Read this before going further: I am starting a thread about a topic that probably shouldn't be discussed on this forum, according to its rules, and I'm linking to a video that could be interpreted to violate them, as well as any number of local laws where you live. But the video and the activity therein is ostensibly perfectly legal where it was taken and equally legal for YouTube to host and distribute, and that is why I am making this thread. To discuss and criticize something very bad. If Tarn and Zach disapprove, I fully understand, but nobody do anything that would make them mad yourselves. Fairly warned be ye.
I have a philosophy. An extraordinary amount of strife and conflict in human history has been caused by the universal quest to destroy that which is despised. Physically or metaphorically, when we encounter something we do not understand or disapprove of, we seek to remove it; not just from our presence from but the world entirely, because simply knowing that something we despise continues to exist is an insult to our sensibilities. It requires a fantastic amount of poise to avoid this tendency, even then just to resolve oneself to not seeking its destruction, and everyone has their limits.
Therefore, I believe all boundaries must be broken, the unspeakable must be spoken, the unthinkable must be thought. No one need agree with anyone, no one need believe the same truths or hold the same values. But unreasoning fear and distaste is unacceptable. So I encourage exposure to everything beyond the pale. We can still despise that which we find, by any measure we choose, so long as we know exactly how and why we reached that position. We can live and speak freely, when we are all equal, by staring equally into the abyss.
This philosophy frequently comes back to bite me in ass.
This is one of those times, because I certainly have my limits. (Note: The link is now a Google search, because YouTube took down the original video due to the song "Single Ladies" being copyrighted. The same will happen to any other hosting, so you'll have to find the video yourself if you wish to see it.)
Yes, this is making the rounds on live TV news. Yes, they are very skilled showgirls-in-training. Yes, that is an auditorium full of people cheering them on. Yes, they had the full support of their families. Yes, they are
seven years old.
Little Miss Sunshine started, or maybe acknowledged, a very disturbing trend which has continued to grow. When the movie made a very-prepubescent girl into a poledancer, it was supposed to be funny because it was so outrageous. I don't dispute this, it was funny; and by my accursed philosophy, I'm supposed to say it's a good thing that boundary was crossed to see what lay beyond. The corollary is, having seen what lay beyond, we as a culture are supposed to go "oh yes, now we rationally understand why we find this outrageous", and then
we step back. I'm starting to think those radical clerics and reactionaries are onto something. The death of Western Civilization by God-given earthquake doesn't seem that unreasonable really.