During the last election cycle I didn’t see a lot of heroes, but I did see a lot of over-the-top characters that would make great James Bond villains. I also heard a lot of doom-and-gloom rhetoric from both sides, about how we were going to be completely screwed if the other party won. Negative campaign ads brought to mind old Nazi and Soviet propaganda, because much of it used the same techniques of manipulation through fear. Something about failing to learn from history leads to repetition.
Realistically, I know that nothing is ever as bad as the pundits and politicos would have us believe, while at the same time certain things are far, far worse. Katie encouraged me to take my frustrations and turn it into a short story or a novel. My counter-proposal was to filter it into an Official Series Bible setting, making it an epic television series that never was.
I’m calling it Bad Haircut, for a couple of reasons. First, it’s weird and surreal, reflecting my perceptions of the whole political process. Second, it’s from a bit of conversation that Katie overheard recently, about how politics is like a bad haircut. You hate it, but all you can do it wait it out. It’s a horrible analogy, which puts it perfectly in sync with some of the other nonsense that comes out of peoples’ mouths where politics are concerned. Finally, it’s a riff on the villain of the piece, a billionaire named Harvard Troll III who has something on his head that appears to be a dead animal, but he insists is his real hair. He is a completely fictional character, and not at all based on any real person.
I want everyone to be clear that Bad Haircut is a work of fiction, designed to offer interesting roleplaying opportunities, and is not a manifesto pushing my own personal political opinions. I want to have fun with it, but I’m not interested in flame wars. On the other hand, controversy could spark sales, so if anyone knows how I could get copies into the hands of Rush Limbaugh, Bill Mahar, Rachel Maddow, Glenn Beck, Tavis Smiley, or Bill O’Reilly, I’d appreciate it. Nothing generates cash like a crapstorm of irrational rage.
