price of imitation.

Dearest shadow,


It seems to me that more often than not, people treasure imitation over authenticity. There are the people who'd pay less than half the price for rolex and pay more to fix it than to get the real thing. people who's pay a few hundred for a lousy nylon string and fake leather handphone charm at louis vuitton than to spend the same few hundred at a nameless genuine leather thingy.


yes of course i'm bitching about people...people who'd value something that i cooked up completely over something i did but have no proof of. I swear, i dont get the rationale behind this thinking. it goes against logic, morals, or convenience. i really do not see how paper can replace people and actions. How can the written word take precedence over the spoken one in the real world? HOW?!


If you read a famous novel, say Jane Eyre in 1847 when it was first published or if you read it 2 days ago, it will be the same. and it should be...because it is a novel. It lives in the world of the text. But if you take a play...any play and you read it, you have to keep in mind that every single word you read is not a true reflection of the performance. The dialogues will not be spoken exactly. there may be omissions, insertions, adaptations, improvisations etc. Isn't that the beauty of a play? to know that what you read has an entire 3 dimensional world peeking from behind the curtains?


Why and how can we possibly expect a play to possess the same qualities of a novel when we are well aware of their distinctions? The very distinctions that make them beautiful and praiseworthy? Can we expect that words are supposed to be just that? How naive and myopic of people! not to mention, downright childish.


I am and old hag when it comes to matters of values. And above all, i believe that we should aim to practice what we advocate....at least 80% of the time. Its only human to falter...but not so much that we lost sight and compromise things of value to things of price. Its not democratic or moral to expect people to do as you say and not do as you do. What kinda crap is that? you either do as you say or say as you do. If you cant stand crumpled shopping bag handles, carry it yourself or shut up if someone crushes it. dont force someone to do things that they cannot. cookie cutter people do not exist in the universe.


now, explain to me which part of the above does not make sense. because i read that 4 times to spell check and it makes absolute sense despite coming from me, ms-not-exactly-very-logical. I know its too much to ask for consistencies in a broken postmodernist world. But it is not too much to ask for common sense.


would you treasure fake eyelashes over real sparse eyelashes? beautiful bottle of artificially sweetened hersheys syrup over poorly packaged pure cocoa? fake paperwork over real delivery? The irony is that the fake gets recognised as the authentic, even when packaged with a clearly manufactured grimace. It is welcomed with open arms, a smile, pat on the back etc. Its upsetting. I am truly enraged by this. It goes against the laws of nature, god, moral codes or whatever you call it. It goes against the core values i hold dear so much that i feel like i need to punch something to vent.


Lessons learnt:
1) Packaging and marketing are EVERYTHING in a capitalist, consumer driven society
2) people today know the price of everything and the value of nothing
3) metaphorically speaking, this world is just god's zoo. some of us are zookeepers and the rest are animals. Some can hear but not listen. Some can think but not contemplate. Some can see but not perceive. Some can touch but not feel.


I dare say, in my egotistical state of mind that I am a zookeeper and I am happy that animals are dumb...otherwise i won't have my zookeeper job and the fact that I hope for animals to go through evolution or enlightenment is either a reflection of my incorrigible ignorance or eternal optimism.


I'd go with the optimism bit. nice ego boost.