You Wish It Were Still 2020
You might be thinking, “Hey pal, how dare you tell me what I wish? I. Am. My. Own. Person!” Well strap into that lounging couch upon which you recline, for Uncle Freud has some news for you!
Uh, like, so over it!
Here’s what you can look forward to if you choose to read this entire article.
First, I’m going to present some themes using the film, The Truman Show as an example. WARNING: there are spoilers.
Next, I am going to ridicule you and call you inauthentic. (You should know that my ridiculing you serves a didactic purpose.)
Then, I’m going to explain to you why you actually wish 2020 had not ended, and this will involve a bit more ridicule.
Finally, I’ll leave you a message of hope - inspired by the Hellenistic schools of philosophy - that will help you address the ridicule and issues discussed in parts 2 & 3.
Other things to look for while reading this article:
A quote by Martin Sheen
A reference to Maslow
A pun
The Truman Show
In the film The Truman Show, the character of Christof is the creator of The Truman Show, a 24 reality TV show about the life of Truman Burbank in which Truman is the only character who does not know he is part of a TV show. When pressed on how he can justify keeping Truman in the prison cell of the artificial TV set that is all Truman knows, Christof says that, “Truman prefers his cell.” Christof’s worldview alludes to a theme in Existentialism: while we don’t consciously admit it, we prefer to live in a state of external control and subjugation. Is this true? Do we actually prefer to live a life of subjugation, a life of mental and psychological constraint?
What a True Man!
Spoiler Alert: Truman does not prefer his cell. His quest for both adventure and self-realization (dare one even say self-actualization, Maslow?) leads Truman to confront his fears and escape from the artificial world that surrounds him. Truman discovers his capacity to escape the psychological constraints of society and truly becomes a true man.
The Part Where I Ridicule You
You, on the other hand, are not a true person, like Truman. You are an inauthentic person and you know it. Nothing you do even mildly reeks of unique individuality or self knowledge and every second you spend, by yourself, in silence, terrifies you and so you fill the void, aware that if you were to spend time only with yourself, with nothing but your own thoughts, you would be forced to confront the you you really are and would be sucked into the void that fills you. You are terrified of yourself and have no prospects to become a true person because you know that you know yourself so little that if you were to discover the truest part of yourself you would not recognize it. You are forever lost, like a ship on stormy seas, and you don’t know how the sails work. Anyway, please keep reading.
You Wish It Were Still 2020
You might share a similar sentiment to about 99% of the population in rejoicing the end of 2020. Well, that’s what you announced on social media and told your friends. (I thought about putting the word friends in quotes there, but figured since I already ridiculed you in the previous paragraph, drawing attention to the fact that the people who you think are your friends are really just self interested subjects who spend time with you for your usefulness to them alone, putting friends in quotations would just add insult to injury. So, I didn’t do it.) Really, though, you (judge) dread this new year of Our Lord, 2021.
2020 was a tumultuous year and will be studied in history classes of the future the way that students today study the year 1968. While both 1968 and 2020 were years of upheaval, there is always a sense that 1968 was a year of progress. I don’t think many people think of progress when they think of 2020. It stands to reason that on January 1, 2021 at 12:00 a.m., we all washed our hands of 2020, much the way Pilate washed his hands (literally and metaphorically) when he sentenced Christ to death (Gibson, 2004).
You wish it were still 2020 because you prefer your cell, as Christof claimed. You do not want the freedom of the “normal” world because you know that the freedom of the normal world will no longer provide you the convenient excuse of being able to say, “2020 is just a wash” or “Classic 2020” or “This is totes a 2020 thang” or “Now ‘tis the era of Zoom” or “2020 problems” or “Hashtag 2020.” Instead, you will be confronted with the realization that 2020 was not an actual excuse, but simply the excuse you loved, for you attributed all your shortcomings to it and, hidden from normalcy, you were able to conceal that “Christ, you’re a bore!” (Estevez, 2010). After all, how did you spend your freedom of the normal world we knew less than a year ago? You lived on your phone and fashioned an image of yourself to the exterior world that took such energy to cultivate that you had no more energy to examine yourself, or live life, or marvel at the blossoming of a flower. You, before 2020 - and after as well - spent all your free time not in discovering who you are, but in ensuring that you never discovered who you are. This is what awaits you in 2021, your old patterns of self-unknowledge and your shame associated with this unknowledge.
angst
Now Some Nice Things
Hey, the world is not doom and gloom and I bet 2021 will actually be a good year. For starters, you read this entire article and yea, it might not seem like much of an accomplishment to read one article, the fact is I said some pretty mean stuff to you and you still made it through the whole thing. This is something you should be proud of because this is something only someone with self-knowledge could accomplish. Yes, you have self-knowledge, and I’m not even going to undermine that compliment in the next sentence.
Still, the reality is the stress and fear and upheaval of 2020 will not end at midnight on January 1, but why would we want it to? Why would we shirk the responsibility for meeting social and personal challenges and hope for the end of those challenges at one stroke of the old grandfather clock? Heck, perhaps the challenges you will face in 2021 might just be the challenges you need to find what has been lacking in your life. Maybe the challenges of 2021 will be harder, but in future years you will see how 2020 prepared you well for these challenges. Maybe you will discover that your depth of character is deeper than you thought and only in the struggle are you gifted with the courage to plumb those depths.
Your life is ticking away. Don’t you realize that, buddy?
I think we should all wish it were perpetually 2020, so we could rise to the challenge each day.
Happy new year Snobs. Snob on!