ginny t. 9/12

I have a confession to make: I am a jerk. Case in point—the other night my husband tripped over the laptop cord and took a tumble into an ottoman, sliding halfway across our newly tiled living room floor, eventually thudding to a stop against the wall. A good, caring wife would rush to her injured love’s side to offer him comfort. And I totally would have done that, if I hadn’t been laughing so hard. I just rolled around on the couch in hysterics, finally asking him if he was OK in between giggle fits. As he sat nursing his swollen toes, I could tell he wasn’t thrilled with my lack of compassion. And even though it was really, really funny to watch him sail across the floor in a jumble of arms, legs and cords, I can honestly say I’m not proud of my reaction. But now I realize, thanks to Lyotard, that it’s not my fault. I am simply a product of Postmodernity, and the idea that we derive pleasure from pain. Phew!

Clearly, I’m not alone. There are plenty of other people who get pleasure from seeing other people in pain. That fact is illustrated perfectly by shows like America’s Funniest Home Videos (physical pain) and Jerry Springer Show (existential/cultural pain.) I think the allure of seeing other people in uncomfortable situations is that it makes us all feel a little but better about our own lives. Seeing the train wreck that is other people’s lives on shows like Jerry Springer just reinforces to the average person just how f-ed up reality can be, for other people(for the sake of argument, let’s just pretend that anything on the Jerry Springer show is actually real.)

Unfortunately, I think the relief can easily morph into apathy. While the pain caused by atrocities such as genocide in Darfur, violations of civil liberties, and illegal detainment of prisoners, is not necessarily pleasing to us (America,) it does often seem unreal. The isolation of our country numbs us from the pain of other people in the world. Not even a protracted “War on Terror” that was kicked off by a horrific attack on American soil can rouse us from our stupor. 9/11 made us acutely aware that we are not immune from pain, at least for a little bit; but a mere five years later, we have settled back into a satisfied, blissfully ignorant, ravenously consuming society.

I’m waiting to come across a PoMo theory that is actually uplifting, that has some optimistic take on the state of society and our planet. Maybe I’m just looking for a total metanarrative to come in and sweep me off my feet. But for now, I guess I’ll just have to settle for the bleak truth.