Are We Drifting?

This is the final engraving of a series of eight by William Hogarth in 1733 entitled "The Rake's Progress." This particular image is "The Rake In Bedlam." I saw this series of images for the first time many years ago at the Art Institute of Chicago. What really captured my attention in this panel are the two well dressed ladies towards the back of the room. In 18th Century London the privileged could pay for the pleasure of watching the mad folk housed in Bethlehem Hospital otherwise known as Bedlam.

By the 1990's television carried quite a selection of talk show/confrontation as entertainment television - Ricki Lake, Judge Judy, Jerry Springer, et al. One afternoon as I sat watching one of these shows with a friend of mine, we commented on the similarity between what we - the viewing public - were doing and what was shown in Hogarth's engraving. Once again the "mad" were on display for our amusement. Having clucked my tongue at the obvious exploitation of the insane in the engraving, I have never been able to watch any of those shows the same way since.

So what then to make of our behavior in the blogosphere? Through a series of unfortunate events and misunderstood reactions, two bloggers in the Anglican/Episcopal subgroup of bloggers are struggling to find a way to reconcile. Many of the rest of us have been active spectators in this fray, invited in by the public postings and comments of the two main individuals. Think of the way the audience is sometimes invited to make commentary on Ricki Lake or Jerry Springer. The angry, trapped family member or ex-boyfriend on stage is stuck there publicly to take the abuse and ridicule from a stranger.

Are we not doing the same thing? Are we not all participating in something expoitive in a way for our own amusement? I have been following "The Troubles" very intently over the past few days. I was convinced that it was purely out of concern for the participants. Today, I began to realize though that it was not purely that. Concern was a major part of it, but I must be honest and admit to myself that there was a perverse entertainment value as well.

So I ask again, are we drifting? When we fight with "trolls" and argue to the point of name calling with our cyber friends, are we not drifting towards a new form of perverse voyerism that finds enjoyment in the feebleness or weakness of others? And if we are, what can we do to rise above it? We are humans after all, we find it very hard to drive past an accident without gawking...we are Pandora and we can't help wanting to peak in the box.