Thank god this is preserved on youtube. When Crumb's generation, which witnessed the US's decline into consumerism first hand, dies off... at least videos like this will stand as a monument.
At this point, he hadn't even anticipated the "bought, sold, market-researched" cultural boom that was to begin with the explosion of Wall Street, credit swapping-- All that lead to a corporate boom and a subsequent complicity by the government. Technology and super-capitalism (buying and not paying for it on all levels) has lead to further numbing of any of humanity's potency for intellectual curiosity in "what's behind it all..." Robert shows a little bit of what's behind it all in his work.
@glimmer2158 Decreasingly less and less for sure, yet maybe something absolutely drab and plastic would remain to maintain a process of comfortable imprisonment.
It's not just the case in the US - I work in IT in the UK and some of my colleagues, all of whom are graduates, have read a Victorian novel.
In other words they have never read literature that gives them a sense of where we, in the UK, have come from - the industrial revolution, the enilghtenment etc.
One of my all time favorite documentaries. Our loss is Paris' gain. Whenever I need a little creative incentive I just open up some Crumb and I am dazzled by his talent as an artist.
After I watched this documentary I had to replay this exact scene about 4 or 5 times because I was so surprised/impressed at how someone(Crumb) had so well summarized what I've wondered about for the past 13 years. Crumb nails it w/ the entire very short speech. I especially like his comment on the apparent absence of intellectual curiosity re: all this ".....jive bullshit". I couldn't have said it better. Illusion, formula, pattern, image, repetition, mimic, economics, all the "isms', systems,
I'm not saying that mainstream culture offers no value whatsoever: that would be absurd. We do need to be skeptical though, and it's disappointing that a few of the contributors here have likened this awareness with an anti-capitalist position. It's not 'anti-capitalist' to be aware of the effect of our individual and collective consumption habits. It's just the line that used to separate want from need has been completely obliterated by market driven culture in an attempt to increase sales.
Crumb is right. What's particularly bothersome, however, is that it's sold to us as a form of freedom, and that freedom is defined almost purely in economic terms. so the fact that i can buy the same old shit that my friend buys is great and good for the economy, but what about culture itself? What becomes of it? Are the shared values and understandings that we have in the world today only mediated through the items we purchase for consumption? Do we have any other common ground anymore?
Crumb once so hip, is now just another old fart,pissing and whning about how the world has left him behind. I guess he ain't Mr Natural. Mr Natural woulld know that cynisism is a poor substitute for wisdom. I guess moving to France with all those clapped out cowardly Euros has killed his American spirit.
@davemahar nah, he moved to France because America doesn't give him the freedom and privacy that the French take for granted because they understand what it is to treat their citizens well. Unlike in America where our freedoms are being taken away wholesale year after year. He pays attention to those kinds of things. Maybe you should too.
@subsamadhi Love his work, he is a modern day Brughel. Would Brughel turn his back on his culture and bite the hand that fed him> Once thought he was Mr. Natural. Has'nt a clue about how a realized man would be. A realized man would love everything, warts and alln not full of bitterness and cynisism. I notice he llikes our filthy lucre and comes over to collect Why is it fane and fortune turn some people into assholes. Does your handle imply that you are awake? If.it does welcome to the club. .
@davemahar I don't think of myself as awake necessarily. I watched the documentary of Crumb's life. In it he implies that he moved to France because he was sick of America. He made his money here because he was an American. I don't think that makes him a sellout though maybe he is.
As he sits in a capitalistic Cafe being interviewed by an opportunist. Ironic, and a bit hypocritical. I do like the guy and his work, but he is a little full of himself.
“I am constantly disgusted by reality, horrified and afraid. I cling desperately to
the few things that give me some solace, that make me feel good. For me to be human is, for the most part, to hate what I am. When I suddenly realize I am one of them, I want to scream in horror.”
@JonnyLikesPie I think I'm getting to that point. When I count the channels on cable TV that just deal with crime, forensics and serial killers, even on the Lifetime channel, I believe it's time to turn off the idiot box and start searching for more uplifting input. Fortunately the internet provides choices of news and programs so one isn't forced to watch drivel.
