Once upon
a simpler time, it simply wasn’t done to wash one’s dirty laundry in public.
But nowadays, when the only thing people cannot tolerate is boredom, it has
become acceptable. Everybody wants to be the star of their own reality show,
and we can all collectively tune in at will, as aspiring social media stars and
influencers from all walks of life document the excruciating details of their
lives from post – coital posts and bowel movement updates to livestreaming the
agonizing death of a loved one. Even that stuff has gotten old as everybody is
doing it and it is impossible to muster up anything resembling enthusiasm for
yet another overshare curated to grab eyeballs with a close up view of a
bellwether type’s butthole. Enough is enough! We want dirt, damn it!
Not even
porn is cutting it nowadays. It is not twisted or kinky enough. Which is why
shows like The White Lotus which have managed the impossible feat of making the
entire world pay attention have casually tossed incest into the mix, devilishly
provoking outrage and maximum engagement. The makers may or may not have been
influenced by one infamous dude who called himself the brewski bulge or
something equally inane and cracked an Oedipal joke that landed him in hot
water. Word is that the worst is behind him, and he is on the verge of signing
a book and movie deal to monetize the notoriety, he clearly coveted. Even this obloquy
is not floating our boat anymore. Here we are now! Entertain us… as Kurt Cobain
famously growled in a halcyon age when only rockstars were allowed to go off
their rockers to provide the starving populace their quota of the sordid and
scandalous.
A tech
billionaire was obliging enough to spill the squalid secrets about his ugly
divorce. There were allegations of an affair, demands for excessive sex, tax
evasion and the world watched goggle – eyed as the exes embarked on a
mudslinging match of monstrous proportions even stooping low enough to play
ping – pong with their child. It was a horror-tragi-comedy and folks couldn’t
get enough of it. Though most are willing to be distracted if damnable iterations
of Aurangzeb and the Godhra riots end up on the big screen for them to get frenzied
about.
Meanwhile,
the genocide in Gaza continues unabated, although irrefutable evidence of
unspeakable war crimes have been exhaustively documented. Most look the other
way because they are too squeamish to view the footage of babies and pregnant
women being executed, the rape of male detainees with broomsticks, and Israel’s
wanton destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches.
Besides, it has been over a year now and it is too sad, thereby entirely
lacking amusement value. Ditto the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis. This
sort of thing pricks the conscience and urges us to get off our backsides and
do something to make the world a less hideous place. Nobody wants that. Trump
and Elon Musk for all their faults are never boring. They offer paisa vasool
fare. So what if they are hastening us towards inevitable doom? We don’t mind
as long as we get our endorphin rush every step of the bloody way!
This article was originally published in TNIE Magazine
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