No wonder the world needs Paxil

This weekend Ed and I started watching the movie Monster. I soon realized that I wouldn't be able to finish it due to extremely graphic and disturbing content. I've been thinking about why everyone is depressed all the time, killing their spouses for insurance, etc. When we inundate ourselves with disturbing, twisted images and have a steady diet of dark, depressing rock music/lyrics, it's bound to take it's toll. Add a sensationalist news media that tells us if the terrorists don't get us, we'll all be floating in a globally warmed pool of filth and disease, and you have the makers of Paxil and Zoloft as the only happy people on the planet.

I certainly don't think we should ignore problems like the proverbial ostrich with it's head in the sand. I also don't think that all entertainment should be the cinematographic or musical equivalent of the Brady Bunch. However I think the darker aspects of humanity can be explored artistically and not perversely as in the Sturm und Drang of some Haydn symphonies, or the inevitable reminder of mortality in Brahms' Requiem. The chaste benediction of Verdi's Ave Maria at the end of Otello contrasted with the title character's vengeful, jealous rage is another example.

Sometimes, however, I just want to glory in music like Garth Brooks' "We Shall Be Free," watch a baseball game, enjoy the sunshine, or marvel how we can talk on the phone, email, listen to music, browse the web, and take pictures all on the same hand-held cordless device the size of a credit card.

I saw a poem written and delivered by a 15-year old kid on youtube today. The ending line was "The world is my lamp, but I am its light." Profound...