The Unbearable Shallowness of Being : Comedy-Tragedy Dualism

Article first published as An Unbearable Shallowness of Being : The Comedy-Tragedy Dualism on Blogcritics.
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Maybe Comedy can save the planet ...


Say what you want, folks. This Jon Stewart boy is something. A comedian had the most powerful president in the world appear on his show, days before his party stakes it all in the mid-term elections. It is being discussed as mutually beneficial appearance lending more credibility for Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” as well as energize Obama’s liberal democratic base. That the president choose a fake news comedy program on “Comedy Central” over all the other ‘mainstream media’ channels at such a critical moment is surreal in itself. What ever happened to the real news channels? It is fascinating to see entertainment and politics merge this way. Did people in power start considering entertainment as a serious avenue for outreach? Not so long ago, being powerful and in-charge meant something else …  

The mainstream media is dropping their jaws, scratching their heads, widening their eyes and pinching each other in vicarious expressions of incredulity at this state of the nation where a comedian has better access to the president and can call him “dude” !!! Look at TIME magazine’s reaction as an example:

How did we get here? Today, political opinion shows are the most popular format of getting informed. A couple of months back, right-wing commentator Glenn Beck and Al Sharpton held rallies named “Restoring Honor” and "Reclaim the Dream" on MLK day and now Stewart/Colbert did the rebuttal called "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear". The only weird thing here is not just that these rallies have a punch-lines as names but also that all of them are hugely successful (Of course, Stewart's rally rocked !!!). It is amusing to me that America has come to a stage where entertainers choose to call the shots as it takes the flair and the gift of the gab to garner a little attention from people. They are the new Howard Zinns, Luther Kings and Gandhis in these fading ages. Gone are the old days when we gave 24 hours for news to happen and then it was then read by a good looking, well dressed anchor in an ambivalent tone. Today, the media is a wild circus trying to be our best friend, the wise old-man with 5% extra wisdom, the bad-ass bully and our internet surfing assistant (News people these days open websites on TV and read them out loud) – all within half an hour’s gap. The news delivered today is now sauteed with emotion, garnished with opinion and served red, hot and fresh in editorial style – all day !!! (India - the other country I associate with, has the same problems of yellow journalism and we will have to wait till the indian celebs get off the phone with their real estate dealers). How exactly did we get here?

When Jon Stewart announced the "Rally to Restore Sanity" to make a plea to tone down the volume and the extreme narrative that pervades Washington and the Cable News Channels, most of the media’s reactions to the announcement  is a bemused dismissal. In the run-up to the rally, serious journalists are taken aback by this gesture from a comedian – which they saw it as a sign of impudence and a comedian trying to step out of his shoes – a fake news comedian that should stick to making funny faces is telling how the actual news people should behave. “Should we lump in Stewart with other pundits? Is he a social commentator or an entertainer? Is he a newsman or a fake newsman? Is he funny or serious?” asks the Time Magazine.

For a long time now, the news networks have been dismissing Stewart by saying he benefits from a double standard as a comedian and that he can get away by saying anything he wants. May be Stewart does benefit from his detached position. But how is that even a problem, as long as he is delivering the content perspicaciously? THIS IS WHERE MY PROBLEM BEGINS. I frankly don’t care what happens to policy making or if media is making out on election day – I regard all that as solid entertainment. But, when people underestimate the effectiveness of comedy in pointing out the irony of things, I can’t stand that horrible stench of bigoted unenlightenment. The success of the Daily Show is a living testimony of the power of comedy in tackling a conversation about very critical and important matters of the day. Jon Stewart’s passion to his fake news program has made him America’s most trusted and mature newscaster in this age where journalism which once was one of most prestigious professions has retrograded to show-business and "not knowing what the heck are they doing?”. Even the president has given the nod when said he wouldn’t “lump with other pundits”.

