Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

Baraka_Guru · 03-30-2009, 07:32 PM

Plastic surgery in high school, and they no longer read books. What's this world coming to?

This Gibson thing reminds me of a book by Mark Leyner, where the main character (Leyner, actually) goes to a self-serve medical clinic to perform self-surgery. He even gets a tattoo on his heart, using an ink that contains a radioactive isotope so that he can flirt with nurses whenever he gets chest x-rays.

I think Leyner's book actually speaks volumes to our culture today, even though it was written over 15 years ago now. It's called Et Tu, Babe? There's a wonderful treatment of Schwarzenegger in there as well.

I look at our increasingly casual acceptance of plastic surgery as another sign that we're moving continuously toward pure materialism in a philosophical sense. Those who steep themselves in surface beauty, who go into debt living the "good life," are those who don't see anything beyond old age and death. They care little about posterity. They assume they will leave their mark on the Internet via Facebook and flickr et al, and they think it will say: See how beautiful I was?

I'm exaggerating, of course.

Or am I?

03-30-2009, 07:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru warrior bodhisattva Super Moderator Location: East-central Canada	Plastic surgery in high school, and they no longer read books. What's this world coming to? This Gibson thing reminds me of a book by Mark Leyner, where the main character (Leyner, actually) goes to a self-serve medical clinic to perform self-surgery. He even gets a tattoo on his heart, using an ink that contains a radioactive isotope so that he can flirt with nurses whenever he gets chest x-rays. I think Leyner's book actually speaks volumes to our culture today, even though it was written over 15 years ago now. It's called Et Tu, Babe? There's a wonderful treatment of Schwarzenegger in there as well. I look at our increasingly casual acceptance of plastic surgery as another sign that we're moving continuously toward pure materialism in a philosophical sense. Those who steep themselves in surface beauty, who go into debt living the "good life," are those who don't see anything beyond old age and death. They care little about posterity. They assume they will leave their mark on the Internet via Facebook and flickr et al, and they think it will say: See how beautiful I was? I'm exaggerating, of course. Or am I? __________________ Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 03-30-2009 at 07:40 PM..