I refuse to pay for comedy.
Honestly, if a friend of mine has a stand-up show, but it costs five bucks, I probably won’t go. If a comedic film I want to see is coming out, I’ll wait until it’s picked up by a network then watch it for free.
Not to say that comedy, or light entertainment in general, isn’t legitimate expression; it most certainly is. However, comedy often relieves the mind but rarely feeds the soul. I can scarcely recall a time when comedy compelled me to philosophically re-examine my life.
Yet, I find myself surrounded by comedy and polite conversation.
Our modern society values the comedic — or the lighthearted — over the serious and contemplative. Consider this: If you know two people, one who is charismatic and entertaining and another who is emotionally intelligent but rather severe, who will be more socially accepted?
Most likely, it will be the lighthearted person.
We’ve been conditioned, I believe, to avoid the deeper aspects of life, both in solitude and in company of others. We’re constantly encouraged to fill our time with activities, jobs or academic pursuits, which therefore limits our own understanding of life’s emotional depth. Due to this lack of personal emotional understanding, it takes time for relationships to develop enough trust, on both sides, where issues of gravity and depth are permissible topics of discussion.
As such, we’re often thrown into relationships where we struggle to figure out our own issues, as well as those of the other person.
Perhaps this is part of the human condition. Perhaps we’re always going to be working on who we are, and examining how that identity fits into the world at large. I’m not offering an escape from human entanglements, nor am I advocating running away from them entirely.
All I offer is a simpler alternative.
In my experience, life became much easier when I focused less on being an affable Everyman and more on simply being true to myself. As it turns out, I’m far more serious than expected ... which is a grand thing.
While it’s not exactly socially encouraged to be emotionally intense, more often than not, that’s who I am, and that’s how a lot of others are, too. It’s about time we start paying deference to our natural inclinations.
Simply put, some of us would rather be discussing our life plans rather than an old episode of “Family Guy.”
Again, not to say one is better than the other. I will, however, say that I’ve had a lot more “Family Guy” conversations than life goal conversations. In the end, they relieved my mind but didn’t feed my soul.
The trick is to find a balance between the two.
So push those emotional boundaries. Let those in your life know your opinions, values and beliefs, not wrapped in a sheath of comedic self-deprecation but served on a platter of honesty.
Reach Alex at alexander.petrusek@asu.edu.
