Dyxless or The modern values
By Iva Nedelcheva
“In the beginning was the Word”. This quote from the Bible sounds very appropriate for a motto of all the history of human development up to the past millennium. From the creation of the Slavic alphabet until the Gutenberg epoch and the following appearance of television, all the efforts are directed to literacy, education, arts and spirit improvement.
In the political aspect the world takes the consequences of different polar ambitions, related to education, devotion, unlimited power or equality. Bulgaria sinks into the seemingly still waters of communism which main goal is the classless society.
As known, however, the more determined and educated a man is, the greater his ambitions and pursuits become. Thus the invention that has radically changed natures and values, doctrines and lifestyles, didn’t overdue. The computer showed up, followed by the Internet – the virtual space where freedom is unlimited, information – profuse and behavior – frivolous.
Books, movies and even television stepped back to give the firs place to the NET. People created it and it repaid by modifying and perfecting them.
The new phenomenon changed the world but in Bulgaria it ended a completely different cycle of alteration and renovation, referred to all the other post-socialistic countries. The transition to democracy turned out to be closely bound with the dangerous occurrence called “anarchy”. Therefore it’s not surprising that we can feel the radical change most striking and hurting right here. The situation is brilliantly described without mask and with no make up in the novel of the Russian author Sergey Minaev „Духless”.
People appeared to be free to go wherever they want, to dress however they fancy and as a whole to do everything they couldn’t do before. The Hollywood movie industry helped the unimaginative to fit in the new reality. Sex was no more a taboo subject and revealed its all exhibitions. Censorship withdrew as well to the contemporary explicit instrumentalities and jargons. The day granted position to the night, and the theater art came down the stage and settled back among the people.
Thus we also fitted in the newly created material world with its lustrous shop windows, expensive cars and fashion accessories. Suddenly the proverb “welcome by garments, send by the mind” gained a brand new sense.
Meanwhile in the chaos of transition many people with solid financial resources showed up. Inevitably they attracted the social attention and provoked in the publics many various reactions – from envy through imitation to admiration.
The work gave in gradually to payment, public transport – to the expensive cars, education – to entertainment, living – to luxury, morals – to money.
The everyday talks converted the traditional arts in anachronism and replaced them with terms like “shopping”,”performances” ”, „SPA” and “trends”.
People started to notice only definite places – shops, clubs, hotels, resorts which automatically turned into a symbol of social status and reason for pride without prejudice…
Today it’s not important how many books you’ve read and how long you can talk about that. The only thing that matters is where you’ve been, who you’ve met, what you are dressed with, what car you drive and how big bills you pay. How you earn a living doesn’t matter as long as the upper indicators fit to demands.
The outlook care is first and greatest concern of every self respected modern man but global warming and world piece do not excite seriously anyone.
The result – people are coincidently happy and sad, beautiful and ugly, well-kept and neglected, important and insignificant, merry and grey, determined and discursive, liberate and manacle.
To show disgust from this all however is equal to social exclusion with one way “looser”
ticket, which definitely arouses analogies with the close past but nobody dares to admit them aloud. It’s a fact though, that our children don’t know who Ivan Vazov is but are familiar with Joan Rowling, forget about March, 3. but remember September, 11., don’t know uniforms but dress alike…
It sounds negative and disapprovingly but this is the modern reality. Especially with us the transition expressed in the opposition of two extremes and such conclusion never leads to a happy end. The world moves forward, time doesn’t stop its course but people are those who can do this. As conscious is what educates generations and writes history. The history we learn, remember and tell; the traces we leave behind us. That makes it worth trying.
Photo: © photo-cult.com
Read: 165 times © Fashion Lifestyle Magazine, issue 3, October 2007
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