WHAT'S TO FEAR ON THE INTERNET

One of the joys of owning a blog and being single is that I can argue with stubborn, obstinate old men without having to sleep with them, or put poison in their coffee.  Some men, when they get to a certain age, become so set in their ways, they should be hammered into the ground, quite literally.  And it irks the hell out of me as a woman, when a man automatically positions himself as older and wiser.  Truth be told, in most cases I'm wiser, and if I'm not I acknowledge it.  And in the case of you, ZT/Ziggy, that will never happen. 

 

In response to your latest, patronizing, demeaning attempt to make me look ill informed and lacking in education, here are a few home truths.

 

Yes, it's my thing now, Trump is the benchmark for everything evil and everything tacky. Well spotted. Trevor Noah? Yes indeed I am a fan, he's  a genius who didn't go to Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard or Yale. I have my own criteria for measuring genius VT, and top of my list are comedians, political ones especially who can take in and sum up an entire situation in one funny line. 

 

I'm sure I will enjoy movies all the more now I have your approval VT, my film posters and stars can remain on my walls :)  Funnily enough, I told a good friend the other day, I would bequeath her my large portrait of Charlie Chaplin, but I'm not sure she was happy about it.  I think she has her eye on my china tea set.

 

Movies are educational! How many millions have learned about art, history, literature, music, the lives of their ancestors, famous characters from history, famous incidents from history, the list goes on and on.  I knew all about Oliver Cromwell at 13, because my Dad took us to see it in the West End.  Is it likely any of us would have picked up as many books as films we have watched? Or how many books we go on to read after watching a film.  You will argue that films are not historically accurate, but I would argue they are another interpretation, just as two artists could paint the same landscape, and you would have entirely different pictures.  

 

We watch a movie, we buy the book, we may take it further.  I may have mentioned I have a deep and passionate interest in the French Revolution, I have even written a couple of screen plays that I really should submit to someone.  Studying it in greater depth is a treat I am saving for my twilight years, when I hope to do another degree. I always say my interest began with 'It was the best of times and it was the worst of times', Dickens 'Tale of Two Cities', but to be honest it was 'Carry On Don't Lose Your Head'.

 

How many kids learned about the Roman Empire while watching 'Carry On Cleo'? OK, for some kids that's ALL they will ever know about the Roman Empire, but at least it's something.  You cite The Alamo and Schindler's List - in what way were they distorted to benefit someone?  Who was benefitting from the propaganda? Was Schindler's List a lie? Or was it a way to tell generation after generation about the Holocaust? Something the world should never forget.   How many people would have known about Schindler or even The Alamo, if it hadn't been for those movies? 

 

You have an elite attitude to popular culture that is ridiculous VT.  You cite times past as better times, as though we should be looking backwards instead of forwards.  Your fear of the internet, is no different to the fear of books, art or music.  As if someone might write, paint or sing something that will sent the world into meltdown.  As though people need to be protected from themselves. 

 

Living in fear is a life choice ZT, you can lay in bed at night worrying about some anonymous troll or shill, or you can switch off by reading a book or watching a movie, like the rest of us.  You choose to worry about weirdos on the internet.  That's weird in itself.   You seem to think we are being brainwashed by some dark, sinister force - Mark Zuckerburg as a CIA Operative was a cracker. 

 

The internet is the best thing that has ever happened to Mankind.  For the first time in history we are all in contact with each other - all over the globe.  The citizens of one country can talk to citizens of another country in real time!  The internet is not a threat to multitudes, it's a threat to those who hold the power.  Crowds can assemble within moments, unpopular laws can be defeated by the masses.  The best example of the massive shift in the paradigm is the people's choice of Jeremy Corbyn as the Labour Party leader and his growing popularity throughout the country.   

