Tammy Faye and the New "C-Word"

I'm afraid that my posts will soon become much more focused as I will not have had nearly as much time to gorge myself on the spoutings of various fabulous stations. For the time being however, I would like to speak again on two topics. The amazingly glamorous Tammy Faye and the Hollywood craze of creating words that are taboo.

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Tammy Faye Bakker
1942-2007

Tamara Faye LeValley Bakker Messner... When I was growing up I can remember seeing her on the televangelist channels I thought she reminded me of my Mamaw. They looked alike, and I guess the similarities sparked a sort of admiration. That's about as far as my feelings for Tammy Faye went. I remember the stories of televangelists like the Bakkers and the Tiltons who were rumored to only be interested in soliciting millions of dollars from their faithful followers and then later being charged of misappropriating funds. I believed they were justly charged and judged them accordingly as 'false prophets' for lack of a better term.  Today I saw a documentary about Tammy Faye that changed my mind.

Tammy Faye was a small town girl in a city that was too big for her. I believe that she was surrounded by wolves and just wanted to enlighten and lift people up. I do think that she enjoyed the spoils of a successful business, as she sported Coach earrings, and other designer apparel but I do not believe that it was her intention to use faith as a method to further her own personal gain. I love the simplicity of Tammy Faye. She may not have been the brightest person, or the strongest, but I do think that she had a good heart, and I'm glad that I changed my mind about her.

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The new "C" word.....

As an addendum to last weeks post about cursing I have been more in-tune with finding things that people view as offensive.  I caught myself watching The Real Housewives of New York and one of the characters is attempting to start a record career. Have you heard of this craziness? The Countess Luann has two songs available on YouTube for your displeasure. I'll let you do the search if you really are that much of a masochist. What really interests me was the reaction to her first song "Money can't buy you class." See what Anderson Cooper has to say on the subject:

Although comical, an interesting new idea has popped up in the midst of Cooper's tirade. Class is apparently the new "C" word. This bothers me on two levels. First, the whole PC thing is waaay out of hand. Soon we will have to come up with an entirely new language of pseudonyms and pronouns to speak about anything that doesn't wish to be "labelled" by a certain word.  "I think the term 'woman' has a negative connotation so I would like to therefore, and from this point on, be known as a shiskaflart, because I find it a less threatening term." It's insanity to think that the word "class" either in reference to the ability to maintain integrity, or as a division of a culture by socioeconomic standards is a negative word. It's a word that serves a purpose. The issue is when people view others as less important or less of a human being because of a difference in so called "class." It's not the word that is negative, it is the way people choose to use it.

Problem numero dos: so far, in the evolution of the word "class" the only people who are offended by it are the people who are on shows like The Real Housewives. Like a true philanthropist, it is their duty to protect the fragile emotions of the little people. The assumption is arrogant, annoying, and truthfully has made me look in disdain to those who would try to protect the feelings of others. I think the part that really got to me is that one of the other housewives, Alex, hopped on the "C" word bandwagon. Quick to judge, and from someone as influential as Anderson Cooper, didn't stop to give a second thought as to whether or not someone who can give criticism is actually turning it into judgement.

Decorum and side notes

Language, and consideration are the topics of the day. I don't really consider this as much of a venting as it is a statement of fact. I would, first off, like to state that I have completed the "Big Love" series, and feel as though I have been released from an odd coma of sorts. I appreciate the experience, but have no desire to repeat it any time soon. While I appreciate any form of art or entertainment that can unsettle me so much, I am relieved to be done with it. So on to other things... like my own observations on different areas of the big bad world.
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Language

I can remember when I was little, if I said "crap" I would get my mouth washed out with soap. On one rather unfortunate day we did not have bar soap so I got to swish around a bit of liquid soap. I can't remember what I said, but I can bet I didn't say it again. Swearing is a bit of a double edged sword. I cannot honestly say that I do not do it, but I can say that I try to be respectful of the fact that others may not feel that it is an acceptable practice. The key is to be respectful of the feelings of others, and I feel this comes into play the most on a place where words come from every direction... facebook.

