Gossip Girl, the truth unveiled

I sat down to kill some time the other day and started browsing through my video library. The only video I hadn't already seen was the first season of Gossip Girl. Checking to make sure I was alone, I turned on the first episode. I had no idea what Gossip Girl was, other than a TV show about and for chicks. I was fully expecting vapid plot lines peopled by shallow stereotypes that would drive away in about 15 minutes. I wasn't disappointed. In fact I watched the whole episode. I am almost ashamed to admit that I found Gossip Girl gripping, albeit, probably not for reasons you imagine.

Gossip Girl follows the lives of posh upper crust adolescence living in Manhattan. At least, this is what we are meant to believe. Actually, Gossip Girl takes place in a dark, twisted perpetual weekend; a pseudo-reality peopled entirely by stereotyped automatons where human interaction is governed entirely by the laws of social inertia, making no allowances for unpredictable behavior.

But this is what I expected. What caught my attention was the fact that the characters in Gossip Girl seem to be aware of their own limits. Bizarrely, the characters in this world recognize their own inability to be unpredictable. Even with their posh, glamorous distractions, they are unable to escape subtle feeling, that maybe their entire lives have been planned out.

If the characters themselves are on the cusp of realizing the predetermined quality of their life, then for the audience is it grossly high-lighted. Introducing the Gossip Girl, a semi-omniscient third person observer who draws our attention to these stereotypes by offering vapid and often snide commentary. We never meet this “Gossip Girl”, but we are led to believe that she is right there with us safely observing the tangled mess of the character's existence from the sidelines. This Gossip Girl offers a humorous tint to an otherwise dark dreamworld. The interaction and plot twist are predictable as it is, but the superfluous foreshadowing made by the Gossip Girl pushes the whole scenario to over the top ridiculous. It reminds me of the person who shouts at the characters in a movies, “No! Don't go in there!” or, “You dummy, can't you see she's using you?” If that person were shallow, judgmental and entirely wrapped up in the lives of people she doesn't know.

I would find the Gossip Girl a lot more humorous if only she weren't so scary. Who is this person? She claims to be a girl. Then again, she reminds her most captive audience that she will never tell who she is. We assume that she is an adolescent girl attending the same social functions and frequenting the same scenes as the other rich socialites. But if that is the case then why is she never observed by the people she is observing? Why don't they interact with her? What are her methods? How does she remain invisible? Perhaps she's not a girl at all. Maybe the “Gossip Girl” in an undercover agent collecting incriminating data to be used as blackmail and extortion. This would make sense seeing as these social scenes are supposedly exclusive and the Gossip Girl would need some trick up her sleeve to gain admittance. (“Give me an invitation or I'll put these pictures on my website.”)

Or even scarier. What if the “Gossip Girl” isn't a girl at all, but multiple members posting photos anonymously to a website designed to make social information freely available...

All these details are glaringly obvious within the first fifteen minutes of watching and I probably would have lost interest if not for the existence of Dan. Gossip Girl may follow the lives of the rich and glamorous, but it is actually the story of Dan. Dan is a normal guy and his struggle to find a place in a world where he is the only one capable of being unpredictable. The dilemma set before Dan is embodied by the beautiful popular girl whom he has been infatuated with since he can remember liking girls. He desperately wants to be a part of this girl's life, but in order to do so he must give up something of his freedom and become something less that human.

Gossip Girl is a fascinating bit of drama set in a bizarre, semi-realistic wonderland and populated by characters flattened to the point of artistry. I even found a nugget of wisdom. People cause their own problems. Whether living among the posh elite or regular Joe Shmoes, people need problems. Not one of the problems facing the characters of Gossip Girl actually matters, yet the world seems to rise and set on the question of who saw who do what with whom. It is a reminder to examine my own preoccupations and wonder, “Does this truly make a difference? Am I standing in the way of my own happiness?

The main failing of Gossip Girl is that it was never suppose to be a TV show (or a book for that matter). Gossip Girl was meant to be an incredibly dark Comidia del Arte complete with audience participation. The characters are stereotyped so the actors can change roles at the switch of the hat. The shallow popular girl suddenly becomes the misunderstood outsider. The lonely artist suddenly becomes the rich playboy. Audience member shout advice because characters are incapable of making decisions themselves.