Comedy is a wonderfully suttle tool to reflect on our life around us. Just take a look at the power of comedy in delicately reflecting on an important issue:



Just like Science or Objective truth or even spirituality, Comedy is just one of the most powerful reality-projecting mechanisms. These self-righteous journalists and political hawkers take their life too seriously and they can never accept a comedian getting important. Let me tell you a little something. The big business figured out how to tackle science and objectivity a long time ago. They control all the information with their media. Today, you have to be a news junkie or go out of the way to be decently educated, in a true sense. Big Oil and Coal lobby funds research to prove climate change is a farce. Food companies fund research to prove that their filthy food is really healthy. Media corporations have been bought and sold off that they wait for the Tiger Woods’ mistress more eagerly than poring over the details of ‘boring policy-making’. These days, you can make a person believe in anything but you know what? You can never make a person laugh. Not until companies figure out a way to tickle your arm-pits with vibrating gizmos to make you laugh forcibly for the ratings. What is comedy is an elusive question even to the best in business. As Woody Allen put it brilliantly,



The profession of comedy – and I am talking of the real good comedians – is one of unblemished and honest surviving crafts mining all its information from the purest of all sources – Reality. Yet, people don’t want to take a comedian seriously like “he’s just a buffoon and we’ll summon him when we want to be entertained”. My point is just this: .... comedians make you laugh ... they point out the irony and the ridiculousness of our value systems ... they have a point most of the times ... How come we respect more, the people who never do what they promise, bring about recessions and steal your money and those who remind us everyday of our differences and highlight the tragedies that have befallen us because of the “others”. Since when has a smile, a laugh and a lighter moment became less important than losing your job ? - may be that's the problem -  we value tragedy way over comedy … Although, I do think most people get this, some people take life and their job too seriously. I don't understand many things as an adult these days ...

Joseph Campbell writes in “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” on how comedy was regarded higher than tragedy in the ancient societies and that the “Happy ending of the fairy tale, the myth and the divine comedy of the soul, is to be read, not as a contradiction, but as a transcendence of the universal tragedy of man”.

With this, I end my unfunny defense of comedy. And Remember, COMEDY IS SEXYYY!!!
 
Three Cheers to the American freedom of speech and expression.

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Silly Points: Episode 4

DRINK, PRAY, LOVE

In yet another proof that we live in a surreptitiously weird world, a recent news was all around the web that "Heavy drinkers live longer than teetotalers" (link1,link2,link3). DRINK MORE TO LIVE LONGER - Isn't that such a counter-intuitive conclusion that flies into the faces of all those high-headed moralists out there. This also reminds me of numerous studies about how "Religious people live longer and happier than non-believers" (link1,link2,link3). GET SPIRITUAL TO LIVE LONGER - is also hanging up the skeptics who have been screaming how religion is the only problem with human society. I always love it when someone so sure is made to doubt himself by the forces of evil. It seems that these groups have won the first round of the evolutionary struggle against their mathematical opposites at least with respect to LIVING LONGER !!!

Now, who would have thought Booze and Religion have this thing in common? For a long time now, religions have scorned drinking and drinkers considered booze as a religion in retaliation. So, what the hell, time to reconcile those two now that we have science affirming that they both are equally effective. The central argument in both the studies seems to be that religion and alcohol "lubricates so many social interactions, and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health".

Unless, you are the type who dismisses psychology research on an hourly basis, this can only mean that :

Oddly enough, it just turns out that a 'bad' habit and a 'dogmatic leap of faith' is better than being a utterly rational, insipid, self-righteous guy who convinced himself that eschewing booze & profanity somehow qualifies him to nicer and sweeter to the ladies! Although it might seem that shorter lifespans of non-drinkers could be a conspiracy by the alcohol industry, I think it is very unlikely. To be fair to everyone, the fundamental thing here is to foster a good social life which can be achieved in a variety of ways but the bar and the church just happens to be the two most ubiquitous locations for socializing in the western world. So, if you got a drink or a God, you just improved your odds. Actually, if you could pull off booze and religion at the same time, it's all the more better because you can first get drunk and then pray that you won't get caught. That way everyone is happy !!!

GAME PLANS

Who cares if the athletes get to have sex over the next week or not? Once in a while before every major sporting event, we see headlines like the following:

I can't imagine this question coming up in a news conference. What exactly is the media trying to do by informing me information like this?

Is it trying to give me a schedule of the sexual availablilty of the athletes, just in case I am interested? Ewwww !!! Should we be sympatheizing if the coach decides not to allow them to engage in such activities? Is it a pre-emptive excuse for sub-standard performance that we are supposed to expect?