It doesn't matter if your favorite team lost a game, it does not matter if you're overly enthusiastic or incredibly angry. An intelligent person can usually forge a two sentence update without dropping a f*bomb in the middle of it. The way I look at it, if I don't feel comfortable saying it to my parent's face, then I shouldn't say it in virtual public. Perhaps that is what so many people have a difficult time understanding. Although friends must be approved and all that jazz, people must forget that it's not just some good ol' drinking buddies sittin' at a table who can read your posts. It's parents, teachers, parent's friends, grandparents and the list goes on... So I implore you, think about what you put out there, think about the person you are displaying for everyone to read. Without being considerate of the perceptions of others, you may just lose some of those friends in more ways than one.

Another minor complaint about facebook - If you are going to verbally attack someone, then please refrain from making an anonymous gripey post. For example, if you're mad at Person A then pick up the phone and call Person A with your complaints. Posting something like:

"I don't know who you think you are, but you cant just talk to me like that! I hope negative and terrible things happen to you because I'm emotional and I can sound big an angry, but in reality I just want this to make you mad too rather than confronting you directly."

I can see the comedic hypocrisy in the fact that I am not addressing who is doing this, but this is my house, and I'm allowed to gripe without judgement, haha! How do you like them apples?!?

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Consideration (and a rather severe subject change)

While I am not exceptionally versed in politics, as I will readily admit, I do try to inform myself prior to elections rather than making a decision based on party alliances. I feel that there is a great revolution approaching, and while I will not be hollowing out a basement or purchasing mass quantities of canned goods I can say that I am taking more caution when making decisions about the future of my life. I think of the "Elizabeth" movies (the ones with Cate Blanchett) taking into consideration that I am basing history on a movie, I think how powerful leaders can be. I want there to be a leader with the ability to make the right decisions, someone who cares more for the people than for lobbyists, and someone who can be just and relentless. Man or woman, black or white, I hope that this time around there will be more than words, but actions that deliver change. Someone who will be looked upon in the future, as the person who brought together what felt like a crumbling foundation.

There was a quote I read somewhere that said if you don't learn about politics you're uninformed, if you do learn about politics then you're misinformed.

Thoughts?

Bigotry and a warm cup of coffee

Fighting, predictions, superstitions, and terror. Fear mongers seem to operate on a system of oppression and suppression of knowledge. In societies, or in groups of people, where there is isolation, there is usually a leader who fears losing power. One of the most frustrating things about this phenomenon is the effect of the followers. People who follow so completely that they never stop to question whether their leader is moral, upstanding, or even intelligent. The conditions that are inflicted upon these mindless followers are not only defended by their peers and dogmatic practices, but are perpetuated by the victims themselves. It is absolutely infuriating to watch.



Ok, grasshoppah, take a deep breath and I will tell you where this is coming from. I have started watching a new series, called Big Love. It started out with a devious curiosity, morphed into a tirade of raging injustice, and continues with a sense of overall conflict. The premise of the show is that of a polygamist family. One man, three wives, 7 children with another on the way. It would take far too long to go into the plot of the series, but there is a fundamental problem I have.

If I were to read the history of man from beginning to end, came to the chapter that covers 2011 and saw that there were still religious wars being fought I would probably say "Seriously? Are we still on this, come on guys, really?" If oppressive conversion worked we would have achieved a universal religion by now. There are even factions of the same religion that agree on some parts, but not all parts. Those who fight for peace cannot even find peace under the same religious banner. I do have fundamental arguments with polygamy, but while playing out this argument in my head I got caught in a rather disturbing catch 22.

One of the characters on the show says "We're polygamists Bill, hiding is a part of our lives." They believe that they are living righteous lives, but they cannot live their life in the light. They also force their children to lie, deny their family members in public, and the 'sister-wives' are not allowed to have friends outside the family for risk of exposure. Not in all cases was it the choices of those involved to participate in a plural marriage. Forcing practices on unwilling participants is torture. If someone doesn't believe what you believe does it then become your mission to convert them? Hence the age old phrase "It's none of your business." However, it is a concern in this community that young girls will be married before having a chance to build a life for themselves, or being at a legal age to consent to marital relations. So there is also an element of needing to be involved in order to protect the innocent. Hence the catch 22.

