Weiner (haha)

Sex is a hard topic to talk about. Not specifically sex in its vanilla platonic form but the more abstract ideology that perverts society, by which I mean there is a social dichotomy about what is "normal" stemming from before writing became a "thing". I guess it's more controversial than hard per se. I am pretty confident in my own opinions based on rational argument and facts to back said arguments but then there's the other side. I'm not here to convince anyone of anything but I would like to bring to light some disturbing realities about our western, maybe even human, culture.

Tonight I watched the documentary Weiner. The story follows New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner past his first #weinergate scandal in 2011 to when he runs for mayor in 2013. Part way through the story news breaks that he had partaken in more sexting with other women and soon a "The Good Wife" story begins to unfold on one side while a social commentary on the destruction of the mainstream media unfolds on the other side. To clarify I mean that the mainstream media is destructive in its abilities to destroy the lives of humans in pursuit of ratings and money and also the symbolic destruction of the integrity of the medium.

Succeeding the aftermath of Anthony's inevitable abysmal election result an interesting conclusion is alluded to at the end of the film. Like the end of the first scandal, a montage of "business back to normal" clips appear, with the media cycle losing interest in a story whose veins have run dry, with Anthony back in the public, fighting the war he feels destined to wage. This isn't a story glorifying a man despite his flaws, but an honest portrayal of a flawed human being doing the best he can to fight for what he believes in.

Perhaps in pursuit of pure ego and narcissistic hedonism. After all, what sane human being not hungry for power would want to be a politician. It's great to be idealistic and want to make the world a better place but that comes with some undefined perks and flaws than corrupt and condition even the most stalwart victim. But I digress as that is something to be unpacked for another time.

My final takeaway, alluding back to the end of the story is the final scene where a young boy recognizes Anthony on the street. Elated, he calls his mother to tell her what he can't believe he's seeing and asks for his autograph. This scene speaks to me as a message of a new generation growing up on a different kind of media, being able to cut through the preprogrammed propaganda of the corrupt old guard and into a more informed, egalitarian populous, not to be manipulated by the corporate oligarch puppet masters. There's hope for us yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ4FIGnJknk

Aaron