The colonization of my mind

9/9/09 Two bootleg videotapes, trashed

In college, my senior thesis was entitled The Ideology of Colonialism. It was an analysis of three movies and three texts, and how they all portrayed colonization as, primarily, an act of mental subjugation. In other words, if you want to colonize an area, the most important thing to do is convince whoever is already there that you're the boss.

Yeah, it's a real page-turner. I have one of two existing copies if you'd like to read it.

Pondering this weighty, intellectual idea (as I so often do as I sip sherry while lounging in my smoking jacket), I can see links to the Downsizing Challenge. The reason we hang onto 99% of the stuff we've got isn't because we truly need it, use it, or even gain some measurable benefit from it. The reason we hang onto most stuff is that we've attached some high mental value to it. All these possessions have colonized our minds, convincing us that they're indispensable.

One of the main goals of this year is to learn how to throw off the shackles and toss out the oppressors.

Power to the people!

Which brings me to two videotapes that I've been hauling around for fifteen years: Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner. First, let's take a moment to celebrate how totally awesome both of those flicks are.

Here's your Blade Runner moment: CLICK HERE

Here's your Apocalypse Now moment:CLICK HERE

They were two of the three cinematic masterpieces I used in my thesis. (The other was Gandhi. Here's your Gandhi moment: CLICK HERE.) I watched these particular VHS copies dozens of times back in 1993-94. I don't know how I didn't wear them out fast-forwarding, rewinding, and watching scenes over and over, transcribing every word. Wow, if DVDs had been around back then, my life would have been a lot simpler.

Of course, DVDs are around now, and, unbelievably, I've had both of those movies on DVD for many years. Why, then, am I holding onto these old VHS copies?!? (Please note they they were copies, not even factory-produced movies!)

Clearly, I've been brainwashed.

However, like Captain Williard and Rick Deckard before me, I'm not going down without a fight. Those two tapes are now at the bottom of my trash can, and I'm feeling just a little bit freer.

Or, maybe that's a figment of my imagination...