 

I don't know what your real fears are ZT, you have written volumes but never actually said.  In the whole scheme of things, the internet is relatively new, will it evolve into Orwell's '1984'?  What cheers me is that those young internet geniuses who fight to preserve internet freedom are always ahead of the Authorities.   Whatever they design must be superior to the hackers.  Daily. 

 

Without knowing what your actual fear is VT, it is difficult to understand.  While each of our names are important to us, they are rarely of any interest to anyone else.  If someone says something nasty, so what? If it matters that much we can respond, or we can ignore it.  Sure as eggs is eggs, someone in the real world is saying something nasty about you right now.  That's life.  Being a somewhat flamboyant and some might say, eccentric, character in real life, I'm used to being talked about. 

But, as another of my Hollywood Icons (the divine Marilyn Monroe) would say, 'If I worry about other bitches, I'd be just like them, another worried bitch'. 

 

It really saddens me to see people such as yourself spreading this mythical fear about the internet.  The dangers, are hugely exaggerated, especially where grooming young people online is concerned.  Young people today are far more savvy than our generation, they have grown up with the internet, they know more than we ever will.  If they are going to be stalked or abducted, it is far more likely it will be by someone who knows them or an opportunist.  Not an impoverished gang of youths in an internet café in Azerbaijan.  To be honest, I am very uncomfortable with the whole idea of vigilantes' tracking paedophiles' down online.  I am certain there are far more practical and effective ways to protect the young and vulnerable, than cornering an old bloke in a car park with a crowd screaming and carrying baseball bats. 

 

 

Not being James Bond, I kind of accept the Dr. Evil threat as a possibility.  Though had it worked out for Blair, I would have marched until I had blisters, as I would if any of his henchmen were elevated to power again.  I accept in the sense, that I know, I personally can't stop it.  That will irk most activists, quite rightly, but don't get me started on the number of causes I feel I should be involved in.  It sets my conscience off.  There may or may not be a Dr. Evil plotting as we speak, but it's beyond my control.  I'm always on the lookout for a calming chant, a favourite for a while was 'Serenity Now' from Seinfeld which involved a lot of arm waving, these days I prefer the more tranquil 'beyond my control'.

 

More likely than Dr. Evil, is a slow erosion of the freedom of speech we presently have.  And we have that courtesy of those movers, shakers and music makers, who I refer to as the new Masters of the Universe, the owners of the social networks.  I am being castigated on my previous blog for calling Mark Zugerburg the antithesis of Donald Trump.  Gold Plated toilet seat.  I rest my case.

 

The danger lies in the slow erosion, the calls for policing of social media by the same people selling us scare stories.  These government approved scare stories usually come in on the back of a major tragedy. That is the bans, restrictions and legal enforcements are introduced virtually overnight if public feeling is strong enough.  

 

Apologies ZT for using you as an example of everything that drives me nuts about men of my own age.  It is not all personal.  But it does irk me that you keep you deliberately keep your eyes shut when it runs counter to your own set in stone beliefs.  You have no, zero, zilch, interest in learning, you think you have reached that point where you know everything, therefore opening another book is not necessary.  How do you learn anything if you are never wrong?

 

As for my Hollywood the Dream Factory, I learned rather more than the title line ZT, and by the way, doesn't every artist strive to create a dream? How many great works of art are dreams? how about the words of writers who take you into their world, and the songs that take you to an alternate state of mind?

 

You have a very closed mind ZT, and one I can only feel pity for, because you will never change.   I would give you a recommended reading list ZT, but you would discard it, as not worth  your time.  You are proud of rejecting things you won't even try to understand.  It baffes me but you are far from alone in your demographic. 

 

I don't feel in the least bit ashamed of my love of movies, because I take something from every film I see (not The Happening, for which I have still not forgiven Mark Wahlberg)*, the movies are an endless source of information and entertainment, I feel sad for you that you will never feel the magic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Forgave MW after Ted :)

 

Apologies, it's very late and I have an awful cold, please forgive any errors or omissions. [Sheepish smiley]