I've never been much of an athlete. I think the crowning achievement of all my experiences in organized sports would have to date back to when I was in, say, grade one or two. I remember it surprisingly distinctly; it was a practice game for my soccer team, one evening inside the gym of a local public school. I approached playing soccer with the same kind of mindlessness that I think most kids do. Just sort of get at the ball and kick it towards the net. Yet somehow this strategy lead me to a break-away; I vaguely remember dribbling the ball, though I still can't do this very effectively, and then kicking it past the goalie. Afterwards my coach gave the whole team a lecture on their overall inattentiveness on defense, and not on my skill as a player. Nevertheless, that moment has stuck out as probably the only time when I was really in the spotlight as a sports person. And that's probably because my mom promised to buy me a tamogotchi if I every scored a goal in a game (or practice game apparently).
So it's easy to see why I might have grown indifferent or even dismissive of sports in general. I think that this happens with many people who are athletically challenged, but interested in academics or the arts. Sports are a particularly easy target to poke fun at because they seem so primitive and arbitrary. The great questions that outsiders to sports pose to those who participate in them are: "why are you doing that?" and "why should I care?". You won't often get a real response from a sports fan, who will just think you're an asshole for asking, but they are legitimate questions. Why are there only three bases in baseball, why should I care if 'my' team wins, since it really doesn't affect me at all, etc, etc....
But, leave these questions unanswered, since an answer isn't really necessary if you want to get involved in sports. Instead, just watch a game or two of your local team. Watch them fight to stay in the playoffs, listen to the announcers, as their careful non-partisan veil slips away in the excitement of the game. You will, without question, get drawn in. It's a simple matter of human psychology that once your mind chooses a side to root for, your emotions will be pulled along with that team's success or failure. And for anyone who argues that this is arbitrary and meaningless, I would say that it's just as meaningless as rooting for the main character in a movie. The fact is it doesn't matter why, since it inevitably happens anyways, and it's fun.
It's true, there's no real reason for any of it. But there isn't a reason for a lot of the things we as humans do. The beauty of sports is that it distills this raw competitive human nature into something relatively harmless and meaningless. It turns it into something that produces nothing but enjoyment and exhilaration. If only, I sometimes think, we could reduce all our competitive urges into something so harmless. If we could all agree as a world population to fight wars on the sports field, instead of the battlefield, we'd be living in a much more peaceful society. Looking at sports in this way, as an essential expression of our inner competitiveness, I don't see how we could do without it. The Olympics and the World Cup both serve to bring societies closer together, while still releasing the bountiful aggression that we as humans feel towards any outgroup. And I think that that's something we could, if anything, have more of.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Brokenhearted Badass
In most fiction the protagonist is likeable, endearing, and someone to who the audience is sympathetic. This can include a broad range of characters, but specifically, here, I want to explore the stereotypical steel-hearted male lead.
They're all more-or-less the same character: sometimes a smart ass, sometimes overcome with anger, always possessing an indomitable will in the face of danger, and, on occasion, brooding over their dark past. This character, simply put, is an amalgamation of all the qualities that most men wish they had (or secretly believe they do have). What I find interesting about this is that, yes, men truly envy these characters their tragic backgrounds.
Think of the role that this tragic background plays in developing the character. First, it allows them to be short and impatient with people and, in general an asshole, without the audience losing sympathy for them (Sympathy? check). Second, we, for whatever reason, are drawn to characters that are rude and sarcastic, especially towards women; this, however, requires the dark background to ultimately explain their behaviour (Likeability and endearment? check). Finally, it gives the character a very personal secret which the love interest will eventually tease out of him in a heart-felt moment (maybe right before the sex scene) in which he learns to trust again. It's the best when the main character dies right after, making his death all the more saddening (he was finally learning to live again).
And it's all as easy as saying "my parents were killed by robbers" or "I was the product of a horrible government experiment" or "I was wrongly imprisoned for 'x' amount of years". See if you can guess which characters I'm referring to.
