Friday, January 21, 2005

W.W.Chuck Klosterman.D?

I felt both a little bit spanked and intrigued when I read this in Esquire, excerpted below. An interesting counter to some of my feelings of late about the election, swearing in, etc.

Do you want to be happy? I suspect that you do. Well, here's the first step to happiness: Don't get pissed off that people who aren't you happen to think Paris Hilton is interesting and deserves to be on TV every other day; the fame surrounding Paris Hilton is not a reflection on your life (unless you want it to be). Don't get pissed off because the Yeah Yeah Yeahs aren't on the radio enough; you can buy the goddamn record and play "Maps" all goddamn day (if that's what you want). Don't get pissed off because people didn't vote the way you voted. You knew that the country was polarized, and you knew that half of America is more upset by gay people getting married than it is about starting a war under false pretenses. You always knew that many Americans worry more about God than they worry about the economy, and you always knew those same Americans assume you're insane for feeling otherwise (just as you find them insane for supporting a theocracy). You knew this was a democracy when you agreed to participate, so you knew this was how things might work out. So don't get pissed off over the fact that the way you feel about culture isn't some kind of universal consensus. Because if you do, you will end up feeling betrayed. And it will be your own fault. You will feel bad, and you will deserve it.

Now, it's quite possible you disagree with me on this issue. And if you do, I know what your argument is: You're thinking, But I'm idealistic. This is what people who want to inflict their values on other people always think; they think that there is some kind of romantic, respectable aura that insulates the inflexible, and that their disappointment with culture proves that they're trapped by their own intellect and good taste. Somehow they think their sense of betrayal gives them integrity. It does not. If you really have integrity—if you truly live by your ideals, and those ideals dictate how you engage with the world at large—you will never feel betrayed by culture. You will simply enjoy culture more. You won't necessarily start watching syndicated episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond , but you will find it interesting that certain people do. You won't suddenly agree that Amelie was a more emotive movie than Friday Night Lights , but you won't feel alienated and offended if every film critic you read tells you that it is. You will care, but you won't care.

You're not wrong, but neither is the rest of the world. And you need to accept that those two things aren't really connected.


Insightful or just bullying?

4 comments:

Pam said...

This makes me feel like screaming "Fuck you!" and agreeing whole-heartedly at the same time.

Sometime back this young earnest pup showed up on my front porch fundraising for the Roadless Areas Act, or somesuch thing. We had a long talk about, of all things, snowmobiles. Do I want snowmobiles in the same places where I'm going snowshoeing? No sir, I do not. Do I think this means snowmobiles shouldn't get to go anywhere? No sir, I do not. I get that some people really like to go snowmobiling. As long as they can find a place - and I think that recreational land use plans should provide this - where they can pursue their activity without making a dog's breakfast out of natural treasures, well then, have fun, I say.

Thing is, I do feel that The Other Side is making a dog's breakfast out of, well, everything. It's fine if they watch - and enjoy - Everybody Loves Raymond. Only it seems to me more and more that Everybody Loves Raymond is on every channel, all the time.

Luckily, I hardly spend any time at all thinking about Paris Hilton.

Josh said...

I'm confused as to why you sense the post to be bullying in nature.

Reynolds said...

I don't think it's bullying. I think it's somewhat accurate (and somewhat just Columnist Bluster).

Asking such a huge question "is this bullying?" was more asking "do you agree or disagree?" Kind of a device, like talking about a controversial idea and then asking "so do you think that's a good idea or is it really bad?"

I'm not asking because I can't decide if it's a good or bad idea. I'm asking because I want to see how a reader responds if she doesn't know whether or not I think it's a good or bad idea.

for what it's worth, I'm also delighted that Pam responded with a story that illustrates the ambivalence I'm feeling right now.

Lillian said...

I call crap on a theory that puts Democracy in the firing line of a Theocracy. If we can vote ourselves out of a Democracy, that just doesn't make sense.

Also, I am frustrated by the continued op-ed pieces that take the views of the majority (christian, white mostly, etc.) and twist their position into that of a victim.

There are two examples that show this, the first being the hullabaloo over Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays. The folks who said they were feeling left out because no one was saying Merry Christmas comprise the majority. No one was telling them to limit their holiday banter.

The second is the recent articles I've read about the shocking rigidity of the left in enforcing politically correct behavior. Now, I'm not into people defining how I act & political correct behavior can be as limiting as following a literal interpretation of the bible in living one's life, but I smell a rat & here's why: the objections to raising issues that express intolerant views (pro-life, the evils of homosexuality) are not victim stances. They are intolerant stances. If folks are hung up on why it's so important to be tolerant, I would rather they figure it out, vs. use the tools of the left, or worse, of the oppressed, to manufacture a more intolerant society.

So, the article fits into what I've seen recently, a conservative yelp of joy and mouths talking through the slobber of intolerance with the mask of victimhood to make their chatter more palatable.

But really, you should hear my mother talk about republicans. She curses a lot until her face goes red. Some folks worry for her, but I figure, hell, how are you going to get her to stop doing that now???