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 Gertrude calling
It seems we could be entering an era of extreme conservationism, even austerity. Isn’t it a pity that as we become increasingly affluent with everything bigger, better and faster, global warming may mean we have to scale everything down – smaller, slower, simpler. Cruel! But will a smaller carbon footprint and frugality ever be sexy?
It seems to me that if anything is going to sell in today’s world it must be sexy or ‘totally hot’ as Ja’mie would say. Will Generations X, Y and Z ever buy the frugality label?
Take the Roman Catholic Church for example. They’ve just staged their extravaganza WYD in our country. Huge numbers of youths, ‘pilgrims’ so called from around the globe, flocked to our shores. The event received massive media attention and was beamed around the globe of course. There was nothing small, simple or local about this event.
I watched two of the televised ‘big ticket’ events – the re-enactment of The Stations of the Cross and the Randwick Racecourse Mass, both spectaculars. I was taken aback at how physical, indeed sexy, the portrayal of The Stations was. There was little spiritual about this rendition. I sensed that those into more ‘robust adventures’ might find it quite arousing. The Roman guards were hunky and brutal. Jesus was very handsome and did justice to his loin cloth. Mother Mary was young and beautiful. The scene between Jesus and Mary was excessively sensual I thought.
As for historical accuracy - Mary was played by a 27-year-old and Jesus was decidedly European in appearance. Surely an actor like Uncle Sam from Salam Café with his olive complexion and long, luxuriant, black beard would have been much more authentic. And to have the cross-bearer played by a downtrodden indigenous man – this from an institution with such an appalling record in its treatment of First Nations people!
Dear readers, as an ageing Boomer I need highlights – in my hair and my life. I don’t want to be condemned to a life of frugality in my dotage! I need big televised global events, now thankfully so lifelike on one’s mega plasma. I pity our poor forbears trudging to the local cinema on cold winter nights to watch B&W newsreels of major world events such as Olympic Games. Tragic! By the time this edition hits the street we’ll have viewed (smog permitting) a spectacle indubitably unrivalled in human and television history - the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. It’s a pity that athletes no longer compete nude as in ancient Greece. Now that would sex it up!
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