Beyond Beyoncรฉ
You hear of her? No? Well, it kind of like this: She makes the Blessed Virgin Mary look like an on-site, for-hire flower girl at a cheesy Las Vegas wedding chapel way out of town. She all-that, at the top of the all-that media mountain.
She got a man. THE MAN. Heavy dude. JAY-Z, he calls himself. THE Man behind THE Woman. I know that's opposite how it usually goes; but, hey, times have changed.
Here they are in a recent photo.
We're wondering just what those two media-savvy, mega-superstar money-bags are up to? Judging by their bank balances, we can certainly say it's about the moola hoola. Right? Certainly that. No question.
What else could they be thinking? Besides the currency of actual currency, there's also the currency of status and popularity. And, in that category ... they are THE BEST. Geez, we read recently how THAT GRL is now one of the four women in all history to wear the Tiffany Diamond; Lady Gaga being one of them ... so, you know, Beyoncรฉ be all that.
Surely, you say, they are not all just pecuniary, self-centered show-boaters?
Arguably, the powerful POWER COUPLE might claim to be adding some beauty into the world. Some? SOME! But, beauty of what? At the very least, fashion and bling. A popularized notion of it.
They are the apotheosis of the highest aspiration of our cherished aspirational culture. Do it all. Get it all. Have it all. And, foreva' and ever. "Be like me. If you can't, worship me."
So, what's the next iteration. Can Beyoncรฉ get beyond herself? Probably. Count on it. Divinity is not far off. First people on Mars? Both go for transition procedure, then a double date with Ben and Jennifer; and swap? F#cking on the White House lawn, with the Pope and Bernie Sanders looking on in folding chairs as Boston Pops plays the Hallelujah chorus? Please, Lord, stop me; this is so much fun.
My point is this: In a culture all caught up in getting and having, what we get are role models who exemplify that ethos and who perpetuate that illusion. Enjoy the illusion. Sure. Just don't take it for reals. Also, maybe give some thought to the kind of culture we might want to have that doesn't take us all to hell partying in a pretty handbasket. What kind? No, not handbasket. What kind of world? Well, how about a culture that values a focus on the Perrenial Questions? Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What is it all about?
As for the current culture, in answer to those timeless questions is ... WTF?
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