Walk this way
As big-mouthed rock icon Aerosmith Steven Tyler belts out Walk This Way, Talk This Way with his signature falsetto, a million kids bob their heads to its guitar solo, making it evident that the 20th century is ruled by the cult of pop. Every fragment of what we see on TV or hear on our i-Pods contributes to how we see the world, learn to live in it, and how we cope with it. Depending on what show you tune in to, it’s most likely you’ll be seeking love advice from House MD or, god forbid, Gossip Girl more than your own mother.
And I don’t blame you because I myself live by the teachings of Homer, Homer Simpson that is. I can quote Homer more than Hamlet in my memory. The complete lines of To be or not be would have completely been lost on me even at gunpoint. Yet, if I was asked, “What is Homer Simpson’s definition of beer?” to end world hunger, I would confidently answer, “The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems,” and save millions of lives.
And because of our generation’s pop profundity, we spend hours and hours on the Net and the baby boomer generation blames us for wasting time learning nothing. I always knew this wasn’t true as certain as I know that Mr. Snuffleupagus’ first name is Aloysius. Then, I recently stumbled upon a series called Pop Culture and Philosophy in the bookstore. The series places the philosophy of Matrix, U2, and other pop cults side by side the philosophy of Aristotle, Plato,and Thomas Aquinas to bridge past and present. Upon seeing the books in all their shining glory, I cried tears of geekness and believed that my doubts were all washed away. All my knowledge of X-Men and even the Beatles were never useless memory fillers after all, even in an academic sense.
Will I follow Captain Kirk’s prime directive?
Leafing through the series’ U2 and Philosophy: How to Decipher an Atomic Band and Hip Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme to Reason, I discovered that the books are actually philosophy cliff notes disguised under Beat the Geeks trivia. Each book introduces its Gen Y readers to the great philosophers such as Plato who was a founding father of democratic thought and even the nutty ones like Nietzhe who believed that morality doesn’t exist. Portions of the book can get pretty deep, you may get brain freeze and feel like you are actually studying. Yet, it is tempered with amusing ways of discussing philosophy through the pop trivia. For example, Rhyme to Reason discusses the existence of a God and his nature through the experience of Nas, T-Pain, and Dr. Dre such as a slick rationale on why God won’t let them out of jail, according to Thomas Aquinas. On the other hand, How To Decipher an Atomic Band introduces fans to the lyrics of Paul David Hewson, popularly known as Bono, and dissects what he’s truly looking for in the song I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For with Christian existentialism.
If you are a Trekkie, i.e a Star Trek fan, there is a book entitled The Ethics of Star Trek published independent of the Pop Culture and Philosophy series but with the same goal in mind. The authors, through integrating philosophical thought into the Enterprise ship, prove that there is much deep space in a lot of sci-fi silliness. From Abraham Lincoln fighting in space, a lonely Shakespeare hologram, to a halved Captain Kirk, Ethics of Star Treks champions the fact that there is much to be learned from cheesy dialogue and cardboard sets. I am even starting to believe my Trekkies friends, both young and old, when they say “Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek helped them out of rough patches” and that “the issues tackled andthe innovative solutions are timeless.” Yet, I think that this educational crossover between Aristotle and Kirk works harmoniously because philosophy and the stories point out how timeless the concept of humanity is. And when we try to know more about ourselves, we discover how complex and beautiful we are inside. Dr. Leonard “Bones” Mcoy says it best when he tells Captain Kirk, “It’s not really ugly — it’s human.”
Neo Cliff notes
These new philosophy cliff notes are still ubernerdy but open the gates to what education does. Hopefully, as school begins anew, teachers and students can innovate how things can be taught in class. It is possible that 90210 or Fringe will be required homework for literature class or watching Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations for Southeast Asian countries. The youth are still eager to learn. It is a matter of presentation and bridging the past and present to learn something new. While there is much to learn from history, we have to be optimistic that the present and future still have so much more to give.
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Pop Culture and Philosophy available at National Book Store Website: http://www.opencourtbooks.com/categories/pcp.htm. Ethics of Star Trek available at Powerbooks.
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E-mail me your philosophies at readnow@supreme.ph.
