Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the sea of narratives we swim in, twists our perception of reality. A narrative at its most basic is a story. A story has a hero, villain, goal and hurdles to overcome. Each narrative we are told then also has a villain, hero, goal and hurdles. A narrative, or story, strips away everything that doesn’t add to the tale. It is a simplified version of life. The mundane, extraneous and especially any counter narrative, is filtered out. Moreover, a good fable will manipulate our emotions. These narratives, each telling a story, are tales that are designed to manipulate us. Perhaps, someone could argue these manipulations are for our own good, yet that argument is premised on the notion, that someone else knows what is best for us… and they are angels, so would never use that power for self benefit.
We live in a sea of stories, tales and lies. All we see around us are narratives. From the Masked Singer to the nightly news, everything is analogy. Even unscripted shows are narratives. Because we have no interest in watching the unremarkable. That is our vie quotidian, our daily lives, why would we want to watch that? We want to be taken to other worlds, experience emotions and escape from the humdrum. The billboards try to tell a compelling story in a single picture, a joke is a self contained tale, and a news item is almost certainly a lie. Whether an outright lie, a lie by omission or a lie by ignorance, the news can only be trusted to give a general idea, never the specifics. The myth lurks in the specifics. These narratives that surround us, they effect our perception of reality, for the good or bad.
We have an innate need to understand reality, especially that which cannot be understood by empirical analysis, and we do that with stories. When stories are told to entertain, enlighten and enliven us, they are good. When they are used to manipulate us into self harm, they are at their most malevolent. There are many things we understand with only a bit of education. We quickly grasp that two plus two equals four, the ABC’s, and that water wets. Other, more complex concepts, like the interplay between men and women in a stressful situation, we don’t understand, yet understanding it both increases our chances of surviving a stressful situation, and finding a spouse. The only way for our minds to learn these complex truths is to explore them in a tale. Through analogy we understand reality.
Which makes narrative such powerful tools of manipulation. Why is it, news segments are called, news “stories.” This is most often taken to the extreme, when a faction that would have despotic rule, exploit the press to create a fictional story of the world. The would be despot, or existing despot creates a world in whatever way that suits their diabolical wants. As in North Korea, where year One is the birth of the first Dear Leader. The tyrant decides who is the villain and who is the hero in the story, and every autocrat sees him or herself as the hero. That hero must fight the forces of evil, by whatever means necessary, because they are so evil! The “hero” takes away the Rights of the people, else they will be devoured by the “monster,” it is for their own good, and anyone who doesn’t see that… must be evil!
Once we understand that narratives surround us, that they are powerful, helpful and are innately manipulative, we have the ability to look through the smoked glass to the other side. We can glimpse reality. Instead of getting lost in the myth the elite are mesmerizing us with, step back, and look at the mechanics of the story. What is the point of telling us this fable at this time? Why this tale? How do they want us to react and why? Who are the villains and who are the heroes? Is it possible that we could become villains in this tragedy down the road? Is there a counter narrative that is not being told? What is being left out to help maintain the fairy tale? Remember, no story is told to us by the elite, unless it is to manipulate us. Seeing the strings is half way to cutting them… and no longer being their puppet.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
