No place like Home (unless its Rihanna's home)

Interesting to see pop singer Rihanna all beat up in the press last week. We see pictures like this alot and we are reminded that violence is a shocking part of "human" reality. What is interesting is that with Rihanna there is a extra flavour that this shouldn't happen to someone in her position with her success. Actually it is part of life and happens to us all. I thought this was especially ironic given that great track she sang on "Living a Lie". This reminds me of "Wizard of Oz" made early on is the days of colour cinema and a wonderful fable and bildensroman warning us of the nature of pursuing "dreams" and the wisdom that the true goal is finding ourselves. She becomes lost and thinks that the Wizard of Oz will get her home. On the way she meets three characters: one stupid, one heartless and one lacking courage: she herself is lost. The journey provides her with the opportunity to develop these qualities but she still thinks the Wizard will get her home. He turns out to be fake but he reveals that all along she had the power to get home - her shoes. We are reminded as the film goes black&white again that "there is no place like home". I wonder how many film audiences really get this message and go home after they have been dazzled by the dreams of the media world? Reminds me also of the speech given at the commencement of TV broadcasts in Bhutan. The people were reminded that the images on the screen are just trasient phenomena and they should be treated with the same disregard as mirages. It didn't work and within a year the population was hooked on imported soap operas and murdering each other to steal money for the impossible Hollywood dreams. It would have been wiser to keep the ban on American culture - but America would then use the TV to make them look bad. Bhutan has to realise the illusions have now become the reality and the human race is l-Oz-t.

Images like Rihanna's remind us of the paper thin nature of the media illusion...but then isn't that image just media also... so what is the reality?... all phenomena not just commericial media are illusions at root.