Dear Readers,
I apologize for my prolonged absence. Work has been more intense as of late. In my line of work, the holiday season tends to be a time when kids who are separated from their families are very vulnerable and troubled, and matters more urgent than this blog have demanded my attention. I have not had much energy left over and my writing has suffered for it.
This post is entitled "The Shape of Things to Come." It is a preview of posts I intend to make in the near future. There are four that I think will be of special interest to readers of this blog.
First, I will be writing a post on WHY EVERYTHING YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT THE AMISH IS WRONG. Before I was a social worker, I was an aspiring anthropologist. I would argue that I still do anthropology... at least, I still use ethnographic methodology in my social work practice. I also hate sensationalism. And I hate exploitational media (with the exception, which I will detail in a separate post, of Jerry Springer). The AMISH post will tell the real story of Rumspringa, the oft-mythologized and distorted narrative of Amish adolescence.
I will be penning a LABORPUNK MANIFESTO, which will detail excruciatingly the subgenre I am trying to make. LABORPUNK is to class struggle what cyberpunk is to technology and youth subculture. But not exploitative. It's not exclusively dystopian or utopian, both these concepts too often reinforce the status quo. LABORPUNK is insurgent science fiction.
I will be writing a post about my youthful fixation on the specter of extraterrestrial abduction and conspiracy theories, from a mature and seasoned, more skeptical perspective, as a SCIENCE FICTIONALIZED NARRATIVE RECONSTRUCTION OF SEXUAL TRAUMA. This post will touch on why "Mysterious Skin," Gregg Araki's adaptation of the Scott Heim novel, is one of the most underrated and important movies of our time.
Finally, I will be writing A LOVE LETTER TO JERRY SPRINGER FROM MY CLOSETED QUEER ELEVEN YEAR OLD SELF, a retrospective about a time in my life when I was beginning to question and rebel and I spent a lot of time watching Jerry Springer while waiting for Star Trek reruns. I will explain why The Jerry Springer Show was formative in my youth, and why I think it still holds up today. And why Jerry Springer does not get the credit he deserves for his inventive role in modern television.
These things, and more, from the Speculative Anarchist.