Are we all anarchists waiting for a reason to unleash our madnesses upon the world?
So ignoring the fact that that sentence is weirdly framed, I'll tell you now that no one I've ever asked (including Dad, who wouldn't hurt a fly) has ever denied a perverse, sneaking desire to throw a lighted matchstick into a coach carrying petrol, despite (or because of) skull-and-bones and "Highly Inflammable!!!" stamped in gloriously huge letters all over it. Or not wanted to throw some form of explosive into a milling crowd, just to break it up. Or hurl a Fat Man (or something slightly less destructive, actually) into the Parliament when one of those juvenile walk-out sessions are in order.
Or to crash a car into a tree at 180 mph, or imagine a roller-coaster coming off the rails when it's at the summit, or think of a giant wheel come screwed and roll along the road wreaking havoc. We all like some disorder, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics and punk/death metal music are proof enough.
I think Emma Thompson, of the puckered eyes, sharp mouth and crisp accent, put it beautifully in Stranger Than Fiction.
"Everybody thinks about jumping off a building."
3 comments:
As discussed - these anarchist tendencies perhaps boil down to some kind of desire to assert some control over ourselves, in defiance of society's control. However, rather than a desire to escape from society, it's a kind of reminder to ourselves that yes, if we want to screw around with things, we can.
It's when we actually do start screwing around with society that things get complicated :)
Death Metal actually exemplifies this. As an expert on Death Metal :) I can tell you that the disorder in Metal is generally only in the lyrics. Musically it's very structured. Lyrically, however, some bands do indulge in graphic descriptions of violence or any other anti-social/taboo subjects, but it's almost always tongue in cheek.
When they are serious however, they are usually of the Church-burning, band member killing Norwegian variety. Fairly anarchist dudes.
@verun:
When Death Metal conforms to a pattern while making music, perhaps it does so because it needs to still be accepted by the "society" at large?
It's a power-equation, like you said, I s'pose. That the orderliness exists only because it's not screwed around with, and that can be changed in the flick of an eye. But perhaps one major factor that prevents this screwing around is the fear of retribution and reprimand. :)
Yes, you're right. It basically boils down to a kind of balance of powers.
Death Metal also, it's no different from any genre that way.
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