by Travis Mateer
The title of this post is the title of my upcoming collection of poems, and they’re some of the hardest hitting, funniest pieces of writing I’ve ever written, including my use of the ultimate trigger word at the conclusion of a poem I’m calling SMART BOMBS.
Being a talented poet and artist requires a sizable ego, and mine is huge, sometimes reaching delusion-of-grandeur peaks that includes speculation that the messiah, Jesus Christ, is an enthusiastic admirer of my work. Do I need a Zendaya to cool my jets?
While Paul remains Dune’s increasingly questionable protagonist, the perspective of Zendaya’s Chani—a Fremen warrior who doesn’t believe in the prophecy that Paul is a savior—is pivotal to understanding where director Denis Villeneuve is trying to take Dune. These films are based on Frank Herbert’s books, which were written to comment on colonialism, religion, white saviorism, and the perils of saviorism more generally. At a Monday screening of Dune: Part 2 in New York City, Villeneuve spoke about the role of Chani’s character in the sequel to clarify that Paul’s arc is meant to critique rather than glorify Messianic figures who promise to free the oppressed.
I wrote about Zendaya’s Euphoria performance in a series of posts at the end of last year I called Building A New Credibility because my talents include decoding popular culture to illuminate the nefarious messaging intended to make us pliable subjects of the psychopath class, but I don’t expect my not-so-humble work to free anyone who hasn’t already started doing the work to free themselves first.
So no, I don’t need a Zendaya to cool my jets, nor do I need a hipster named Smetanka, but a Smetanka is what I got last night as I strolled around downtown with a friend. When Smetanka realized it was me he was trying to talk to, he realized his mistake, which I emphasized by calling him a cultural elitist then walked off before breaking the stupid hipster glasses on Smetanka’s stupid face.
Why do I despise Andy Smetanka? Because, when Missoula was being semi-exposed by Jon Krakuaer, Andy was more worried about Missoula’s image than he was about the fact our town is so fucking corrupt it took a national best-selling author to start the process of exposing our corruption, a process I am continuing with unique methodology.
Here’s a screenshot from my post about Smetanka that highlights why I think he’s a cultural elitist doing this town NO FAVORS with his “art”:
If Andy wants to be a protector of Missoula’s IMAGE, that’s fine, but he should understand that puts him in the category of opposition to MY artistic goals, which is exposure of the narrative controllers on a longer timeline than anyone in this town is capable of conceiving of because they don’t understand what’s at stake here.
On April 8th, the day of the eclipse, I’ll be putting my poetic talents on full display after a river cleanup I’m putting together near the Poverello Center. I’m calling it the ECLIPSE THEIR BULLSHIT cleanup, so put this date on your calendar if the reality of what’s actually happening in our country and town is something you want to pay attention to.
Or maybe you prefer to take other actions?
If you appreciate a no-filter, zero-fuck-giving artist fighting a narrative war on behalf of Jesus and euthanized and executed black men in Missoula, Montana, then consider helping me by donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF)
Thanks for reading!