Posted on 01/02/2007 4:34:39 AM PST by IrishMike
So the Democrats won the election. Is there any less anger in our politics for that? Not as far as I can tell. To be sure, you’ll find some relief on the Left, and a bit of smugness as well (the latter stemming more from our troubles in Iraq than from the election itself). But are we back to sweetness and light, say, on the web? I don’t think so. That is exactly why Peter Wood’s new book, A Bee in the Mouth: Anger in America Now scores a direct cultural hit. America has entered an enduring age of anger, and Peter Wood is the able (and unruffled) chronicler of that epoch. I doubt that even Barack Obama can save us from our anger now. That’s because the anger that lately pervades our politics is more than just an aftereffect of six years of Democratic setbacks (although the strikingly angry Democratic response to their six bad years does call for an explanation). Our political anger is only the most impressive expression of a much wider cultural transformation. In politics, in music, in sports, on the web, in our families, and in the relations between the sexes, American anger has come into its own. Wood says we’re living in an era of “New Anger,” and regardless of who becomes our next president, New Anger isn’t going away anytime soon.
Anger Old and New What exactly is New Anger? Let’s find out by first having a look at Old Anger. Before we lionized all those angry anti-heroes — from Jack Nicholson in the movies, to John McEnroe on the tennis court — Americans admired the strong silent type: slow to boil, reluctant to fight unless sorely provoked, and disinclined to show anger even then. Gary Cooper in Sargent York comes to mind.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
This article makes me very angry.
" I don't think we are so very different from our ancestors. Old Hickory would have scared the pee out of today's nastiest Bush-basher. "
I think that's the point that the author(s) were trying to make -- that in previous generations (and I have direct experience with my father, in my youth), true expressions of anger were rare, and by virtue of that rarity, a truly terrible, yet impressive, thing to see, nay, experience.
The "New Anger" as described is characterized by its ubiquitousness (is it proper to question the spelling of a made-up word?), and also by its ineffectiveness.
1. Why is Rosie O'Donnell angry? She has everything she should want...career, family, fame, money. Is she really that angry, or is her method of communicating anger? Why is her behavior acceptable?
2.Can anyone name a prominent democrat of the last 10 years who has managed to make a political speech without contempt for his opponent or the personalization of the race?
3. In line with the above point, why are so many Freepers contemptuous of the President because he ISN'T displaying public anger?
4. Rap music. I need say no more.
5. The increasing number of violent episodes in high schools, mostly because people are ANGRY because of slights which in my day wouldn't have raised an eyebrow.
I could go on and on, but I think it unecessary to make my point, which is that if Freepers will objectively look at this article (and perhaps read the book) we might understand something about our country, our opponents, and even ouselves.
My grandfather, who lived to be 99, was rarely angry. He coached high school wrestling and football and was big on sportsmanship and fair play. In my whole life I saw him angry one time, and it was because a vandal had let a cow out of a fenced pasture and she had been hit by a car.
The decline of our old ideals of self-mastery and reserve both caused and flowed from the unraveling of the family.
From the article, and this kind of struck me.....
What remained was a vast new realm of restlessness. According to Wood, the effect was strongest, not in the baby boomers who first broke with the old emotional restraints, but in their children. The boomers, after all, for all their rebellion, were raised in the shadow of traditional emotional norms. Yet the children of the boomers have grown up with still less restraint, and this, says Wood, has produced a personality type that both lacks and craves self-definition.
Not only interesting, but it also goes a way toward explaining the crassness and meanness that I see in comedy since the arrival of "The Simpsons." Much of the comedy in modern film comes from the ritual humiliation and debasement of others - I can think of a dozen scenes from "American Pie" and "South Park" - and this idea of New Anger neatly fits into it. Thanks for posting this.
I read the whole piece. Sounds like a fascinating book. Thanks for posting.
Perhaps. I must admit the article seemed to go on and the short attention span of my generation revealed itself. I still think that ALL previous generations should not be judged by the "Depression" and "WWII" generation. That was my point and why I brought up Andrew Jackson who used to scream and holler at everyone. Further, we used to have people caning each other in Congress. If this is not a "true expression of anger" then I don't know what is.
" should not be judged by the "Depression" and "WWII" generation. "
That generation is the only one I have intimate experience of (I wasn't that close to my grandparents) -- and I, personally, think it makes a pretty good benchmark.
" The decline of our old ideals of self-mastery and reserve both caused and flowed from the unraveling of the family. "
Perhaps an oversimplification, but I wonder if the difference between "Old" and "New" anger is the difference between "Righteous Anger" and "Self-righteous Anger"...
Just a thought......
In my opinion, it is not music, but rather rhythmic "poetry". To my untrained ear, ALL rap music sounds like this:
da DA da da da da da-da da da...repeated over and over again with drums and odd instruments clanging in the background, with an occasional recognizable word (ususally an unrepeatable one).
I wonder how much of the self-indulgence (and anger...which is also self-indulgent) can be traced to modern media's glorification of appearance, "lifestyle", and "self-expression."
It is the acceptance of the public display of anger amongst the prominent that is causing the deterioration in public discourse.
The Hildebeast is not angry, she is just "sick and tired".
Well, she sure SOUNDS angry.
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