I was watching a Vice documentary on Slavoj Zizek where he explains why Jaws was a commercial success. He reasons that Consumerist society is permeated with irrational fears. This could be evidenced by our media fixations: terrorism, mass murder, financial and climate collapse. It would be interesting to study whether or not these fears are endemic to our culture, and if so, to delve further into their source. Perhaps, that could be one topic of discussion. But Slavoj's point was that Jaws represents a singular entity that viewers project all their smaller, irrational fears onto, and that makes the movie genuinely scary to the general, American audience. (Side note: I believe that sharks kill less people each year than treadmills.)
This insight got me thinking further. There's not a lot that I fear, which exists outside the moment. Say a gunman points his weapon to my head, I may have an instinctual reaction, something like fear, but I don't dwell on the scenario occurring. I have, however, accrued a fair amount of anger throughout my life. I suppose, you could argue that anger shares the same source as fear. Like the dark side of the force. But I believe, it manifests itself differently. For instance, I can't stand my obese, obnoxiously Republican, perpetually unemployed, succubus of an Aunt. So, if I start to become agitated, she often becomes the topic of conversation, and if I become even more agitated, I'm liable to fume over all the ideals that she represents, and so on. All in all, it's relatively harmless, except perhaps, for the party who must listen.
Now, I do recognize their are healthier ways to vent adverse emotions. Some people paint, exercise, cook. I used to play guitar. However, at the risk of turning this into a do you do for stress relief thread, I want to know what, if any, entities irrationally occupy your mind, as a response to perceive or real societal ills. Answering this may take reflecting on movies that made you jump or conversations that return to you with ire. Also, if you can pinpoint the source of this irrationality, that may be worth sharing too.
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