Sunday, December 15, 2019

Chill?

Time Magazine, and I use the second descriptor loosely since "magazines" are part of antiquity, named Greta Thunberg "Person of the Year." Feel free to applaud here. Not just for her accomplishments, but it is also one of the very few tangible outward effects of winning this prestigious title. No cash award. No trophy, save the printed covers that can be kept in plastic sleeves in perpetuity like portraits of Dorian Gray. Great will have plenty of years to outlive the portrait that graces this week's issue.
The other tribute paid those who achieve this particular level of notoriety? The slings and arrows of pop culture, who want to pull the Person off their pedestal and elevate anyone instead. Not unlike People ?Magazine's" Sexiest Man Alive, the distinction seems to exist primarily as a source of angst and ennui for those who like to argue about such things.
Like our "president."
The orange thing that sits in a chair and golfs had this to say regarding this young woman's elevation: “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!” 
Ridiculous? I could give him half a point for tossing in the "chill" reference to be hip or perhaps regarding her work on climate change. Ridiculous because the speech she gave at the United Nations wasn't met with snickers. Hers was applauded
Maybe it's the Anger Management thing. The spittle collected from the braying this man exudes on any given day would require gallon buckets. The orange paint he seems to favor for his face covers up the flush he maintains for the tiniest of slights. He is one big tangerine aneurysm. 
And he has already been named Time's Person of the Year. Is this some sort of hazing ritual that is traditionally run by former winners? Or is it simply another tirade on the part of the Thing That Would Not Leave? Well, except for the Paris Accord. He left that in a hurry. 
And Greta has been there, glaring at him, letting him know just how ridiculous his 1970s approach to the environment is. Ridiculous. I have dozens of kids at my school who have adopted Greta as a hero. By contrasts, when many of those same kids want to put someone down, they call them "Donald Trump." 
It's that kind of notoriety you just can't buy. You have to earn it.
Congratulations, Greta. 

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