21st-Century Vox

The Upside of Ignorance

This is not an article about Paula Abdul, but I think she's probably the perfect picture of ignorance. Anyway, I'm sick as a dog as I'm writing this because it's fucking raining in LA and my body is so pussy that the slightest change in the weather and I turn into Grandma Moses and have to lock myself up with my computer and a mountain of Zicam. So if this entry is crazy-sounding, grab a pad and pencil and write a long letter to your congressmen.

I happened to tune in to a terrible show called Trading Spouses, and for some reason in my hazy Nyquil glow a very interesting thought was included in my stream of consciousness: I wondered about who are better off, the people who have money and success but are so unhappy because they're smart enough to know there's so much they're missing out on, OR the simple and uneducated who are happy because they have very little? It’s an interesting dilemma if you think about it because everyone wants to have a good life and be happy, but at what cost are we willing to just be happy?

If you watch films about Third World countries that have so little and the people suffer from sickness and poverty and hunger, it's always amazing to watch children smiling and laughing and people dancing and singing. The film Born Into Brothels is about children born to women who work as prostitutes and are raised in poverty and filth. You watch the children and realize that as devastated as they should be, they have actually found a way to survive and, for the most part, are content and happy. But Madonna’s Truth or Dare shows an extremely wealthy, successful person who has barely allowed herself time to enjoy life. It shows the stress and constant longing for more and the sadness that comes with that sort of lifestyle. Now Madonna is far from being pitied, but bear with me.

One could argue that famous or successful people have chosen to live in such a world, but can that same argument be made for the poverty stricken people in Uganda? If someone who lives in a poor town in China has no choice but to dig for their own water and eat off the ground, why can’t we argue that Paris Hilton has no choice but to go to fashion shows and parties and overindulge in sex and the crazy nightlife that comes with money? OK, so before ya’ll bitch slap me and say, Of course she has a choice, just think that maybe some of the choices we make in life have already been made for us by where we were raised or who we were born to.

When you have intelligence you also take on more responsibility. The more you know about how good something is, the worse you feel when you no longer have it. Success is like a drug – if you have never taken heroin (which I have not, duh!) you don’t know what you're missing, so you don’t need it in your life. People who've never experienced watching television or eating fast food are blithely unaware of those addictions and, therefore, don’t suffer without them. Fame is the same way. Academy Award-winner Faye Dunaway has tons of accolades and was one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood in the '70s, but she never seemed happy with her success because she was always concerned that it would fade. And it did. Now she tries everything to get back to her glory days. I wonder what would have happened if she had never been a successful actress? Is it possible she could have led a happier life as a cashier in a grocery store?

So as I try to become famous, I think about those smiling kids in poverty-stricken Africa. If they can find happiness on their journey through life, perhaps I can too. Maybe sometimes ignorance truly is bliss. Blog Hard!

It’s always a business doing pleasure with you.

– Dylan Vox

Answers to What's My Name, Bitch? 1) Baby Jessica McClure 2) Nedra Volz, 3) Bill Tilden, 4) Eli Whitney 5)Schatar Taylor AKA Hottie, 6) Russia’s Rosa Galieva 7) Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli 8) Sesame Plexor 9) Shelley hack played Tiffany Welles 10) Kristin Shepard played by Mary Crosby 11) Janu Tornell 12) China Chen 13) Wanda Holloway the Cheerleader mom 14) Dramarama 15) Mae Jemison 16) John Hinckley 17) Haing S. Ngor for the Jkilling Fields 18) Touch of Honey 19) Marsha Warfield came on after the other two actresses died 20) Dr. Theodore T. Fujita 21) Eddie Rabbit 22) Ms. Dorothy Slater played by Lois Kelso Hunt 23) Chen Lu 24) Mickey played by John Gilchrist 25) Sacheen Little feather, a bad actress, refused his award 26) Carmen Rasmussen 27) Shûko Akune 28) Rue McClanahan born 1934 Blanche GODDAMNIT! I hate when people say Sophia was the youngest she was born in 1923. 29) Mr. fezziwig was his boss 30) Josh Holloway 31) Ethel Rosenberg 32) Oskar Saville 33) Stu Billett 34) Anita Hill

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