(no subject)
we tell each other tales of vampires and zombies and the dead coming back from the grave, and we always have. Why? Storytelling is a cultural tradition and also serves an educational purpose. But what is it that fascinates us so, and compels us to go over this same theme over and over again? Sure, ghost stories are fun (now), and box office receipts support that, but what do we learn from "Dawn of the Dead", "Nosferatu" and the traditional tales of Vlad the Impaler and revenant stories through the ages?
We learn that life is desirable. We believe that life is valuable and should be treasured. The dead, those whose souls have escaped or been lost, are hungry enough for life, are needy enough for it, that they will break natural laws in an attempt to experience more of it. All the dead want is life back, theirs or anyone elses, anything, another minute, another hour, another day. I'd wager that not one of us breathes our last without letting it out as a sigh of "i just wish, one last time, that i could have done..."
Life is a lot of hard work, we are constantly forced into making decisions, some of them aren't that hard - coffee or tea with breakfast? and some of them shape the course of our lives unalterably.
Some find it all too much and let life go, some it is taken from, and some give it away. Being alive is tiring, and you have to wonder what we are getting out of it. Entertainment? Is that all we are trying to do, pass the time until the bus comes.
The garnering of fame and fortune is pointless, because you can't take it with you, and all mens names fade over time. I can't think of what James Dean would rather, being famous and dead at twenty-four, or growing old and fat and battling a fading career in the dotage. Could the fame have helped him in the afterlife (if there is one) or is it like Hugo Weaving being one of Australia's most reknown actors, and being unknown in the rest of the world, and now only famous for Agent Smith and Elrond. Did James Dean get to where he was going and have to start from scratch? Will the fortunes of Rupert Murdoch and the like hold them in any stead into death?
Just what on earth are we doing here?
We learn that life is desirable. We believe that life is valuable and should be treasured. The dead, those whose souls have escaped or been lost, are hungry enough for life, are needy enough for it, that they will break natural laws in an attempt to experience more of it. All the dead want is life back, theirs or anyone elses, anything, another minute, another hour, another day. I'd wager that not one of us breathes our last without letting it out as a sigh of "i just wish, one last time, that i could have done..."
Life is a lot of hard work, we are constantly forced into making decisions, some of them aren't that hard - coffee or tea with breakfast? and some of them shape the course of our lives unalterably.
Some find it all too much and let life go, some it is taken from, and some give it away. Being alive is tiring, and you have to wonder what we are getting out of it. Entertainment? Is that all we are trying to do, pass the time until the bus comes.
The garnering of fame and fortune is pointless, because you can't take it with you, and all mens names fade over time. I can't think of what James Dean would rather, being famous and dead at twenty-four, or growing old and fat and battling a fading career in the dotage. Could the fame have helped him in the afterlife (if there is one) or is it like Hugo Weaving being one of Australia's most reknown actors, and being unknown in the rest of the world, and now only famous for Agent Smith and Elrond. Did James Dean get to where he was going and have to start from scratch? Will the fortunes of Rupert Murdoch and the like hold them in any stead into death?
Just what on earth are we doing here?