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[This message has been edited by Phanto (edited March 10, 2004).]

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It must be said, however, that the existentialists have not found a new piece to champion in Phanto's "Deleted."

This is because "Deleted" goes beyond mere symbolism. What we have here is a concrete instance of a man making a choice; there is no symbolism, save only what one wishes to extrapolate from a historic, recorded fact; in this case, Phanto's making the overt decision to delete his 13 line submission.

For it is in the concept of choice that existentialism, ultimately, lives or dies. What is the meaning of choice, argue the sad philosophers, convinced that whether one believes that God does not exist or that He so beyond us that belief in God does not matter or that fate without foreknowledge is our lot in life, choice is all he has, and thus he has no choice worth making. This is the existentialist's grim reality - he can not take comfort in any God or design, for his vision is too limited. Indeed, he is not merely free to choose, but he is utterly free, and it is in this understanding that existentialist fear both originates from and returns to. The true existentialist ends up floating downstream through life, content to suffer the consequences of the choices of others, or, worse, he adopts an attitude that dictates that because choices are made in a vacuum of morality or law, then there need be no real rhyme or reason to his decision making. But he cowers in fear, somewhere deep in his tiny little heart.
What better way to avoid facing (and thus admitting) the bleakness of his philosophy than to boldly post 13-line submissions, as if to say "You must believe that I am in control, even though I believe I am not."

Thus, I must argue that in "Deleted" we do not have an act of symbolism of the "emptiness that is the human condition." Rather, what we have is a man, an Artist, making a choice to delete his submission because he has no fear of life, no black corner of despair in his heart, to hide from us, and I further argue that, in fact, by his action - by his overt, unmistakable, unhideable choice - we have not just a symbol of, but a historic celebration of choice as it is meant to be made - proudly, openly, and with the knowledge that Phanto's choice matters, and that everything I've just typed is complete bullshit.

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This is because "Deleted" goes beyond mere symbolism.

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This is less than symbolic. It is, I propose, the antithesis of symbolism. It is the negation of meaning, for what is meaning other than the symbols with which we make sense of the world?

Whatever else you might say about this work, it is not, because it is naught.

AUGH!

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But choice? I don't buy that argument....If Phantos had had a choice, he undoubtedly would have cancelled the entire thread, as I myself have tried to do in the past. This is actually a telling tale of the limited nature of the choices we human beings have. When left with little choice, we strive to do the best we can.

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Personally, I hope he doesn't let our mutual tease scare him into not posting something.

For, as in Goddard's "Guildenstern and Rosenkrantz Are Dead. . ."

[Etc.]

" . . . and I thank you for your time and your illuminating question. It was certainly worth the $5,000 your university shelled out to have me visit and . . ."

[Etc.]

". . . And, speaking of Kleenex . . ."

"Deleted" is obviously a symbolic foray into the unconscious world of subliminal sexuality. The symbolism is rather disturbing to the reader, certainly, but it is in this very discomfort that the point is made. Haven't we all felt a little "deleted" from time to time? Honestly? I mean, I know I have, and that's why this piece spoke to me so deeply.