mattered as much as it does now; it’s become a kind of mania and it’s destroying our society. Well good, you may say, our society needs destroying; but I’m not so sure. I remember when I was being ‘cancelled’ by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in 2018 I had an intrepid journalist ask me,with some frustration “Can you at least admit that you have some privilege, Sky?” I told them that yes I do have privilege — as I was born into the middle class — but I don’t necessarily think that is reason enough to silence me. Today, when I turn on the television, and I see all the propaganda about Ukrainian orphans, you will have to accept (well you don’t have to, really) that I am hard-hearted enough not only to call this out as the propaganda that it is, but to challenge the zeitgeist which has made Ukrainian orphans the focus of our news media. What has happened that the only thing that is going on in the world is suddenly the Ukraine, and it’s all pity porn, Anderson Cooper speaking with sad, fat grandmothers whose houses have just imploded? Far be it from me to deny that we should have sympathy for fat Ukrainian grandmothers, but frankly on the privilege scale they are not, after all, BIPOC or trans -- and they certainly look well fed. Am I being sarcastic — well yes, and far be it for me to state my opinion outright here, I would ask you to search for it in the miasma of innuendo that I offer, not so regularly (hope that will now change) in this very personal and private public display of my disaffection. The point is that there are (if we may be intersectional) people other than Ukrainian grandmothers — whose unfortunate lives deserve our attention and who (if you are fond of the ‘privilege’ scale) much more deserving of our attention. The war in the Ukraine is a war over oil, pure and simple. We are much more concerned here in Canada about gas prices than we care to admit, and so, ultimately is our virtue signalling Prime Minister (certainly the nicest, goodest, most virtuous prime minister we have ever had; remember - he did apologize so many times for the blackface!) and all Russia is really concerned about is the fact that after the wall fell, they lost their world monopoly on oil and gas. Alight, yes, they are also quite concerned that NATO has been pressing onto their borders, deliberately provoking Putin (like poking dog with a stick), and it’s no wonder that he feels he has to firmly set the border of Russia yet again. Yes, there are orphans looking for homes and yes Ukrainian grandmothers are crying, but — look. I just refuse to play this game anymore. Alright I admit it. You the reader, are a much kinder, gentler, sweeter, nicer, and ultimately far far gooder person than I will ever be, let’s just get that out of the way. There, are you satisfied now? I’m essentially evil and you are essential good. Okay let’s start there. Now may I continue prattling on about how incredibly hypocritical the essentially ‘good’ society we now live in is? Take The Batman — a prime example of the bullshit now being dumped on us by the arts and the entertainment industry alike. So Bruce Wayne (sorry if I haven’t followed the superhero bios closely enough) comes from some sort of a rich and corrupt family but in this movie we are supposed to see him as a hero. Why? Well he’s an outsider, you see? And he supports social justice causes. We know he is an outsider because when he walks by, people consistently call him ‘freak,’ This means that all the kids who identify as trans -- or just different-- may wear purple loincloths and knee-length wool batiked sweaters to school, and be safe in the knowledge that they are just expressing their inner selves and their gender (it’s not about sexuality it’s about gender, why do I have to keep telling you that over and over again, jeeze!). It means that anyone who chooses to dress differently than the norm has a right to display themselves in such a manner, and they should not lack privilege because they do so. Bravo, Batman, for you moral courage in donning that sexy outfit. Wayne’s privilege as social justice warrior is also proved by his support for the black candidate for mayor of Gotham. This is a woman who we never meet -- and hardly hear speaking -- but is nevertheless black, and a candidate for mayor, and Bruce Wayne bravely and virtuously and I must repeat right-mindedly supports her candidacy for mayor. Oh yes, and he is madly in love with Zoe Kravitz, and is obviously deeply disturbed (not because he is sleeping with Kravitz - any man in his right heterosexual mind would want to sleep with her) but because he walks about with a furrowed brow. So Bruce Wayne -- white, rich and corrupt -- gets off the hook because he has social justice sympathies, has a furrowed brow, and is turned on sexually by a woman played by an actress who is admittedly non-white -- but also Hollywood royalty (in the manner of Meghan Markle)? Art and entertainment are no longer about any content -- other than how good the creators are, and how effectively they manage to portray that goodness in their films or plays, and how often they express quite explicitly that their films and plays and novels and poems support the right social justice causes. Whatever happened to madness, inspiration, irrationality, sin, desire, the inscrutable, the invisible, passion, depravity, impulse, drunkenness, animality and whim? It’s been eaten by virtue. But I have tried (valiantly, I think!) to offer you a taste of it here.
