Slacker, a film brought to us in the early 1990's by cult favorite Richard Linklater, has become a prophetic source. Time has unfortunately proven it a film accurately depicting many twenty-somethings (and older) throughout the entirety of time, not limited to the era the film takes place in. I know Austin, Texas has had a steady growth rate, but was unaware that its character had spread throughout the entire United States, to say the least. The biggest offenders? Mumblecore and pricks like me who think they'll blog and tell us what it's all about. The difference between mumblecore and Slacker or bloggers and Slacker? We take ourselves far too seriously.
As I watched a bunch of youngins pushing product, parlaying politics, and just sputtering utter nonsense I was amused at this satirical twist on the mumblecore genre. Then I remembered this came out in 1991 and mumblecore is still among us. My appreciation for the film fell off as I continually encountered these god damned fools spewing their shit. It went from amusing to annoying about a third of the way in and never came back; a film I can pat on the back but ultimately never watch again.
That's when the ridiculousness hit me. Movies like Lynn Shelton's Humpday do this on purpose! My definition of the genre, as should be stated, is a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals discussing what they believe to be original ideas in circles, and in the end no one gives a shit because it doesn't really matter. I should also state that this entire opinion, of a blogger, has been formed around Humpday, as I have never braved the genre since. This should be your first clue into the relation between blogger insight and mumblecore insight. I'm telling you upfront, third paragraph, whatever.
"I'm a fucking tool." -"Let's talk about it."
Most kiddies are taught at a young age not to believe everything they hear, but most people do it anyways. You think the rants on the Kennedy assassination and a later moon landing from Slacker were out-of-this-world? Look at our current, past, and future state of politics. Before I continue ranting, I took part in a writing class yesterday where the term 'forseeable future' was deemed unreasonable because no one can see the future. That's bullshit, if not, then history's bullshit because that's the whole point of studying it. Yet here we are, getting excited about campaign promises and swayed by campaign advertisements. They all tell us similar positive news, and then reality sets in and we play the blame game.
We get in our little groups of friends talk about how great it's going to be, and then we get into our little groups and talk about how bad it is. Like drones. We forget the people we're talking about our humans and we forget that we are humans. Maybe we aren't?
Time to get way the fuck off tangent from my original thesis for the final time. Look at today's world. It's the same as the world in Slacker, but now with tools created to take advantage of it. The same writing class from earlier (a business writing class mind you) built around the idea that everything needs to be streamlined. We should be writing in lists, because they are easier, because they are for the everyman. Fuck that guy. The writer/speaker should have complete freedom to say something, but with the responsibility that it is something worth saying. The reader/listener should have complete freedom to ignore whatever they want, but also bypass their ignorance and upbringing to listen in when something worthy is out there.
Don't be afraid to put your ear down on the rails and listen for that train to come through. It may pick you up and take you somewhere unexpected. And be smart enough not to keep your head down when it rides through. Stop picking a poison, and choose a cure. If you've made it this far, I'm not sure which you've done.
Required listening on the topic: "Brilliant Man" by The National
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