8 June 2013

Boundaries



We all have boundaries. We construct them ourselves and they are built for us. Our own boundaries emerge from experiences and lessons that are blended with senses of morality, ethics, rules, laws and expectations. Our parents introduce them to us when we are very young.

The adventurous or restless amongst us cross these boundaries. We all do at times actually - even some Singaporeans. We explore and we push and we reach out to feel the heat of burning fires and we regularly get burned.

Sometimes we are scarred.

I had a great conversation about boundaries last night. There was a gathering for a wedding that is occurring today. It was a per-nuptial event. The Groom is my Irish mate and the Bride is also a mate but she is Australian. The Groom is a wild boy as many of the Irish are. The Groom has crossed many a boundary. He has flattened them and charged out into the beyond. I like this about him. He is an adventurer and a questioner. He is often brash and fearless and his life is rich with experiences.

The conversation that was had about boundaries last night was initiated by me. I was possibly the only sober person in the conversation at the stage of the evening that the discussion was had. No one was too drunk though. I was sober because it was my responsibility to look after the groom. As mentioned he is a wild boy and my task was a difficult challenge but one which I took seriously.

I asked the collective group at the pre-nuptial event whether anyone had watched the British Series “Black Mirror”. No-one had. Black Mirror is a dark satirical series created by a chap by the name of Charlie Brooker. He is an English journalist and the series is all fictitious. I recommended to the group with whom I was conversing that they should try and watch it. I told them that it was thought provoking. I then described the first episode in the series and asked them, "What would you have done?"

Then off we went.

The first episode of Black Mirror is called "The National Anthem".  The story line is that the Prime Minister of England is awakened in the middle of the night and informed that a video has been received of a Princess of the Royal Family tied to a chair and reading a ransom note. Think a Tony Blair type of character for the Prime Minister and a Kate Middleton as the Princess. The Princess is a darling of the UK and the world. She is loved for her beauty and her charitable works. The Prime Minister is popular and young with a beautiful wife and a little baby.

The British Security personnel informed the Prime Minister that the video is authentic and the Princess is missing.

In the video an obviously terrified princess reads a ransom note advising that at 4.00pm that day the Prime Minister must - on live Television – and on every channel - fuck a pig. The act must also be streamed live on the Internet. The instructions are very clear and specific and no other demands are made. A failure to fuck the pig will result in the execution of the Princess.

This is less than twelve hours away.

The ransom video is also released on YouTube and FaceBook through anonymous and untraceable servers and it goes viral. Within a few hours the whole world knows.

Armies of Security and government super geeks are launched to try and find the Princess and her kidnappers but time and technology is against them. The Security and PR people for the Prime Minister look at desperate options such as getting a special effects team to see if someone else can do the act with the PM's head superimposed on his body. The kidnappers somehow discover this investigation and they send the severed finger of the princess to a television studio to reinforce the seriousness of their intent. Then the demand is repeated. The Prime Minister must fuck a pig live on TV or the princess will be executed.

The Prime Minister and his wife are naturally distraught. Political advisors are in a frenzy trying to ascertain the impact and potential political damage of both scenarios which are fucking the pig - or not fucking it. The princess is a darling of the public and the advisers and spin-doctors inform the PM that if he chooses not to undertake the act the fallout will likely be horrific. They state that his political career will be over and his own and his family's safety could not be guaranteed.

It is an unthinkable quandary.

I asked the group who I was with what would they do? I didn't yet tell them what actually happened. The discussion and debate was interesting and it was at times quite emotive. It was a beauty.

I loved it.

The crowd involved in this discussion was mixed. There were Americans and English and Singaporeans and there were quite a few Australians. Many of the Australians were bogans. About half of the participants were men. To my surprise the majority of women who were involved in the discussion thought that the Prime Minister should not do it. They said it was disgusting.

When I suggested that this was sacrificing a life for an agreeably but one-off disgusting act -  they said it was of no consequence. They were adamant that fucking a pig was unacceptable. When I further suggested that the advisors said not doing the act would put the life of the PM and his wife and little baby in peril - they simply scoffed. They suggested that they could be protected.

Quite a few of the blokes said they would fuck the pig. Unsurprisingly the bogans were all for it. They have likely done worse. Discussions got a bit heated between some couples on the subject.

I was loving every minute of it.

After half an hour or so of "What ifs" and "What would you do?" someone asked me what happened next.

I told them that the efforts to track the kidnappers failed and the PM opted to fuck the pig. He felt he had no other choice. The film showed scenes of rowdy people in pubs around Great Britain drinking beers and waiting for the live coverage. The PM was given some sort of Viagra type drug before the act in the studio and he was weeping and distraught as he did the deed. There were shots of the pub crowds falling into shocked and shamed silence as they witnessed the debauchery.

The Princess was released before the event actually occurred. No one knew because they were all at home or in pubs watching the telecast. There was a shot in the film of the kidnapper hanging himself as he watched the Prime Minister fuck the pig. One of his fingers had been severed.

The end of the film was a flash forward six months later showing the Princess playing with children at a charity event. She was smiling and happy. There was another scene of the Prime Minister and his wife at some sort of building opening - both were chatting away to the media and they were smiling and holding hands. Then there was a further scene back at the Prime Minister's residence where the wife indicates that she hates her husband and she will never forgive him.

Me personally? I would have felt very sorry for the beast - but to save the life of the Princess - and any human being for that matter - I most definitely would have done the pig. 

Irrespective of the boundary crossed.


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