I'm against editing and the very thought of editing leaves me cold. This goes for anything. For writing, photography, art, etc. Anything that cuts the stimulation off, forces a rethink, corrects a previous idea, or changes something for "aesthetic" reasons is a vile evil.
We simply must go back to a first thought, best thought mentality. Immediacy is truth and anything that comes after that is a lie. Speaking simply in terms of art one can look almost anywhere for falsehood. The skin of a model is photoshopped to perfection, undesirable items are left out or cloned out, etc. but, then again, what is the purpose of the work? Is it to be truthful? Hardly. It is to sell. Beauty, then, becomes the reason for the lie--if not the sole conman manipulating all human marks everywhere into believing it's story.
No one needs much of a lead to tell them that the ad execs and plastic surgeons of the world get off on selling this lie to the masses of men and women with shot self esteems and lousy body images to realize this. And the con goes something like this:
From the minute you're born til the moment you die you're being sold something. Now, it doesn't really matter what you're being sold just so long as you know that you are, in fact, being sold something. The vehicle for selling anything is called marketing (advertising will do in a pinch but ultimately I'm going to be using the terms interchangeably so it doesn't much matter). Marketing is all about running a con to benefit its interests.
Men! Do you worry about being limp dick? Does your penis leave the women laughing and wondering why you're flopping on them rather than sticking it in? The solution is quite simple! Take this pill! It makes you longer and thicker and women around the world will know that you will fill them up! And did I mention that they'll want it every single day? Huzzah for everyone!
Women! Do you worry about not having big enough breasts? Did you catch your boyfriend looking at the latest copy of Juggs and think, "I wonder if he's not satisfied with my breasts?" Are you insecure and need to find meaning in what others think of you? Well, if so, get yourself some breast implants! Women will be jealous and men will want to do things to you. It'll be great! And no more worrying about dying cold and alone! You're life will be complete!
But wait, there's more!
This concept of insecurity and desire for resolution then moves on. Bigger and better and all of that, you know. Artists grapple against style and the past only to fall prey to the latest and greatest and what's in vogue at this moment in time. Censorship and editing occur for the sake of a market--the art market. Genre's are defensive, incestuous entities that desire nothing more than propagating themselves and ignoring any real development. Want to be famous? Make your work look like everyone else but persist in your explanation that you are an individual. Get your tats, your crazy hair, and you too can be a star. Or not! Stay straight laced, fool around on the sexual side of things, and be ambiguous. The choice is yours!
But now that I realize where I'm at what's the point of the original message? What is truth and what is a lie? and where are we right now?
We're somewhere in the middle.
