In a comment on an earlier blog post, from the Bava, Stephen Downes linked to an online archive of hardboiled old time radio. The title of the first episode was Who Shot Waldo? I couldn’t resist.
The background comes from The World Is A Ghetto, an old album by War.
About raptnrent: I got the name from my keys - R Apt and R Ent for the back door to my apartment and the back door to the house. I liked that they were also words: Rapt, meaning enthralled, riveted, captivated, and Rent, meaning torn asunder, violently wrenched. I thought it made for an interesting juxtaposition, open to all kinds of interpretations.
I also saw this random picture (link below) that seems to relate because it’s weird how in our society we can take such a horrible thing such as killing people and turn it into humor.
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/266/5/e/my_baby_shot_me_down__by_ignorancevslove-d2zbtm4.jpg
That picture is awesome – I want to make it my new profile picture.
The horror/humor connection is interesting. Is it a coping mechanism? Maybe – I sometimes laugh in tense situations. When Kubrick made a movie about nuclear war (Dr. Strangelove), he realized it had to be a comedy. That may have had as much to do with the absurdity of the idea as the horror.
One of the things that’s come up in this class is our society’s fascination with violence. Violence as entertainment. Violence as humor – like Itchy and Scratchy, or slapstick. What’s up with that?
Maureen,
That picture is awesome, as is the Who Shot Waldo? by Chandler. The visuals seal the deal for me 🙂