I've never been drawn to the mystique of motorcycle culture. The growl of a Harley or Harley imitator has never appealed to my inner bad girl. I don't like bullet bikes because they attract idiots who like to weave around traffic, hang out in blind spots, and compensate for whatever they're lacking by speeding through school zones. This can be traced mainly to the noise. I'm not a fan of the noise. I don't like it when my teeth rattle a little when a guy on a Hog pulls up beside me at a red light. I guess I'm also a little intimidated by the culture drawn to the bike. The black leather, rivets, skid-lid beanie helmets, long beards, tattoos of skulls and naked women....what can I say...they tend to put me on guard. Now I'm generalizing to an entire population...something I'm not a fan of.
Maybe this is also being fed by my new television obsession: The Sons of Anarchy. Everything about this show has me...the violence, the sex, the complex social structure, the use of a leisure activity to cover a subversive subculture, the code of honor among thieves, the loyalty to family, friends, the moral code, the Shakespearean relationship between Jax, his mom, and his step-dad. Can we say Hamlet? Macbeth? I try to imagine myself living in such a community (the version of me not totally averse to the sound of mufflers) and can't quite wrap my head around it. Would I be one of the nameless "innocents" who live a relatively vanilla life while a violent subculture keeps the cogs, nuts, and bolts of my community turning? Or, would I be a member, in the know about secret meetings, black markets, and clashes with other subcultures that sometimes result in death and dismemberment? I'd like to think I'd have some tie-in to the club, but never be privy to any information that could make me a target of a federal probe or professional hit.
All I know is that I can't stop thinking about it. The lives of Jax Teller, Gemma Morrow, and Tara Knowles are as real to me as I let most of my fictional obsessions get. I carry on imaginary conversations with them. Since Tara lived outside of Charming for ten years, does she long for the kind of luxuries she no longer has easy access to? Does she think to herself - "if only there was a Bed, Bath, and Beyond"? or "I would kill for some Stilton cheese right now"? What kind of music does Jax listen to? Are White Snake and Metallica required listening for the two-wheeled? Or is there a relative diversity to the playlists of the SOA members? Would Bobby listen to Andrew Bird, for example? Does Gemma like to dabble in gourmet cooking when she isn't threatening people? Does she have other hobbies, like jewelry making or competitive knife throwing? Does she want to go on vacation to Paris? Hawaii? Timbuktu?
These are tidbits of information I'd like to get my hands on. Too bad this kind of stuff isn't covered in a forty-five minute television drama.
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