Is ‘Celebrity’ The Achilles Heel Of Democracy?
And what can we learn from the lessons of ‘Black Bag’ (1967)
February 1967, a strange story hits the Associated Press out of nowhere. For several weeks a student has attended lectures in Corvallis, Oregon, dressed from head to toe in a large black bag. Students japes you might immediately presume but seldom have such japes lasted for so long and with so little evident payoff.
The lecturer Charles Goetzinger is schooling the class on persuasive speaking and ‘Black Bag’ stays for the entire semester sitting near the back. They contribute nothing. They add nothing. They’re just there.
Was this some esoteric style Jedi lesson Goetzinger was trying to impart to the other students? If so, it’s impressive because he’s a full decade ahead of Star Wars being released. Is it an attention-seeking prank by a disgruntled student? Is it a political statement? If it was, ‘Black Bag’ never announced their cause.
The identity of ‘Black Bag’ was known to only one person, Charles Goetzinger and he kept quiet on the matter. As you can see from the picture below most people presumed Black Bag was a man based on their feet alone.
