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Tuesday, March 2, 2010
courtesy of omni........
rant: why idol worship will ruin poetry
im like, wildly put-off by the celebritizing of poets in my community. while i encourage people and poets to reach out to poets who inspire them and thank them and communicate with them how their work has touched their lives…
i get a really uncomfortable sense of a burdgeoning idol worship developing. as youth slam becomes more wide-spread and those poets come into college and encounter poets who they themsevles watched on youtube or wherever growing up, i see more and more young poets fawning over these “slam celebrities”. While i appreciate the contributions of the “big names”, im fairly repulsed by the attitude that shaking their hands or sharing a car with them is meaningfull or important.
i hope, and encourage my own poets i coach to not look UP to these poets beyond their poems. To not idolize. Dont act like your life is complete because you shared a cab with anis or rachel or buddy or anyone. And if any of those sorts of people treat you like your less than, well…fuck them. fuck them in their asses. roughly.
the community is the most important thing we have, and when our young poets get into this groupie mentality, treating their peers and fellow poets like superstars to whome they can only bow in the glow of their radiant light, we create a shitty, imbalanced community. all those “famous” poets who won alot of stuff. they’re your equals. dont incite this madness. treat them like you would treat your own teammates or classmates. but latching on to a notable slam poet for handshakes and praise is like…gross to me.
im glad youve been inspired, tell them that. but not like youre talking to someone who is half-deity. that shit is stupid. be your own poet. impress yourself. do not judge your life by how many times you can share a car ride with derrick brown.
they are important to our success. but no more than you.
im like, wildly put-off by the celebritizing of poets in my community. while i encourage people and poets to reach out to poets who inspire them and thank them and communicate with them how their work has touched their lives…
i get a really uncomfortable sense of a burdgeoning idol worship developing. as youth slam becomes more wide-spread and those poets come into college and encounter poets who they themsevles watched on youtube or wherever growing up, i see more and more young poets fawning over these “slam celebrities”. While i appreciate the contributions of the “big names”, im fairly repulsed by the attitude that shaking their hands or sharing a car with them is meaningfull or important.
i hope, and encourage my own poets i coach to not look UP to these poets beyond their poems. To not idolize. Dont act like your life is complete because you shared a cab with anis or rachel or buddy or anyone. And if any of those sorts of people treat you like your less than, well…fuck them. fuck them in their asses. roughly.
the community is the most important thing we have, and when our young poets get into this groupie mentality, treating their peers and fellow poets like superstars to whome they can only bow in the glow of their radiant light, we create a shitty, imbalanced community. all those “famous” poets who won alot of stuff. they’re your equals. dont incite this madness. treat them like you would treat your own teammates or classmates. but latching on to a notable slam poet for handshakes and praise is like…gross to me.
im glad youve been inspired, tell them that. but not like youre talking to someone who is half-deity. that shit is stupid. be your own poet. impress yourself. do not judge your life by how many times you can share a car ride with derrick brown.
they are important to our success. but no more than you.
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