Holiday Dissonance
So somewhere before dawn on Thursday I was roasting a turkey breast for dinner later that day. While I was waiting for the bird to be done I was reading Daily Kos, where a bit of a shouting match developed between a few commenters and diarists over the use of the term “trail of tears� in contexts other than the forced exodus(es) that claimed many Native American lives in the 1800s. The argument itself seemed to open some other festering issues inside the community, but what struck me was a comment that there are Narive Americans who observe the fourth Thursday of November as a National Day of Mourning. Then later Thursday night we were watching Survivor, where the contestants are camping in a Mayan ruin, where two contestants won a reward challenge to go to a natural hot spring by answering trivia questions about Mayan culture, and where for the immunity challenge contestants had to answer questions based on a story from Mayan folklore – an ancient civilization, rendered extinct and eventually turned into entertainment to sell ad time.
It was definitely a day of some cognitive dissonance. I had to acknowledge to myself that the life I have – with luxuries and opportunities that so many other people on this planet would find unimaginable – is in some part the product of severe injustices committed in the past, injustices whose effects have not been ameliorated but rather compounded over time. But I also pushed that thought out of my mind to focus on the next task I wanted to accomplish. I don’t know if there’s a truly satisfying way to resolve this kind of moral conflict on an individual level. But I’m having a sneaking suspicion that what I have been doing isn’t enough. This is one I’m gonna need to think about some more.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.
Saturday, November 26th 2005 at 8:22 pm |
I do like to think that by featuring Mayan cutlure so prominently on Survivor, more people are being exposed to the contributions that the civilization made than would have been otherwise. Yes, it’s chintzy and yes, it’s centuries late but some people are learning something… It’s really no different than when the show feature aborinal culture in the Austrailan Outback season or any of the other 10 seasons, for that matter. It’s difficult not to be bitter, however.
The problem of mistreatment of native peoples seems almost universal. One need look no further than the opening ceremonies of the last few Olympics in which the host countries trotted out their native peoples for spectacle while glossing overthings like genocide. Ooops.
Still, being part Mayna myself, it’s does give me some degree of pride to see the show discuss different aspects of Mayna culture week. There has been a great deal of “See! We built pyramids too!!!” going on in my head.
Wednesday, November 30th 2005 at 5:28 am |
Y’know, I’ve always felt a bit silly that several years of fascination with, and study of, Maori culture basically sprang from hearing snippets of the language spoken in a few songs by a couple of admittedly very white guys from New Zealand. But at the same time, that fascination has led me to assimilate a lot more information about that culture, its history and its decline than I would have otherwise, and I consider that knowledge priceless, if esoteric and not necessarily something applicable to my everyday life. (Hey, wait, that covers most of my knowledge…) But by carrying that knowledge and spreading it to a few other people, I feel I’ve done something to preserve the culture. I’d like to think that negates the triviality of the thing that got me interested in it in the first place.
Wednesday, November 30th 2005 at 9:33 am |
Well, I own a copy of Paul Simon’s Graceland, so I’m never going to knock cross-cultural music. But to me there’s something different about one group of musicians incorporating the work or styles of other musicians. That’s a matter of collaboration between artists. Survivor doesn’t feel like it’s collaborating. It feels like it’s appropriating. It’s not even someone from Guatemala telling this Mayan folk story, it’s Jeff Probst. And I have nothing against Jeff Probst, but in this particular context, it gives me pause.
I can see how the good outweighs the bad given the realities of the world. But I guess that just makes me think the realities should be different.
Wednesday, November 30th 2005 at 8:41 pm |
So long as it’s handled more sensitively than this, I think we’re within driving distance of good shape.
Wednesday, November 30th 2005 at 8:43 pm |
(There was supposed to be a link in there. Hmmmm.)