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| Bad Hair Day 23 x 18 cm |
WHAT LIFE
WOULD BE LIKE IF YOU OR I WERE GOOD LOOKING
Let’s face
it—as you look into the mirror at that
mask you’re
saddled with—beauty is more compelling
than truth.
Nobody will pay you a thousand bucks
an hour to
stand on a soap box in the park and recite
all of your great ideas. And who really gives a shit? Not even you at
times.
If you were
pretty enough, people would stop, at least pretend to listen, goofy
unguarded
smiles on their lust encumbered faces. A well-dressed
fastidious
little man from a modeling agency just might
slip you
his card. You wouldn’t have to be obnoxiously
smart
anymore. As if anyone cared who invented stream-of-consciousness.
It exists,
we more or less enjoy it, some of us fish deeply in its shallows. Basta.
All I know
about Wittgenstein, by the way, is that he had funny hair. It sort of leaned to
one side.
At some
European film festival, Natalie Portman, obviously
blown away
by all the fuss, is demure in the swift explosions of light,
Bardot,
Jean Seberg hawking the Herald Tribune, Sissy at the drug store
in
Nashville sucking a straw, unaware of her magic, Romy Schneider
looking
like a Greek goddess in a black and white publicity photo from the 50s.
Goethe and
Schiller side by side, practically hand in hand, always the same age,
and if not
beautiful then at least heroic, noble, which is nearly as good, it lasts
longer,
and still
the classic targets of shit-dropping birds. If Goethe was right, then
“Youth is a
disease that time cures.” Substitute beauty for youth, and we can call it a
day.
American Gigolo - Call me, by Blondie
Great post! There are a lot of places where beautiful people are the only ones who count, but Southern California is top of the list. Celebrity and beauty seems to be the highest value. For me, I'll stick with truth.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Katherine. We are glad you like it.
DeleteKen is from Northern California - not much different there!