American Idiots

Gramsci makes the interesting claim that if you at least reach a high level of education in your mother tongue, you can gain access to different cultures via translations.

But what happens to someone who doesn't even read translations? Or, someone who gets exposed to them and actually goes about categorizing them according to the most crude possible categories, categories which reinforce one's own provinciality and cultural imperialist attitudes?

I have in mind the idiots responsible for warning us about the movie adaptation of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway".

I've just received the DVD in the mail with the following warning:

"EMOTIONAL ELEMENTS AND BRIEF NUDITY"

Emotional elements?????

What kind of sick mind is this???????

From Arlie Hochschild to Kate Fox to Dacher Keltner, there are signs and hints that all is not well, emotionally speaking, among the culture of English speakers......

I have no idea what this warning actually means. I should be afraid that I might experience an unpleasant emotion? Do they put the same warning on horror films?

I suppose they'd put a warning label on the book itself if they could....

This is a sick culture. GMOOH asap

"brief nudity'

?? I think I should get my money back. I was expecting that the entire movie was done in the nude...

after-thought:

"emotional elements"?

This film depicts the mental damage resulting from warfare..... Hmmmmm, maybe that's something we don't want people to know about? Oh, no, it's just children we are protecting?

Yes, and how many children whose parents were in war, actual war, were not protected from the real thing?--never mind the fictional depiction of reality....