What is it? For the record, I just don't care what the privileges of these brawny, good-looking, well-built sportspersons are. I have enough concerns of my own. Thank you.

DOUBLE FEATURE

A really good movie plot that hasn't been tried so far:

A bunch of guys sitting in a movie theater and watching an astronomically boring, needlessly romantic, mindlessly violent, really crappy movie but here's the best part: they keep on passing hilarious, sarcastic and  smart ass comments all the time as the movie progresses.

Admit it, it's a good idea for improving DVD special features section on any of those Karan Johar's love sagas (or) most Telugu movies in the last 5 years. With good writing, it can make a funny cut out of those ambitiously serious movies that can kill you unless you are into booze or religion.

FLAWSOPHY FOCUS ON FACEBOOK

One of my favorite things in Facebook is all the funny links and videos. Occasionally, I convey my support to the effort of my friends who share them, with a "Like" or a "Comment". However, what also happens is that people start an irrelevant personal conversation in the comments section after I have "Like"d the video which leads to a deluge of updates for me - ruining a perfect set of comments.

Needless to say, facebook has other places for personal conversations.

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There is no need to "Like" your own comment or something you posted. It's kind of clear. Isn't it ? NOT NECESSARY !!! On the other hand, if you truly detest something and still share, you just have been awarded a medal of admiration from me.

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I have repeatedly observed people naming their Facebook picture albums as "Random". As a concerned Facebook account holder, "Random" has now become the most common name of a picture folder. Studies have repeatedly shown that "Random" is the second worst choice of a name after "My pictures" and that it's as lame as saving all your files in the "My Documents" folder [citation required]. If you must have a folder with random photos, here are a couple of classy names to get you started :  "Unclassified Idleness Inc.,"; "nondescript snapshots in moments of nonchalance" ; "Who says every picture album must have a coherent theme?" and so on ...

Let me put it in a hypothetical context:  Suppose I own a company whose business is unaffected by the ongoing recession and we are hiring. Naturally, during the interview process, I ask you to open your Facebook account to check out your pictures. In such a situation, If I chance upon any careless system of nomenclature, I might have a second thoughts about how your interview is going. I am that type.

Care a little about yourself and your profile, care a little about the world around you. Root for peace !!!

Ciao.

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A Rant in D(ream) Minor

Time for some artificial anger on a shallow topic

This one makes me so irate that I am going to change my Facebook status anytime now. I am getting tired of how carelessly we use the word "Dream". So, this weekend, I volunteer to nip this menace right in the bud.

Thanks to the incredible self-involved culture we are constantly bombarded with, everyone now has tons of things with dream as an adjective - dream House, dream partner, dream job, dream Fantasy, dream dress, dream children, dream vacation, dream phone, dream furniture. dream -this, dream -that. Simple-minded people think a dream is just a soft-sounding metaphor or a nice poetic expression that is perfectly valid if said in context. Alas, I am not simple-minded for a reason. So, I choose to beg and differ. Don't get me wrong here. There is nothing absolutely wrong in wishing that your life is better.  Frankly, I don't have a problem with a metaphor - as long as we are justifying it's complete implication. We just use the word "dream" for the positive things only and completely ignore the fact that a lot of dreams are senseless violations of physical laws and happenstance. We don't hear anyone getting a 'dream traffic ticket' even though it is perfectly possible in a dream. Moreover, we don't remember 99% of detail in any dream, 84% of the time. Yet, we got people using it all the time with prime confidence. (Yeah. Yeah. I know we got the word "nightmare" for tragic contexts but it is not nearly used as often except in narratives of a disaster date you've been recently in).

I find that we are all using the word "dream" to imply a mere wishful thought we think of, when we are completely wide awake. Just like …



Therefore, I request you to join my modest protest against how something as colorful and diverse as dreaming has been downgraded to capture the selfish mood of  a passing wish for more comfort and convenience especially when not asleep - the fundamental prerequisite for having a dream. This clearly is an abuse of the beautiful word that people like Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Christopher Nolan are rolling in their graves. The whole thing has crept into the culture so much that politicians are using the word to describe their plans for you. The trend has degenerated so much that banks are offering dream loans. Check it out :

Dream loan???

First of all, Why would anyone dream of getting a loan?