@MPedroful agreed. support the troops while buying lindsay loahan and miley cyrus cds. act shocked and disgusted when we provide you with oversexualized edgy entertainment, (Lady Gaga, and whatever will replace her), yet constantly check up on them to see what they do next. buy an SUV now because you deserve it. dont think about anything else except a generalized version of success and wealth accumulation. send your kids to college to become psych and business majors. keep paying for the 2 wars.
@kakabukkake0 Turn off your TV! Read the classic novels, plays, watch films that don't involve kung fu and car explosions, and most of all try to appreciate classical music or at least music based on harmony.
jive bullshit is right
AhYaOk 1 month ago
Thank god this is preserved on youtube. When Crumb's generation, which witnessed the US's decline into consumerism first hand, dies off... at least videos like this will stand as a monument.
ventilatedzygote 5 months ago
crazy drawings from an absolute genius. Illustrators FTW!
supermurloc64 6 months ago
My husband and I have been saying "jive bullshit" for over a decade now, ever since we first saw this movie.
spershall 6 months ago
At this point, he hadn't even anticipated the "bought, sold, market-researched" cultural boom that was to begin with the explosion of Wall Street, credit swapping-- All that lead to a corporate boom and a subsequent complicity by the government. Technology and super-capitalism (buying and not paying for it on all levels) has lead to further numbing of any of humanity's potency for intellectual curiosity in "what's behind it all..." Robert shows a little bit of what's behind it all in his work.
AlekOther 6 months ago
Inmates don't need culture.
glimmer2158 6 months ago
@glimmer2158 Decreasingly less and less for sure, yet maybe something absolutely drab and plastic would remain to maintain a process of comfortable imprisonment.
AlekOther 6 months ago
@glimmer2158 That is a great line! If you made it up, I salute you.
misterusufruct 6 months ago
Truest words ever spoken. thank you Mr. Crumb
booksteve 6 months ago
at least he's not dumb
CharlotteSimmons1 6 months ago
Genius
MaceMn 8 months ago
an under appreciated nervous wreck of a man
diogeneslaertius666 9 months ago
It's not just the case in the US - I work in IT in the UK and some of my colleagues, all of whom are graduates, have read a Victorian novel.
In other words they have never read literature that gives them a sense of where we, in the UK, have come from - the industrial revolution, the enilghtenment etc.
jagara1 9 months ago
One of my all time favorite documentaries. Our loss is Paris' gain. Whenever I need a little creative incentive I just open up some Crumb and I am dazzled by his talent as an artist.
madahad9 9 months ago
Said so much in only 41 seconds.
killingspiders1 1 year ago
After I watched this documentary I had to replay this exact scene about 4 or 5 times because I was so surprised/impressed at how someone(Crumb) had so well summarized what I've wondered about for the past 13 years. Crumb nails it w/ the entire very short speech. I especially like his comment on the apparent absence of intellectual curiosity re: all this ".....jive bullshit". I couldn't have said it better. Illusion, formula, pattern, image, repetition, mimic, economics, all the "isms', systems,
TheDBER 1 year ago
So extremely well stated....very complex ideas/concepts stated very direct and simple. Truly a great documentary and subject(s).
TheDBER 1 year ago
sloaches
claymars 1 year ago
I'm not saying that mainstream culture offers no value whatsoever: that would be absurd. We do need to be skeptical though, and it's disappointing that a few of the contributors here have likened this awareness with an anti-capitalist position. It's not 'anti-capitalist' to be aware of the effect of our individual and collective consumption habits. It's just the line that used to separate want from need has been completely obliterated by market driven culture in an attempt to increase sales.
lamentate07 1 year ago
Comment removed
lamentate07 1 year ago
Crumb is right. What's particularly bothersome, however, is that it's sold to us as a form of freedom, and that freedom is defined almost purely in economic terms. so the fact that i can buy the same old shit that my friend buys is great and good for the economy, but what about culture itself? What becomes of it? Are the shared values and understandings that we have in the world today only mediated through the items we purchase for consumption? Do we have any other common ground anymore?
lamentate07 1 year ago
wow 20 years later and looking back the bastard was right haha
scout6686 1 year ago 3
right on crumb!
