The Ironic Generation

I recently found myself in one of those "cool" shops which showcase the irreverent work of local artists, and was not impressed. In fact, I found myself thoroughly depressed by the experience. Nevertheless, I've come away with some reflections which I hope may be of some use.

First, let me provide a couple examples of the "art" which so disturbed me, and then attempt to interpret it so as to explain my reaction:

No doubt, you are familiar with those tall, cylindrical candles encased in glass and decorated with a depiction of one of the saints, or of the mother of God, or some other religious symbol. Well, a certain artist thought it would be clever to reproduce those candles and depictions, but in an ironic style. There were many variations, but, to give just one instance, there was a reverent-looking man, complete with beard and upturned eyes, holding a bong, and the caption read "So-and-So [I forget the name], The Patron Saint of Lost Brain Cells". I say that the artist thought this clever, and I must admit, it was clever. It even elicited a fleeting, ironic smile on my part. But the smile was quickly replaced by a strange sense of melancholy and even pity for the artist and for anyone who might be so delighted by the object as to purchase it and place it in their home. What disturbed me is that the object, though clever, was nothing more than clever, and while it awakened in me reflections of a higher nature, I could not help suspecting that the creator of the work, and almost certainly the admirers of the work, were not likely to be privy to its deeper ramifications; or, if they were, that these would somehow remain in the background, acting only to highlight the clever irony in the foreground, and to provide a chuckle, when they really ought to make us weep.

The second example is of an altar, rather elaborately decorated, and placed in the back corner of the shop. It was, as it were, an altar dedicated to nostalgia for an 80's childhood, and the direct subject was "Mr. T". There was an action figure, a lunch-box, and many other sorts of "Mr. T" paraphernalia. Again, it was clever. It was ironic. It was kitch. And it turned my stomach.

I know many people will think I am simply taking these things too seriously, and that I just need to lighten up and have a little fun. That's understandable. However, my objection is that this is precisely indicative of the moral, or spiritual, disease which has taken hold of our culture: We are afraid to take anything seriously. Any expression of true sincerity, in our culture, is regarded as highly suspect. Almost invariably, there is an immediate inclination to crack a joke, and to make light of whatever serious and sincere consideration happens to be tempting us into a deeper reflectiveness. The overwhelming message one seems to get, subtly or implicitly, is that "Life is a joke, and so is God, and so are you."

In fact, it is this very flippancy which makes the joke work, and though it may be healthful to laugh, it is a sure sign of disease when that laughter does not give way to a deeper period of reflection, in which one attempts to transform the situation into one which is not a joke. That we do not enter into a deeper consideration of the matter is symptomatic of the dire progression of the disease, for it shows that we are desperate indeed. We are like the madman who sees his madness and, yet, incapable of seeing any way out of it, is reduced to absolute hysterics. He cannot be reasoned with, but remains lost; trapped in a sort of self-referencing, self-satirizing condition. In essence, he feeds upon his own madness, -- or, more precisely, his madness feeds upon itself.

If we wished to be especially generous, we might interpret this condition as a last-ditch attempt to empower the self, which feels utterly disempowered, by reclaiming those aspects of experience which have been systematically co-opted by the culture. In other words, it is not unlike the situation of many members of the black community who have attempted to empower themselves by reclaiming the word "nigger", so as to remove the stigma of the word through a process of desensitization, making it instead a term of affection (i.e. "my nigger"). What we find is that the long history of it's use cannot be so easily dispelled. In consequence, the less controversial term "nigga" has taken its place, while the word "nigger" retains its original, derogatory connotations, and is perhaps more potent, and more taboo, than ever. Now we can only refer to it in polite society as "the N-word". So, in our present attempt to de-claw the beasts which threaten us, by making a joke of them, we have fallen into the very trap we wished to escape. What began as an underground movement, designed to satirize the mainstream consumerist culture, or the advertising machine which has co-opted every true expression of human experience and turned it into a marketing gimmick, ends by becoming that which it despised. Now, there is nothing more mainstream, nothing which has been so thoroughly co-opted, as this defiant, ironic distantiation which began as a defensive posture for those wishing to resist and distance themselves from the mainstream.

What the pieces discussed above really suggest to me is the utter spiritual poverty of our modern age, and the fact that many people, though clearly desperate for true, sincere tokens of spirituality, are not comfortable placing actual images of saints in their homes, -- but, still wishing somehow to access that strata, are settling for these pseudo-saints whose behavior benignly reflects their own, while only vaguely suggesting the discrepancy between their "lost brain cells" and the illuminated mind of those devoted to a higher path.

Now, the corporate juggernauts themselves are onto us, and have adopted our irony to suit their nefarious purposes. Like us, they are self-mocking, self-reflective, self-satirizing. Rather than make inflated claims which they know we are all too jaded to be moved by, they advertize like they don't care: "Insert Logo Here", or "Insert Clever Catch-Phrase Here", or "It's Just A Potato Chip", or "It's Just A Sneaker; It Won't Make You Capable Of Slam-Dunking Like Michael Jordan; But, Hey, Buy It Anyway" and so on. But it's just another marketing ploy. And we, in our self-referencing, culture-referencing attempts to take back the power, are merely succeeding in highlighting the dimensions of those cells in which we remain captive, along with our own hysterical hopelessness.

So what is the solution? How do we get free?

It's simple. We need to get real. We need to get serious, and reclaim sincerity from the cultural scrap-heap. But, more than this, we need to get serious about things which the culture cannot market to us. If you see a bumper-sticker advertising a message of anti-consumerism -- don't consume it, Stupid! And if you see a bumper-sticker advertising a message of anti-consumerism in an ironic, self-referencing fashion (i.e. "I Consumed This Anti-Consumerist Bumper-Sticker") -- definitely do not buy it.

All it does is play upon your sense of defeat. It's a hysterical madman, laughing at his own madness, and digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole with every clever, self-referencing, self-satirizing "joke". Isn't this, after all, the only thing truly ironic about it?

Get free. Get honest. Get serious. Get real. And don't be afraid to love God, or to make of Jesus Christ something more than a party gag; a "Buddy Christ". If you're a hypocrite, who hits the bong while harboring an ideal of perfect sobriety, then, dammit, be a hypocrite; have the courage to be a hypocrite; and don't attempt to make a joke of your hypocrisy by ironically lighting ironic candles to an ironic icon of an ironic patron saint.

No doubt, the instant you sincerely aim for the sublime, somebody somewhere will accuse you of being pretentious. No doubt they think having low aims makes them humble. But that's not true humility, and if you are going to err, then err on the side of the sublime. Don't be afraid to be pretentious; have the courage of your pretensions.

Don't attempt to ease your situation by making a joke of yourself, and calling it "having a sense of humor", or "being humble". There are better things to be than a clown, and there is still hope that you can be more than a clown.

Don't be a clown.

Be a person.