Caleb Booker

WARNING: Offensive language, strong political opinions, etc etc blah blah blah…

Why am I posting a bunch of potentially offensive videos from a guy making political statements I don’t completely agree with and I’m not interested in discussing?

Sean Bedlam is what new media is all about.

He does two extremely taboo things in his videos: he swears (taboo because science has shown that some sounds emitted by human vocal chords, called “swears”, hurt people somehow), and he states a strong political opinion (taboo because, obviously, you shouldn’t… uh… opine…).

Let’s face it: we’ve allowed censorship to run amok in the mainstream media. When I can turn on the TV any day of the week and watch hours of back-to-back beatings and murder on CSI but we’re still talking about Janet Jackson’s 2004 Superbowl nipple, we have a problem. I’m not saying I’m a plug-my-fingers-in-my-ears-and-chant-”censorship is wrong” kind of guy, but when we ban sex (something we all like in our lives) from TV, but are cool with broadcasting violence (which we really DON’T want in our lives) perhaps we all could use a big kung-fu kick to our sensibilities. People haven’t felt like they can say what’s on their minds for ages.

(Oh, and yes I censor comments on my blog whenever they tick me off. Yeah, ironic, I’m a hypocrite, get over it.)

Looking back through the past bunch of decades we’ve dealt with this problem in a variety of interesting ways. In the 60’s people actively rejected social norms and called it “being a hippie”. By the 80’s people saw that wasn’t necessarily a long-term plan for them and instead tried to buy into the dream that television was selling them. Somehow this resulted in massive commercialization and shows with detectives that drove sportscars but still couldn’t afford a decent razor. This was followed by the 90’s, Generation X, and a bunch of people with an uneasy feeling that while everything probably made sense, they weren’t in on the joke.

Now we have the new media. Blogs, podcasts, message boards, virtual worlds, and yes, free video for all. Sean’s videos are a great example of what happens when the media is finally divorced of “institution”. People say what’s on their minds, at long last, and we’ve discovered that things don’t make sense and never did.

So, now what? Are we any less neurotic? Are we any more free? Has any of this changed a damn thing?

My gut tells me that while it’s all fascinating, the change in Who We Are (in big-concept caps) hasn’t happened quite yet. Let’s give it another decade. Even with all of the analytical tools and instant delivery of ideas across the globe that we have at our disposal, only hindsight remains 20/20.

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Oh, and about what Sean’s actually said in these clips… hell, it would take about four dozen blog posts to cover it. I gotta go do some stuff though… so… you write ‘em.

Posted on December 15th, 2007 under art, censorship, conflict, new media, passion, press, writing. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.