Why are we so fascinated with tabloids? Let’s conduct a thought experiment. We love these rags because:
A) We’d like to see a monster attack politicians, people who talk in movies, price-gouging oil companies, doctors who overbook, mothers who beat their children in Wal-Mart, noisy neighbors, etc. In short, we’re like Network’s Howard Beale, who screams “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not taking it anymore!” We’re filled with rage at the injustices all around us, but we never speak up and truly say what’s on our minds. We hold it all in.
B) As novelist Walker Percy said, we have the spiritual flu. We have no idea who we are and are lost in the cosmos. We live vicariously since anything is better than the mundane existence we lead. We therefore anesthetize ourselves with alcohol, tabloids, reality TV, Britney news, and soap operas.
I’m not sure A and B are mutually exclusive, but I think Percy had a point. If we’re not massively insecure, why do we always look at any reflecting surface that we happen to pass, such as department store windows or mirrors? I think it’s because we’re not sure we’re really there. (Picture: Public Domain).
A) We’d like to see a monster attack politicians, people who talk in movies, price-gouging oil companies, doctors who overbook, mothers who beat their children in Wal-Mart, noisy neighbors, etc. In short, we’re like Network’s Howard Beale, who screams “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not taking it anymore!” We’re filled with rage at the injustices all around us, but we never speak up and truly say what’s on our minds. We hold it all in.
B) As novelist Walker Percy said, we have the spiritual flu. We have no idea who we are and are lost in the cosmos. We live vicariously since anything is better than the mundane existence we lead. We therefore anesthetize ourselves with alcohol, tabloids, reality TV, Britney news, and soap operas.
I’m not sure A and B are mutually exclusive, but I think Percy had a point. If we’re not massively insecure, why do we always look at any reflecting surface that we happen to pass, such as department store windows or mirrors? I think it’s because we’re not sure we’re really there. (Picture: Public Domain).
2 comments:
I used to like cheking out my reflection. Now I duck...
hee hee! Yeah, I'm starting to get some gray hair (the beard is only there because of Hair Color for Men), and I'd rather live in denial, not knowing what's on me noggin'.
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