Friday, June 27, 2008
-
Caricatures
Fair Warning: This is another of my "deep" posts.I've been pondering how people caricaturize others.
The most common way is in editorial cartoons.
Physical features are exaggerated in these drawings, but I'm thinking more of how we caricaturize others in our minds. I'm thinking of how we villainize some people and exalt others.
Let's take extremes again:
Who are the 2 most evil people to ever live?
Who are the 2 most compassionate people to ever live?
Did a few names come quickly to your mind? I imagine so. Why, I wonder? My thought is that these people have been caricaturized to the point of representing "evil" or "compassion." They've moved beyond being people and have become symbols.
Now, let's take it down a notch. Think about the people in your life.
Who aggravates you the most?
Who do you enjoy the most?
Did a few names come quickly to mind? Again, I imagine they did.
Now comes my pondering. Do we tend to ascribe more qualities to people who represent the extremes in our lives than we should?
In other words:
"I don't know how he can possibly be a good Boy Scout Troop Leader, he p---es me off and everyone else every day at work!"
or"I would give her $10,000 in cash to hold for me until I get back from vacation, she's just as compassionate and nice as nice can be."
If the truth were known, the Boy Scout leader might be rigid regarding demands that deadlines be met, which the employee doesn't do well. Notice the words "everyone" and "every day" I used? That's globalizing - taking one attribute and making it true for all circumstances. I am deeply suspicious of the truth of statements from people who use the words: always, never, every.
Likewise, the compassionate woman might indeed be very kind, but finds it impossible to not spend cash in her purse. In fact, she might give it to people she thought were in desperate need of it!
Politicians routinely use the tactic of caricaturizing both people and issues in order to convince the public that the "other guy/gal/leader/issue" is either very good or very evil, very right or very wrong.
I would offer that we also do this in our schools (good teacher/bad teacher), churches ("loves the Lord"/"backslidden"), and work ("she's amazing"/"she's a real b---h").
What caught my attention in all my thinking is that when we caricaturize others, we begin to ascribe to them things that are not true. We also begin to distort their conversations; we hear their words differently than what they might have been meant to convey. We infer ulterior motives to actions they've taken.
So here's my challenge for all of us: The next time you hear something about a public figure, ask yourself if you really "know" that what is being said is the truth, or are you being persuaded to believe a caricaturization of that person. Let's also do the same with the common folk in our lives.
More importantly, when you are speaking about someone else, do you really "know" what you are saying to be true, or are you adding qualities to a caricaturization of the person that you've created in your mind?
I'll close with a comment I heard today from a lady speaking on NPR.
"I've grown more compassionate and understanding over the years since I realized that none of us received a manual on how to get everything right in life."
-
recommend
- recs 3
- give stars
- votes 2
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Post a Comment
- Back to HumbleWalk's Xanga Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in HumbleWalk's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
Comments (11)
excellent post.
I try not to be judgemental of other people. I try to "walk in thier shoes''. But it doesn't always work. I like that closing quote.
Wise words.
This was great! 'Thank you!
Ooooo, that's a really good post! Well said, Brett!
This was an awesome post! It's true...once we label someone who we don't know well (personally), we tend to see them that way...and that isn't always right or fair. 5 stars for you!!
Remember the Deserata? Maybe not since it was a biggie in the 60's. We use to have a framed copy but it's lost in action over the years.
Good post!
Good point - we really do tend to generalize about people. I remember a conversation I had with my pastor. I once asked him why the Israelites kept making the same mistakes. He pointed out to me that many of those verses covered several years, and the people made good and bad decisions. God pointed out what He wanted us to know about the people, but that given the limited space in the Bible he picked and chose.
I found that in my life, real healing of past hurts and abuse manifested when I could look with compassion on my abusers and realize that they too had received abuse and hurt in their lives, and that they also did some good things in mine.
Heather