Not sure if she had it to say over again if Sharon Stone would offer the same explanation for the recent earthquakes in China, "bad karma", she had the other day (and which went down so well with large segments of the Chinese government). I'm trying to imagine how her character in Basic Instinct sounds in Chinese, but right now her movies are banned (if I'm Michael Douglas do I try to get the authorities to lift part of the ban, i.e., show his parts of the movie but NOT hers?) so that whole idea is mooted in much the same manner as dissent in Tiananimen was mooted. Ms. Stone referred to the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet's Buddhists and whom the Chinese government considers a traitor, as "a good friend." In light of the last year, he may be wondering with friends like these....
I can relate to the cause and effect ordering of the universe that she was suggesting, because I subscribe to that same idea. We've all heard "Pride Goeth Before a Fall" (and some of us now know that 'goeth' isn't just 'Goth' with an extra 'e' in it) though I suspect Charlie Pride prefers to tour all year round and not just in Autumn. I don't think any other species calculates their place in the universe this way (I'm trying to imagine a chipmunk choosing between eating an acorn or storing it and deciding, in light of the number of family members who got no further than the double yellow stripe on Route 169, to gorge himself...curse you, Chip and Dale!) so it's another one of those quirky things that makes us human.
Do you remember as a kid worrying when something really good was happening that something not so good might be around the corner? We knew the concept of my karma just ran over your dogma long before it was a bumper snicker. And even as people are 'proving' that no such thing happens, or will ever happen, we still listen for karma's footsteps and hear them more often that not. At the end of every day, people find some reason to believe. Call it custom, call it habit, it's part of our DNA-the imposition of order where random chaos may be the rule.
And with all due respect to the Chinese government and those in search of a spine in the advertising community who were quick, a little too quick in my personal estimation, to distance themselves from Ms. Stone, what if it turns out her theory is on target? All this time, we thought GR's Four Horsemen were Stuldreher, Crowley, Miller and Layden.
What a Revelation to learn otherwise.
-bill kenny
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