| 5 april 2001 APRIL 3 NEW review ! It will make you proud to eat hearty. Really.
| citizen anyone It takes too much to amaze us nowadays. I think that's too bad. We have endless information. Some people mistake that for having knowledge. Nope. I watched Citizen Kane (again) last night, and felt the way that I always do during great movies, or looking at a stunning painting, or while reading an especially good book. Mostly, I feel humbled. I wonder what I could ever say or do that might matter in the face of ageless art, and consequential people. In spite of being collectively a well-educated generation, we sure don't know very much. We know a lot of stuff , sure. We've got information at the click of a mouse, the flip of a channel, or (when desperate) by flipping a page. We know, and have, and have access to so much INFORMATION---it seems a herculean feat to make our jaws drop, our eyes bug, and silence to seize us. Like letters. Ever get excited by a letter in the mail? When was the last time you got one? You know, the kind you pull out of the envelope for weeks afterward, reverently. Or this--when was the last time you had a hero? A she-ro? One person who reminded you of your own humanity by seemingly stretching the boundaries of their own. We've dug up too much dirt on too many people to be awed by anyone. I suppose it's hard to find anyone heroic who seems too much like us. From our president, to movie stars, to royalty--did you ever just throw up your hands and say, "enough! Alright! I know too much!" I do that sometimes. But then, I'm a product of my generation as much as anyone. It is nice to have the world at my fingertips, so to say. It's thrilling (if overwhelming) to have endless information on any whim that passes through my mind. We can crank out an eye-catching piece of art in 30 minutes on our PCs. Renoir couldn't do that. We can burn a CD in about twenty minutes. Billie Holliday couldn't do that. We can make a movie, store it on a server, and give the world access to it in about a day. Orson Welles couldn't do that. Citizen Kane couldn't buy that. All that stuff is okay. We have the tools to be a most productive bunch, yep. Not only that, but we can cram as much information into our heads as they can hold. You'd think we'd be pretty amazing, huh. I still think we have a lot to learn. Like how sweat feels. |
