I often hear things of that nature from people e.g. “I’m not a computer person”, or “I’m not a driven by money sort of person”, or “I’m not a Nigela Lawson fan”, or “I’m not a Paxman person”, or “I’m not a Russell Brand person” or “I don’t like Tory philosophy whatever that is.” The obvious one for me is “I can’t stand fools”. The point is that people categorise themselves by saying certain things in relation to other people, events, ideologies etc. Hey – let me slow down a few people. I’m not saying that everybody has to like everything or cannot define themselves as individuals, or make free choices about what they like or hate.
No!! You’re free to love and hate what, or who, you want (well subject to the requirements of your Gods – if you have to obey them.) I’m not interested in any of that.
So what am I on about today? Well, people seem to define themselves into ‘types’ based on the personalities of others. So if they don’t like Nigela Lawson, or David Cameron, or Russell Brand – they’ll go like, “I’m not a [XXX.. xxx] sort of person.” You know, it’s very much like people who go ‘I’m not an Apple person’. BTW – I dislike Apple because of parts of their ideology. I still think they have revolutionised computing and have made some good stuff. But they’ve also done rubbish. I don’t wish to deviate too far onto that, but I’d use an iPhone if it offered me the same freedoms as one made by non-apple android-based phones (and you notice that I’ve not named another brand, cuz I’m not interested in ‘brand’).
In the last year, I’ve warmed to Russell Brand. But calm down, this doesn’t mean that I’m in his fan club, or that I think he’s a nice guy, or that he’s a good guy or anything like that. The trigger to me warming to Brand was when he was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman. But in the last few days someone sent me a link to one of his latest Youtube clips (see below). Now, I really don’t care if Brand has been shagging Jemima Khan. I’m not interested in what they’ve been up to. I don’t care whether Brand smokes pot (allegedly). So what do I care about? What matters to me is the snippets of truth that come through in Brand’s brand of sarcasm and polemic.
Having listened to much of what Russell Brand has to say on his Youtube Channel, I’m pretty certain that he has a very deep insight into human nature and the sociological mind of this nation (the UK). Many people are turned off by his appearance, his use of foul language, and the degree of his sarcasm… and hey, that’s their choice (I feel a need to say). I don’t care about Brand as a person. I do care about the snippets of reality that he extracts.
I’m amused about the humans’ behaviour. They turn off, if they don’t like something or someone – regardless of if there is some smidgen of truth in what is said. For the idiots (did I say you’re an idiot?) looking at the video above, I’m not interested in the issue of Scottish independence! What I am interested in is the quality of sarcasm and polemic that Brand uses to slice into the issues. It’s brutal. At the 2.41 mark many people will be offended by Brand’s choice of language –and for them that becomes an obstacle to seeing what truth may lurk in what he’s talking about.
Well, in my opinion Brand is has got a finger on the pulse of things psycho-sociological. He cuts into the psyche of people in a way that can be expected to be painful. People will avoid him for his reputation, his manner, his bad qualities as they see it. And .. that’s fine. It’s still a free country (at time of writing). But those who truly wish to see deeper into the nature of our existence need to forget about typologies.
So? What? You don’t think I should end here? I’ll end where I please. Go off and not think about any of this! After all, you know who you are and what you are about. Innit?