An interesting sub-genre of the tragic background, is the character who had his heart broken by a women in his past. In this case, either she died and he was seconds away from saving her, or she betrayed him and joined the enemy. The beauty of this is how well it justifies misogynistic character traits, allowing the character to generally hate women without losing the audience. And what's cooler, really, than a guy who is openly mean to the ladies. I should point out, though, how this character in real life would be seen as mentally unstable and in in dire need of therapy. In the movie world, the idea that "he found his true love and now she's gone, and he can never love again" makes sense, but think how ridiculous this actually is.
What message, as well, is this sending to kids who look at these characters as role models? I know that when I was a kid this always brought about a certain conflict in me. Obviously I would never actually want for something tragic to happen to my family, but how else would I ever go on an awesome quest for vengeance? Maybe, I would imagine, they'd just get kidnapped or something, and then I'd rescue them before anything really bad happened to them. But I mean, do you see how fucked up that is?
They're all more-or-less the same character: sometimes a smart ass, sometimes overcome with anger, always possessing an indomitable will in the face of danger, and, on occasion, brooding over their dark past. This character, simply put, is an amalgamation of all the qualities that most men wish they had (or secretly believe they do have). What I find interesting about this is that, yes, men truly envy these characters their tragic backgrounds.
Think of the role that this tragic background plays in developing the character. First, it allows them to be short and impatient with people and, in general an asshole, without the audience losing sympathy for them (Sympathy? check). Second, we, for whatever reason, are drawn to characters that are rude and sarcastic, especially towards women; this, however, requires the dark background to ultimately explain their behaviour (Likeability and endearment? check). Finally, it gives the character a very personal secret which the love interest will eventually tease out of him in a heart-felt moment (maybe right before the sex scene) in which he learns to trust again. It's the best when the main character dies right after, making his death all the more saddening (he was finally learning to live again).
And it's all as easy as saying "my parents were killed by robbers" or "I was the product of a horrible government experiment" or "I was wrongly imprisoned for 'x' amount of years". See if you can guess which characters I'm referring to.
An interesting sub-genre of the tragic background, is the character who had his heart broken by a women in his past. In this case, either she died and he was seconds away from saving her, or she betrayed him and joined the enemy. The beauty of this is how well it justifies misogynistic character traits, allowing the character to generally hate women without losing the audience. And what's cooler, really, than a guy who is openly mean to the ladies. I should point out, though, how this character in real life would be seen as mentally unstable and in in dire need of therapy. In the movie world, the idea that "he found his true love and now she's gone, and he can never love again" makes sense, but think how ridiculous this actually is.
What message, as well, is this sending to kids who look at these characters as role models? I know that when I was a kid this always brought about a certain conflict in me. Obviously I would never actually want for something tragic to happen to my family, but how else would I ever go on an awesome quest for vengeance? Maybe, I would imagine, they'd just get kidnapped or something, and then I'd rescue them before anything really bad happened to them. But I mean, do you see how fucked up that is?
Thursday, 14 April 2011
People who play/listen to metal aren't douchebags
Hey, I'm back! Here to talk to you about the common misconception that metalheads are douchebags:
I've heard many people sincerely make this claim, and it irritates me about as much as people who say "I like all music except for country". (First of all, you don't like all kinds of music. People say this when they don't really know anything about music, and then they tack on the whole except country bit just to add a little credibility to their statement. But think how ridiculous this is: do they really like celtic dance music, or trippy experimental music like Black Dice? Of course they don't; if you played Black Dice in front of them they'd probably permanently judge you as "weird" or "different". And second, have any of these people every actually listened to country music? Not, obviously, that awful shit that you hear on Country Music Television, you know, pop country, but say Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline or like half of the music by the Rolling Stones. Country is one of the biggest influences on modern music, and people who identify it as the only type of music that they don't like need to smarten up.)
