Consumerism makes my feet hurt

Today, I was reminded of the value of a dollar. And how hard it is to earn a lot of dollars. I started working for the Corporation again for the first time in a year. Last year it was going door to door selling encyclopedias, 80 hours a week. Of course, working in retail in a chain store isn't half as bad as making cold calls. But it still makes your back feel like snapping in half and your feet swollen like marshmallows. Old Navy isn't a bad work environment. The workers are friendly, the managers are kind and not snooty (ahem, Abercrombie), and the customers are relatively low maintenance ( mostly middle class moms and babies). Still, nine hours of mindless folding and hanging and rehanging is enough to make you lose a piece of your soul, and not to mention your ability to think intelligent thoughts: ( I felt so...useless, even though I was doing my job perfectly well and helping Gap Inc. make great profits. I literally folded kids clothes, daddy clothes, baby clothes, mommy clothes and teenager clothes from the time I clocked in (3pm) till the time I clocked out (11pm). At one point, I got so sick of consumers that I wanted to scream: STOP SHOPPING, PEOPLE!!!! It really makes me think twice about blowing off $160 at UO. Consumerism is so gross. Ok, too pooped to rant further. Goodnight.

Is it just me...

... or do they kinda look alike? I couldnt get this off my mind since watching Public Enemy.

Bruno-:Why are we laughing?

I was kinda super anxious to see Bruno this weekend. Why? Because, as much as I hate to admit it, yes, I find pleasure in all those loaded stereotypes about blacks, gays, jew, hicks, blondes, Christians, Muslims, and above all, Austrians. (JK about the austrian part, I dont even know what their stereotypes are, maybe besides anything attributed to Aahhnold?) I saw Borat and don't remember much of it, except that it was pretty hillarious in an over-the-top, pushing all the buttons, sort of way. I was so shocked at how far this guy went just to get some laughs from an American audience. (I'm not sure how well his jokes translated across international borders). He risked getting sued, hurt, killed. I went into Bruno thinking it would be the same dose of Borat but maybe even better because it would be about a gay fashionista, and would therefore touch upon the ever so shallow world of fashion, fame, and glamour. At least, thats what most of the trailers made it seem like. I got what I wanted, and much much more. In fact, the movie was more centered around Bruno's gayness, and how flamboyently inappropriate one guy can get when given the attention and budget. It was Borat-pumped with leather, vynil, and dildos all playing to a mind numbing "german" techno soundtrack. And less tasteful, if thats possible. I laughed at all the "appropriately inappropriate" parts, because I felt thats what I'd paid for. Even if 80 percent of the scenes were way more sexually explicit than I could have imagined or would have found funny on a normal basis. I laughed at the racist moments because they played out the age old stereotypes that we all secretly, and sometimes not so secretly entertain in our minds. But it was interesting because even though Bruno steered clear of discriminate discrimnation, meaning he made sure to thoroughly bash every group that every audience belonged to, I noticed some people in the audience stopped laughing when something onscreen insulted them. (ie: when he uses real live mexicans as furniture for his new house) And then I realized that we weren't laughing at Bruno, but Bruno was laughing at and mocking us. Us, the masses of middle class America, for paying our hard earned money to watch this smart ass simply hand us our own ignorance on a silver platter. Sure, we laughed because you know, they weren't making fun of us personally. The parts about the hicks were especially funny because somehow we felt above them, seeing how ignorant and uncultured they seemed compared to us in edumacated California. Not just California, but the Bay Area, where we are cultured and open minded enough to accept gay people. We just, dont let them get married. (This was also in the movie). These jokes were not above anyone, but made a mockery of everyone in America. Ironically, all the "mockery" bits weren't Bruno antics, but real live responses/behaviors of real life Americans. Those weren't scripted. At the end of the movie, Wesley got up and said "This movie makes Americans look so stupid!" Yeah, it did. I couldnt help but think how ignorant we all were for paying $10 to laugh at ourselves. Bruno was number one in the box office this weekend. Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius, and this is American entertainment at its best.