What a pleasant reading.
Considering the quality of the texts I recently came across for the Theory Course, when I grabbed a copy of Air Guitar, I was prepared to face a reading as intense as Alain Badiou or Jonathan Meades. So I laid down on my bed, right after supper, and took a long breath in order to gather my concentration… After the first few lines I was kindly surprised. Completely caught off-guard by the refreshing approach of Dave Hickey – one of my new heroes - to talk about Las Vegas. Do not get me wrong. I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy the previous readings, as intense and syntactically twisted as they were, I must say they had their own charm. But I personally believe that Dave Hickey’s writing transports you on a completely different level. The way he describes Las Vegas as his hometown is simple but at the same time very colourful, I cannot help my self to quote him: ‘a moral bottom line – a secular refuge and a source of comforts and reassurances that are unavailable elsewhere’.
What a genius. Of course Las Vegas feels like home! Why would it feel any different when everyone is treated the same no matter how much cash you are carrying in your pockets? There are no secrets. Or perhaps there weren’t…
Just like a parent that quietly picks his favourite child, Las Vegas – like the rest of the world - in the past few years seem to have picked celebrities. Pop culture phenomenon like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton started feeding hotels and clubs with front-page headlines, free publicity as well as a lot of cash. Who doesn’t love a little bit of extra money? I do not blame Vegas for having ‘given up’ letting celebrities somehow shape part of its values of equal approach to people. We all have our weaknesses and money seem to be one of those that binds us all.
Even though somebody may be treated differently according to his status it is important to notice how everybody gets the exact same chance to win or lose in front of a roulette. Both celebrities and regular people experience the ‘fluttery moments of faint but raising hope, in the possibility of wonder, in the swell of desire while the dice are still bouncing’. And the very fact that Vegas ‘cheats you fair’ is what still makes it a special and unique place on this planet.
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