Bite Me!

 

 

 I think it’s time make some sense of the current fascination or obsession with Zombies and Vampires.  Zombies, especially, have leaked from the world of fantasy to the real world, with staged Zombie attacks and even official advisories on what to do when the Zombie apocalypse begins.

These concepts and characters have always been with us, but currently it seems totally out of proportion to other fictional events.  There are TV shows, movies, and many books on both subjects.  To me, most are poor examples of art, but rather the usual attempt to cash in on what’s current.  I have tried to read a vampire book and watched an episode of “The Walking Dead”; won’t be repeating either. 

Granted, I’m older than most of the fans, but there must be some other reasons why I just don’t get it.  Obviously, both involve the concept of death—or undeath.  From my Sociological research in death and dying, I learned that among cultural taboos (e.g., sex and religion), the subject of death was the hardest to deal with in current times.  In the past, death was something to be dealt with on a daily basis.  The human lifespan was much shorter and infant deaths were common.  With the progress in medicine, many people grow to adulthood without experiencing death at close range.  In addition, many deaths occur in hospitals, further insulating us from the direct experience. 

Fictional death has always provided the gory, in your face kind of dying experience.  Medical death on TV and movies is made prettier than a mortician could ever hope for.  We see a pale, but otherwise good looking patient in a clean hospital bed, neatly covered and lying on plump pillows.  The loved ones have meaningful last conversations and vows of love, then the machines start beeping and fade to black.  This is invariably followed by a rainy funeral scene at the grave site with everyone garbed in stylish black. 

The difference with Zombies and Vampires is a lot of blood and guts.  There has been a new effort in the Vampire stories to make these characters more human and “just like us”.  So is this our current cultural maneuver to break the taboo, and help us understand death?  Or, maybe just another way of distancing ourselves from a concept that is just too hard to accept in reality?

Fiction is a very acceptable way of escaping from reality.  My theory—and I’m just guessing of course—is that the more dismal the world around us seems, the more we will seek escape.  We hear of mass shootings, wars, economic collapse, health crises, and terrorists in the closet on a daily basis.   The further our fiction is from our real lives, the more we can distance ourselves from the hard to accept facts.  I’m pretty sure no one really believes the Zombie apocalypse is coming soon, or that your strange neighbors who stay up all night are really vampires.  Or is that just me? 

My Name is Barbara and I'm a FaceBookaholic

 

I understand, really, why people avoid Facebook.  It is addictive, and it does produce emotions that might otherwise be untapped.  Once I fully understood that you could select what you view, I eliminated a lot that displeased me.  So what I have now is pages and pages of animals and politics, all things near and dear to my heart.  However, this also takes an emotional toll.  A co-worker is constantly threatening to unfriend me because of all the sad and needy animals that I share.  I do this to expand the network of animal rescue groups; this has proven to be a successful technique in decreasing euthanasia and increasing fund-raising. 

I like reading news and political views as well, and with Facebook I learn more that bolsters my own viewpoint.  When I encounter misinformation I always want to correct the poster, but I realize that is not possible in most cases.  Also, when I do so, there go the emotions again.

I just read a Washington Post story in which an “average” man was interviewed about his perception of our President.  Every statement was proof that the “average” man is completely uneducated on most of the things they rant about.  This man spouted that the government was full of members of the “Muslim Brotherhood” and held prayer meetings on the White House lawn.  He also noted that the President was totally un-American and violated the constitution repeatedly.  It frightens me how wide-spread these beliefs are.

In response to  another post, I researched statistics (World Health Organization) on life expectancy and infant mortality in the USA versus other “civilized” countries.  Did that impact the poster who believes we have the best health care in the world?  Of course not.  I vow to myself to not fall into these argumentative traps—but as I said, emotions rule.

The difference in reading things on FB as opposed to news stories is that it leads to the illusion that you can communicate with others.  Rather than face to face communication, which sometimes results in voices being raised and things being said that you don’t really mean, you have the opportunity to compose rational thoughts and even find data to justify your opinions.  The fallacy is that facts will impress someone who is already convinced and uses Fox news as their primary source of information.

In sum, I will continue to post animal pictures and stories.  Right now, a large rescue group, Miracle Ranch, housed in Ludowici, Georgia, is being threatened by the powers that be in Long County to be shut down; gunshots are being fired on their property.  That is a story worthy of sharing, and acting on.  I will continue to avoid long winded conversations by people who have axes to grind.  I will delete/hide posts by liars and haters, and only respond when I have something meaningful or positive to say.

Ignore Facebook, you say?  Sure, that’s an option.  Maybe I could wean myself off gradually— I don’t think my system could stand the shock of going cold turkey.  I won’t miss knowing where everyone is all the time, or what everyone is eating.  I also won’t miss those who allude to arguments they are having with unnamed people.  I will miss the childhood pictures, the happy ending stories and of course, above all, George Takei’s wit and wisdom.

Saving the World in 434 Words

Saving the world is really a hard job.  Just look at the animal part of it—all of these need rescuing:

Dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks, polar bears, whales, otters, ferrets, and wolves.  I know there are thousands or more of near-extinct species that I never even heard of.  This, of course, is directly connected to saving their habitats. 

It’s quite obvious that there’s a lot of saving needed in the human part of the world.  People in third world countries die of curable diseases, malnutrition, and endless warfare.  With all that, we don’t have the time to think of possible dangers waiting for us in the rest of the universe, except in science fictions books and movies. 

So why are you just sitting around?  I mean, really!  I’m no Mother Teresa, and can’t even imagine the sacrifices of those who are out there on all the battlegrounds, rescuing people and animals on a daily basis.  It exhausts me to manage my job, my house, and a mere 5 rescued dogs.  It seems frivolous to go on vacations, watch TV and movies, play games and shop for clothes.  When it really gets to me, it seems like everyone is out there skipping rope and chanting rhymes, oblivious to the suffering in the world. 

Okay, okay—I’ll lighten up.  I know most good people do what they can.  As individuals, we are not empowered to stop people from being cruel and greedy.  Most of you donate to charities, adopt animals, and are kind to your neighbors and small children.  Can we do more?  Of course, always.  Will we?  Probably not.  It’s our nature to want to feel good as much as possible.  We work, raise our children, honor our parents and deserve some time to just do nothing that contributes to society (except for the money spent on leisure pursuits). 

But Mother Teresa aside, what is the least we should expect from ourselves to contribute to the world-saving pot?  I’ve heard more than one religious official (Rabbi, Minister) say that what you do will never be as important as following the scriptures; sorry, I can’t buy that at all.  So here’s my take on this:

1)      Educate yourself – that is, really educate yourself, find out the facts--and vote for the person who’s going to contribute to the pot in your name. (Hint:  It’s not a current Republican congressperson).

2)      Find at least one charitable endeavor that speaks for those who need saving—don’t just write a check, find out what you can DO.

3)      Don’t turn away from lies, ugliness, hate, abuse and pain.  Speak out and help out. 

That is all.