Keroppi19 1 year ago
i wonder if crumb listens to justin beiber ???
plutoplatters 1 year ago
Crumb once so hip, is now just another old fart,pissing and whning about how the world has left him behind. I guess he ain't Mr Natural. Mr Natural woulld know that cynisism is a poor substitute for wisdom. I guess moving to France with all those clapped out cowardly Euros has killed his American spirit.
davemahar 1 year ago
@davemahar nah, he moved to France because America doesn't give him the freedom and privacy that the French take for granted because they understand what it is to treat their citizens well. Unlike in America where our freedoms are being taken away wholesale year after year. He pays attention to those kinds of things. Maybe you should too.
subsamadhi 1 year ago
@subsamadhi Love his work, he is a modern day Brughel. Would Brughel turn his back on his culture and bite the hand that fed him> Once thought he was Mr. Natural. Has'nt a clue about how a realized man would be. A realized man would love everything, warts and alln not full of bitterness and cynisism. I notice he llikes our filthy lucre and comes over to collect Why is it fane and fortune turn some people into assholes. Does your handle imply that you are awake? If.it does welcome to the club. .
davemahar 1 year ago
@davemahar I don't think of myself as awake necessarily. I watched the documentary of Crumb's life. In it he implies that he moved to France because he was sick of America. He made his money here because he was an American. I don't think that makes him a sellout though maybe he is.
subsamadhi 1 year ago
As he sits in a capitalistic Cafe being interviewed by an opportunist. Ironic, and a bit hypocritical. I do like the guy and his work, but he is a little full of himself.
boardskins 1 year ago
Television has only two purposes and that is lowering consciousness, and also selling crap. Reality imitates TV not the other way around LOL.
MPedroful 1 year ago
Crumb tells it like it is, right on
VLOGSPHERE 1 year ago
“I am constantly disgusted by reality, horrified and afraid. I cling desperately to
the few things that give me some solace, that make me feel good. For me to be human is, for the most part, to hate what I am. When I suddenly realize I am one of them, I want to scream in horror.”
- R Crumb
no1 tells it like it is like R does
JonnyLikesPie 1 year ago 2
@JonnyLikesPie I think I'm getting to that point. When I count the channels on cable TV that just deal with crime, forensics and serial killers, even on the Lifetime channel, I believe it's time to turn off the idiot box and start searching for more uplifting input. Fortunately the internet provides choices of news and programs so one isn't forced to watch drivel.
MPedroful 1 year ago
So true
jst1998 1 year ago
The idiots, are self regarding consumer slaves,
oblivious to the paradox of thier uniform individuality.
They sculpt thier hair to casual perfection, and wear thier waistbands below thier balls.
They babble into handheld twit machines about that email of a woman being bombed by a wolf, thier cool friend made it, and he's ...an idiot too.
Welcome to the age of stupidity.
Hail, the rise of the idiots...
strangefacekid 1 year ago
something with him reminds me very much of jon heder.
cocacolaveins 1 year ago
Culture has died...although a weak imitation is sold to us.
MPedroful 1 year ago 2
@MPedroful agreed. support the troops while buying lindsay loahan and miley cyrus cds. act shocked and disgusted when we provide you with oversexualized edgy entertainment, (Lady Gaga, and whatever will replace her), yet constantly check up on them to see what they do next. buy an SUV now because you deserve it. dont think about anything else except a generalized version of success and wealth accumulation. send your kids to college to become psych and business majors. keep paying for the 2 wars.
kakabukkake0 1 year ago
@kakabukkake0 Turn off your TV! Read the classic novels, plays, watch films that don't involve kung fu and car explosions, and most of all try to appreciate classical music or at least music based on harmony.
MPedroful 1 year ago
@MPedroful but if you do that... justin bieber won't exist !!!!!
plutoplatters 1 year ago
his got it right.
fuck6488 1 year ago
"...all this jive bullshit" so true...
MrOldSadManAndHisDog 2 years ago 2
From the Zuni Cafe on Market Street in San Francisco. Red Desert garden shop in the background was replaced by LincArt, to be replaced by...
newzini 2 years ago
thats a Rapidograph pen
darkbeav01 2 years ago 3
What kind of pen is that?
Dylanio21 2 years ago
yeah....I wondered that too...It looks fantastic.
billheartyface 2 years ago
he is spot on
bloomindoomin 2 years ago 31
agreed. well chosen words to get his point across.
Soundgarden1009 2 years ago 21