Don’t Rain On My Parade
Iaconagraphy Press Assistant Editor Frances Keys here, with a PSA for whoever might be reading:
Don’t rain on people’s parades.
What do I mean by that? I mean when you see someone experiencing joy in something, no matter how “trivial” that something might seem to you, wherever you might be on this dismal little ball of blue that we have the pomposity to call “our planet”, don’t make it your business to attempt to steal that joy because of your own personal agendas, just because that’s apparently what all the other “cool kids” seem to be doing at the moment.
I’ve seen this happen so often of late that it’s becoming pretty blatant that it is some sort of new “in thing” to do. Somebody really loves Star Wars? Clearly they should be informed of the evil designs of the Monopoly Mouse, and the veiled fascism of the Empire/Imperial Remnant/First Order. Somebody enjoys crafting? Obviously they should be told about how many trees had to die to make that scrap album, or that using cotton in a dried flower arrangement is symbolic of enforced racism. Next month it will be people complaining about Christmas trees: they’ve been put up too early; they’re a capitalist symbol; they shouldn’t be called “Christmas” trees in the first place. C’mon, people! Really? Please!
Newsflash: Carrie Fisher always secretly wanted to be a Disney Princess anyway, so lay off the Mouse. The fascism of the Empire was never veiled in the first place; it’s a freaking allegory. “Bad guys doing good” has been “a thing” for over twenty years, so someone who promotes an Imperial aesthetic is far more likely to be an extremely charitable fan than a fascist. Those trees were going to die to be made into paper anyway; at least they were made into something beautiful that someone will treasure forever, instead of a roll of toilet paper. Cotton has been used by myriad cultures since time began, beginning in Pakistan in 5500 BCE; it was first grown and used in the Americas at Tehuacan, Mexico around 3400 BCE: if all you see when you look at a boll of cotton is the atrocity of slavery, then perhaps the person doing the dried flower arranging isn’t the racist. Christmas trees as we know them today are a 16th century German Christian tradition, so, no, they are not “stolen” from us Pagans, and, yes, they were called “Christmas” trees from the very beginning, and when a person chooses to erect theirs is as much your business as any other erections that are going on at their house during this time of year!
When a person’s driving need to be a Social Justice Warrior (SJW) overrides their need to be an empathetic human being, we’ve officially got a problem, because without empathy there can be no justice!
Maybe I’m just a crazy old dead lady (trust me, I’ve been called worse!), but I remember a time in our culture when it was the simple joys in life that actually helped people get through the shittiest of things, instead of acting as catalysts for yet more shittiness. Those simple joys are why we see an upsurge in comedic films during times of war: it isn’t accidental that the Three Stooges saw their greatest success during WWII. Those simple joys are also why J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the wake of his service during WWI; the same can be said for A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books. Perhaps those simple joys are indeed best summed up in a line from Tolkien:
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
Thorin’s last words to Bilbo, The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
Or, in the words of the most unlikely of all of the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood:
“A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference…It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.”
–Eeyore, Winnie-The-Pooh, 1926, A.A.Milne
Yet in our present climate, someone who “keeps looking for sunshine” would more likely be accused of being a global warming non-believer than a compassionate optimist with a penchant for empathy! And that is patently not okay!
Disney Princess Carrie Fisher once said:
“If my life wasn’t funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.
What that really means, other than what it sounds like, is, let’s say something happens and from a certain slant maybe it’s tragic, even a little bit shocking. Then time passes and you go to the funny slant, and now that very same thing can no longer do you any harm.”
Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking
We’ve got to stop focusing on the tragic or even the shocking and fast forward time to get to that “funny slant”– that place of joy–otherwise, instead of stopping all the harms of the world, we’re just going to keep breeding new ones. Without the little joys of life, no matter how seemingly insignificant those joys may seem at face value, life is just true, and that is profoundly unacceptable. I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to live a documentary; I’d much prefer a sci-fi rom com, possibly with Oscar Isaac or Pedro Pascal cast as the male lead (hey, a gal can dream!).
Maybe instead of focusing on whatever specific topic is currently providing someone we know with unbending joy, we should just focus on the joy. You know, unless they’re a flaming racist or a serial killer or they get their kicks by sacrificing puppies. Unless they are one of those people or are doing/promoting any of those things, that person’s simple joy should be a source of marvelous wonder in this world in which we’re currently all surviving, instead of being used as the building blocks for yet another soapbox on which someone might stand and scream “look at me!”. This world doesn’t need more soundbytes, they’re already at a deafening pitch, and the best way to bring about social justice might actually be behaving in a manner that is socially just: acting in a manner which is fair, reciprocal, harmonious, and which seeks out and promotes empathy. Gee, imagine that!
*Don’t forget! Readings with Frances Keys are currently available in our Discount Divination Parlor for Witchtober!
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