Post by rorschalk on Jul 25, 2021 22:25:20 GMT
I like this work, it is relevant today as anything I have recently read. American society right now is living in a world that is nearing the reality therein, albeit on a smaller, less blatant scale. Though the West has not yet normalized the lifestyles of the people shown in the television series MY 600 POUND LIFE, the direction our nihilistic world is trending makes this world of mega fatties a very believable outcome that could very well become the norm a couple generations down the line. It is a wicked joke toward the end when it’s revealed the foodstuffs drowning in synthetic sugars and trans fats currently sustaining the inhabitants of this fictional world are derived from garbage. It seemed a little bit off when the adverts for the new drink sensation had hints of burning tires and aluminum, but when the health minister makes this full disclosure it all made perfect sense. I really got a kick out of that and thought a good alternate title for the cap would have been SOYLENT GARBAGE.
There is a line about our protagonist Poseidon’s decision to go into government service, eschewing his birthright to indulge his appetites to achieve literally titanic proportions, that states he did it (government service ie becoming a thin) because he craved more depth. And that’s where the narrative, for me, did not follow through on its aspiration. The fact Poseidon feels the wrongness of the current “normal” in his bones and therefore has chosen to break out of it by becoming a part of the government class who must deprive themselves of the wanton pleasures of their civilian contemporaries is very well done. But from that point forward, it does not go deep enough.
The improbable chance encounter with his long lost high school love Gemini in a city of 90 million people notwithstanding, the introduction of the romantic relationship that rocks Poseidon’s world is sweet as saccharine, that is, too sweet. Granted, Poseidon and Gemini do not make it past the giddy, honeymoon stage of a new relationship before Gemini dies of a failed heart transplant surgery (an operation that is performed on all residents of Pacific City at the age of 45 [note that age and the average age of death is no coincidence) but is the convenient plot point that motivates Poseidon to raise hell with the current system. His interview with the health minister reminded me of John the Savage’s conversation with the world controller of the novel BRAVE NEW WORLD, Mustapha Mond. But, I end this paragraph the way I ended the last one, it does not go deep enough.
A philosophical inquiry into the meaning of life by anyone must eventually delve into the idea of the existence of God, which I think BRAVE NEW WORLD does touch upon at some length. History shows us that this belief or subsequent non belief is integral to the human experience. One harmonious aspect of the myriad of religions that are practiced today is that there is, indeed, a Divine entity somewhere out there that is infinitely greater than yourself. Knowing this, actually believing it in your soul, is arguably the motivating factor for someone to lead a moral life instead of following their baser instincts. The point I am making concerning TTDBH is that there is no mention of the sublime ‘something greater’ in the minister’s explanation of the world’s problems and the subsequent total government manipulation of its people to addict them to sugar saturated garbage as the nonviolent solution. The problem of an overcrowded, natural resource scarce world and the government’s dystopian totalitarian solution are presented with the same secular dialectic, which is like describing each object in a room but failing to address the 600 pound gorilla therein. It’s got to be acknowledged, whether accepted or ultimately rejected the existence of the idea at least has to be addressed because its prevalence in the collective unconscious, from antiquity all the way up to now, is a no brainer.
So, I pass on THE THINS DON’T BELONG HERE for this reason. It’s very well done and I enjoyed reading it twice through, but, for such an inquiry that is headed in the right direction, in the end, in my opinion, it did not go deep enough.
There is a line about our protagonist Poseidon’s decision to go into government service, eschewing his birthright to indulge his appetites to achieve literally titanic proportions, that states he did it (government service ie becoming a thin) because he craved more depth. And that’s where the narrative, for me, did not follow through on its aspiration. The fact Poseidon feels the wrongness of the current “normal” in his bones and therefore has chosen to break out of it by becoming a part of the government class who must deprive themselves of the wanton pleasures of their civilian contemporaries is very well done. But from that point forward, it does not go deep enough.
The improbable chance encounter with his long lost high school love Gemini in a city of 90 million people notwithstanding, the introduction of the romantic relationship that rocks Poseidon’s world is sweet as saccharine, that is, too sweet. Granted, Poseidon and Gemini do not make it past the giddy, honeymoon stage of a new relationship before Gemini dies of a failed heart transplant surgery (an operation that is performed on all residents of Pacific City at the age of 45 [note that age and the average age of death is no coincidence) but is the convenient plot point that motivates Poseidon to raise hell with the current system. His interview with the health minister reminded me of John the Savage’s conversation with the world controller of the novel BRAVE NEW WORLD, Mustapha Mond. But, I end this paragraph the way I ended the last one, it does not go deep enough.
A philosophical inquiry into the meaning of life by anyone must eventually delve into the idea of the existence of God, which I think BRAVE NEW WORLD does touch upon at some length. History shows us that this belief or subsequent non belief is integral to the human experience. One harmonious aspect of the myriad of religions that are practiced today is that there is, indeed, a Divine entity somewhere out there that is infinitely greater than yourself. Knowing this, actually believing it in your soul, is arguably the motivating factor for someone to lead a moral life instead of following their baser instincts. The point I am making concerning TTDBH is that there is no mention of the sublime ‘something greater’ in the minister’s explanation of the world’s problems and the subsequent total government manipulation of its people to addict them to sugar saturated garbage as the nonviolent solution. The problem of an overcrowded, natural resource scarce world and the government’s dystopian totalitarian solution are presented with the same secular dialectic, which is like describing each object in a room but failing to address the 600 pound gorilla therein. It’s got to be acknowledged, whether accepted or ultimately rejected the existence of the idea at least has to be addressed because its prevalence in the collective unconscious, from antiquity all the way up to now, is a no brainer.
So, I pass on THE THINS DON’T BELONG HERE for this reason. It’s very well done and I enjoyed reading it twice through, but, for such an inquiry that is headed in the right direction, in the end, in my opinion, it did not go deep enough.