Civil liberties should allow people to practice their religion, beliefs, and way of life without being attacked on the basis of dogmatic arguments. However, there are other laws in place that protect the innocent, and when many of these laws are broken there may  be a certain invasion of privacy or a challenge of what some may call civil liberties in order to bring the entirety of the law breaking into the light.  So despite the millions of arguments I've got with the interactions and practices of this new series I've recklessly entered into, rather than judging these actors for the people they represent I have instead decided to think about how I can examine my own opinions to further understand my own beliefs. That way if I am asked to speak and defend what I think, I can speak confidently from my own sense of truth.

The Smurphtastic Soap Box

Allrighty readers.. There are a few things I would like to discuss today with a little stance on the Smurphtastic Soap Box. Originally it was just an idea, but my buddy, who prefers to be known as "Captain America," told me I should say something about it.

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 Mel Train-wreck Gibson
For a long time I was a huge fan of Mel Gibson, he was bright-eyed, genuine, and a great actor. Despite moderately recent events, he still is. I watched "Edge of Darkness" last night for the first time and all I can remember thinking was that the movie would have been so much better if he had not gone all crazy on his wife. I couldn't separate the actions of the person from the actor. It is really unfortunate that he chose to go bonkers, because he really is talented. It's hard to like him when I know in real life he's completely psycho.

Aside from Mel himself, the review of the movie said that Mel's character was only out for revenge, but after his daughter was killed he uncovered a major corporation's illegal activities that eventually lead to her death. He was a detective he spent his career solving crimes, so he was supposed to stop when someone murdered his daughter? Yeah revenge was a driving force, but it was the character's job to sort out violent crimes, so the synopsis made the fact that he was a detective seem like an unimportant side-note. Gah!  First of all, a movie synopsis should not commentate on the movie itself! What the heck is that all about! I've seen movie information that labels it as "droll" or "unnecessarily long." Your only job is to tell me if I should expect to see people get shanked, fall in love, or run out of buildings that are blowing up. If you want to be a critic, save it for the papers (or a blog, hehe)

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Unselling Sales-people

If it is your job to sell a product, then you should know all about it. Inform customers, and let them make a decision. I went to go buy a tablet of some sort, and wound up buying a HP Mini netbook. While I was in the store, I heard a sales person talking about how horrible HP products were and how consumers should stick to other models of computers. Every computer I have purchased has been an HP, not only have I not had problems with them, but I was completely insulted by the fresh-out-of-high-school sales person who was trying to tell this poor couple why the computer they were looking at was a bad option.

While in one store a salesperson tried to talk me out of a computer I was looking at, he started to explain to me what RAM was and what the differences in processors were. I had already researched the computer and knew exactly what I wanted. I found out later they were out of stock. Rather than telling me that, he simply tried to talk me into a more expensive model.

When I was in sales, I never tried to force a sale, or tried to lie to people about what they wanted. Every sale I made, I felt good about. I knew that my customers had every piece of information I had, so they could make the right decision for them. And you know what? They came back... Which is more than I can say for the gentleman I encountered in my shopping experience. BAM!

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Ok, last one, I promise



Breast Cancer Aware-mess
I will forever support and admire those who participate in the fight against breast cancer. Over the last two years or so, there have been campaigns launched through emails or facebook messages to post something obscure and misleading to show support for breast cancer. "I like it on the kitchen floor." In this instance women were told to make their status updates "I like it..." then put where their purse currently is.

Various campaigns like this one have since been launched. In the messages explaining the game, there are usually directions to keep it a secret from men. My main complaint is not with the campaign themselves, but with the fact that they exclude men. My reasoning is that men are not only able to suffer from breast cancer, but they are not exempt from the pain this cancer causes. They lose wives, daughters, sisters, and friends to this horrible disease and for some reason these 'campaigns' choose to exempt them from not only participating but from knowing what the heck all of these crazy women are talking about. The newest one that I've seen tells you to put a number and a candy based on your birth date... "I am XX weeks, and I am craving (Candy)." Imagine reading that on your wife's page and having no idea what she is talking about.

In conclusion I would like to say that "I am 12 weeks and I am craving Strawberry Pop Tarts" because I support the fight against breast cancer and my birthday is August 25.

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Did you make it all the way through?? Wow! I'm proud of you! And yes, I would like some cheese with my whine :)

What digs under your skin and drives you bonkers? Consider this your formal invitation to vent :)