Sometimes events occur on the larger stage which give us cause to pause and reflect on what we are doing and how our deeds are perceived by others.
The first example I can think of is from the band, Machine Head. Even if you don’t like heavy metal, I’m sure you can appreciate the sad irony of this, just watch with the sound turned off. As Machine Head were preparing to launch their fourth album, they chose a song as the lead single and recorded a video for it:
This video was released in the first few days of September 2001.
Needless to say, it got canned and had a direct effect on Machine Head leaving their record label and spending an unfortunate amount of time in the wilderness. The band, director and record label could have had no idea about September 11th but it still had a very negative consequence for all of them.
This is what I mean by flinching.
Sometimes the world is a horrid place and we just can’t bear to look, like the first sight of a bad wound or other unpleasant shock. Just because something is vile, though, doesn’t mean we should turn away. In fact, it is the worst elements of life that must bear the closest scrutiny, if we are to overcome them. Humanity is a contradictory species: for every Plato, there is a Pol Pot, for every Trent Reznor, there is a Simon Cowell, Leni Riefenstahl made a beautiful film about a venomous subject, we find great leaders like Richard the Lionheart and Saladin and then pitch them against each other. To improve ourselves, we cannot blind ourselves to our failings.
So I will not censor Teratogenesis in light of recent events in Cumbria.
The dark heart of Teratogenesis is coming to pass and I will not flinch. The story is about personal madness and to shy away from that now is shameful cowardice.
