Sexy Sexy Nagasaki

Human sexuality is a strange thing. From “Furry” porn, to the dudes who jerk off on Chatroulette, what turns people on will never be unambiguous in its rationale. I in no way mean to come off as if I am quantifying the value of these acts, or any others, I only mean to point out that there is a large spectrum of subjectivity when it comes to one’s ideas about what is sexy. Ballard’s Crash, seems to be playing on this, but also on an equally mysterious human fixation on destruction. Maybe its masculine conditioning, but I can certainly say that my affair with destruction began at age thirteen. Discarded TV’s on the side of the road would make long journeys through my neighborhood to the train tracks at the southern end, where my friends and would watch them get annihilated. I know these were not safe or productive things to do and moreover, that they are illegal, but the sight of a seemingly large object such as a TV smashed into oblivion by a CSX train hurdling at 60 M.P.H.’s an hour is a site to behold. Back to the topic at hand, although Ballard doesn’t use the term in our first four chapters the notion of rubbernecking seems as though it served as an implicit starting point for his explorations. That is, rubbernecking seems to demonstrate humanities perverse relationship with what happens when our mode(s) of transportation is revealed to be in actuality a rather dangerous practice. The beginning of the book launches the exploration in the most absurd of ways as it exemplifies not only the awe that accidents inspire but this ridiculous sense of mourning people feel when celebrities, elevated to the level of deities at times, are proven mortal in this most tragic way. I suppose to conclude I would say that sex, although enjoyed by all in various ways, for most is a means of creation. Ballard’s choice to juxtapose our drive to create and the actuality of our creations is accomplished thus far in very visceral and somewhat bleak way. That is, with technology limits are pushed, however, the limits of our bodies remain the same. Moreover, the choice to use accidents, regardless of their intent, speaks to the nihilistic nature behind civilization as it continually unfolds to produce a new reality in which the drive to progress, to create, combined with human fallibility might divorce our race from earthly existence entirely.