Hats and scarves

Hats are not cool in Thailand. This is somewhat frustrating because I am a self-described “hat-person”. While they are tolerated outdoors, they are especially uncool indoors. This leaves me to wondering about the difference between wearing a hat and wearing a scarf. Many Muslim women wear scarves on their head. Indoors, outdoors in makes no difference. Neither, do these pieces of hear-gear draw much (if any) attention or scorn.

To me this differentiation seems arbitrary and inconsistent. On the material level there is no significant difference between a hat and a scarf. The difference, of course, is in the reason for the wearing. Muslim women wear a scarf out of religious observance. I wear a hat out of a desire to do so.

Some might take the view that religious observances have greater meaning and validity than personal fashion statements, but I challenge this assertion.

Religious observance and choice of clothing are both forms of self-expression. They both say something about the person. By wearing a scarf, a woman asserts that she belongs to a certain culture. She is making a statement about who she is to herself and to the world. Is it any different for people choosing to wear a hat? Fashion is a statement about who we are. When I wear a hat I am telling myself and the world that, 'I am a hat-person'.

Somebody might raise the objection, “Hey, wait a minute. She has religious obligations. She can't go outside without wearing a scarf.”

I would ask this person to examine his bold assertion more closely. “Can't”? Are you sure you don't mean, “Won't?”

Can and cannot are assertions of modality. They form propositions about what is and is not POSSIBLE.

Are you really making the claim that it is not possible for Muslim women to leave the house without wearing a scarf? Remember, to be impossible a proposition must violate one of the laws of logic. For example, it would be impossible for this piece of fruit to be both an apple and an orange. It would be impossible for me to be in Thailand and be in California.

I will assume that you mean Muslim women wont leave the house without wearing a scarf. To these women I say, 'Bravo'. By all means, let the Muslim women conduct themselves in whatever manner they find most suiting. But, I would have you admit that a choice exists whether or not to wear a scarf. A difficult choice. Perhaps even one that many are unable to make. But the choice exists none the less.

This has been something of a rant. But if you want a conclusion here goes.

Both hats and scarves, no matter the reason for wearing them, are forms of self-expression.

Wearing a scarf is not criticized by social convention.

Wearing a hat is criticized by social convention.

Social convention is inconsistent, arbitrary and illogical.

Socializing online and personal identity

One of the teacher ladies who I share an office with has a daughter at university.  Her daughter has to write an essay for English class, but doesn't like writing.  So, she asked me if I would write something for her daughter.  After the initial shock of a teacher asking me to write something for her daughter to plagiarizer I though , why not, its an interesting topic and should be fun.

So here it is.

Who are you?

What is the first thing that came to your mind?  Your name?  Your occupation?  Your nationality?  These are the typical and indeed anticipated responses.  But these things hardly make you unique as a person.  So who are we really?  For centuries thinkers have pondered the question of what makes us unique as humans, and have sprouted a muli-hued garden of theories, explanations and propositions.  Thus far, the question of identity has been confined to discussion of philosophy, psychology and sociology.  Only recently has the attempt to answer the question of, "Who are we?" branched out to the field of computer science and technology.

With the advent of the internet, human beings are more connected and consequently mroe interested that ever in answering the question, "Who are you?"  However, the joy and pitfall of the internet is its quality of anonymity.  We can say and do whatever we want.  We can be whoever we want.  After all, who's going to know?  Massive Multi-player Online video games like World of Warcraft give players the ability to assume the identity of wizards and trolls and such.  Social networking sites such as Facebook allow users to choose for themselves what name, age, job and nationality to present the public.  Discussion forums like reddit and 4chan allow users to participate in discussions while revealing nothing of their personal background or history.  With the rise in anonymous human interaction we have lost much of the structure traditionally used to define our identities

With greater connectivity, so too do we lose personal accountability.  Traditionally, our answer to, "Who are you?"  must pass though our peer.  Our identity must be verified and agreed upon by the people who wish to use it.  The vast majority of internet users lack the tools to do this.  So who are you?  Are you white male American teacher?  Are you a collection of Facebook status updates.  Are you an anonymous contributor to a larger social structure?  I think the truth must be, "all at once."  The internet has not changed who we are.  It has only given us the platform to explore the depth and complexity of our identity.  "Who are you?"  The answer is not any collection of transient character traits, but something much more ephemeral. 

