Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Death of: Dignity

This man is the most obvious choice for the personification of dignity.

Welcome to "The Death of" Series here at Arbiter Elegantiarum!  In this series, we - and by we, I mean I - intend to prove that the concept in question simply cannot exist in a time during which the accompanying stories could occur.

Today I have learned that the President of the United States has agreed to appear in a potential film sequel to the HBO series Entourage.  I feel a more apt selection would have been Il Cavaliere, (of the "bunga bunga" fame) but alas, these decisions are not mine to make.  There is, nonetheless, something disappointing about witnessing the pursuit of celebrity over that of respectability by a sitting president.  I would open the umbrella of  "pursuit of celebrity" to include appearing in a bizarre annual segment named after you in which you explain your NCAA picks; selling campaign tchotchkes created by twenty-three different fashion designers; and, keeping a wish list of "surrogates" for the upcoming election that reads more like an Oscar party guest list.  It would be unfair of me not to consider, however, the role that the American palate's turn towards such cloying tastes has played in these decisions.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

A Movement Contraceived: Masculism

Apollo Attended by the Nymphs of Thetis - François Girardon

The news media - and everyone else, for that matter - are aflutter with news of conservative treachery.  The dialogue is presented thus:  The Patriarchy, in conjunction with The Catholic Church, are trying to send American women back to the stone age by denying their fundamental right to "the pill."  A progressive female is brought into the news studio to articulate her position on the issue, as the male host dutifully nods in agreement.  The "conservative" perspective is dug up with footage of the fat man engaging in name-calling or the man in the vest proclaiming his unfaltering belief in theocracy; both men are presented as co-Emperors of conservative thought.  America is then asked to believe in this as an objective presentation of the argument, and worse, is asked to believe that this issue is somehow more in need of attention than others facing the country.