Frank Rich: Yes, You Are the Person of the Year!
<snip>
The most revealing index of our lust for escapism this year cannot be
found at YouTube or the multiplex, however, but in the sideshow
villains who distracted us from main news events in the Middle East:
James Frey, Mel Gibson, Michael Richards and Judith Regan. It was a
thrill beyond schadenfreude to watch them be soundly thrashed and
humiliated for their sins.
[ there's a word for "a thrill beyond schadenfreude". it's called
sadism, or the pleasure derived from seeing others suffer. pointing
out this particular emotion isn't to single out frank rich nor anyone
else, because after all, it's quite common these days. what's
troublesome is when it's denied or its meaning ****fted, like how the
column calls it "escapism" instead, thereby giving sadism a "civil"
veneer.
the mere fact frank rich is _expressing_ how he truly feels should not
be condemned. he's better off getting it off his chest publicly, and
others are better off knowing how strongly rich feels about the people
involved. payback, and all that. others may take issue with the
sadism itself, and who knows, maybe the various parties will eventually
come to some understanding, but it should be noted nothing can progress
if people are too neurotic to admit what they truly think and feel.
one more thing. when deciding not to think nor talk about the iraq war
specifically, the hope wasn't that i'd distract the prowar/antiwar
crowds from war issues or provide an escape, the hope was that i'd
leave the war behind and they'd keep on ba****ng each other. frankly,
it's a bit dismaying to realize so many of them have kept on reading.
go back to the war, people. it's im****tant to get right.
personally, the concern i have for US troops is the same i have for
innocent iraqis, coalition troops in afghanistan and its people, the
hungry and sick in africa, the uninsured in america, and so on -- there
is no difference in their souls. it's all the same to me, and the
whole long-term preventive approach was being neglected, in any case.
one more thing part two. it's not so much getting recognition or
approval or acceptance, as it was "is anyone out there?" seriously,
for nearly two years, the main worry was that i had imagined an
audience that didn't exist. it's what happens when your audience is
more paranoid than you are. ]
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