'Mondo Cane'

Humans are weird. It's the biggest difference between us and the animals. It's not invention, free thought, opposable thumbs, the ability to talk or play Wii bowling, it's oddity.

Dogs and monkeys aren't odd. Odd looking, yes. But not odd. They sleep, wake up, eat, shit, fight, eat, shit and sleep. That's not odd. That's a dream for human beings.

We work, have 401ks, purchase cars based on gas mileage, watch films with Kevin Costner, buy Thin Lizzy records, mow lawns, pick school districts, check out books at libraries, look at Internet porn, cheat on our wives, shoot heroin in our veins, get flu shots and hire personal trainers. That shit is fucked up.

Mondo Cane is a series of travelogues detailing the idiosyncratic and, often, retarded rituals, rites, cultural events, traditions and activities that human beings "enjoy" as we pass through this planet.

I don't need some Italian documentarians to tell me this. I know it. I live it. I think we underestimate the human being's ability to be relatively self aware. It doesn't take long to scroll through a newspaper to realize that things are quite right. Something's gone haywire in our brains and we can't stop murdering, stealing, raping and going to sporting events (how retarded are sports, big picture?).

I watched a show about "victims" of obsessive-compulsive disorder and these people have serious mental issues. Then again, so do all of us. I can't stand it when towels and blankets are left on the floor. It's a minor thing. It bugs me. But it doesn't control my behavior. It does for OCD patients.

We are all virtually just a step or two away from being one of the degenerates that are written up about in the newspaper. We all have odd interests and fetishes that could be considered borderline mischievious or "bad." The guy who likes weird porn and the guy that rapes women are seperated by a thin line.

It's what Mondo Cane tries to show us (we're cruel assholes), but it's no secret.