The Spectacle Obscena
A Mistrial of Misanthropes
An attempt at dark satire about toxic ideologies, conspiracy culture, and societal decay presented within a grotesque arena of clashing personalities and performative chaos.
The Spectacle Obscena
12/19/2006
by David C. RobersonFat Daddy Sarcasm is called into the arena– The Spectacle Obscena– to many jeers and few cheers. He is black to the heart in ways that Death or night could never accomplish. He is encased in a weathered, white shell. Old German soldier from World War whichever-one-we're-in-now, minus two. He says the Holocaust is a lie told to Jewish children to keep them rigid, religious, and financially prodigious. Opponent: The Night Hawk Crusader who drinks Kool-Aid laced with rum. He drinks life deeper, and considers it a more powerful and dangerous drug. To prove this, he presents the Kennedy family As Exhibit A. Something about danger-seeking DNA. Exhibit B involves the melting point of structural steel. His brother thinks they are direct descendants of John Wilkes Booth! He bought a gun in case he ran into anyone with a "suspicious" beard. He is rail thin, haggard, and wears a grin wired with certainty as his eyes gleam with bargain bin prophecy. Contenders both– Defenders defiantly– Offenders definitely. The match is called: Stalemate. (And these mates are stale, folks!) The Referee is blind, but has a cataractal seeing-eye dog called Justice. Justice smells the fight, but favors no man. Bright but befuddled, the Referee calls a mistrial, and bailiffs in spandex escort the men to a cell of indecision.
This pleasantly surprised me. Was a huge WWF fan as a kid, so the imagery felt familiar, funny, but used in a very unique way. Some very clever turns of phrase and I like the message you’re sending. A “cell of indecision” at the end is great.