Of all the kinds of loans, why would I choose the one with the terms and conditions, I dreamt about.

Also, Do you think I should visit a chiropractor if I am seeing contract documents in my dreams?
 

On the same subject, trying to "have a dream-day" is such an oxymoron that it would throw a cosmic  'Stack Overflow Error'. Trust me on that.

Suppose …

Wait till you hear this. They are holding this party on a skating rink - some Chronicles of Narnia theme or something. The ice is orange in color. I don't know how they pulled off the color thing but I am sure this party is going to bomb big time because I bet half the crowd can't skate. Never mind, they got the master blaster signing a commemorative book with his blood stains in it and the Poor thing, out-of-work Anna Kournikova is putting a stage show called "Tennis on Ice". Terrific that they at least got the Black Sabbath to keep playing the Jazz dance grooves.  Wow ... Whom do I see? Is that the ethereal Scarlett Johansson? The good part about being in show business is at least you think you can run into people you have a crush on. May be I will skate around and break ice using this stinking kabob. She's so gorgeous.

[RAT-TAT-TAT ... loud rapid gun-shots]

What?? Oh! My god! The loud alarm sound is blaring in my ear drum. The security has been breached. We are having a terrorist attack !!! These Taliban bastards are opening fire on us. People are all tumbling down. Which dumb ass got the idea to hold a high-profile celeb party on a skating rink with low security. People are falling down on each other. There is complete havoc now - the blood and the brains are being splattered on the floor. The whole commotion and horror seems like a real Black Sabbath video. They are now playing heavy metal numbers non-coincidentally. The Taliban are now coming after me, hurling lead towards me. Aaaargh! They got a shot into my arm. The chill of the icing rink, the racing brain, the feeling of exasperated nervousness results in a slight homeostatic upset in my epidermis as my lungs try to suck in heaps of air. I'll grab her hand and skate hurriedly towards the elevator on the right. "Bend down, dear Scarlett and close your eyes. Relax, You'll be safe and live happily ever after".

GASP ... GASP ... RUN ... Good, we made it to the elevator in time. Hell, this is not a goddamn elevator - This is iSHRIEK, world's most dangerous roller coaster from Apple - just for the elitists. We got in as we feel a sudden acceleration to plunge us down. We are being hurled towards the ground. I feel my weightless body, the adrenaline rush of blood into my hypothalamus, my teeth are clattering, my eyes are widened. I grip her tightly. She grips me tighter.  I just say, "Don't worry, Scarlett … We are safe from that bloodshed … we are just in a roller-coaster ... it's going to end". And she smiles gratefully. And oh no! She's not Scarlett Johansson. She's my wife !!! I saved my wife instead.

Wait a minute. I never even married. NEVER!!!  How can I even have a wife in the first place?

NOW WE ARE TALKING DREAMS !!! with all their vigor, drama and ridiculousness.

Just because Kekule had his Nobel Prize, everyone wants to aspire for their moment in the sun. We have to be careful. Have a nice day chasing your dreams.

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Ayodhya - An Analogy and the Algebra

"Mandir wahin banegaa"

The hard-line Hindus are thrilled. The Muslims involved want a re-match - just for kicks although they don't have any deep spiritual relevance at stake there. The media is visibly disappointed at the silent heaves of relief especially after sending crews to every corner of the country to catch live footage action of predicted violence. The politicians had a day off from work - I bet not one worked today. Most people are happy that the issue is finally put to rest.  That is the advantage of rendering judgment on a post-lunch session on a working day of the week. Most people are too heavy in stomach and too sleepy in their mind to bother about religion. The Young India, self-interested in it's own development and in a show of valorous defiance against teachers of the pesky subject called 'History & Civics', wants to move on because they are "not even born in 1992" (CNN-IBN).

"I think the young generation was not even born in 1992 so they don’t even care… right now everyone wants to live in peace and harmony and everybody is looking for development"
http://ibnlive.in.com/news...

And I… am a little confused.

OK. I don't know much about law, but I certainly know something about Mathematics from my Engineering PhD. 3 parties were involved. 60 years later, the land is asked to be divided by 3. By "3" - the exact number of parties involved !!! Three parties => Three equal parts. Is it just me or did the judges take 60 years for arithmetic division and decide an exact 1/3 ratio? At least, they could have divided it  34.6%-32.9%-32.5% for pretense of some real work and my satisfaction !!! Hey, don't blame my logic. I am the mango man (aam-admi). I just see who all went into the court and how much did each of them get at the end !

