Admitting That You Kinda Dig The Drama
Sometimes I think that us humans give drama a bum rap. We have all of these sayings and ideas that suggest that we do not care for it; that we wanna be “drama free”. We want “no more drama”. And of course, you can “save the drama for your mama!”. All we want is happiness and peace. Whenever I hear these or comments like these, I think to myself, “What a bunch of crap!”.
Humans love drama! Humans need drama! You never hear anyone complain about it until they are the center of it. That is just a part of the cycle of life. Eventually it will be your turn to be the main character in the stage.
Personally, I don’t seek it beyond a good movie, and rarely will I listen to anyone speak ill of another person. However, I’ll admit that I have at times been entertained by stories about people as long as those stories do not celebrate low points in that persons life. As far as what goes on in the everyday lives of people, I really don’t care.
Nothing Sells Like Drama…
Drama is the worlds most marketable product. We actually spend thousands of dollars a year to support our drama habit. Cable, internet, cellular phones, movies, books, even music are all forms of drama that we spend money on. Although I am sure that most people genuinely wish greatness for fellow mortals, we want to hear about their bad times. We want to hear about the stupid thing that someone did or said. And we want to talk amongst each other about it. In a sadistic way, we are entertained by it. I’m sure that most people won’t want to admit this, but it’s very true.
When life becomes hard on us, we become the drama and begin to entertain ourselves. For instance: a person could be experiencing a string of unfortunate events that leaves them feeling defeated, that person could make a conscious decision to stay down about it and talk about it with every assumed listening ear, and then go vent on social media. As this person talks more and more about the troubles they’re having they start to embellish. Suddenly small dull events are being described as huge and exciting! Simple head colds are articulated as pneumonia, a stumped toe now requires a wheelchair. As this story is shared with the masses, people begin to feel sympathetic about the situation — for a while. Before long, the listening audience is now complaining amongst each other about this persons whining. Eventually it gets back that person and they become so upset that they forget all about the ailment and take the farce to another level. This goes on until the issue takes on a new form and lands in someone else’s life as an entirely new dramatization.
Let’s not leave out the most dramatic social media move that a person could ever make: leaving social media. Not just leaving, but making a grand announcement to their public that they are going to go on hiatus. Without that announcement, no one will know that they’re leaving and thus, no one will beg them to stay. Drama.
Even before going to family events, people pre-plan familial drama. In the days leading up and even on the drive to the event, we think about what uncle “So and so” will say to aunt “What’s her name” and how they will react to each other. On the way to work, our minds are set on what that annoying co worker is going to say to piss us off. We concentrate on things that have not happened and may not happen at all. There is a place inside of us that actually look forward to these productions. After all, these things will provide weeks of entertaining conversations.
Give Peace A Chance?
I don’t think human beings could handle peace for more than a couple of days at a time without becoming bored. Even in those couple of days we’d rely on manufactured drama like television or the internet. When we don’t have our own drama we adopt that of others. Reality TV and soap opera’s are huge because people have a very strong need for drama. What’s life without the occasional bump in the road? It’s part of the balance, a source of strength and at times, quite entertaining.
This does not have to be a bad thing. We are all guilty of this. What makes it bad is when a listening ear is listening maliciously and people get hurt, or we react to these situations in an uncivilized manner. It is also important to take extra care not to let the drama get so deeply into our psyches that we carry it all with us. Deal with the situation at hand and move on. There will never be a shortage of life’s theatrics. Carrying the same drama with us day after day will weigh us down and eventually, it has to be dumped somewhere. Usually when that happens, the vicious cycle repeats itself. Use the drama for what it is, and then let it go. But don’t deny that it is the worlds guilty pleasure.
“All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed .“
~Sean O’Casey
Afrologik 