Cosplay — the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game.
When I looked at the pictures and watched some of the video footage of last Wednesday’s Trump-incited riot at the U.S. Capitol, I felt very old.
Not so much by what happened, although the attack on the Capitol was shocking. Not even so much by the president of the United States instigating the crowd orby his lawyer, who used to be Rudy Giuliani, calling for trial by combat.
No, one thing that bothered me very much about the situation was the way many of the rioters were dressed.
They looked like morons.
Maybe that’s not fair. They weren’t necessarily “low IQ types,” a term Trump uses to put people down.
Maybe it would be more accurate to use a British word.
They looked like wankers.
Serious wankers.
As one comedian put it, when these wankers are arrested, convicted and sent to jail, a lot of moms will be able to clean and redecorate their basements.
Sadly, I think part of the blame for all this has to go to Andy Warhol.
Andy Warhol?
It isn’t just him, but Warhol’s famous statement back in the day certainly resonates with us now.
I’m reminded of a guy who was invited to be a guest on one of those Jerry Springer shows. Of course being on the show meant that he was totally humiliated in front of a national audience. Devastated, he returned home and told one of his friends what happened. He expected his friend to ask why he was surprised. His friend shocked him with his response:
“How do you get on a show like that?”
After all, if you’re on TV, you’re famous. You matter.
Speaking as someone who has been on television on five separate occasions, I would have to disagree. I think everything changed when the line between famous and infamous disappeared. I can’t say exactly when it happened, but it was sometime in the late ’70s and then the ’80s.
First came celebrity magazines like “People” and “Us.” Then came 24-hour cable TV with thousands of hours of programming to fill. Then came reality TV and finally the Internet.
People became famous for no real accomplishments at all. Remember when you first heard about Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian? Snd why?
And Kardashian is reportedly now a billionaire.
I’d be willing to bet that Viking Horny Boy will never be one. One thing he’s going to learn is that the Internet is forever. Any time he applies for a job, or a bank loan or any of the dozen or so other things, He’ll be recognized.
“Hey, you’re Boog Powell …”
Sorry for the mid ’80s beer commercial punchline, but you see the point. Maybe there will be a few people who’ll congratulate him, but most of them will be unemployed or working for minimum wage.
These people need to learn that there’s one day when it’s acceptable to dress up like this.
Halloween.