Bradley enters the coffee shop and sits down at the table that Linus is already sitting at. Linus has his usual notebook in front of him and is writing absently as he smokes. Bradley is listening to a portable discman that he juggles with a CD case, a cigarette and a soda. He plops all this down while singing quietly along with the music in his headphones. He finishes whatever he is listening to and turns off the discman. He smiles as if he just finished having sex. Linus looks up from his writing.
Bradley:
Oh my god. This new Nirvana album is fucking AWESOME!
Linus:
New? How can that be? Kurt Cobain is dead, dude.
Bradley:
Well technically it’s a greatest hits CD but there is a song on here that was never released. It’s called You Know You’re Right. It fucking KICKS!
Linus:
Really?
Bradley:
Yeah. But it makes me kind of sad to hear it. I mean, we heard all this great music from him in the time he was alive and recording, but then it turns out that there is this other song that totally blows everything else he did away and you have to think what he could have done if Courtney hadn’t killed him.
Linus:
Why does that make you sad? At least you got to hear one more piece of beautiful music from him.
Bradley:
Yeah, but it makes me miss Kurt and hate Courtney all the more.
Linus:
This brings up an interesting question. How is it that you can feel such strong emotions for people you have never met and yet can feel so little for people you’ve known all your life?
Bradley:
What do you mean? (he lights another cigarette)
Linus:
Well, you said that you hate Courtney Love. Hate is a pretty extreme emotion. How is it that you can feel such a strong emotion for a person that you have never seen in person and probably never will see? How is it that you can cry when you hear this new song by Nirvana 'cause it reminds you of the fact that Kurt is dead and he won’t be writing any new songs, yet you never knew him as anything but the frontman for a band. You can feel such strong feelings for these people that might never have existed for you had it not been for radio and MTV, and yet when someone you went to kindergarten with dies in a car crash, you barely bat an eyelid?
Bradley:
What are you talking about? Who died?
Linus:
Remember Mark? He was our friend in grade school and he moved away after a year of high school to live with his mom in Florida. A year later we heard that he died in a car crash. Remember? I mean, yeah you were upset, but only because people kept putting up pictures of him around the school and the people who were making the most noise about his death were the ones who didn’t really know him.
Bradley:
Oh yeah. (blows a smoke ring and sips some soda) So what’s your point? Are you saying I’m insensitive or that I got my priorities all fucked up?
Linus:
No, I’m not saying that at all. It’s not just you. I’m just as guilty as you. Remember when River Phoenix died? What about Shannon Hoon or Tupac Shakur? I was sad an upset then too. I’ll admit it. But why is it that our society is so ready to embrace someone like Kurt Cobain or Brad Nowell or someone like that and make them into something bigger than they really are? I mean, they’re just people after all, but we are so eager to identify with someone above the crowd, as the song says.
Bradley:
Maybe John Lennon was right. He was bigger than Jesus.
Linus:
No, I don’t think that that’s it, but maybe you’re on to something. Does our generation need a religion?
Bradley:
Oh shit. You’re not going all Jesus-freak on me are you?
Linus:
No, but maybe you did. Look at it this way. In the 40’s there was a firm prayer base in America. Everyone went to church and said their prayers and all that. Can you name one musical person from the Forties?
Bradley:
(drops his cigarette butt in the empty soda bottle) Louis Armstrong.
Linus:
Yeah, but he went on to make music after the forties and kept on evolving. Can you name one musician that existed only in the forties?
Bradley:
No
Linus:
Ok, so now we move into the Fifties. Technology slowly begins to replace god in the minds of people. Who needs to go to church when we have atomic bombs to worry about? Water to wine, who cares? We can cook in our new microwave Oven. Name a music star from the fifties.
Bradley:
Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk…
Linus:
See, it’s getting easier. As god is replaced, people try to fill the void. Move on to the sixties. Not only the church, but the family unit and main street America are slowly being done away with. People are more interested in pleasure and making a difference. Now the idol figures are political ones like Abbie Hoffman, Hewey Newton, The Merry Pranksters…
Bradley:
Yeah yeah yeah, so what you’re saying is that if I had gone to church more as a kid I wouldn’t be into Nirvana and Sublime is that it?
Linus:
No. You said John Lennon was bigger than Jesus. I’m saying that he’s a different kind of savior that society has made for itself in the absence of anything more tangible. (he lights a cigarette of his own) Ok, look at the pattern of deified people. Jesus went around telling everyone that there was so much out there that they didn’t know about, that they were doing it all wrong. It’s not about hate and greed, it’s about love your neighbor and helping each other out ‘cause we’re all in this together. After a short while, Jesus was killed by some people who weren’t really into what he was saying. Are you with me so far?
Bradley:
(belches) Yeah
Linus:
Ok, so name some people that have been made into pop idols.
Bradley:
Ummm…Bob Marley, James Dean, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe.
Linus:
Every single one of them is dead. All of them died before their time and people still wonder what they could have done if they had been allowed to live out the full span of their lives.
Bradley:
No, man. What about the legends that are still alive. What about Mick Jagger?
Linus:
Used to be all about suprising people and going for shock and power. And he just got knighted so you really can’t say he’s still in it for the same reasons as he was at first.
Bradley:
Lou Reed
Linus:
Can you name five songs on Lou Reed’s last album?
Bradley:
Jerry Garcia
Linus:
Doesn’t count. He died of a drug overdose so we will never know how long he would have gone on or what he would have done if he hadn’t.
Bradley:
hmmmm…so the next time someone says Jon Bohnam is god, I can say yes?
Linus:
Well, maybe not THE god, but in the context of American society of today, yes, he would be A god.
Bradley:
Wow.
(The two sit and smoke for a while in silence.)
Bradley:
Wait a minute! If your theory is true then that means Pauley Shore and Keanu Reeves are gods too.
Linus:
(considers this for a second) You’re right. Well, I guess that means we have to be careful out there.