From the Mind of Meegs

British tab The Mail claims that they've successfully outed Banksy.

For those who don't know, Banksy is essentially a high-concept graffiti artist. His work mostly deals with the sort of topics all of today's budding anarchists love to dwell on: faceless consumerism, government quasi-fascism, and other such ills. Furthermore, I have long harbored the belief that he is teh awesome.

While I realize that the intense secrecy surrounding his true identity has provoked some natural human curiosity, I have to question why anyone would want to out him. Given that the government has long held that his actions rise to the level of criminal behavior, why would anyone want to risk causing his arrest? Banksy has made a career of sticking it to the man. I for one believe that we should support this.

If you think about, Banksy and the tabloids sort of play for the same team. Both have built their reputations on a willingness to transgress the accepted norms of polite society. In essence, both look at us and say, "I'm going to do the things that you would do, were you not so wedded to various guidelines of ethics and etiquette."

The tabloids shamelessly pry into the lives of others. They ask tactless questions. They criticize mercilessly. And we enjoy it because these are all things we ourselves want to do. Who doesn't want to snoop for details about another person's life, details we have no actual right to? Who doesn't want to blast their opinions, especially negative opinions, for all to hear? The only thing that holds us back is the knowledge that, in many cases, such rudeness would be a social faux pas of epic proportions. The tabloids, in effect, take one for the team, exposing themselves to ridicule while we all enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Likewise, Banksy organizes the sorts of one-man protests that a lot of us might undertake, were we not afraid of censure. That censure could come in the form of arrest, or it could come in the form of sneers from others, who'd rather live fat, happy and consumeristic, thankyouverymuch. I guess here lies the difference. In a backwards way, the tabloids' transgression of social norms only winds up enforcing the status quo. My guess it that Banksy, whoever he may be, isn't much interested in the status quo.

I mean, seriously. It's like outing Robin Hood. Lawbreaker or not, if someone is kicking ass and taking names and not putting up with the bs that most of us have to put up with on a daily basis, why would you want to crap all over that party?