Consider the early days of television: "The Honeymooners", "Leave it to Beaver", "I Love Lucy", "Father Knows Best", "The Andy Griffith Show", "The Brady Bunch"...
AVERAGE people... people that the viewing audience could identify with. People looked up to the characters on tv because they were easy to relate to.
... and then something happened...
Over the last 25 or so years, we have seen a shift in the things we decide to celebrate as being the greatest traits to uphold and seek to obtain. Those with the MOST money and the LEAST intelligence are often the ones who get the most attention, creating Gods out of cretins and narcissists.
Kim Kardashian... Paris Hilton... the cast of "Jersey Shore"... Tila Tequila... the "Duck Dynasty" family... Bam Margera... "The Real Housewives of __________"... Sarah Palin...
Initially, this started with the advent of the show, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." (For you youngsters out there, it's the old-old-old-school version of "Cribs") This show was started during a different time in America... a time when hard work really COULD make you rich... a time when a fair wage was earned across the scale, and a pension was almost guaranteed.
People enjoyed seeing how the wealthiest movie stars lived, because that's who people aspired to be. Over time, though, other shows were created in the same vein; that let average people into the lives of the richest people. "Dallas" was the next big one, and throughout the 80's, more shows popped up to idolize the wealthy... "Silver Spoons," "Richie Rich," "Diff'rent Strokes," "The Jeffersons"...
Then, one day, MTV came up with "The Real World" and "Road Rules," which were initially shows that were intended to open people's minds with regards to race relations and gender equality (a pursuit that EPICALLY succeeded); but had the unforeseen consequence of causing "Music" TV to abandon "Music" in favor of shallow highlights from Spring Break in Cancun.
Compounded by a strike by TV writers, many other channels started to show more "reality" TV shows that did not require writers. It started with shows like "Survivor" and "American Idol", but when Fox hit paydirt with the insultingly titled "The Simple Life", featuring Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, the worship of wealthy morons kicked into high gear. "The Simple Life" was followed by an onslaught of shows about lazy rich people with inherited money and loose morals, across almost every network and cable station.
Last year, Kim Kardashian took a series of pictures that went viral. There was one in particular, that I found to be so shamelessly exploitative that I had to use it to make a statement about the Gods we make of the people with the worst traits to exhibit.
In the original picture, Kim Kardashian was holding a gushing champagne bottle in a very phallic manner, with a stream coming from the champagne bottle shooting over her head, filling a champagne glass that was perched on her prominently displayed ass; with a facial expression that more than vaguely resembles a blow-up sex doll.
In my alterations, I thought it seemed appropriate to compare her artificially-inflated fame to the amplitude that it has become. Shameless wealthy people have been elevated to the level of Gods by a media environment that worships shamelessness and excess.
I decided to replace Kim's head with a portion of Kevin Smith's brilliantly satirical presentation of Jesus Christ for a few reasons. First, this depiction of Jesus has a viral tradition, as well; calling to the similar tradition that allowed both images to spread on the internet.
Secondly, this depiction of Jesus, dubbed "Buddy Christ" or "Buddy Jesus", coming from Kevin Smith's film, "Dogma," which is largely a satirical take on Catholicism. I thought the common link of satire was very important to something like this.
In the film, "Buddy Christ" is introduced to the world by a Cardinal, portrayed by the great George Carlin, whom I idolize, myself. I see "Buddy Christ" as every bit as much an homage to George Carlin as I do to Kevin Smith and to Jesus Christ.
This depiction of Jesus, in the film, was created to appeal to a wider audience than the typical presentation of Jesus on a Crucifix; because the Catholic Church thought that a more positive, friendly, "less-suffering-ish," "more love-thy-neighbor-ish" depiction of Jesus would bring more people in. The church officially sanctioned "Buddy Christ" as a "rebirth" of sorts.
Significant of changing directions, I thought this Christ was appropriate, also, to demonstrate the "skewed" direction our own entertainment has taken over the last few decades; departing from its initial connection to the viewing audience to appeal to the widest masses.
Also, I thought his wink added charm...
To complete the satirical slant, I replaced the champagne bottle with a water bottle, the champagne glass to a wine glass, and turned the champagne into red wine, as it comes down to fill the glass.
As a whole, I like this satirical slant on the current media obsession with the worship of shallow, moronic elitists.
