Fun is suspicious. It is, at best, frivolous. There is no „right to fun“ protected by the constitution (although a few r[DIE VERWENDUNG DES URSPRUENGLICHEN NAMENS DES UNTERNEHMENS WURDE UNS UNTERSAGT]s did propose a right to pursue happiness). If anything, we must be protected from it. Due to fun’s flashy appeal (it’s FUN!), it must be taken off of the streets, away from vulnerable children, and isolated to sanctioned fun zones for those wastrels who cannot resist its hollow allure.
Society will thrive in the absence of fun. The dogged avoidance of fun is what gets us to work, gets us to war. Gets Things Done. (Why is that jackass giggling?) And it is not enough for you to personally not have fun. Oh, no: the world must be paved. You must enforce the No Fun agenda at every turn. There must be a domino chain of dullness, from victim to victim. Quieting the music. Killing the buzz.
This chain-gang of fussbudgets stretches across the nation. Fun is shouted down with self-righteousness sermons. Shut down with ham-handed disapproval. Dismissed as childish. Gauche. Like a pendulum, the Puritanism of our forefathers returns and returns and returns. In the way we talk, in the way we travel. At every opportunity. Each new crusade has this one guaranteed victim.
‘You are to be in all things regulated and governed,’ said the gentleman, ‘by fact. We hope to have, before long, a board of fact, composed of commissioners of fact, who will force the people to be a people of fact, and of nothing but fact. You must discard the word Fancy altogether.’
–Charles Dickens, Hard Times
Bonus Link:
On the other hand, can we get some humorless fascism thrown at these guys?
01
Well, that story with the rave is kind of old. Anyway, the last couple of years are really not that much fun anymore. Too much shit happening. And comedians are getting worse and worse…
But look at the box office result from BORAT, obviously people do want to laugh! They don’t get so many chance to do that anymore, look at the world news… It’s sad.
So, let’s skip! ;)
Alle Kommentare von Jakob
02
what do mean fun is on the way out?
fievel mousekewitz is president and elmer fudd is second in command. );-)
Alle Kommentare von westernworld
03
Looks like spreeblickers still want to have fun, anyway! All this winking! ;-)
That SWAT team at the rave footage is still amazing to me, emblemic even. I can think of a couple of times I wish I’d had a camera at times like that (well minus the full camo).
That Borat movie psychologically traumatized half of my office. Awesome.
Alle Kommentare von Carlito
04
btw, re:hard times, another pertinent quote ,and a favorite one of mine, is stanley kubrick’s take on the subject.
“it’s the nagging fear of american puritanism that someone could be having fun somewhere, somehow.”
Alle Kommentare von westernworld
05
Haha, that is a great quote, Kubrick really was a genius…
Carlito, you should come here to China one day, the only fun people have here is going to Karaoke bars and to sing (horribly?). I think people in Europe are more used to fun than any other part of the world. Seems like everybody outside wants to be depressed (or the leaders want them to be?)…
It’s an interesting topic, but insanely difficult to understand why it’s going this way. Optimistic people are getting less and less…
Alle Kommentare von Jakob
06
Coming soon: $100 iPod fine in NYC!
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/No_iPods_on_New_York_Streets/551-79000-615.html
No fun…
Alle Kommentare von Carlito
07
Deutsch war vor 50 Jahren?
Alle Kommentare von winfried aus chemnitz