Theatre of the Absurd... 21st century style

"In a universe that is suddenly deprived of illusions and of light, man feels a stranger. … This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, truly constitutes the feeling of Absurdity." French philosopher Albert Camus

A little more than a week ago, while watching the House of Representatives try to elect a Speaker, I think it was the thirteenth vote, or maybe it was the fourteenth - who’s counting? - one of the commentators called the whole event a “real-life theatre of the absurd.” Actually, come to think of it, I’ve heard those words more recently than in all my previous years on the planet combined. It’s a nice catchall for those things that fall beyond a logical, explainable framework. Things that just don’t compute. Really just a more dramatic way to call something ridiculous.

The phrase itself was coined by author Martin Esslin, in his 1960 book of the same name, to describe a radical movement in the arts, mainly stage plays, during the period of 1940 to 1960. Europe at that time, along with much of the rest of the world, was trying to recover from the devastation and horror of two World Wars. There was a sense, among many, that besides the unfathomable loss of life that had occurred, the conflicts had also led to a collapse of moral, religious, political, and social structures and institutions, leaving people without a foundation or North Star. The plays, one of the most notable of which was “Waiting for Gadot,” were created to emphasize what the playwrites saw as the absurdity, and to some, outright hopelessness of the human condition at the time. The plays were like a strange dream with incongruous characters and plot lines, aka absurd. But in labeling them as such, Esslin didn’t mean they were ridiculous. Instead, he was using the original meaning of the word, the noun - out of harmony with reason or propriety; illogical.

I actually think Esslin’s definition is a much more accurate and specific assessment of where things stand today. When you think about it, calling something ridiculous is just a half step up from calling it stupid, which is the go-to slam of third graders everywhere. It’s really a blanket accusation born out of a frustrating lack of vocabulary to describe what one is feeling.

A Republican former president is caught with classified documents in his home and his supporters tell us there’s “nothing to see here” and “it’s all perfectly normal”, even as the opposition paints it as nothing less than treasonous. A few weeks later - oops - the script is flipped and the Democratic president is discovered holding forbidden documents, too, prompting the aforementioned “nothing to see here” crowd to become enraged, demanding justice, while their formerly “lock him up” opponents assure us this is just “not that big a deal.” Up is down. Down is up. I say to-mayto. You say to-mahto. Maybe we should call the whole thing off. Ridiculous? Of course! But more specifically, an example of a society out of harmony with reason or propriety; illogical.

Absurdist behavior in politics is absolutely nothing new, in fact, it’s a staple of the profession. The real concern here is how readily real people outside the beltway bubble are willingly-unabashedly, buying into this totally absurd, ever changing brand of reality. It’s an abandonment of discernment, critical thinking, and good old common sense in favor of tribalism. If my tribe says it’s so then it is, and I, the individual, don’t have to worry myself to consider it. It’s a forfeiture of our greatest gift, the freedom to make up our own minds, and yet, we’re seeing it in spades. In the immortal words of Mugatu from Zoolander, “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!”

It’s All the Russians Fault…Nyet!

It would be easy to pass off this blind to the facts behavior as just more evidence of the power of misinformation; the handiwork of those damn Russian and Chinese bots feeding us lies to influence our thoughts, but apparently that’s not entirely true. A recent study by the journal Nature finds that misinformation resonates mostly with those already looking for alternative facts to validate an established belief. Likewise, and sadly I might add, facts seem to fall into the same influence category. If I accept them as consistent with what I already believe…they’re true. If not…fake news. Nieman Lab’s Joshua Benton has an interesting and full take on all of this that’s worth checking out.

I believe what we’re dealing with, much like the perception felt by the absurdist playwrites, is a loss of the foundational tools that, over the years, we’ve relied upon for checks and a sense of balance. Think about it. Courts, cops, the news media, government generally, all have been called into question, prompting so many of us to view them with contempt. When that happens what’s left? Who do you trust? God? Ok, but even that’s a bit of a mine field. Have you checked out the popularity of churches and religion lately or dared to talk about your beliefs with someone from a religion other than your own? What this all adds up to is tribalism. We all have to belong to something - it’s in our genes - and, absent trusted institutions, we tend to blindly pledge our loyalty to those most like us. That need to belong, that ceding of individualism in favor of group think and speak undercuts reason and true reality, and thrusts us into an absurdist existence out of harmony with reason or propriety; illogical.

A Radical Solution…

With a hat tip to the fine folks at A.A., we start by recognizing we have a problem and stop trying to force feed a jaded public the institutions and traditions already rejected. With maximum inclusion and transparency, we have to construct new ones.

In the spring of 2000, two Danish brothers, frustrated by what they perceived as an absurd and hardened lack of tolerance and compassion in their country for those groups not in the “mainstream”, decided to try something radical, totally weird, and frankly, just downright odd. Discrimination was rampant against the homeless, immigrants, those suffering from disease or mental illness, and people practicing an alternative life style, just to name a few. Standard methods of education and enlightenment - books, seminars, media stories, even laws - didn’t seem to be doing the trick, so they decided to create “The Human Library.”

Ronni and Dany Abergel believed the only way to change the hearts and minds of those fearful of people different from themselves, was to remove the middle man. They began to recruit “human books.” Among the collection of storytellers was a bi-polar woman, a homeless man, a refugee, a sexual abuse victim, even a body mod extremist covered in tattoos and piercings. They then invited people to “check out” or schedule a conversation with one of their “human books.”

“The Human Library provides some of the most stigmatized groups in the community with a chance to be unjudged,” said Ronni Abergel. “We’re not fighting for diversity. We’re a safe space to explore it.” Shareable.net/January 2004

The sessions were set up as two-way conversations with no question or answer off limits. The only requirement imposed on each participant was respect for the other.

Today, almost 23 years later, there are “Human Libraries” in 80 countries and more than 20,000 “human books” are being “published” each year. Technology has allowed them to expand the effort to include virtual one on one and group sessions, which figures to expand reach and impact even further. In other words, this radical and unorthodox solution to an absurd problem, which, as you might expect was mocked and laughed at when first introduced, has become a new institution built from a desire for better transparency and inclusion.

Celebrating the Oddballs…

“Only by living absurdly is it possible to break out of this infinite absurdity.” Julio Cortazar , novelist

As the Abergel brothers demonstrated, the anecdote for Absurdity often, maybe always, arrives through unorthodoxy. By its very nature this “divorce between man and his life” is a state born out of the rejection of past norms and institutions no longer relevant, the continued use of which only serves to make the resistance stronger. Absurdism is a desperate cry for change, without the ability to imagine what that might mean and/or fearing that very unknown. It’s why children use words like “stupid” absent the true understanding of why they feel the way they do about something or someone the way they do.

Unorthodoxy: the quality of being contrary to what is usual, traditional, or accepted.

That said, it’s interesting to note that unorthodoxy and absurdism probably rest on the very same spectrum of human behavior. One is reasoned and still hopeful, the other anarchistic and destructive. Another way to look at it: Unorthodoxy straddles the fence, offering a lifeline to reality or truth while interpreting its existence and application in new and interesting ways.

So…In whatever professional field you’re in, whatever walk of life, I think it’s time to seek out, celebrate, and, for God’s sake, listen to those marching to the beat of a slightly different drum. The oddball. That “out of left-field” thinker whose ideas almost always makes the meeting just a little more interesting than it otherwise would have been. It’s their time to shine. The “Theatre of the Absurd” beckons.