Over at the
always thoughtful MoominLight
blog, a
"riff"
on my post about what I call the
heroization of America through
micromythology. The following post started out as a comment on
Moom's riff, but it got too big, so it has become a counter-riff,
maybe the 2nd half of the fugue, so to speak.
Photo: ye olde pork
shoulder dinner.
In my
original post, I argued that America is becoming heroized in
the Greek sense through reality shows, blogs, Facebook, and
other social networking and keeping-in-touch sites. An ancient
Greek hero, I explained, is one who lives a life that is
outstanding, talked about, and whose stories are recounted by
poets. I contended that, through publication on the Internet,
we are calling attention to our own lives as outstanding,
worthy of being talked about, and that mostly we ourselves are
becoming our own mythologists, telling our own stories.
I also
argued that our stories are being told in snippets, and are
"micromyths." I did not argue that everyone wants to be as
famous (and as troubled) as, for example, John and Kate
Gosselin, Sarah Palin or Michael Jackson. It's a matter of
degree.
Anyway, I
think Moom handsomely illustrated my thesis, especially in the
matter of degree of wanting to be known.
Not that I don't like having people read my blog. I definitely enjoy it when more people read (and comment), but that's not my major goal, and it certainly wasn't the goal I started with* (although, if you want to make me happier, you could go check out our new blog, (grin)).
Her
asterisked footnote reads, "Actually,
the reason I started my blog was to give myself a reason to
practice writing. I'm really amazed (and quite happy)
that you guys read it (grin)."
The key here is "reason." The reason why Moom didn't want to
practice writing on her own, anonymously-- it seems to me, at
least-- is precisely because no one would read it. The pleasure
of blogging (two grins' worth here) comes from knowing and
being known, of telling your story and having it be validated
and enjoyed by others. This impulse to share is the same
(though not as outsized, perhaps) as that which motivated
ancient Greek heroes.
Consider
the hero Odysseus and his famous encounter with Polyphemus, the
Cyclops. He gets into a terrible scrape with this monster, and
only escapes-- after blinding his opponent with a hot, pointed
stick-- because he is smart enough to call himself "No-one"
when Polyphemus asks him his name. When Polyphemus calls on his
brother Cyclopes for help, they ask him what is going on.
"No-one is killing me by trickery and guile!" He roars, and
they all shrug their shoulders. "Well, if no one is killing
you," they conclude, "then we can't give you any help, can
we?"
So far, so
good. But when Odysseus gets to his ship and thinks he is safe,
he can't resist publishing his name, occupation and pedigree,
boasting that he is the main character in the story Polyphemus
will tell about his misfortunes:
Cyclops, if anyone, any mortal man,
Asks you how you got your eye put out,
Tell him that Odysseus the marauder did it,
Son of Laertes, whose home is on Ithaca.
Odysseus'
desire to be known gets him in trouble, as Polyphemus now has
someone specific to curse, and he prays to his father Poseidon
to give Odysseus terrible troubles. Poseidon is glad to
oblige.
The
impulse to publish (large or small) is a hero's impulse,
whether the publication is a reality TV show, a blog, or a
140-character post on Twitter saying you love the bison burger
at Rocky Mountain Grill.
Seems to
me that Homer may have also been putting a lesson into that
encounter: that the impulse to be known is irresistible, and
potentially dangerous. The more people know your story, the
more likely you are going to come across someone who isn't
going to like it, for whatever reason.
Online,
there are monsters out there called "trolls" who take the place
of Polyphemus. "Trolls" tend to spend their time cursing,
criticizing and belittling bloggers, posters, and other online
heroes who don't agree with them. In extreme situations, a
troll can cause quite a bit of trouble for someone who has
decided to go the route of Internet notoriety.
Moom has a
lot of other really good stuff in this post, but I will close
now and let you go back to perusing the myriad micromyths that
are coming out of Facebook etc. at a thousand a second. In
fact, I think I'll go on FB and continue my saga. I had a
lovely pork shoulder sandwich and peach for lunch.
A counter counter riff to your counter riff. Thanks also for the link and ideas.
Posted by: M Light | July 19, 2009 at 10:05 AM
I found this conversation really engaging and wrote a sort of response on my blog.
Posted by: Summer | July 20, 2009 at 08:54 AM
Great, Summer-- do you happen to have your URL handy?
I am commenting on the MLight's latest riff over at her blog (click on MLight in her comment).
Posted by: DF | July 20, 2009 at 05:59 PM