Why I Love Wallace Stevens, But Hate bball1989.

I'm sure you've seen the videos floating around Facebook (posted by high school and youth group friends, no doubt). They're spoken word pieces, all written and performed by the same guy. Here's probably his most popular: 

Also this one is quite popular/posted a lot:

And he has others that pop up every few weeks. Slam Poetry and the collision of new media is not something new. I have discovered great poets through YouTube, such as Sarah Kay and George Watsky. But there's a difference between the people I consider true poets, and this guy. 

The reason his videos are becoming so popular with my generation is because they deal with tough issues. Issues that we're not used to hearing about on our Facebook feed or over coffee or even at our LifeChurch sermons. They are things that young people need to consider and deal with. They are moments that once or twice in our life we are forced to think about. Problems that happen to us. Questions we have about religion and God and sex and love and marriage.They are things that we need to know about, know our stance on the issue to become successful, well rounded adults that are attempting to understand this complicated world we live in. 

My issue is not with the issue. It's with the way it's presented. 

These are not edgy poems. They, might be in fact the safest poems I've ever heard in my life. 

Let's back up a bit, shall we? 

My undergrad degree was in English, Creative Writing, with a focus in Poetry and a minor in Literature, not to mention being a reader for my whole life. I know a little bit about the art and the grace of spoken word. I had an amazing poetry professor for 2 semesters that encouraged us to explore the world of poetry (and it's a big one), take risks in our writing, and love things that we had never loved before for fear of looking stupid, or different. He taught us to write a poem, and then edit it like it was a refrigeration filled with magnetic poetry words, moving them around to create the perfect piece of art. We learned that writing a poem could last as long as 5 years, and to never present something to the world that wasn't finished. Make sure we were producing art, not just words. 

I feel like this guy wrote these poems in 5 minutes.

There's no work, there's no sweat, there's no glory or heart. There's no pride or integrity of work. There's just cleverly rhymed words and phrases. There's an attractive, young man, talking to you, showing you modern colors and camera shots, telling you that this is your opinion. That this is the the new era, the new age, the new generation. He's not letting you think for yourself. He's not letting you interpret how you feel about the subject. He's giving you a flashy opinion that you can share with your friends over bible study. Then you drink your coffee and eat your cupcake, and go home with the same thoughts as 17 million other people.    

Don't you want to grow? Don't you want to figure out things for yourself? Don't you feel like he's dumbing down the issues? I

If you really want a poem dealing with religion vs. God, pick up Wallace Steven's Sunday Morning. Read the words. Then read them again because you probably won't understand them the first time (I sure didn't) Let them soak into your brain and try to figure them out. Put the book down and take a walk, and come back and read it again. Then write about it. That's art. That's magic. That's religion. 

These videos, and the reaction that comes from them, is a commentary on our generation. Yes, I love my iPhone and the fact that it can reach the moon and back just from me sliding my finger across the screen. I love the fact that my Chick-Fil-A comes out of the window before I can reach for my debit card, that quickly deducts money from my bank account. I'm 23. I love things that are quick and fast and I can move on to the next task in my life. That's exactly what this video is doing - giving you lessons on love, sex, religion, and life itself in a 4 minute video. 

I don't know about you, but I'd rather take some time to think about these things. I'd rather spend 2 hours at church on Sunday morning. I'd rather read literature, and science, and take long walks on Saturday afternoons. I'd rather write in a prayer journal every night to figure out just what this whole thing is all about, instead of watching a video of a guy I don't even know, suggest to me what I should be thinking. 

The other day I decided to watch a LifeChurch sermon. A lot of the tweeters on my feed were using the hashtag #lcbetter so I decided to watch the first video in the series. I watched the first sermon all the way through and turned it off to run some errands. All day all I could think about was the logo and the marketing materials they used for "Better". I kept thinking, man they must have a good graphics designer and I love the way they used a parody of the Orbit girl to open the conversation and I could not for the life of me remember what the sermon was about! All of the "extra stuff" distracted me from what the church was trying to get across. 

But when I read Wallace Stevens, I have to pay attention to the words. That's all there is. 

I'm not saying that bball1989 or LifeChurch is wrong about any of the messages that they are trying to send. In fact, I mostly agree with what he's saying. I'm just saying it's not for me. I like simple, not flashy, and  I like to figure things out for myself. 

And I encourage you to figure things out for yourself too. 

Mal xoxo