More in Poetry People - Conversation on Poets
Poetry People - Conversation on Poets
| << Previous | Next >> |
Wow! I feel honored to have lit this fire, but everyone here is the tinder.
Julie: You said that movies are unsubtle,
"because, apparently, the assumption is that the masses are too dumb to 'get it' if the brilliant parts aren't pointed out with neon lights and slapstick."
Well, the masses ARE too dumb to get it, frankly. Especially in this country where the literacy level is #55 among nations (I believe I read that actual figure). After all, "Pirates of the Caribbean" didn't make the big bucks because of its commentary on Elizabeth I allowing her captains to harass the Spanish in the Americas. In the marketplace, adrenaline beats thought hands-down.
Leanne: You said, "Poetry needs a makeover and not with the botox injections it's been getting for the last half century. Lights, colours, flashpots, whatever works -- but don't dumb poetry down, smarten people up." See the contradiction: Poetry needs a makeover, but then, smarten people up. I think the 2nd is correct. People need a makeover more than does poetry. The biggest dangers to poetry are the rapid pace of modern life, which allows too little time and space for reflection; and the consumptionist ethos, which is based on alienating people from themselves, so that in their dissatisfaction, they will go shopping.
Finally, Back to W-F: Poetry can't be fashioned or transmitted in some special manner to reach the audience. We can help cull out from the masses those who can be turned from the mass ethos to that something within themselves we express through poetry. I rather think of it as an "Atlas Shrugged" scenario, except that instead of savingall the entrepreneurs, we save those least engulfed by consumerism, drugs, and self-righteousness.
"because, apparently, the assumption is that the masses are too dumb to 'get it' if the brilliant parts aren't pointed out with neon lights and slapstick."
Well, the masses ARE too dumb to get it, frankly. Especially in this country where the literacy level is #55 among nations (I believe I read that actual figure). After all, "Pirates of the Caribbean" didn't make the big bucks because of its commentary on Elizabeth I allowing her captains to harass the Spanish in the Americas. In the marketplace, adrenaline beats thought hands-down.
Leanne: You said, "Poetry needs a makeover and not with the botox injections it's been getting for the last half century. Lights, colours, flashpots, whatever works -- but don't dumb poetry down, smarten people up." See the contradiction: Poetry needs a makeover, but then, smarten people up. I think the 2nd is correct. People need a makeover more than does poetry. The biggest dangers to poetry are the rapid pace of modern life, which allows too little time and space for reflection; and the consumptionist ethos, which is based on alienating people from themselves, so that in their dissatisfaction, they will go shopping.
Finally, Back to W-F: Poetry can't be fashioned or transmitted in some special manner to reach the audience. We can help cull out from the masses those who can be turned from the mass ethos to that something within themselves we express through poetry. I rather think of it as an "Atlas Shrugged" scenario, except that instead of savingall the entrepreneurs, we save those least engulfed by consumerism, drugs, and self-righteousness.
by Alcuin of York on May 31 2007