We Are Freaks….

Try this little experiment. Pick a public place, a grocery store, a bar, maybe a mall. Stand there with a clip board and ask random strangers what their favorite lolcat is. Ask them if they know that longcat is looonnnggg. See if they know who Anonymous is locked in battle against.

We have this weird disconnect with the world these days. The internet has provided us with such a detailed method of social interaction and we have formed amazing communities around it. Places where we interact with hundreds, even thousands of people. We spend so much time there, that it’s easy to forget that most of the people around us in real life, well, don’t.

And when we starts saying things like “Jesus Christ, it’s a lion, get in the car”, they just sort of stare at us blankly. It’s a situation I’ve become adjusted to and even enjoy. I like those blank stares. I like being in on the joke, no matter how stupid the joke may be.

And let’s face it, a lot of our internet jokes are really stupid. They become funny through repetition or through absurdity, but they’d never make decent stand up material.

The internet makes us feel like we’re on the cutting edge of a great, societal leap forward. But are we? The outside world seems to be sludging along at the same pace as it always has, full of willful ignorance and uninformed opinions about, well, everything.

I may be sitting at my computer tonight, discussing the role of the femme fatale in classic film noir and how to bring that into a more modern piece without resorting to cliche. However, Bubba and Billy Joe are still drinking a twelve pack of Coors and going out to tip some cows.

Sometimes I wish I could live like a complete hermit, locked away from the real humans walking around out there, limiting my social interactions to you, my internet friends. You are my people…..

Everyday is A Full Moon On The Interwub

Anyone who has ever used an instant messaging program has probably gotten their share of odd requests and come ons. Many, if not most, pretty high on the offensive scale. I’m not sure why these strange interwub perverts feel the need to show their penises to every stranger that passes by, but they do.

I suspect that girls get many more of these odd requests and propositions than guys do. Most, I suspect, brush the pervs off and try to forget about them.

My friend Elana is a little different. She likes to toy with them and then post transcripts of the results on her LiveJournal. The entries are often hilarious and occasionally enlightening. You should read them.

Well, go on, what are you waiting for….?

The Internet Reminds Me Why I Hate People

There was a story about Pierce Brosnan that broke today, over at TMZ and later picked up by Reuters. It’s nothing major, seems he was accosted by a paparazzi while he was at a mall with his kids, words were exchanged and Brosnan ended up hitting the photographer. A fairly typical Hollywood story these days and I only clicked on the article because I’m a fan of Brosnan’s and I was curious. He doesn’t make headlines very often, especially like this.

I don’t really have an opinion on the story. He probably shouldn’t have hit the guy, but shit happens. It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things and it’s a very small blemish on an otherwise spotless career.

What bothers me (what always bothers me) is the reader reaction. Reading through the comment thread at TMZ made me want to take a shower. Insults and hostility pepper the thread, from references to Brosnan being a has-been to insinuations that he used to beat his girlfriend.

Why do people find it necessary to denigrate every celebrity that comes along? What is it inside of us, as a species, that makes us enjoy such an activity? I understand the occasional potshot at a Britney or a Paris, especially when they go out of their way to make themselves targets, but most of this stuff is just mean. Go read through some of the threads at Fark and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Is it the relative anonymity of the internet that brings out the worst in people?

(On a side note, when did we reach the point in our culture where someone is a has-been if they aren’t actively in a top ten movie? What’s the definition here? Brosnan seems to have a pretty solid career at the moment. He’s moved from big budget affairs like the Bond series to some more offbeat or arty pictures like The Matador and Seraphim Falls, but that appears to be a conscious choice on his part. A look at IMDB shows several projects in the works for the next couple of years. He’s not hurting for work. Likewise, the net is full of discussions that refer to Tom Cruise as a has-been and his last movie made over $200 Million. I seem to be missing something here.)

A decade ago politicians were declaring that the internet would unite diverse people in ways that were previously impossible. Looks like they were right. Mob mentality is taking hold and the citizens of the net have been united in hatred of, well, just about everything.

Except cats.