A true starving artist

He hasn't eaten since Sept. 5. Not only does he literally dangle above the River Thames, but his life hangs by a thread as well. Every day, thousands come to watch as an American man suffers from starvation. They stare, not because David Blaine is the victim of a sadistic, ancient torture method; rather, they can't help but gawk at the sheer spectacle. Here's a man who volunteered himself to starve for 44 days in a transparent box above a rapidly gushing river.\nSome might call Blaine a masochist, a suicidal maniac, an imitation tragic hero or simply a con artist. But he's most commonly referred to by the American public as a magician. Although he designed this stunt as another death-defying, crowd-crazing challenge, Brits aren't as impressed as Americans. Blaine's Harry Houdini-like confinements, such as standing still for days above Times Square on a tiny little platform, or being "buried alive" in a see-through coffin, have only roused support from the United States.\nMaybe the English just don't understand American magic tricks in the way most Americans don't think the English are funny.\nBut why is the British public raising such uproar? This is just another one of Blaine's elaborate stunts; yet according to an Associated Press report released last Friday, the crowd has gone so far as to throw paint balloons, golf balls, fish 'n' chips, burgers and eggs at Blaine's box. One man was arrested Sept. 16 for attempting to sever Blaine's water supply tube. The spectators bang drums and flash their butts and breasts at the magician to keep him from sleeping -- behavior so cruel, Blaine could only hope these rude English voyeurs will spare him, at least, the flashing of their teeth. \nWhat's so controversial about David Blaine anyway? What requires people to taunt rather than cheer for the daredevil? \nThe reasons range from a column in The Observer, which condemns Blaine as "a self-appointed demigod" and his demonstration a "pseudo-mystical scam," to another columnist from Salon.com, who made the broad accusation that all "magic is based on tricks and secrecy, so traditionally, only pathetic, lonely people ever want to lie that much for attention. Magicians are historically a sorry-assed lot." \nBlaine-haters consider the man an arrogant liar because he insists he's the trick itself, the defiance of physics, the bender of impossible into possible. At least David Copperfield confesses his tricks are mere illusions. \nCon artist. Escape artist. Perhaps the most obvious label overlooked by all the critics is simply this: artist. \nBlaine's controversial stunt draws various interpretations, emotional reactions and audiences, and whether or not he has caused outrage, a lot of people are ruminating over what Blaine is really trying to convey. \n Maybe it's a comment on the newest definition of "reality," the one that makes people push the envelope of human emotional and physical survival for the soul purpose of entertainment. David Blaine challenges death as if it were a game, as if it brings him pleasure to nearly escape it, which makes everyone else feel uncomfortable. \n Time, in terms of television, is measured by the length between commercial breaks, and no dangerous TV stunt ever lasted as long as 44 days. Blaine is a pioneer. Because televised confrontation with death is a fantasy, Blaine's street confrontation with death seems too real and too egotistical. \nOr maybe it's just a magic trick that doesn't require an explanation. They claim they despise the hip-hop, streetwise magician, yet they spend a lot of time concerned with what's hidden up his thug sleeves. \nAnd while the artist meditates in solitude above an angry audience of anti-entertainment fanatics, he's probably dreaming up his next shocking, self-debilitating masterpiece.