SOC: Two Against One
Name:
Chidmicks mick chuddle fuddle
Mood:
Compromised
Location:
The land of the Joe's
Topic:
Two Against One.
Spent the time
today on the bus and/or train looking at spider-man comic/movie analysis spider-related introspective commentary, because how else would one choose to work through the small beginnings of a rainy Monday shift with a faulty car and a far distance to get through, and it brought up the nature of what I like to call the Siva Afi, its a name for a warrior knife dance that was perhaps involved with Samoan culture. Its a pretty awesome thing to watch, the constant motion of sharp objects paired with intricate dances.
here's a very dark picture of what the Siva Afi looks like
The constant maneuvering and technique that (in my mind) is a perfect representation of how life feels to... deal with? live through? I dunno. For me, its making a dance of the chaos and madness of it all: Work life balance, moving between hobbies, and struggling to have a clean-enough household. These are all very traditional matters to tend to for most people, adding on financial buoyancy, and common sense, and you've got the basics of a knife juggling life that someone- if they concentrate and hone their skills, may become fairly adept at working with. Toss up the handle, catch another, 180 spin, catch toss, catch toss. The most complex movements if rehearsed with enough elbow grease become at the least a comfortable habit, if not second nature.
In 1946, however, the addition of fire knives was added into the mix. This, admittedly does not add difficulty to the dance. The main danger is still grabbing the pointy end of the sticks in the air, but MAN does it SEEM alot more frightening now to miss a handle in the mix of things. Its an added layer onto something comfortable that adds to the tension. Even if fairly cosmetic, its still something.
I know we're walking a long way from spider-man. Don't worry, we'll get back to that. Bear with me.
This cosmetic something- this bit of extra to the rehearsed and ordinary, I construe to the evolved issue regarding the dance life can be. Adding fire to the dance should, in theory, be minimally difficult in it's execution, assuming a strong foundation of the source material (see Toss up the handle, catch another, 180 spin, etc.) shouldn't change how the dance works. Jumping a four foot puddle on the sidewalk shouldn't change much about the action if that same distance over a 300ft drop, But it does.
Well, it does for ME.
And this is where spider-man comes in.
Ah, sorry, spider-related introspective commentary.
He has NONE of his shit together. Not at all. In most if not all iterations, he's broke, car-less, homeless, friendless, lacking motivation, lacking self-care, and in that same breath, still going out and doing things that MAINTAIN this lack.
That last part is important.
Peter Parker is an individual who, much like your modern man, has things to do and people relying on him on PETER. not spider man.
Spider man isn't the one that needs to deliver pizza. Spider-man isn't the one Aunt May asks to bring eggs home. Spider man isn't the one who needs to pay rent and have passing grades in school.
In that SAME breath, Peter isn't the one who can save that child that somehow was dropped off a bridge, or help the cops when a shootout happens on the roads of Manhattan. Peter can't stop Mr.Crime-man from doing the big crime in crime city, and Spider-man can't stop Mr.Crime-man in time for Peter to finish his chemistry homework before his morning class AND get 6 hours of sleep. In so choosing to do whatever a spider can, he forgoes doing what a man has to. therefore MAINTAINING his lack of self-care, friends, rent money, etc.
In this way, the knife dance analogy falls apart rather quickly. I could say that in such a case, Peter is trying to juggle the knife dance of himself AND spider-man, but that would imply a predictable balance of the two at any given moment. The shitty part of the unity of the two is that one end (the human end) REQUIRES a major level of consistency. His life follows a schedule, as all of our lives do to some degree. The predilections of crime, however, askew towards a less orderly habit. A date may be interrupted by a car crash, or a purse snatch, or and unfortunate and somehow still prevalent bank robbery, and Peter can no longer STAY peter, because its his responsibility to be someone else in order to save lives.
That mentality when placed on a regular person doesn't work. That aspiration isn't a good one.
I know that.
I don't know if my actions FOLLOW that knowledge, considering I feel best when poorly balancing things, but I- CHIDI knows its bad.
I don't have two lives. I don't have powers. I do have the illusion that being a wreck is something that makes me affable and cool and a little relatable and THEREFORE (i think) pardon the lack of action I take to organize my SHIT and get a fothermucking grip on my life. The knife wielding routine.