They're Not Old Enough!

Earlier this year, when I was beginning to take Civics & Economics at school, our teacher showed us an episode of a television program titled The West Wing. The show itself was well-written; even if I didn't know it was penned by Aaron Sorkin, I'd recognize his ultra-fast dialogue anywhere, but it was good dialogue.

The problem was that it was the sixth episode or so, and I had no idea what the hell was going on. Later I mentioned this to my maternal grandmother on the phone and she said something about the "themes" being something I'd "come to appreciate more as I gained age and, therefore, maturity." OK, Grandma, I love you, but this is a common mistake. Trust me, plenty of teenagers don't realize the finer side of art, nor do plenty of younger children and a frightening number of adults. But some adults (not all) consistently belittle us. For example, I was unscathed by R-rated movies by age thirteen. I learned most swearwords early on. And I can fully well understand most forms of art without having to wait.

They seem to think us younger than we are. I first saw a PG-13 movie, as I recall, at age eight. It was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which I remember being pretty cool. Sure, I had forgotten most of it by the time I decided to watch it again at age eleven. But eleven-year-olds are not toddlers. They can understand things perfectly well. One thing I think turns many kids off of the love of reading would be English assignments that suck the life out of the written word, i.e. "What do you think the author meant?" I think the author meant what they said, or if not, then it either wasn't clear enough writing or it will strike us later without it being shoved in our faces. Stephen King compared these things to the golden goose. Once killed and butchered, it won't produce any more golden eggs. Or appeal to youth. We can figure stuff out if properly motivated and if given a fair chance.

Anyhow, I'm much more mature than most people my age. Sillier, sure, but that is actually part of my maturity. I know that it's good to laugh and have fun instead of being dull and doing the bare minimum in life. In addition, I'm beyond stupid things like perversion and bigotry. In some senses I am much more intelligent than most of these herd-sheep. Moreover, I understand people to a further extent than many, despite my mother's frantic claims of my social inadequacy. Generally, I can read faces and know the safest thing to say. And being eloquent doesn't hurt. I can back up most of my arguments and find the weaknesses in those of others. That's why I need to join Debate in the fall, if I can. In the meantime, Ethics sounds interesting, but I need to find out how to get into that.

So basically, youth does not equal stupidity or immaturity, or, of course, lack of ability to appreciate the finer things in life.

Bad Words

They teach us not to drink or smoke. Not to play with matches. Not to have underage sex.

And not to swear?

OK, so I have a rather dual opinion on cursing. One is that profanity is completely unnecessary, because the English language (or any tongue I know of) has enough words to go around it, and if you use it in context it's not swearing. The other opinion is that it is mostly harmless (no Hitchhiker's Guide reference intended). Adults, many of them, cuss. And while it may offend some people, that's really due to a state of mind than actual cause of the word. F-bombs don't destroy cities. They can provoke people into doing bad things, but the words themselves don't directly do those things.

I rarely say anything you wouldn't hear on television, such as damn or hell or ass (or bloody!), but I'm not offended by them. Now when it comes to ethnic/racial and homophobic slurs, such as "enner" and "eff-got" (bundle of sticks? Cigarette? Gay person? Think about it.), I really don't like them when not used in context (such as a civil-rights novel or film), but if a child with big ears repeats something, a parent has no right to spank the child (I'm against physical discipline anyway, but that's a different discussion) - I'm talking about the parent whose words taught the child. Alcohol stunts growth and smoking is never good, no matter the age...but words are words. Not to say they don't sometimes hurt, but "clean" words can be equally offensive.

I'm trying to say that people ought not to worry so much about swearing. Also, why are movies rated R for language!? I've been hearing horrible obscenities for a long time, and I only turned seventeen (the age to see R-films without a guardian) a few days ago. I've been hearing those words for much longer. I probably won't learn anything new. (Also I find it ironic that they say "mature content" when it's immature content you shouldn't mimic. "Mature audiences" makes sense.)

Grow up, dammit!

- Lewis

Of Pirates and Ninjas

Today, my school had us dress as either pirates or ninjas. Unfortunately, I was able to do neither: I had a tricorner hat (Jack Sparrow's, to be exact), but left it at my mother's house. I saw several of each, however, and felt envy for much. I could tell the ninjas I saw were really only costumes. Figure it out.
They are both interesting subjects, yet neither have I written of. Why? I really do not know. Perhaps I have not submerged myself properly. I dearly love the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and await the prequel. I don't know much about ninjas. I ought to read up on both and then create tales; I think they would do well.
I told a friend that I might try to make up by being a pirate some other time, to which he replied: "You'd get beaten up." I questioned this, and he said: "This is high school." True, this is high school. But that's the thing! We should be over our childish squabbles by now. People seem to be very ignorant that different does not equal bad--not necessarily. Sure, I acted up in elementary and middle: the former because I was a kid and the latter because I did not agree to school rules (they were baloney). But now, I'm making a mark--one that shall last into my adulthood. These years matter. All years do, but these are crucial to success from what I hear. Yet, I see kids acting like toddlers left and right. Am I just more mature than most people my age? I do like to have fun, but psychologically I like to analyze things from various angles. That is why I do not think we should have God for a Judge; He would be inclined to His own perceptions of good and evil, and those are just points of view.
The whole religion thing fascinates (and infuriates) me, but I'll save it for another post.