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.  Enough of trivializing.  I know the case had a whole bunch of other resolved issues like if Babar constructed it or if he destroyed a temple to do so and so on.

A PORTRAIT OF A SYMBOL

First of all, the way I look at all this is symbols. God is a symbol - a metaphor for the mystery that we all experience and cannot find answers to. A temple, all the more is a physical manifestation of this symbolic God. And in religious parlance, symbols mean everything. At this point, you'd find these arrogant atheists jump at our throat for respecting a symbol. I just tell all those atheists to look at Algebra - the whole damn thing is full of symbols - x, y ,z etc. And algebra works. Doesn't it? Can't be all bad if symbols work with something abstract like math !!! Something that has always fascinated me is how symbols are more valuable in our lives and how life, largely is lived on emotional contexts that these symbols provide. People have always devoted their lives for symbols - representing family, caste or tribe, religion, nation, justice, democracy, equality,  moral values, humanity, empathy towards animals and so on. I am not judging anyone. I include myself in this reverence for symbols.

As much as symbols are powerful for the individual experience, the gross molestation and politicization of these symbols by a few high-priests in the hierarchy of every religion is well-documented in human history and one of its proud moments. We saw the same drama unravel during the recent New York's  "ground zero mosque" controversy - where a proposed Islamic cultural center (NOT A MOSQUE), five blocks away (NOT AT GROUND ZERO) from 9/11 WTC tower site has been blown out of proportion by the media and the politicians. A Florida church pastor even threatened to burn the Koran and destroy Islam's highest symbol.  The funny part here was that a bunch of Muslims set fire on a Christian school in Kashmir thinking that the Koran was actually burnt. Symbols and emotional attachment to them can get tricky especially if people forget that they are symbols. We always hear about hurting the "sensitivities of people". Why? Why would people be so sensitive? Did you ever think why people are such wussies? Because the high-jackers of every religion never want us to know the deeper truth - that it is just a symbol.

Anyway, I am happy that Ram Janma Bhoomi is a reality. Hindus won a rightful (???) place for them to build a symbol at the birth place of one of the important Gods in it's mythology. It is a significant moment for the history of religion (Is it?).

SHH ... A SOUND OF SILENCE

But, how did we do it?

Have we okay-ed the fact that we can avenge even after centuries and centuries and judge history through today's moral lens of justice? Are we allowed to vindicate a treacherous act committed 500 years ago in a pre-democratic, pre-industrial, pre-political era when wars and destruction are 'fair' and a cruder way of "mergers and acquisitions (M&A)".  If so, what are the implications? Will we start settling other scores committed centuries ago? Will someone bomb Iran for Mohammad Ghazni now? I hope this was an isolated special case ... 

They are asking me to be euphoric about the success  that my symbol of the divine now has a registration certificate. They are telling me it's all worth it. Upon building a temple there, Hinduism will have its own holy land now - Just like the Israel, Mecca or the Vatican.  They put my religion in the rat-race against others now.  We are playing their game now? For a long time, I was proud of the fact that Hinduism couldn't be defined or limited by human expression. Hinduism's transcendental  approach and fierce honesty of its philosophical premises sweeps me away. I am bedazzled by Hinduism's stunning insights and the creativity of the colorful symbolism that explain and unify the experience of being alive and being human (Please refer to "Myths of Light" by Joseph Campbell or the works of Dr. Radha Krishnan).  I learnt that only a Hindu could choose to experience the divine glory and mystery of life in any manner he chooses and need not be limited by idol worship or chanting or rituals ("Whatever Works").

The key thing is to be in awe of the mystery. Hinduism is the world's first open-source project.  This is the thing that pains me most. Why is no one grasping this? Why is it that only a certain narrative is ruling the roost? Is this hard and clear crystallization for the good? Will we get back to concentrate on solving the algebra and experiencing the unknown?

My problem is not the victory, but what are we winning? Help me out here. Isn't decision making easier sometimes if we understand less ?
(Special Thanks to Medhajananam)

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