Good luck with your plagiarism unknown ESL student.

On schools

Krabi Anuban School

So I'm a teacher now. They gave me a desk in the teachers room and introduced me to the other teachers, most of whom are middle aged women who take delight in feeding me and asking me personal questions.

If you're curious, thought I'd take you through a typical day at the school. I arrive around 7:30. My first class isn't until 8:45, but if I arrive early I can watch the opening ceremony. It is unlike anything that I have seen in the states. At 8:00, the PA plays the national anthem and students are corralled into formation according to grade. Students then stand at attention while the director offers some words of encouragement (at least I assume that's what he's talking about, he could be telling the students and staff about a crazy dream he had last night for all I know) After the director's words, the marching band plays a song and the students march in place. The flag is then raised and the students sing the national anthem (again) while the marching band plays. The ceremony is concluded and the students march off the parade ground to the tune of “Its a small world”, “Doe a deer” and the theme song from Barney and Friends

The morning's ritual of indoctrination is but one manifestation of the Thai Education System's wholehearted endorsement of discipline, structure and hierarchy. The hierarchy of the school is not left to anybody's imagination or dispute. There is a poster hanging outside the office denoting who is in charge and who is beneath who.

Mr. Big has expressed his concern that people do not take initiative. They shrug, “Its not my job.” He also told me that the hierarchy in place stifles the innovative ideas of the bottom members. If somebody has a good idea, it must be approved by the upper echelons in order to be realized. At this point, credit for the idea is attributed to the high ups. In other words, the hierarchy is a system where innovative ideas are not necessarily rewarded and plurality of opinion is not encouraged.

As bizarre and disturbing as these the early military training is, I found the mandatory religious exercises to be more so. Students spend the two days before school begins at the local Buddhist temple, listening to the monk, chanting, singing, watching videos, making donations. All well and good except that 30% of the student body practice Islam, not Buddhism. I asked Mr. Big if maybe the Muslim students went to the mosque instead. No. All the students go to the temple. Why? This seemed to be a harder idea to communicate. From what I understood of Mr. Big's answer, the students go to the temple now, because they might not go to temple later. It did not see odd to Mr. Big that Muslim students should have to attend a Buddhist function or that a public school sponsor a religious ceremony. I found this a little inconsistent because the school makes other accommodation for Muslim students such as not serving pork in the school cafeteria.

This is what I have gathered about religion in Thai culture so far. Thailand is a Buddhist country. Not only in the sense that most of the people who live here are Buddhists, but that the state itself practices Buddhism. Federal decisions are guided by the tenets of Buddhism. Everything from foreign policy to school organization. The students attend a Buddhist ceremony because they attend a public school not in spite of it. Thailand is a theocracy. But I haven't found this to be a bad thing. If anything, Thailand demonstrates that a state, founded on religious principles, can be a peaceful and tolerant despite some idiosyncratic laws like it being illegal to send the image of the Buddha or the King in the mail.

But this is an entry about the Thai Education System and Krabi Anuban. The countries that are going to be successful in the coming decades are those that train their students in critical thinking and creative problem solving. This has been said before with in greater detail and eloquence by the likes of Noam Chomsky and Ken Robinson, but I don't think that the importance of these principles can be understated. An education system that mandates obedience to authority without critical perspective and problem solving amounts to rote memorization fails the future of its country.

It is not my intention to pass judgment (though I am only human). Instead of asking, “What is the matter with this system and how can I change it?” I hope that I can maintain the perspective of objectivity and ask, “Why is this the way it is and what can I learn from it.” Certainly, there are some benefits of a system that encourages order and conformity. For one thing, people who can be made to obey make excellent workers. There are also benefits of living within the hierarchy. There is comfort of knowing one's place in a community and there is value in feeling needed. The system demands a high amount of integrity and responsibility of those member in the upper echelons of society and a title alone make one worthy of the position.

Ok. I'm done with this post. I could probably tell you more about Krabi Anuban, Thailand and schools in general, but I've set this piece aside for too long and am now not sure what my original intent was, maybe making a cross cultural comparison? Anyway, have some pictures. I can't decide if they are cute or disturbing.

