I want to discuss a popular TV show with my wife, and I’ve been drinking and watching on Netflix. This is the story of a family, a scientific person, a talented crowd. Under his own selfishness, he slowly fell into madness and despair. Time and time again, he became a monster. I’m talking about friends and their tragic hero, Rose Geller.
You might think of it as comedy, but I can’t laugh with you. To me, friends signify the harsh embrace of American anti-intellectualism, a talented and intelligent person being persecuted by fellow idiots. Even from my perspective, it doesn’t matter. The continuous laughter of the audience in the live recording studio will remind us that our own response is unnecessary and unnecessary.
The theme song itself is full of ominous premonitions, telling us that life is deceptive in nature, ridiculous career pursuits, and poverty is just around the corner, oh yes, your D.O.A. in love life will always be accompanied by an idiot. They will be there for you.
Am I Sick
Maybe I should unpack this package-for those without experience. If you remember the 1990s and early 2000s, and lived near a TV, then you remember friends. Friends are the “Must Watch TV” event on Thursday evening prime time, and the show host is the cutest choir ever: all young people, all middle class, all white people, all heterosexuals, attractive (but Approachable), morally and politically bland, all characters are easy to digest. Joey is a fool. Chandler is a satire. Monica is compulsive. Phoebe is a hippie. Rachel, damn it, I don’t know-Rachel loves shopping. Then Rose. Rose is an intellectual and romantic.
In the end, the “friends” audience (about 52.5 million people) turned to Rose. But the role of the show has been bad for him from the beginning (considering episode 1, when Joey talks about Rose, “this guy says hello, I want to kill myself.”) In fact, Rose will say his interest any time His learning, his thoughts, every time he was in the middle of a sentence, his “friend” would groan, and said how boring Rose was, how stupid he was, no one cared. Remind the laughter of the audience in the live recording studio. This gag went lasted almost 10 seasons per season. Can you blame Rose for going crazy?
Just like the Greek tragedy, our hero is caught in an unavoidable prophecy. The producer of the show is similar to the constant voice of the gods, announcing that Rose must end with the person who shopped. Honestly, I think he can do better.
Why are you so sympathetic to Rose?
The show ended in 2004. The same year that Facebook aired, George W. Bush was re-elected for the second year in office, and live television became the dominant force in pop culture, and American Idol began for eight years. Terrorism ranks first in the United States. In the same year, Paris Hilton created his own “lifestyle brand” and published an autobiography. Joey Tribbiani received a spin-off TV show. 2004 was the year when we gave up completely and made stupidity a value. Just asking Green Day; their album “American Idiot” was released in 2004 and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. You cannot get it in time. Rejecting Ross marks the moment when most Americans groan in the voice of reason.
Yes, my theory is that “friends” may have caused the collapse of Western civilization. You might think I’m crazy. But quoting Rose said, “Oh, right? Really, am I going crazy? Will I lose my mind?” Did you know that the song that originally accompanied the plot of the “friend” pilot was REM “This is the world we know At the end (and I feel good). “This happy song with apocalyptic messages was largely ignored.
I am a teacher in 2004. I have coached the chess club of our school. I saw how to bully my students. I tried my best to defend them, but I was everywhere. My students are smart, nerdy, and they are in hostile, unfriendly areas. Other students will wait outside my room for ambush lunches from chess club members who meet in my room every day. During my teaching, I became known as a defender of bullies and nerds. I assure you: bullies may be despicable, but they know that Mr. Hopkins’ situation is much worse.
Perhaps intellectuals are always persecuted and forced into the locker room, but my gut tells me that we are in a trough. Social media interaction has replaced real debate and political discourse, where politicians are determined by whether we want to have a beer with them, reject scientific consensus, insufficient scientific research funding, and drowning beer by celebrities in the press.
Maybe it’s all harmless fun. Like the lively laughter of a live studio audience? Maybe. But I sincerely worry that we have not done enough to cultivate the intellectual curiosity within our culture.
Fortunately, resistance is forming. Brave man, don’t be afraid of the sentence that starts with “Did you know …” this is Ross Galles in the world. I met them at the chess club. I saw them in my city, hiding in art galleries, squatting in second-hand bookstores, exchanging side gazes in public libraries and cafes, walking around our schools, community colleges, and universities.
Rose had no hope. He’s crazy, yes, he’s really annoying.
So how do we stay sane in a stupid world? If I don’t prepare some ideas, I won’t be a good teacher.
No. 1: Read a fucking book. When you put aside the crazy attention of modern culture and indulge in novels, something special happens. You are open to new ideas, new experiences, new perspectives. This is an experiment of patience and mindfulness. The New School of Social Studies in New York proves that reading literature can increase empathy. This is real. Reading makes you less jerky. So please read it often. Reading difficult books. Read controversial books. Reading a book makes you cry. Read something interesting. But please read it.
Second: learn something. Your brain has so much power. Feed it. learn new knowledge. The biggest threat to progress is that people think something is too complicated to be solved. Poverty is permanent. Racism will last forever. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is too difficult to understand. The public education system is broken. Educate yourself so you can participate in the conversation. Learn something scientific, something mathematical. Explore philosophy. Study paleontology. Try to learn a new language. You don’t even have to be fluent in your goals, just say a few more words. Listen to educational podcasts. Professors at universities such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, and others are giving lectures online for free. Think about what you can learn. As a teacher, one of my biggest challenges was to convince the students that they were smart after someone told them they were stupid.
Third: Stop buying so much shit. This may seem out of place, but I firmly believe that consumer culture and idiot culture are closely related. Simplify your life. Folly rules our cultural landscape as it sells more Nike tennis shoes and Big Macs. When we deliberately bring things home, we are less likely to be manipulated by empty urges.
Finally, Article 4: Protecting nerds. Computer programmers in Seattle are reducing the world’s poverty, hunger and disease through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is doing more than anyone else in the United States today. Nerds make vaccines. Nerd engineer bridge and roadway. Nerds become teachers and librarians. We need those nasty smart people because they make the world a better place. We cannot let them cower in a society where they turn a blind eye to everything they say. Rose needs better friends.
Denvers Business Organization 