Prince Dementia

I was driving east on the Coronado Bay Bridge when I heard the news. I was returning from dog beach with my two dogs, who were wet, salty, and tired. So I guess I will always remember where I was when I heard the news that Prince had died.

My initial response was shock, although that is overstating it. There doesn't seem to be a word that captures the feeling of, "oh, someone in the entertainment industry has suddenly died of probably unnatural causes."

I don't want to be that guy, the one who says they never liked somebody. When David Bowie died, there were lots of people who said they didn't like him. But I also don't want to be that other guy, who wails incoherently in grief at an icon's passing. The truth is, my feelings are somewhere in the middle. He was just okay.

With the exception of his song When Doves Cry. That is one of the single most insipid pieces of music ever recorded. Even John Yoo wouldn't sign off on using that song for enhanced interrogation.

What's upsetting to me is the all-out cultural effort to lionize Prince. President Obama made a statement about Prince's passing from his overseas trip. I'm a little surprised he didn't cut his trip short. Obama said that "Few artists have... touched quite so many people with their talent."

Yawn.

I'm trying to think of a single cultural icon who's passing would affect me on a personal level. I can't say that anyone famous suddenly dying would make me feel even a tiny bit sad. I wonder if I have been so red-pilled that I can't un-see the packaging and confection.

If a random celebrity were to die today, my default feeling would be apathy. Unless Eddie Vedder trips and falls into a wood chipper or Roger Waters has a heroin balloon explode in his stomach. Then I would feel joy. And a little Protestant guilt at feeling joyful. But mostly joy.

I wonder if this apathetic feeling is sublimated rage at misplaced priorities. In the twenty-four hours since Prince died, there have been thousands of abortions. How many of those little Princes or Princesses would have gone on to create masterpieces? We'll never know.

I don't think I feel jealous of his success. I'm not really wired that way. I actually feel like certain people deserve success, and some people don't.

I don't feel threatened by his seemingly gender-fluid style. It helped him pull Appolonia. Although she looked better to my 80's eyes. To my current sensibilities, she looks a little like a trans-female.

All in all, I would rather still be walking that sandy wet track, totally immersed in the urgency of throwing the ball for her, and the utter lack of urgency for anything else in the world. It's still there, the cold salty water, crashing waves, the citizens of dog beach catering to each single, timeless moment in the sun.