me bitter?

by mg at 04:12 PM on January 24, 2001

So, I've not updated in a couple days. Which is kind of strange because I've got plenty to say. What a weekend. There is a lot to update as far as the whole love triangle episode of the last week or so. Yet, for some reason I don't care to write about it, or anything really. I've been wallowing in my own putrid emotions for long enough now.

What is it about humanity (or at least everyone that I've ever met) that makes us revel in the unhappinesses of our lives?

We are all guilty of it, me no less than anyone else. Why else, when I've got a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my stomach do I choose to constantly dwell on just the mere possibility of being laid off? Why else, when I've got family and friends who love and support me, do I focus on being dumped by my girlfriend? Why else, when I've got my intelligence, creativity and passion for life do I choose to accentuate the negative?

Is it because trying to find the good in life is so much harder than bitching about what's wrong with it? And let us just never mind trying to make a change.

What is truly sick is that it isn't just as individuals that we accentuate the negative. We do so as a culture. Just watch your nightly news cast. Most will have a segment dedicated to good news.

A one-minute segment in a 35-minute newscast. Is that the worldwide ratio of good to bad news?

No, but no one cares about some firemen rescuing a cat from a burning tree house. They want to hear about murder, rape, and scandal. They want to hear about people getting their skulls smashed in with bricks.

When only 60 seconds out every 2,100 are dedicated to good news no wonder most people believe they are (orders of magnitude) more likely to be the victim of a violent crime than they actually are.

This sadistic worldview is certainly not just used in regards to reality. We wear blood colored glasses when it comes to fiction too.

A flip through TV guide reveals that nearly every drama involves some combination of doctors, lawyers, and police, or demons. Death. Conflict. Crime. Evil. The same is true of cinema, literature, and on and on.

Even comedies contain an element of darkness. We may have been laughing, but when we watched Roseanne it wasn't about laughing with her. It was about laughing at her. No matter how fucked up our lives might seem, when we see someone up on stage or on television with a worse life, we can laugh. You may have just been contemplating hanging yourself in the basement a few hours ago, but seeing that dude on the screen there, his life is waaay worse.

HA HA FUCKING HA!