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OR, Raybear Gives a Lecture.
Please do me a favor. Do not watch the video footage that will inevitably be leaked of Steve Irwin's death. Ok, actually, do whatever you wish, but don't post it on your journal and/or write about it ad nauseum. I ask this because I care about you.
I am very anti-"rubbernecking" for two reasons. [I'm using the word beyond the traditional meaning of staring at car accidents, but to include all the watching we can do privately in our home via television and internet.] First, because if you've ever experienced some sort of public accident or trauma, it doesn't really feel that great to have on top of it all, total strangers gawking at you. I know, in some ways, it's the last thing on one's mind when it comes to serious situations, but on the other hand, its one of those random small things you can't help but notice in the midst of the chaos -- the sound of the aspen tree leaves blowing, how blue the sky is, and how a bunch of mofos are gaping at you while you're trying to control the bleeding and not freak out.
Look, I know its just curiosity. That we're human and it happens and it's not meant to be hostile or anything, that it's not even meant to be an intentional act -- most often we look without thinking. My instinct is also to look. I just try to observe and be aware that the inclination is not neutral. But I also think it has negative effects on the gazer, which brings me to the second reason I'm anti-rubbernecking. This applies especially to our tendency to watch footage repeatedly of trauma all over the world, whether it's space shuttles exploding or buildings blown up or bleeding bodies in foreign countries or high school students shooting each other. We're absorbing others' trauma and making it personally our own when it's NOT our trauma, we don't really know what it's like to actually have it be our trauma, and I think it serves to further distance ourselves from coping when things actually DO happen to us. Again, I understand why we do this -- it's not just curiosity at this point, it's also problem we can deal with precisely because its so distant. And I think this tendency to get absorbed in far away problems leads to us not knowing how to cope or look at what's actually going in front of us.
So when I say I don't want to see Steve Irwin's death on camera, it's not just out of respect and compassion for his wife and family who are directly effected and don't need to know that the whole world is nonconsensually inserting themselves into the narrative of person's life (and death). It's also out of respect and compassion for myself, to not engage in the societal tendency of 'othering' trauma at my own personal expense and thereby limiting my ability to engage in genuine own coping and healing when it does happen.
Note: I am not against stopping to help people or offering assistance. That is not rubbernecking. I am also not against documenting certain acts for the purpose of illuminating issues and educating people to push them to act. I'm also not immune to rubbernecking -- I obviously participate in pop culture and world events and get myself emotionally involved and watch things unfold. But I have certain lines I try to draw when it comes to distinguishing between what is actually my life and what is me purely consuming someone else's life under the guise that it is also my experience.
< /me telling you what to do >
Please do me a favor. Do not watch the video footage that will inevitably be leaked of Steve Irwin's death. Ok, actually, do whatever you wish, but don't post it on your journal and/or write about it ad nauseum. I ask this because I care about you.
I am very anti-"rubbernecking" for two reasons. [I'm using the word beyond the traditional meaning of staring at car accidents, but to include all the watching we can do privately in our home via television and internet.] First, because if you've ever experienced some sort of public accident or trauma, it doesn't really feel that great to have on top of it all, total strangers gawking at you. I know, in some ways, it's the last thing on one's mind when it comes to serious situations, but on the other hand, its one of those random small things you can't help but notice in the midst of the chaos -- the sound of the aspen tree leaves blowing, how blue the sky is, and how a bunch of mofos are gaping at you while you're trying to control the bleeding and not freak out.
Look, I know its just curiosity. That we're human and it happens and it's not meant to be hostile or anything, that it's not even meant to be an intentional act -- most often we look without thinking. My instinct is also to look. I just try to observe and be aware that the inclination is not neutral. But I also think it has negative effects on the gazer, which brings me to the second reason I'm anti-rubbernecking. This applies especially to our tendency to watch footage repeatedly of trauma all over the world, whether it's space shuttles exploding or buildings blown up or bleeding bodies in foreign countries or high school students shooting each other. We're absorbing others' trauma and making it personally our own when it's NOT our trauma, we don't really know what it's like to actually have it be our trauma, and I think it serves to further distance ourselves from coping when things actually DO happen to us. Again, I understand why we do this -- it's not just curiosity at this point, it's also problem we can deal with precisely because its so distant. And I think this tendency to get absorbed in far away problems leads to us not knowing how to cope or look at what's actually going in front of us.
So when I say I don't want to see Steve Irwin's death on camera, it's not just out of respect and compassion for his wife and family who are directly effected and don't need to know that the whole world is nonconsensually inserting themselves into the narrative of person's life (and death). It's also out of respect and compassion for myself, to not engage in the societal tendency of 'othering' trauma at my own personal expense and thereby limiting my ability to engage in genuine own coping and healing when it does happen.
Note: I am not against stopping to help people or offering assistance. That is not rubbernecking. I am also not against documenting certain acts for the purpose of illuminating issues and educating people to push them to act. I'm also not immune to rubbernecking -- I obviously participate in pop culture and world events and get myself emotionally involved and watch things unfold. But I have certain lines I try to draw when it comes to distinguishing between what is actually my life and what is me purely consuming someone else's life under the guise that it is also my experience.
< /me telling you what to do >
