dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night”……from Howl, by Allen Ginsberg. Last night I watched a documentary about the “Beats” a subculture literary movement which began at Columbia University around 1944, with the meeting of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and others.
Wikipedia says…”Allen Ginsberg’s Howl (1956), William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch (1959), and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (1957) are among the best known examples of Beat literature. Both Howl and Naked Lunch were the focus of obscenity trials that ultimately helped to liberalize publishing in the United States.The members of the Beat Generation developed a reputation as new bohemian hedonists, who celebrated non-conformity and spontaneous creativity.”
Ginsberg… Pot is a reality kick apparently…whatever…cool man.
Ok, fine. Does anyone care anymore? Probably not. I may as well have been watching episode 5 of Prehistoric Planet. In the new globo homo dystopia, nobody even knows who these cats are, let alone what they did. Whoever the new overlords are, they will be pushing their cultural icons upon us, you can be sure of that. History is a lie, written by the victors. It has always been that way, even and especially, up until this day. The so-called “Beat Generation”, lived in that lie as well. What they did was entertaining I guess, but it’s ultimately worthless if the lie continues on. Today’s news says that Trump will be arrested for the second time this year. If it wasn’t an egregious travesty of our legal system, it would be comical. No doubt, he will walk free again, which begs the question. How long can this farce continue before there is nobody left who will support this obvious political abuse of the justice system?
Kerouac… this shitty world can drive you to drink.
Even if you hate Trump’s living guts, you’d have to be questioning if all or any of this would necessary, unless the polls were showing that he would be the winner in the next presidential election? How many probes, impeachments, and reports do we need to prove Trump has done nothing wrong? It’s absurd. Nothing ever comes of any of this. I’m continually amazed at the stupidity of these people, but not surprised at all. But on and on they go like Wylie Coyote straight off a cliff holding on to an anvil. I don’t like talking about politics, so I’ll stop now, suffice to say that in the grand scheme of things, in the end nothing really matters. “The best laid plans of mice and men, often go astray” etc etc..
William (Tell) Seward Burroughs…look it up.
The “Beats” were a motley crew. Ginsberg was a homosexual, Burroughs was a junkie, and Kerouac was an alcoholic. (not that there’s anything wrong with any of that). They may have all been involved in all or any of those thing individually at some time or another as well. Their story is interesting. At the beginning of the movie, someone says that they “created their own mythology”, or something to that effect. That’s what it’s all about when it comes down to it. They wrote their own narrative in a sense. In a world of stultifying normality, which appears to be getting worse, they lived interesting lives, and didn’t really give a fuck what anyone thought of them.
“Howl” read by Ginsberg. It’s 26 minutes long.