But yeah, back to to the topic at hand. It's pretty clear that anyone who says this has never made a conscious effort to listen to metal. Which is not to say that they haven't heard it before, but metal, especially the harder stuff, is definitely an acquired taste. I should add as a disclaimer that I don't listen to metal, but I am familiar with it, and I think it's awesome. It's just not the first thing I think of when I'm in the mood to listen to music. I do however, know a lot of people who listen to metal, and I know they're not douchebags. That's why people who argue that they are really get to me. Here are some of the arguments that they use, and my take on them:
When they yell and grown they just sound stupid:
Admittedly, the sound of someone screaming or growling is initially a little jarring. It's definitely different than other types of singing. But what about it is stupid? It's extremely expressive and, when you get used to it, relaxing. If you listen to music for its therapeutic value, then I don't think you'll find better music than metal. Imagine putting on your headphones and having someone do all the yelling at screaming you wish you could do for you. Anger, I think, is a better weapon against stress than, say, sadness. Namely the kind of whiny music that most people listen to when they're in a bad mood.
Also, you could really level this "they sound dumb" claim against any singer; they're all making animalistic cries to vent their feelings. How else would you define singing? The only difference between metal singers and any other type is that most people don't find it palatable to listen to. If this is a valid reason to call someone a douchebag, then you might as well call everyone a douchebag since no one's voice is going to please everyone.
Metal lyrics are so cheesy
First off, I don't think it's a stretch to say that 80% of music out there has lyrics that are either meaningless, vapid or melodramatic. I don't really know enough about metal to safely claim that it's any different. However, I will say that, in general, metal strays away from the type of lyrics that dominate most other music forms. That is, it strays away from your typical love song. Not to say that there's anything wrong with the occasional ballad, but I mean, the whole thing is just a little boring at this point. "I miss you" and "I want you" and "I hate/love you" have been used as themes a million times, and not only that, are usually done in entirely unoriginal, non-engaging ways. Say what you will about metal lyrics, at least they're comparatively original, whether they're about viking conquest, or war, or the future.
Take, as an example, that popular Edward Sharpe song which I'm pretty sick of at this point. "home is wherever I am with you..." basically the entire meaning of this song is: We love each other very much. We love our parents a lot too, but not in the same way as we love each other. And then they add in a little "Holey, moley" and some "Chocolate candy, Jesus Christ" just to sound a little different. Compare this with Metallica's One: a song about a soldier who's been severely injured and put on life support. He's conscious, but can't communicate the agony he feels, and all he wants is to be left to die. I'm not going to say that Metallica writes beautiful poetry or anything, but I think it's easy to see that at least the subject matter they're writing about is far more compelling than the Edward Sharpe song.
Ok, last one:
People who listen to metal are all violent, angry assholes
First off, just because metal has a lot of yelling in it, doesn't mean it's angry. Second, just because people write angry songs, doesn't mean they're angry people. Most people I know who like metal are more subdued than your average person. Why this is, I'm not sure; maybe they're timid by nature, or maybe metal is just a great way to release excess anger.
If I had to characterize you're average metalhead in some way, it would be that they generally don't give a fuck. I think it's obvious why this might be; it's as if they took one glance at popular music and society and became nauseous. Then, pushing as far from this as they could, they set out to make music that would be entirely rejected by the majority of people. This is a very liberating thing; and it means that within the culture anything goes, just so long as it's interesting. I feel like at a metal concert you're just as likely to see, say, a guy wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, as someone with a mullet and a wife-beater (though I don't have too much evidence for this).
And that's it, don't judge a book by it's cover, etc, etc.
I've heard many people sincerely make this claim, and it irritates me about as much as people who say "I like all music except for country". (First of all, you don't like all kinds of music. People say this when they don't really know anything about music, and then they tack on the whole except country bit just to add a little credibility to their statement. But think how ridiculous this is: do they really like celtic dance music, or trippy experimental music like Black Dice? Of course they don't; if you played Black Dice in front of them they'd probably permanently judge you as "weird" or "different". And second, have any of these people every actually listened to country music? Not, obviously, that awful shit that you hear on Country Music Television, you know, pop country, but say Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline or like half of the music by the Rolling Stones. Country is one of the biggest influences on modern music, and people who identify it as the only type of music that they don't like need to smarten up.)