Hi remember those pictures I just told you about.  Well the blogowebs doesn't upload them like it should.  sorry ---- management------

Welcome to the Jungle

Dear Friends,
Today I met the jungle.  Only a short walk from my host's dormicile.  I stepped off the country road to investigate a stray trail.  And oh!  There it was!  Tangled in clumsy flip-flops I began to regret my lack of forethought regarding my choice of foot wear.

But the Thai people wear flip-flops everywhere.  Don't they?  A memory from the foreigner orientation surfaced.
"Flip-flops, the Thai people think of as shower shoes"
Perhaps this would have been an advisable time to conform with the local fashion.

Pulling my way through vines and leafy branches I sought careful footing on the elusive jungle path.  When I reached up to scratch an itch my fingers were assaulted by the globs of massive red ants that were burrowing through my hair.  Panicked, I shook and slashed at the irritating insects, but the bugs bit my fingers and resumed their march up my arms.

It was at this point that I realized an important truth about The Jungle;

1.  Everything in The Jungle is alive, and it will bite you.

The jungle is full of things that can and will hurt you if you are not 100% careful 100% of the time.  This brings me to the second revelation:

2.  Be on Jungle Alert.  Always.

This means being careful and precise with every movement.  There is no room to think about anything else when you're in The Jungle.

In retrospect, The Jungle could have done a lot worse.  Ants are little more than a playful nip compared to the venomous snakes or poisonous plants not to mention the larger animals like tigers or water-monitors.

After our intimate yet unsolicited encounter I began a tentative re-acquaintance with the vast green beauty.  I learned a few more things, but I lack the words (and the creative energy) to describe them.  So I'll just let the picture do the talking.

The Jungle always wins

Some of the stuff I've been doing

This is a new kind of blog post. 

 We stayed in an amazing resort hotel in Trat.  It is about as close to perfect as you can get this side of paradise.  Except for the mosquitos

 And I went to a wedding.  That is boss Somjet on my left and Kareem on my right.  The bride and groom are standing in the back.  Sara, is sitting on the far left.

And we're back in Trat.  Interesting architecture

The whole resort is in the middle of a mangrove.  At high tide the ocean rises and covers everything on the ground.

I asked if I could go swimming in the ocean.  They laughed at me.  But there was a very nice pool.

 I really liked the mangrove.  Mangroves are some of my favorite trees.  They have a special adaptation that allows them to filter salt water.

Mangrove trees supercharge some of their leaves with nutrients.  These leaves die and fall in to the water where they attract fish.  Fish eat the nutritious leaves and fertilize the mangrove roots. 

Sunset in the mangrove

Here is something unique.  I often hear people say, 'Oh, he worships money."  or some such metaphorical way to describe people who spend a lot of time thinking about their economic welfare.  To these people I can now say, "No, the people in Thailand who pay homage to a giant 1500+ year old golden coin worship money.  The person you're thinking of is just greedy."

 Ok, not sure why the computer rearranged the order of these pictures, but ok.  These are the most important people in their respective schools.  I get a kick of encouraging these bigwig directors to jump up and down and do other silly things.

The guy on the far left is a total goofball.

 This picture and the ones that follow are of Watnakornluang Temple.  We were the only human beings there.  The whole temple is built according to very precise geometrical structures.  Most of what follows is are pictures of cool patters in the building.

Christine and I feeling like Indiana Jones

Question:  How does a culture come to the conclusion that: a) feet are dirty and we should avoid showing our feet to anybody and b) the Buddha's footprints are among the holiest sights in Thailand?  It just seems like the Buddha might have left behind any number of things, but the Buddhists chose to revere something that came from feet.

Then we went to feed monkeys

These monkey's used to be an endangered species.  Now they live at a temple.

After feeding the monkeys we went to Thai Hell.  Yes there is Hell in Thailand, it reminds me a bit like Disneyland.

Here we have the tree from Hyperion.

 There are some scenes from the local mythology

 You can light a candle for the monkey god.  Oddly enough the name of the temple is Wat Gai, "Chicken Temple"

And then I went back and fed more monkey?

 Some more mythology

And now we must be in Hell.

Creepy

The whole idea, is that you take your children here at night and you tell them, "If you steal cookies from your brother, giant black demons are going to saw you in half."

What could that mysterious shadow be...

OH My GOD

I found it a little ironic that the monk giving us the tour denounced the evils drug use while smoking a cigarette.

If you have a phobia for needles best not look to closely at this picture.

Just your good old body soup.