It is commented in many other parts of the world, I think, how superficial Americans are, how banal our culture is. I think this is true and not true. I think a generation ago we were like everyone else, and in fact happier, more open, and more spontaneous than most other countries. We lived in peace and prosperity, with a society that was more just than, arguably, any in human history. All of which is the human dream.
It might be that we were not creating great art–great poetry, great literature, great painting–but we had, and to the point continue to have, substantially EVERYTHING most humans have dreamed of for much of human history, including the freedom to suffer as much as we want to, in the pursuit of great art, if that is how we feel it is to be pursued.
We have warm comfortable beds, safe homes (mostly), effective policing in most cases, a strong national defense, good roads, stocked grocery stores, etc.
But the media we consume is sickening us. I feel this. Commercials are intended to make us feel that things make us happy. Our media makes us fear the world as very violent, when in most cases it isn’t. What we lack is a capacity to wind down, to relax deeply, to breathe freely, and much of his loss comes from media, from the refusal, for likely sound business reasons, for the writers of a series like Stranger Things to grant us peace.
I am really evaluating right now the media I consume, the movies I watch. Viewing Violence–which was the name of a book I read some years ago and commented on at that time–changes us. It makes the world worse. It makes the world worse. This point cannot be overstated. We are marinated, saturated, in violence. I saw kids so small watching the Black Panther movie in the movie theater that they had to be carried in. Literally before kids can talk they are watching murders, and violence. It’s a rare day when I watch TV I don’t see an image of someone tied down, and someone abusing them. It’s standard fare now. It’s ubiquitous. Most cop shows will have it at least once in damn near every episode.
All of this, cumulatively, has an effect. It makes us pessimistic. It fosters a sense of helplessness. It does make people emotionally shallow. It stunts dreams. It makes us less trusting of one another, and thus more lonely. It pushes us apart, all to our separate TV’s. If you could look at the world in the Upside Down of Stranger Things, you would see a hundred million people every night huddled in front of TV’s, largely disconnected even from the people on the couch with them, largely disconnected from their own intuitions, own feelings–their own life, in important respects.
All of this matters. All of this should be discussed. It is the absolute opposite of a partisan issue. I’m not asking anyone to ban anything, or endorse anything. I am asking YOU to think about the choices you make daily, and to ponder, carefully consider, in silence, what effect they are having.