But yeah, back to to the topic at hand. It's pretty clear that anyone who says this has never made a conscious effort to listen to metal. Which is not to say that they haven't heard it before, but metal, especially the harder stuff, is definitely an acquired taste. I should add as a disclaimer that I don't listen to metal, but I am familiar with it, and I think it's awesome. It's just not the first thing I think of when I'm in the mood to listen to music. I do however, know a lot of people who listen to metal, and I know they're not douchebags. That's why people who argue that they are really get to me. Here are some of the arguments that they use, and my take on them:
When they yell and grown they just sound stupid:
Admittedly, the sound of someone screaming or growling is initially a little jarring. It's definitely different than other types of singing. But what about it is stupid? It's extremely expressive and, when you get used to it, relaxing. If you listen to music for its therapeutic value, then I don't think you'll find better music than metal. Imagine putting on your headphones and having someone do all the yelling at screaming you wish you could do for you. Anger, I think, is a better weapon against stress than, say, sadness. Namely the kind of whiny music that most people listen to when they're in a bad mood.
Also, you could really level this "they sound dumb" claim against any singer; they're all making animalistic cries to vent their feelings. How else would you define singing? The only difference between metal singers and any other type is that most people don't find it palatable to listen to. If this is a valid reason to call someone a douchebag, then you might as well call everyone a douchebag since no one's voice is going to please everyone.
Metal lyrics are so cheesy
First off, I don't think it's a stretch to say that 80% of music out there has lyrics that are either meaningless, vapid or melodramatic. I don't really know enough about metal to safely claim that it's any different. However, I will say that, in general, metal strays away from the type of lyrics that dominate most other music forms. That is, it strays away from your typical love song. Not to say that there's anything wrong with the occasional ballad, but I mean, the whole thing is just a little boring at this point. "I miss you" and "I want you" and "I hate/love you" have been used as themes a million times, and not only that, are usually done in entirely unoriginal, non-engaging ways. Say what you will about metal lyrics, at least they're comparatively original, whether they're about viking conquest, or war, or the future.
Take, as an example, that popular Edward Sharpe song which I'm pretty sick of at this point. "home is wherever I am with you..." basically the entire meaning of this song is: We love each other very much. We love our parents a lot too, but not in the same way as we love each other. And then they add in a little "Holey, moley" and some "Chocolate candy, Jesus Christ" just to sound a little different. Compare this with Metallica's One: a song about a soldier who's been severely injured and put on life support. He's conscious, but can't communicate the agony he feels, and all he wants is to be left to die. I'm not going to say that Metallica writes beautiful poetry or anything, but I think it's easy to see that at least the subject matter they're writing about is far more compelling than the Edward Sharpe song.
Ok, last one:
People who listen to metal are all violent, angry assholes
First off, just because metal has a lot of yelling in it, doesn't mean it's angry. Second, just because people write angry songs, doesn't mean they're angry people. Most people I know who like metal are more subdued than your average person. Why this is, I'm not sure; maybe they're timid by nature, or maybe metal is just a great way to release excess anger.
If I had to characterize you're average metalhead in some way, it would be that they generally don't give a fuck. I think it's obvious why this might be; it's as if they took one glance at popular music and society and became nauseous. Then, pushing as far from this as they could, they set out to make music that would be entirely rejected by the majority of people. This is a very liberating thing; and it means that within the culture anything goes, just so long as it's interesting. I feel like at a metal concert you're just as likely to see, say, a guy wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, as someone with a mullet and a wife-beater (though I don't have too much evidence for this).
And that's it, don't judge a book by it's cover, etc, etc.
Saturday, 2 April 2011
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