On the philosphy of Bill And Ted.
Apr. 28th, 2006 11:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingThe internet bores me today, and so, as often happens when I'm bored, my mind has wandered.
I picked up the Bill And Ted's Ultimate Super Mega DVD Collection a couple of weeks ago, and what always strikes me about those movies is how utterly *implausible* it is to base an entire society around the music of Bill And Ted.
And, even worse, it always strikes me how that's really sad.
Think about it. Their motto is twofold: "Be excellent to each other" and "Party on, dudes". Deconstruct that. The prime commandment - the fundamental driving urge of this future society - is to be excellent to each other. Excellent. Not nice, not good, not okay, not "as they treat you" or even "as you would have them treat you", EXCELLENT. No exceptions, no special cases, no loopholes of any kind. You are to be, in all ways, "excellent" to everyone.
Let's look at "excellent"
Excellent (adj): Of the highest or finest quality; exceptionally good of its kind.
This is an entire society founded on the principle that everyone should at all times, treat each other in ways that are of the highest or finest quality. A society with tolerance, understanding, equality, and the largest supply of awesome waterslides of any intelligent species they have come into contact with. A society where the best job prospect for a supervillain - where he can do the MOST damage in his quest to annihilate this society - is a High School Gym Teacher.
And it's completely, fundamentally, utterly implausible as a society, so much so that it can only appear in a comedy, because modern humans really aren't willing to accept a society whose guiding principle is "Be excellent to each other."
And that's sad.
Party on, dudes.
(Next time: the Care Bears as brilliant Zoroastrian allegory)
I picked up the Bill And Ted's Ultimate Super Mega DVD Collection a couple of weeks ago, and what always strikes me about those movies is how utterly *implausible* it is to base an entire society around the music of Bill And Ted.
And, even worse, it always strikes me how that's really sad.
Think about it. Their motto is twofold: "Be excellent to each other" and "Party on, dudes". Deconstruct that. The prime commandment - the fundamental driving urge of this future society - is to be excellent to each other. Excellent. Not nice, not good, not okay, not "as they treat you" or even "as you would have them treat you", EXCELLENT. No exceptions, no special cases, no loopholes of any kind. You are to be, in all ways, "excellent" to everyone.
Let's look at "excellent"
Excellent (adj): Of the highest or finest quality; exceptionally good of its kind.
This is an entire society founded on the principle that everyone should at all times, treat each other in ways that are of the highest or finest quality. A society with tolerance, understanding, equality, and the largest supply of awesome waterslides of any intelligent species they have come into contact with. A society where the best job prospect for a supervillain - where he can do the MOST damage in his quest to annihilate this society - is a High School Gym Teacher.
And it's completely, fundamentally, utterly implausible as a society, so much so that it can only appear in a comedy, because modern humans really aren't willing to accept a society whose guiding principle is "Be excellent to each other."
And that's sad.
Party on, dudes.
(Next time: the Care Bears as brilliant Zoroastrian allegory)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-28 07:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-28 08:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-29 06:05 am (UTC)