Absurdity takes many forms, and some of the stories finding their way into many media reports today certainly fit the bill. Though the stories themselves may not be threatening or scary, what they symbolize might very well become so.
In their appraisal of some ‘absurd’ reports, Danielle and Robert cite three recent media features that share the common threads of ‘group think’ and ‘victim culture’ ideologies (two absurdities in and of themselves).
When a low percentage of ‘black skiers’ on a particular ski slope is interpreted as evidence of racial bias, it’s clear that the great outdoor ‘white space’ being objected to by that writer isn’t the snow.
When mankind’s exploration of space and the planets is portrayed as an undertaking to ‘colonize’ space in a manner resembling the historical imposition of one culture upon another, it’s clear that those now calling for the ‘decolonization’ of space have already Left the planet.
And when the cost of feminine hygiene products is purported to be the cause of ‘period poverty,’ it’s clear that the only ‘poverty’ at hand is a poverty of someone’s mind. Period.
While these seemingly absurd stories may well have hidden motives and agendas driving their absurdities, all one can initially do is to laugh them off in the hope that however sinister those motives are, they will be taken no more seriously than the nonsense contrived to justify them.
Otherwise the joke’s on us. And if we keep laughing then, well, there’s something about that that simply doesn’t feel Just Right.
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