Every week, Joël De Ceulaer writes an passionate, angry, happy or rowdy letter to a well-known fellow human being. That letter may contain traces of mockery and satire. This week: Camp Waes-instructor Fly.
According to the Kempen religious teacher Rik Torfs, who differs from you in many respects, one can sense the pulse of the times by what is taboo at that moment: look for what no one dares to say anymore, and hey presto, you have the Zeitgeist by your side. Of course that is nonsense. The media claim so, because it tastes good, but there are no longer any taboos. I dare to say this with certainty, because I was personally present at the demolition of the Last Taboo that was observed in our region: in 1993, at the weekly magazine Panorama/Post. After diligent research, we found a number of Famous Men willing to talk about their bodies, from head to toe, without embarrassment, but with an accompanying nude photo, without skipping a stop. I remember that singer Paul Michiels in particular was very satisfied with the way he had been created. The front page featured this cover slogan, as it was called: The last taboo: Men about their bodies. I wonder if you would collaborate on a republication of this idea if asked. Considering the status that Camp Waes you, there would be great interest. That says something about the times we live in: the success of your program – which strangely enough was named after that guy who always gets in the way, but that’s besides the point.
Let me explain myself further. Anyone who wants to grasp the Zeitgeist should not look for taboos, but for our obsessions. What are we possessed by? What are we fixated on? What keeps us awake? The answer is hidden in the finality of the most successful TV formats. At the beginning of this century, these were formats that focused on privacy and sex. By Big Brother until Temptation Island: a bunch of unknown guys were completely isolated from the world, filled with alcohol every day and filmed continuously, except in the smallest room – okay, one more taboo. The viewer was treated to masturbation, sex, adultery and fiery emotions. We were obsessed voyeurs. Let’s call that the Snelders Era.
That is over. The spirit is gone. Today everyone is polyamorous and women bring their Satisfyer Pro to the workplace. We no longer want to see people drinking, partying, masturbating, fucking and cheating. We already do that ourselves. No, we want to see people who are not sexually, but physically and mentally pushed to the limit – people who are in agony, subjected to torture, tested, tormented and provoked to the point of blood in the corner of their eyes. We want to see what we dare not see. Behold the tilt of the Zeitgeist. The Age of Fly has arrived.
Not only Fight Flight points this out. Also series like Squid Gamemovies like Oppenheimer and of course programs like Special Forces on VTM and The expedition: Greenland on GoPlay. In the latter program, the participants wear the same underpants for ten days and do their thing in a freezer in the shape of a bucket. It is at such moments Temptation Island quite far away.
At the basis of this obsession with deprivation and suffering lies the fear that characterizes this time: war. I feel a line of sweat running down my spine as I type it here: people are afraid that war will come again. That Trump becomes president again and drops Europe. That Putin will be on the Zoerle-Parwijs market in no time. That Vlaams Belang relapses into collaboration and supports the Russian occupier in everything, including the regular supply of sausage bread and bollekes by Filip Dewinter. On top of that, there is the fear that Netanyahu will get such a taste for destruction that he will reduce the entire Middle East to rubble. The world is about to capsize.
Luckily you’re still here. If anyone is aware of the fragility of things, it is you. In an interview with There you say we have been rocked to sleep. Our resilience has been broken by prosperity, peace and security. We think it will take our time, but life is not a Satisfyer Pro. Life is hard and fate can always strike. We don’t realize that, you think, and that’s why we’re not grateful enough. When you return from a mission, you also say, you always feel a sense of humility, at the sight of full store shelves and safe streets. You hit the nail on the head with this. We are too sensitive to minor incidents and not alert to real dangers. When it snows for a while, Goedele Wachters’ facial expressions come in It Journal already fear that The Bomb has fallen. We don’t realize how good we have it. Thank you very much for sharing that insight.
Still, I am still waiting to build an air raid shelter and buy a year’s supply of canned mackerel, which is already recommended in Sweden. I hope that the spirit of the times will change again soon. So that our obsession shifts to clumsy, innocent TV programs that merely bring warmth and coziness into the living room. Programs about mumbling uncles in the Kempen who like to tell dirty jokes and fertilize the vegetable garden in their spare time with a pitchfork and wheelbarrow. Completely irrelevant programs, in short, that will fit perfectly with the new Zeitgeist. The Era Torfs, how I look forward to it.
Muscular greetings
Joël De Ceulaer, senior writer
