Senior English major
This weekend, I was sitting in my living room in the University View reading and browsing online. The sound of slamming doors is nothing new in my building, but it catches my attention nonetheless. On this particular night, a slammed door was followed by shouting and screaming. Upon further investigation (putting my ear to the door), I realized a couple was breaking up in the hallway. While I had no idea who these people are and was in no way invested in their relationship, I couldn’t help but continue listening. After almost 20 minutes of screaming, name-calling and questioning of sexual prowess, they parted ways and I went back to my work.
But it wasn’t until later, after telling my friends about the interaction and listening to their laughter-filled responses, that I started to feel bad for my part in the incident. I didn’t have anything to do with the breakup, but I was taking pleasure in the misfortune of my neighbors and finding entertainment in their pain and loss.
This realization got me thinking about how often society takes pleasure in the pain and misfortune of others. It happens in the media on an almost-daily basis. Take a look at the tabloid racks in the grocery store, and you are likely to see the same sorts of headlines every week. This celebrity got divorced from that celebrity. This famous person has drug problems. That former athlete is going to jail for unspecified domestic charges. Everyone is quick to scrutinize and judge and say how sad a situation is, but in the end, they are being entertained by listening and talking about someone else’s pain.
No one ever asks what happens to these people after the initial scandalous story. People go through pain regardless of how much money they have or how famous they are. I’m sure some celebrity couples are together just for publicity, but I’m even more sure that many of them are together because they want to be.
Don’t think for a second that I’m some celebrity advocate who thinks Oscar winners have been deeply wronged by society. But I do think finding entertainment in the misfortunes of others deeply wrongs society. Those who have experienced great loss or pain in their lives seem to be much less likely to enjoy when others are hurting. They understand that all people are equal and never should have their problems turned into jokes or headlines.
Regardless of whether we are talking about a celebrity or the guy down the hall, people are people and should be treated with respect.
It seems most people who become obsessed with celebrity gossip and talking about which celebrity screwed up this week are the people who don’t want to face their own lives. They need to compare the misfortunes of others to their own to show they aren’t as bad as the celebrity. But the way I see it, if you need to compare whose flaws are the biggest, you should realize you’ve already lost.
Dave Stroh is a senior English major. He can be reached at dstrohdbk@gmail.com.
