A wonderful afternoon

A few days ago, a friend and I were talking about an article from a news journal that he had to read for his introductory "Film Survey" course here at the University of Iowa. The 20-page article argued and maintained that movies, television, and other entertainment media exist with the primary intent of not just distracting us from our surroundings, but distorting our surroundings. The argument claimed that it is a result of television and films that we act the way we do, profile others the way some do, and by the things that we so frequently buy.

He and I both took major exception to that, especially on the film side of the argument. While it certainly is true that said media shape our lives (in both positive and negative ways), the article insisted that such influence was a threat to the world's cultures. Such an argument is silly. If the nukes don't kill us, the hurricanes will, and if they don't, Sarah Palin will. Degradation of the world's cultures is relatively low on the list of "threats to our well-being." 

The funny thing is, I couldn't help but agree with certain points of the article today. I went over to my girlfriend's dorm this afternoon to watch "When Harry Met Sally," which is a magnificent movie. If you haven't seen it, you really ought to. It was really quite simple. We sat on her futon, ate popcorn and M&Ms and watched this great movie. And for that brief time, the world didn't matter. We just sat there holding each other. No distractions from the distraction.

When the movie ended, she turned off the DVD-player and switched the TV back over to cable. As she flipped through channels, she stumbled upon CNN, just as the stock markets were closing for the day. The ticker at the bottom of the screen prominently displayed "CONGRESS DOES NOT PASS $700bn BAILOUT, DOW JONES PLUMMETS 777 POINTS." And then reality came back.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the bailout initiative failed. I think there are better and more responsible ways to deal with our current economic crisis than cutting a blank check for the guys who run Wall Street, many of whom encouraged unbelievably risky investments.

Nevertheless, as a result of the failed initiative, the stock markets posted their largest single-day loss in years. I lost over $2,000 in stock money on this day alone. Others got it much worse. The US Dollar also took quite the hit, which should also present itself as bad news to the college kid trying to study abroad in England two years from now. This was a historical and disastrous day for our economy (we all knew it would be).

But forgive me if I don't really give a damn. I know I probably should. I did, after all, just lose $2,000 in college funds. But none of that mattered to me today. My primary concerns for the day were spending some quality time with my girlfriend, doing some laundry, and taking care of a few odds-and-ends with my writing. 

So maybe, in a limited sense, that article was right. Maybe movies and TV do distract us. Today made that abundantly clear to me. What was also made abundantly clear to me is that at times like these, those distractions are pretty nice. For a guy having just lost two grand and observing a collapse in my country's economy, I had one of the better days today than I've had in a long time.

much respect

josh