Pop culture woes.

I have spent the first half of my life rejecting pop culture. Maybe I can spend the second half embracing it. That way I get the best of both worlds in a single life time.

I definitely feel a lot less hostile towards pop culture now that I have developed an interest in using some of its features in my work. But there’s still plenty wrong with modern life. And in a way this newfound enthusiasm is just another, hopefully more efficient way to achieve the same goals.

I used to be a big Nietzsche fan. But now that the whole Western world had become a Nietzschean paradise of self-indulgence and anti-morality, I’m deeply disgusted. Like the writing of De Sade, it was titillating fun as long as it was fictional. But when that stuff turns real, it’s horrible.

I do realize that a big part of this problem is caused by the current state of capitalism and cannot be fixed through aesthetics alone. But I believe the power of capitalism is waning, so this part of the problem will dissolve.

In the mean time, through my work, I want to reacquaint people with the truly beautiful, perhaps even the spiritual, with the concepts of harmony and kindness and respect. With wonder for the unknown, reverence for what is greater than us, and empathy, maybe even love, for everything else.

Put in these terms, it is clear that the corniness of popular art is highly suitable for my purpose!