Picking a fractal for today's post was a real challenge. I'd already used Weird Web for more than one post and didn't think using it again so the obvious choice was out. In the end I went with Ripples because, like so many things, one thought led to another and another--none of which were particularly related. So--on with the post!-
I am a fan of the eccentric: if it's odd, I'm pretty likely to be into it. I was a huge fan of oddball shows like Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone (and I was one of the few people who actually WATCHED Arrested Development). I discovered Enya before Orinoco Flow broke the Top 40. I like quirky music and literature. Still, my taste for "originality" only goes so far: Phillip Glass is vastly overrated, Waiting For Godot is just frankly TEDIOUS and My Own Private Idaho seemed odd for the sake of oddity. Maybe I'm not that avaunt gard after all... Still, whether or not I'm avaunt gard is a subject for another post--and a lot of psychological counseling but it does bring up the interesting question (to me at least)--when does something stop being interesting/original and cross over into the realm of just plain weird and when does weird become creepy?.
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You might be wondering what cause this question to come bubbling up in my mind: I know I certainly was. It happened like this...
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Last Friday (May 29) I had finished my work early and was home on a cold gray afternoon so I decided to indulge myself in a little "musical cheese". I like musical cheese of all kinds and YouTube provides some good stuff if you are willing to hunt. I wasn't feeling too adventurous or energetic so I decided to check out the video for I Touch Myself by the Divynals. (I like it Right at the top of my search I found this: (follow the link at your own risk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?.v=uZ5VNXIiv1c .
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The group is Scala, lead by the Kolacny brothers and, yes, it's a bunch of middle-school girls singing about masturbating when they think about their boyfriends. Maybe I'm secretly a prude (or at the very least a lot less open-minded than I thought) but to me this seems every shade of inappropriate. The group is from Belgium so you can possibly forgive them for not knowing what they were singing about. (I've sung enough songs in foreign languages that didn't have a translation.) Still, you'd think SOMEONE would have clued the directors in before this hit the stage for the first time. At least they left out the "ooh, ahh, ooh ahh" chorus--so I guess that's something. Watching this video made me start thinking about the question--when does "original" become "weird" and when does it become just plain creepy?
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I've decided this is a sliding scale that's different for everyone--and what where a thing lies may change (over time or with your fancy.) Here's the scale...
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ORIGINAL: this gives you a fresh perspective on the concept, a new way of looking at something that is somehow revelatory and makes you think. It can be good or bad but usually 'original' is a good thing.
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ECCENTRIC: odd but harmless. Eccentricity causes raised eyebrows and smiles behind hands but doesn't prevent you from being shunned socially. The more money one has the more "eccentric" one can be--and still be tolerated by others.
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WEIRD: you know you've hit this stage because people tell you (as in "Dude--you're weird!") Weird becomes harder to tolerate and society has less patience with you.
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BIZARRE: so outrageous you are shunned by the general populace.
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CREEPY: falls somewhere between 'weird' and 'bizarre". This is something that is disturbing (and not in a good way) that tends to make an outsider want to be elsewhere.
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After thinking about it, I think this version of the song is both weird AND creepy.
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'nuff said.
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