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The most thoroughly and relentlessly Damned, banned, excluded, condemned, forbidden, ostracized, ignored, suppressed, repressed, robbed, brutalized and defamed of all Damned Things is the individual human being.
The social engineers, statisticians, psychologists, sociologists, market researchers, landlords, bureaucrats, captains of industry, bankers, governors, commissars, kings and presidents are perpetually forcing this Damned Thing into carefully prepared blueprints and perpetually irritated that the Damned Thing will not fit into the slot assigned it.
The theologians call it a sinner and try to reform it. The governor calls it a criminal and tries to punish it. The psychologist calls it a neurotic and tries to cure it.
Still, the Damned Thing will not fit into their slots. |
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| Lenny Bruce, Role Model |
[27 Jun 2009|01:25am] |
In 10th grade, I attempted to borrow the book How To Talk Dirty And Influence People, by Lenny Bruce, from the school library via inter-library loan. I had no idea what the ramifications of that little slip of paper would be.
The conservative librarian apparently didn't quote know how to process a request for a book such as this. Various horror novels were commonplace enough, and even Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks passed through the system that they didn't cause much alarm. Oh, but when a student (and admittedly, a part-time library volunteer) wanted to read a Real Book... it threw the system into disarray. Maybe it was her knowledge of Lenny Bruce's story, maybe it was because the book was published by Playboy Press... whatever the reason, a decision was made to contact my parents.
You see, a New Jersey high school library in the 90's couldn't simply refuse to lend a book on the basis of controversy alone; that sort of moral control system didn't exist in the schools just yet. Even in the politically conservative town in which I lived, the idea of censorship was a greater evil. If left to the parents to decide... well, that would let them dodge the bullet. After all, what parent would sign their name to a form allowing their child to borrow Offensive and potentially Pornographic Material?
So I found myself sitting across the table from my Mom, attempting to explain just why I "thought it was funny to request a pornographic book" from the library. Did the letter sent home mention the legal battles that Lenny Bruce went through over the concept of "legislated morality"? Did it contain any information whatsoever about the book, its author, or ANYTHING of the sort? My Dad owned George Carlin records, I'm pretty sure he'd have understood... but no, all it said was, "We're concerned, because Andy wants to borrow PLAYBOY MATERIALS."
Once it was explained just what said materials were, the anger calmed down and became confusion - why would the book I requested have given the administration such cause for concern? To this day I can't quite explain what happened - maybe my Mom genuinely trusted me, maybe my persuasive skills were powerful enough - but by the end of our conversation, she had signed her name to a "permission slip" that instructed the school to loan me anything I asked for. Backfire, anyone?
Granted, this was neither the first nor last time that I turned things on their head, during those years. I could spend all day telling stories like that, but this one has been on my mind today, so you get to read about it. Sometimes I miss the 90's, you know? I liked wearing flannel shirts; I liked girls in skirts and Doc Marten Boots. It probably wasn't really a "simpler time", but maybe I was a simpler person. I'm glad I did what I did, when I did it. If I had been born later, I'd have been drugged or institutionalized for some of the things I did. These days, they pump the kids full of every kind of dope they can sell, and they expel or jail any kid who acts too different or threatens the status quo. I'm a business owner who is known and respected in my industry... what fate awaits The Ritalin Generation?
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