A Rant: Lightening the Mood

Don't. And if you must, then delay. I'm having a hard time thinking of any situation where lightening the mood is a good idea.

Life issues... a bad day, a death, an illness, some kind of deep sorrow - do you really think you're helping things by making a joke or are you just showing your true colors as a shallow person who can't handle anything of any emotional worth? Keep in mind, I'm talking about "moods," the emotional feeling in wherever location you are. If a buddy is upset and needs their spirit boosted, go right ahead, nothing wrong with that, but that isn't the same thing as lightening a general everyone-is-feeling-it mood. Certain situations require certain emotions - fighting that trend is worse for you than accepting it and dealing with it.

What brought this on?

Last night the small group I'm in came over and we watched a few more episodes of Band of Brothers. If you don't know what that is, it's an HBO miniseries based on the true story of a company of soldiers from training to the end of the war. It's harsh, it's violent, it's upsetting, and it's REAL. Sure, they are actors, the cameras weren't there to catch it, but what you're watching is a pretty strongly accurate representation of what these men went through. At the very start of each episode, just to hammer home the reality of it all, the elderly men whose stories are being told do short little interviews.

Okay, so I'm an art appreciator and a history appreciator. That's affected my feelings on the whole thing. But guys in the small group could NOT stop making little cracks and jokes about the situations. There was a scene with a few American soldiers cresting a hill to find a battalion of Germans on the other side. A battle commences, with the Americans turning the whole thing into a turkey shoot. Sure, be happy while you watch it that we're succeeding. But LAUGHING, outloud, during the whole thing? Are you that uncomfortable with emotion? Every scene that turned off the music and sound effects to just emphasize the reality of it all, to increase the emotional effect, was met with a joke to break the mood. No. Just NO.

A) It's disrespectful. It's a show, yes, but it was real. People died. Germans, Americans, they were all people with families. This isn't Shoot Em' Up or Dawn of the Dead. You're not watching this to be entertained by blood. If you are, you have more emotional problems you need to work on.

B) It's art. As someone who likes to make movies every now and then, who loves to watch them, and loves to read a good book or hear a good story, I know something. The person telling the story (in whatever medium they choose to do it in) is trying to bring you on both an emotional journey and tell you a story. You're skipping out on half of your meal, and spitting in everyone else's, by trying to take out the emotion.

C) I don't have a C. But I'm unnecessarily fired up about this. I don't enjoy watching movies with a lot of friends anymore. If Dan has people over to watch something, a lot of times I avoid that room, even if it's something I like or have wanted to see. Actually no - especially if I like it or want to see it. I've gotten too anal about it. I care more about the emotion that the forms of art give me than actually hanging out with people.

Is that a problem? Part of me thinks it is, part of me thinks I could be overreacting and it isn't a problem and it's just a personality trait. I just get sick of the shallowness of it all sometimes though.

It's late. Sleep time.