Sex, Puritans and Wedding Crashers
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: the theme to "Knight Rider"

a lot of right-wing Christians get offended when you call America "Puritanical" as if it were a bad thing. when i call America "Puritanical," i mean it in the most perplexing way possible. it truly confounds me.

example #1: when an American movie is exported to any other country in the world, it is reviewed and edited slightly. every country has different rules and regulations concerning what makes an R-rated movie. we have our guidelines, they have theirs. what i find most interesting is American movies, if they are going to be re-edited, nine times outta ten, they are re-edited to take violence out. when an international movie is brought into the US, nine times outta ten in order for it to have an R rating, sex has to be cut out.

while the rest of the world is worried about violence, America is worried about sex.

example #2: being a life-long comic book aficionado, i have always found it most interesting that when a non-comic book junkie picks up a comic book, the first thing they comment on is the figure most super heroines have. "Is her superpower that she can fit into that suit?" as one Calvin & Hobbes strip put it. people's eyes are drawn to the female form and people are offended. they don't notice what the female is doing (tearing apart a villainous robot limb from limb, completing obliterating existence, etc.). they notice what she is (or isn't) wearing. very few people look at the men in comics and go "egad, could that suit be any tighter?!" despite the fact that the superdudes wear just as tight, just as revealing outfits as the superchicks do.

why is this? why do we, in America, care more about who's sleeping with as opposed to who's killing who? why do we care if my next door neighbor prefers boys over girls? why aren't we more concerned with how many automatic weapons are roaming the countryside? why aren't we more concerned with how easy it is to buy any given weapon and any amount of ammunition? why do we support the separation of church and state only when it goes along with our personal beliefs?

i think its because Americans are delusional. we've been deluded into thinking America was founded by Christians. we've been deluded to think that the right to bear arms is the right to own enough weapons to arm a third-world country.

a little something about the founders of America: the closest thing to a Christian we had on the founders' committee were deists, people who believe God created the world and then shoved it into His heavenly closet -- something He checks on from time to time but never gets involved with.

America never has been nor ever will be "Christian America." it was founded NOT on the principle of being able to worship God but on the principle of not having to worship God if you don't want to. it was founded to protect the deists who were tired of the king or queen being able to execute them if they didn't believe Jesus died for their sins.

it was founded by Puritans. remember "The Scarlet Letter?" remember the witch hunts? remember people being burnt at the stake or stoned or crushed or drowned? yep, that's your friendly neighborhood Puritans. moralistic hypocrites who would gladly kill someone who didn't believe the same way they did and then claim it was for their better good.

sounds like America today to me.

<*/ end rant *>

this weekend was full of laughs and giggles! i curled up with season six of "The Simpsons" and laughed till i was nauseous. season six has gotta be one of their best, if not THE best.

the Easley family (Kelly's mom's side) had their "August Birthday Bash" on Saturday, so we went down to Fort Mountain and joined in. fun was had by all. i'm finally known as "Scott" to them (as opposed to "Chris" or "that guy who was locked in the motor home's bathroom when Dora began driving away"). and Kelly's twenty-one now. and that is just stinkin' hot, i'm sorry.

i took Kelly to see "Wedding Crashers" on Saturday night. it was the second time i've seen it, and i laughed just as hard this time as i did the first time. much to my delight, Kelly enjoyed it to, though found the "boobie montage" at the beginning to be "superfluous." i'm just happy to see Vince Vaughn back to being his amoral self.

last night i watched Robert Altman's "The Player," which really is the best anti-Hollywood film Hollywood has ever made. i think it was supposed to be a thriller, but it was really more of an extended Hollywood in-joke (though never really funny) with more cameos than you can shake a stick at. if you don't follow Hollywood news, this is a movie i don't think you'll enjoy, as it really requires that you have more than a passing knowledge of the industry.

this week i hope to begin work on Rachel's music video, tighten up the script for Kelly's and my mockumentary, and send the Puritans to Guam (as it's as good a place as any for them to start a new colony).

Favorite Simpsons Memory #37

Groundskeeper Willie: It won't last. Brothers and sisters are natural enemies. Like Englishmen and Scots! Or Welshmen and Scots! Or Japanese and Scots! Or Scots and other Scots! Damn Scots! They ruined Scotland!
Principal Skinner: You Scots sure are a contentious people.
Groundskeeper Willie: You just made an enemy for life!