Posted by Atticus on September 22, 2004, at 19:59:06
In reply to Re: poem ... Hello Kitty is God » Atticus, posted by malthus on September 22, 2004, at 18:15:52
Hi Malthus,
This poem really boils down to a relatively simple theme: consumerism taught to children as the dominant religion of the 21st century. The worship of the acquisition of junk. Pop icons that take on a kind of spiritual significance to those enamored of them. I've got a feeling that whoever wrote the graffiti was playing a facetious riff on the "Clapton is God" graffiti that sprouted about London in the 1960s. On one level the "Hello Kitty is God" statement and the poem that the Hello Kitty graffiti inspired is a parody of the materialistic aspects so rampant in many (but not all, I think) organized religions. Certainly I was drawing on my own Irish Catholic past in the description of Hello Kitty's fever-dream manifestation on flat-screen plasma televisions, evoking the famous vision of the children who claimed to see the Virgin Mary in the early 20th century. I think the answer lies simply in fostering critical thinking skills among the young and impressionable. I take those ideas and moral concepts that I think are of value from a given religion and ignore the rest. If others find group worship more comforting, more power to them -- it's just not my cup of tea. But this isn't a blanket critique of all religion per se. It's more of a parody of what I feel so much of it has morphed into: form without content. ;) Atticus, who prefers Zippy the Pinhead to Hello Kitty himself
poster:Atticus
thread:393645
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/write/20040828/msgs/393880.html