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Faith Current's avatar

I'm too lazy to go find the section that sparked the following for me, but it's there somewhere in the words above this box, and it's the idea that there's a spectrum. It starts with completely acting as if there is no pain, no trauma, no bad stuff happening at all, individually or in the world -- the pre normalizing therapy/self help era of manners, politeness, reserve, etc. THere's a sweet spot in the middle where people get to not be ashamed of being flawed and having emotional Stuff To Deal With that requires some special handling.

But we've now moved firmly to the other extreme where most people are so in love with their special and unique and precious trauma and pain that they don't want to let go of it because it's become the way they "identify" in the world. And if they let go of their sad story and move on, they have to construct a new identity, and well, fuck, that's a lot of work when the world already gives them so much attention for being so damaged and traumatized and broken. We've romanticized being broken, fetishized it, really. And it's a problem. And I think to some extent maybe -- and this might be the part I'm remembering from your piece -- Lenny Bruce was part of that.

I speak from some experience here, having inadvertently marooned myself in Victimland for too many years before figuring out that there are lots better ways of getting attention and feeling special than identifying with my sad story.

I have no idea what my comment has to do with comedy. It's just my Hyde Park soapbox and I seized the opportunity.

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E.R. Flynn's avatar

The Answer Man and his fancy learnin’ does a great job explaining when it’s appropriate to laugh at somebody slipping on a karmic banana peel, and also why bananas were never allowed into Nazi Germany…or currently in the half of Congress controlled by the GOP. They do enough pratfalls without any help.

OK, OK, Mike, I’ll stop with the joking. I can't stomach a rewatch of Godfather III.

But still, excellent food for thought in this post.

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