短信，其实全部都是Cassi幻想出来的，尽管如此，她还是喜欢上了Sid。或许是因为有了喜欢的人，Cassi开始爱自己，她找来了唯一一个还有点关心她的出租车司机老爷爷，老爷爷了解她逃避吃饭的小伎俩，告诉她eat cassi，她终于开始吃东西了，并且重新回到医院治疗厌食症。她继续关心着Sid，然而Sid总是一次次及时的因为Michelle的事而伤着Cassi的心，恍惚中，她吞下了很多药片......

 

Jal是个品学兼优的女孩，Michelle的死党。Jal跟这些迷茫的孩子们不同，她是优秀的，但她不同于Tony的冷漠，她有女孩那种贴心的温暖。她会陪着Chris去找爸爸，然后一路跟着他到他哥哥的墓地，握着Chris的手；她会在医院陪着Cassi，告诉医生她是家属，sister；她会叫走同样是Tony和Michelle的电灯泡的Sid陪她去商场买礼服；她会看到Tony背着Michelle勾引别的女孩时，轻轻的皱着眉头。优秀如Jal，她也有自己的烦恼。她热爱古典音乐，但是她知名音乐家的父亲却一直不看好她的爱好，反而对她那两个玩Hip-Hop的哥哥更加宽容。两个哥哥对妹妹的爱好没有明显的尊重，更多的是取笑。爸爸找来了一个年轻的女白人，坐在了她妈妈的座位上......

 

Chris是个缺心眼的傻小子。他妈给了他一万块钱他就买一套音响在家开Party，然后连付Pizza的钱都没了，就把音响用手推车送到收废品的那里。Chris唯一正常的时候，就是面对着自己喜欢的美丽女老师Angie。那个女老师也可爱极了，一边义正严词的说Chris你怎么能这么对我说话，我可是你老师，一边微笑着用暧昧眼神看着Chris。Chris喜欢女老师，后来才发现是有原因的。他其实需要年长的人来关心他，他的妈妈给他留了一笔钱走了。他好多年没见过他爸爸了。他貌似有个死了的哥哥/弟弟（这块没听太明白）。他爸爸后来跟别的女人有生了个孩子，他却很怕面对那个baby brother。

 

Anwar是个穆斯林，一天祷告五次，但是会在祷告的时候接听Tony的电话，嫖赌吸毒什么都干干，不是个合格的穆斯林。他最好的朋友Maxxi是个gay，两人平日感情很好。Anwar会推了Tony的Party跟Maxxi去参加gay的聚会；Maxxi也很重视跟Anwar的感情，所以当Anwar说gay是不对的，是sick的时候，也难怪Maxxi那么生气了（你平时也不是什么安分守己的穆斯林，干嘛这个时候搬出穆斯林的教义来抨击我明摆着的性取向）。两个朋友都迷茫在自己的信仰与选择上，一个是宗教，一个是性取向。他们身上都带有着青少年独有的那种孤独的挣扎感。但是幸运的是，他们还拥有彼此。

 

 

电视剧还在播，星期四晚上十点（大概），Channel 4，本周第7集，大概是Michelle的故事了。

 

 

 J.P好帅呀，只不过一说话就露线了。