I live in this world, I witness pop culture every day, regardless to whether I want to be part of it or not I kind of am just by coexisting with other people in this world. So why should I try to distance myself from it for some petty fragment of rebellion that still lingers from my childhood? Am I selling out with this blog post or am I taking a higher road and trying to add my unique color to this already vibrant world? Or does it even fucking matter…..
On that note I have some things to say about this video
I hold a higher respect for Mr. Chris for circumventing the relentless screams of his fans to the point of almost breaking down with a “SHUT UP AND LET ME SPEAK!!!!!”, and just saying what he got on the stage to say. He almost appeared human as he struggled with his emotions to say what he knew he should say and struggled with the frustrations of wondering if the screaming horde of girls would even care. But he battled through it and eventually the audience listened to what he had to say.
Now, what did he actually say?
I support all three points (Mr. Kutcher is offering me a generous endorsement for saying this) but I want to focus on point #2.
Be sexy.
Ok Chris…..I will. I will be sexy…..but how? Sexy is such a vague, relatively meaningless word unless it has some sort of context. Should I wear a slim fitted black skirt and be sexy in a club? Should I shower myself in mud and be sexy with a pig? Should I study Mandarin and be sexy to a Mandarin orange? Mr. Chris, I need further clarification!!
Ooooh, be sexy by being smart, thoughtful and generous. Ok. Now I understand a little more.
Generous is pretty straightforward. Share my stuff when necessary, listen when possible, and always let ladies and children leave a burning building first.
Thoughtful is also pretty simple to understand. Think before speaking, think before listening, and think before thinking.
But smart is another one of those weird words from some void rip in time that seems more like a mind control device from aliens than an actual tool for human self improvement……unless it was given some context….unless it was defined relative to me. Should I be smart by looking both ways before crossing the street? Is that sexy Ashton? Should I be smart by memorizing shortcuts to multiplication tables with my hands? Is that sexy Kutcher? Should I be smart by finding out why my girlfriend really enjoys peanuts and butter during PMS? Is that sexy Mr. Chris?
Now the hypothetical Me talking to Mr. Chris ends and the real Me talking about words and their innate inability to communicate anything helpful unless within context begins.
Words are horrible at expressing meaning because they require the listener to understand the emotional context of the speaker.
Since the listener is not the speaker, this makes understanding an impossible task. So the speaker uses elaborations, metaphors, examples and countless other techniques to convey what he feels. What communication ends up looking like is word being repeated in an endless series of contexts, each one muddling more and more the original emotion that sparked the word in the first place.
“Hey. How was your day?”
“Ah, you know, I was Inside.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean I spent a lot of time inside today”
“So you were feeling a little lazy today? What’s up, you sick?”
“Not that. I feel fine. I just….you know how you sometimes feel extra weird and you don’t know why?”
“Yea. I usually go exercise when I feel like that”
“Hmmmm, its a bit different than that kind of feeling. You have heard of the saying ‘the early bird gets the worm’ right?”
“Ahhh, I understand now….You’re saying you had sex with my wife today”
“Exactly”
Context, Mr. Chris. We need context; else we have NO idea what you want from us.
Thumb Tacts 
“the speaker uses elaborations, metaphors, examples and countless other techniques to convey what he feels. What communication ends up looking like is word being repeated in an endless series of contexts, each one muddling more and more the original emotion that sparked the word in the first place.”
It seems the listener will never understand what the speaker REALLY meant. So instead of giving up on the idea all together, there should a compromise: the listener can make an honest effort to understand what the speakers means creating an emotional connection between the two. Then the listener respectfully adds his/her own meaning to the words.
Jonathan, your compromise is righteous. Since emotions came first and words were invented merely as tools to efficiently express them, what if we also made another compromise – words are just tools, they are intrinsically empty vessels that we have the liberty to fill with whatever we want. Lets never take the liberty to fill other people’s words with our emotions. This may be a very confusing way of saying what you just said……maybe