The Real Glue of the Tattoo

 

I admit it. I don't read nearly enough books. I have no excuse. Shit, I'm unemployed, and going along these days under the various guises of self-employed Internet entrepreneur, political activist, volunteer, musician, retired executive or Special OPS man (Occupation Pooper Scooper for our four fur-balls) as calling cards for the few folks who actually inquire what I do these days. Every response filled with a small kernel of truth designed to distort the ugly reality of the day. Gosh, you would think with all these skills of disinformation I've acquired the last several years I would now hold public office, and would be dining with the small and powerful group of men who can really tell whoppers in the Boardrooms and in the halls of Congress.

The point is I have the time to read books, but hardly ever actually start and finish one at this juncture.

I used to read books regularly years ago. I have shelves and shelves of worthless (in today's world of commerce) bound paper I have amassed and ingested through the years, but over time, and with technology changes, I began to soften my brain more and more with music and film. Two hours, and a pack of lies to myself, convinced me that every movie based on a book with a great soundtrack behind it afforded me all the intellectual muscle needed to discourse with all the other great minds of my time. I found many compadres in this category of intellectual titan-hood to discuss philosophically the rituals of the day broken into small sound-byte segments for easy digestion.

I did begin to find topics outside of pop culture difficult to address with my intellectual cohorts as the film world became a total extension of cartoons and comic book heroes. Ultimately, I realized I had no superpowers, which might be the reason I have no job today. I also had to admit even the President I voted for had no superpowers either. He just claimed he might have some superpowers. The only big budget films made today all have characters with superpowers. If art is a mirror of society, today's mirror must be one of those circus carnival types of glass you find in the fun-houses where fat becomes thin and short becomes tall to great peals of laughter.

Given the grim economic reality of the world today, I can no longer take most of the films put up on the big screen seriously, or otherwise. There are a few feature length films I find worthwhile, and some of them actually make a little money, but I have found the lengthy time in between these pictures too great these days to wait upon. 

A case in point is the recent announcement from Hollywood that the American movie studio system has announced plans to make The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Mr. current James Bond, Daniel Craig, is set to star in this obvious big budget picture. This a masterful book, and the first in a trilogy from a man, Stieg Larsson, who died shortly after turning over the three manuscripts to his publisher. The books (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) generated tremendous worldwide buzz due to the intricate plot matters involved in each novel, the brilliant character development of the various protagonists (all without superpowers) and to the social outrage eloquently discussed in the main subjects covered within the nearly 1,800 pages of print that comprise this epic achievement.

Hollywood generally dumbs down to imbecilic most great works of fiction, which is why comic books make for such a great alternative for a town short on new and engaging concepts. The Swedes have already completed filming this Millenium Trilogy, and all three books made into films will be available at some point this year. I might watch the series, I might not. My bet, however, is that the Swedish films will be superior in every critically thinking way to whatever Hollywood concocts for a public they now thoroughly believe is brain dead. The American film, or films if the box office on the first picture reaches critical mass, will look great. The gloss from the cinematography will shine more lovingly than the custom paint job on a Ferrari. Sadly, there will be a Chrysler product underneath all those of shimmering pixels of celluloid as the finished American film.

The original Swedish title for the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was Man som hatar kvinnor, or Men Who Hate Women.  Won't see that title on the big screen or at airport book racks anytime soon, but that is the major point of the series. Yes, the byzantine plots take the reader through financial corruption, computer hacking, ethical and moral decay, government crime and abuse of power along the many twists and turns of compelling literature, but first and foremost are the detailed systematic abuses and crimes committed against women.

A person can dream that a work of art might instill a new perspective for people to view the world, and that positive changes might happen quickly as a result. That is a pipe dream. One can realistically hope that a small chip against an ingrained and inflexible institutionalized practice might get noticed, and some other members of our society fed up with the bully tactics of the institution might start to chip away at the injustice as well, until one day there is little of the malignancy left. And so I hope that men and boys will read these important books of fiction for the greater truth found in the tales.

Maybe you would be surprised to learn, based on several surveys conducted in both the UK and US book markets, only 20% of men in both countries read fiction at all these days. That is a very sad modern day comment. When I think of it, I learned a great deal more about Southern California reading Raymond Chandler, Walter Mosley and  Ross MacDonald than I ever learned watching the evening news and reading the Los Angeles Times.

Thanks for the visit, and enjoy a good read.