let me be honest, i am tired of all the Oscar Pistorius ‘stuff’ – i am tired of it and i wish it would go away.
i am also deeply disturbed by it. i don’t know that i completely understand why, altho i know it has something to do with the fact that it feels like almost everyone has an opinion, many people have made judgements, many others are just sending links and updates and quotes and there seems to be something a little too much in that – this article that calls us all vultures, seems to capture some of what i am feeling the best
i have mostly wanted to not write about it, because i don’t want to be just another voice commentating on something i don’t have a lot of facts about – presuppositions for sure, news posted comments definitely and a lot of opinion and argument and sentiment and so on, but no one really knows what happened [except maybe Oscar] and maybe we never really will. so i will keep my writing to the idea of the thing, rather than the thing itself, as that is something i do have a little bit more of a valid opinion about.
the celebrity aspect has to be a part of it – if that was James Smith [google ‘James Smith’ to make sure i haven’t accidentally picked another celebrity name] then this case would not have even registered a blip on the radar. in fact there was a newspaper headline board on a pole when i went out earlier that read ‘two more girls killed in cape town’ and no one [relatively] is going to even know that that happened. so because the guy who allegedly shot the girl [Reeva Steenkamp by the way although it finally feels like everyone now knows her name as well] is famous, somehow this case means more.
i mean at this very point i am multi-tasking between writing this blog and trying to convince someone on facebook that a cartoon of Elmer Fudd blowing a woman’s head off with a shotgun because she is making a duck face at her camera is NOT OKAY… it is not “just a cartoon bro” and even further, ” I’m 100% positive no person on their right mind will shoot a girl in the face for taking a picture like that.” Yes, i’m with you on that point, i don’t think they will, but THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT OKAY!
on a different page, my friend Megan is posting awareness photos as to how often images of violence are subtly woven into advertising as far as women are concerned and the link from her original post to an article focusing on ‘America’s Next Top Model 8’: Week Four: Crime Scene Victims just makes me feel sick to my stomach – the challenge is for each model to pose as a person who has been killed in a different way – with a judge commenting, “What’s great about this is that you can also look beautiful in death.” – i couldn’t even make it through all the images…
it just leaves me wondering how far have we gone? and how long will we continue to call this all normal?
and how can i be part of the remedy?
i think it must be along the lines of posting and speaking and pointing towards and declaring LIFE. not to pretend that darkness and death and brokenness is not happening [we must never do that – we MUST act when people share ridiculous cartoon pictures and when people are challenging the mentality behind advertising and the fact that a celebrity should not be allowed to get away with something no-one else should] but to remind ourselves in the midst of it that LIFE is happening. the smallest light destroys and chases away the darkness!
and so i want to call on you [and me] this week to look out for stories of goodness and grace and beauty and Love and to share them via your status or your Twitter or your blog – for every negative story that is out there, let us share a positive one. if we can’t stop all that is bad [at least instantly] then let us at least celebrate and cheer on and be encouraged by that which is good. let those stories give us the strength and belief to get involved in the less-than-happy ones and hopefully see more positive endings to those as well.
i am thinking of the invitation i just received to Linawo Chilren’s home’s 10th birthday celebrations, i am talking about the children’s house Val is a trustee of and the uThando LeNkosi Work Day, i am even simply talking about Monday night’s TheatreSports show at the Intimate theatre in town – whatever it is, let’s just start speaking and sharing some life, so that we don’t get taken completely down by the darkness…
the inspiring and humourous no limbed Nick Vujicic has a baby boy…
is anyone with me on this?
I completely hear what you’re saying, but the matter at hands affects a lot of people… We can’t just ignore it. As a teacher I have to answer a lot of questions to high school kids who want to know how they should react to this situation? And yes we need to focus on positive, absolutely! But at the same time celebrities like Oscar are in the headlines when they’re winning gold and simultaneously in the headlines when they do something wrong- like being responsible for the death of their girlfriend. Guilty or not guilty of premeditation blah blah he is still a role model to a lot of people- hence the interest. (Just as an example, when my gr 11’s had to do a research project on the olympics, a lot of them chose Oscar over able bodied athletes). So now they’re left to learn the lesson that people fall from grace and its how we and him respond to that that’s important. I think
Mandy, i hear you and i agree with you in everything you have said here. But yours is a very specific situation and i would suggest one in which it is relevant to deal with the specifics head on. For most people though it feels like just another car crash at the side of the road that we are slowing down for so we can feed our curiosity but not have any influence on… thankx for posting!
ABSOLUTELY!!! You truly are a blessing Brett 🙂
started writing a comment, which turned into a bit of an essay, and eventually changed tack and put it on my blog. Thanks for inspiring the thought and writing of it.
which you can take a look at here: http://relentlessabundance.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/reflecting-on-mike-van-graans-analysis-of-the-oscar-pistorius-case-and-the-south-african-psyche