Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » How bed bugs are changing the world
Bugs in the culture
(7 posts)-
I appreciate the Alfred Molina suggestions, Nobugs, I will be checking them out (when I get a TV and all the cultural amenities). He does get to bare his chest with particular relish in Spider-Man 2!
But, back to bedbugs...
I am exceedingly interested in how bedbugs have been (and will be!) portrayed in the culture. Thanks to Will Self's stupidity, I now know that George Orwell wrote about bedbugs in Down and Out in Paris and London http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London so now I'll have to read it (when I get over my fear of libraries)--but I have a feeling it's just bohemian ennui, and I'm not really in the mood. But did you know about this upcoming film based on a play (a 1995 play I should add)? It's called BUG http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470705/ and has this character who is a paranoid war veteran battling an infestation of hidden bugs! Or trying to mess with Ashley Judd's mind, or both. You can almost hear the metaphors churning... We're going to see more of this, I'm sure.
-
Nomo, remember your disappearing message? Is this it? It went into a spam filter, because it had multiple links. Links are good, I will work on convincing the system of that. Do not let this discourage your wonderful linking!
About my suggestions "Not Without My Daughter" is not a straightforward recommend, but a kitschy one. It's over the top American xenophobia about fundamentalist Islam, and of course Sally Field is the high point of melodrama. (It is totally worth watching but only from this kitschy, over the top angle! There's nothing like watching Sally Field, of all people, high-tail it across the desert after fleeing Tehran in the dead of night.)
Bug predates the bed bug rise, if the play came out in 1995... which is interesting. I seem to remember Bugz sent the review of a recent play to the Yahoo group last year--it sounds like the same one (if it is, the bed bugs aren't real; don't think that's a spoiler since it was in the play review).
I'm waiting until someone on tv or in a movie has bed bugs. It's coming! I was hoping it would come up on SNL, but maybe Maya Rudolph still doesn't think they're funny. I don't blame her.
-
parakeets
oldtimer
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 912
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 28 2007 17:41:10
#
Login to Send PM
Talk about culture--we need a spokesperson like Oprah or someone on the show "The View" to get bedbugs and be open about them.! There was a time when women didn't talk about breast cancer. Then there was a time that women didn't talk about addictions. Now we have tremendous communication and support groups for these crises. We need to talk about bedbugs. We need "Bedbugs Anonymous."
Thank heavens for this blog and the Yahoo group. I really crave support and yet our culture doesn't support bedbug victims. We're often accused of not even having bedbugs! That's part of the culture, the public relations "spin" that has been put on the whole topic, since there are several industries that stand to lose a lot of money from bedbugs, such as hotels, real estate management, furniture rentals, college dorm administration....
-
willow-the-wisp
banned
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 1,530
Posted 2 years ago
Thu Mar 29 2007 13:55:55
#
Login to Send PM
Love the points about who stands to loose money--other than the sufferer. it stands to reason that Hotels, real estate furniture slaes and rental etc ... would want to or feel a need to cover up. i've seen it in my own HUD building--the staff members now have BB's ... it's sadistic--but when I figured it out, yesterday ... by putting two and two together of what I've seen over the past few months--I was as pleased as punch for about an hour. I went into my infested unit and started laughing like a loon!
But I know--they (the staff) will not share with the tennants that they too are now infested. I see them steam cleaning their own offices with fancy machines; ALL THEY GAVE ME WAS 10 BUCKS FOR LAUNDRY AND TWO BOTTLES OF THIS STUFF CALLED CAIRLMONT. Oh, yeah ... they lent me 100.00, but my bank balance is now -98.00. I'm tempted to hand them the bank balance slip in an envelope on the 4th of april when I'm supposed to repay the loan, in stead of a "c" note. -
S
Bite Researcher
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 185
Posted 2 years ago
Thu Mar 29 2007 14:45:02
#
Login to Send PM
I did write to Oprah, but no answer yet.
Still, the tipping point is coming. I can feel it. Whether it's Oprah or some other celebrity. It has to happen. Just like AIDS, just like breast cancer, just like addiction and abuse and every other taboo social phenomenon.
Do you guys know Meetup.com? I started a knitting group in Chicago using Meetup, and it's now grown to over 200 members. We meet every other week. I don't know how large a Chicago Bedbug Meetup would be (though probably bigger than I think), but I'm sure a New York one would be huge. Imagine actually meeting other bedbug sufferers in person.
Though come to think of it, that's a little scary. I wouldn't want to hang out in a room with a bunch of bedbug sufferers. I wouldn't want to pick any new ones up, or drop any of mine off. I don't think any restaurant or bar would be hospitable either. And nobody would want to go to anybody else's house. Hmm.
Well, maybe the internet IS the best way for us to gather.
-
S,
LOL--you're not the first one whose thought those thoughts. -
willow-the-wisp
banned
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 1,530
Posted 2 years ago
Thu Mar 29 2007 21:16:34
#
Login to Send PM
we could do it in parks.
here in SF we could all meet in the rose garden or the chinese tea garden--there is always a solution to a problem with a bb--so long as it's dead.
Reply
You must log in to post.
