in america, we have soap operas. they are stupid for the vast majority, and sterotypically they're things that housewives watch every day at home to pass the time- it helps them pretend that they have lives. blah blah blah.

in china, they too have soap operas. one interesting thing is that all TV shows that are not games shows are referred to as such. but this is not the point. a large portion of these shows are set in what time period? you guessed it, the good old days of dynastic (which is a word) china. we know this time period mostly through movies with people flying around and kicking ass and taking names and mouths continuing to move despite the fact that their dialogue has ended. i'm talking about kung fu movies. actors like Jackie Chan, Jet Li (whose character in HERO is called Nameless), and more classically Bruce Lee. masterpieces like DRUNKEN MASTER 1 and 2, NEW LEGEND OF SHAOLIN, ENTER THE DRAGON, and for the newcomers, CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, HERO, and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS.

there are countless stories about real people, like General Guan Yu, and fables of their actions: he escaped from prison and ran across a desert back to his king because he was so loyal, despite countless efforts on the part of his captors to retain his services (General Guan is one of the greatest military minds and personel that ever lived). these stories are told over and over again, and new stories are created in this time when anything was possible. a time of honor and love and violence...

in america, a time period like this doesn't quite exist. i think i know why. america is too young- it doesn't have the history to draw upon. to speak momentarily on the old american literary problem, how do we create literature that is not new-european lit? they thought it couldn't be done, here when my favorite US of A was still an infant. le infant terrible (that's a reference to TRANSMETROPOLITAN, in case you're wondering). but it was done. emerson and frost and whittier all proved this (yay snow poets!).

the american revolution was a time of heroes, but not ones worthy of legend. the only names that even attempt to echo in this day and age are Paul Revere on his horse and George Washington with his wooden teeth. what next, but the civil war. we all know Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. and i know Grant was a drunk- the story goes that his urine could strip paint.

i have recently read one story set during the reconstrucion- it's called LOVELESS and it's killer. but it doesn't measure up in mythos.

here's the big one: the wild west. cowboys and indians, the frontiersmen, westward expansion, and that fun stuff. this is where it gets interesting. people like Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and John Wayne, the Duke himself. yes, John Wayne was not really part of the west, but he's mythic none the less. don't like it, go fuck off.
the west was, for a time, the subject of so much media! we had comics and movies and books and televison! the tales of these folk were known far and wide. Calamity Jane, with her tongue that could tan leather, and Wild Bill who might have been able to out-shoot the Duke himself. and it is only now that the west matters again. if you look at mass media (in which i'm counting comics- again, don't like it then fuck off), you'll find that the west is back. sort of. HBO is showing DEADWOOD, a great show about a settlement that would later become part of California. it's got Wild Bill and more. it's angry and drunk and it's got more profanity that an angry crew of truckers on st. patrick's day.

we are trying to bring legends back to america, and it all starts here. in the wild west, before space was even a thought, there was adventure and fear and hope and legends! there are no enigmas in contemporary america. you hear no tales of justice or evil reaching far and wide, save those that wear turbans. because that's what's hip right now.

THE END...

PS- if you're shallow enough to treat that last bit as a dismissal of the current situation, then you really need to stop reading right now, and never come back. but at least comment and tell me so.

PPS- there will probably be more on this. i cannot promise, because i've largely said what i wanted to say. but if there will be more, than it'll be named as such.

[originally posted 8/21/06]