 In the "postmodern" West, the prevailing view rejects 'meta narratives' - narratives about history, country, ideology, politics, etc. that transcend individuality. Only narratives told by individuals about themselves, their own feelings and experiences are 'authentic.' This has led to a worldview I'll call 'narrative nihilism.' NARRATIVE NIHILISM In this view, all great ideologies, politics, and principles disguise individual viewpoints. Common Hollywood trope: Powerful leader claiming to serve a great principle (Empire) - but 'in reality' they're projecting their own insecurities, psychological issues, and desires (power, greed, etc.). Another: Villain: "If we try to save this one person you like, 80 trillion people will die." Protagonist: "NO! HOW DARE YOU PUT ANYTHING BEFORE MY FEELINGS!" Any grand narrative that claims to be beyond individual desire is demonized as false and hypocritical. Only the unexamined whims and fancies of individuals are treated as noble and authentic. POP MEDIA CULTS AND FANDOMS But notice: For all pretenses to being a 'postmodern' society that rejects 'metanarratives,' look at the HUGE attachment people have to fictional narratives/characters. People CRYING over lesbians in video games, or since Harry Potter became a black woman. The paradox: Narrative nihilism MUST BE reinforced constantly through the medium of fictional narratives people STILL DEPEND ON to allow them to make sense of the world, and define the meaningfulness of their existence. That these 'narratives' are purely fictional gives people the plausible deniability of not having to ACTUALLY COMMIT to them in real life on the basis of any moral duty. However, they still commit to them - but not based on moral duty, but ENJOYMENT. NAIVE NARRATIVE REALISM This finally leads to an opposite tendency, very prevalent among highly autistic people (and which might even be a contributing cause) - naive narrative realism. This is basically a type of psychosis where people are so emotionally compelled by fictional narratives, they start LARPing them in real life. The weird kid who thinks he's an anime character is only the first. Then comes the 'resistance' to Trump in 2016 - suddenly Star Wars and Handmaiden's Tale becomes real, and now people are given the opportunity to perversely LARP these scenarios IRL. During Putin's SMO, how did Reddit react? By believing Star Wars and Harry Potter became real, they must LARP as the protagonist. They don't know anything about Ukraine, only their own pent-up narrative desires, which they long to MAKE REAL. It's not just reddit liberals. When I made fun of Lord of the Rings years ago, the Right had a MENTAL BREAKDOWN. I wrecked THEIR fundamental fantasy. 99% of them secretly LARP Skyrim, Lord of the Rings or GoT. They're just as psychotic as liberal redditors. Most "religious converts" online (both Muslim/Christian) are also LARPing some hollywood/gaming nonsense. NARRATIVE HISTORICAL REALISM The point is not to say that the narratives of popular media are all FAKE: But that they reflect the ontological narratives of the RULING CLASS about history, about current collective existence. Narratives are never about an individual subject (surely it can't be a coincidence that so many "relate" to the "special snowflake" Harry Potter?) - they articulate a shared fundamental ontology, or horizon of existence itself. This can't reduced to an empirical object - but that doesn't mean it's not just as real. It's the very question of the 'logic' underlying the existence of things. It's time to accept that there ARE objectively REAL 'narratives' (that all history is the history of class struggle, that Communism is the riddle of history solved) - and while you can appreciate the diversity of ways that this can be articulated in the imagination and in form (popular media), ultimately, its true content traverses and transcends all forms. Archives May 2025
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Jon
6/4/2025 03:00:57 pm
> "Another: Villain: "If we try to save this one person you like, 80 trillion people will die." Protagonist: "NO! HOW DARE YOU PUT ANYTHING BEFORE MY FEELINGS!" Any grand narrative that claims to be beyond individual desire is demonized as false and hypocritical."
Jon
6/4/2025 03:44:39 pm
Adding to this. Leave a Reply. |
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