Why do we enjoy tragedy in a book or theatre production yet hate it in real life?
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CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.
Tragedy
- Thread starter GrowingSmaller
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True love waits in haunted attics
Was just thinking of this after watching the (ultimately very uplifting) Last Station (about Tolstoy and his wife).
I think the answer is clearly that tragedies give us the positives of catharsis without the permanence of tragic situations. We all know it isn't real, but the particulars of the tragedy still invite our cathartic responses. It may be a type of neurological cheating. I also think that what makes catharsis possible is precisely the contrast effect from the false world of cinema or fiction to the real world of our own.
I think the answer is clearly that tragedies give us the positives of catharsis without the permanence of tragic situations. We all know it isn't real, but the particulars of the tragedy still invite our cathartic responses. It may be a type of neurological cheating. I also think that what makes catharsis possible is precisely the contrast effect from the false world of cinema or fiction to the real world of our own.
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Eudaimonist
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I enjoy a well-written tragedy because I learn something about life. It helps me feel more able to deal with, or to avoid, tragedies in real life. And, yes, there is catharsis as well.
I don't get catharsis from real life tragedy, and while I might learn something from such tragedies, it's probably too late to help.
eudaimonia,
Mark
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True love waits in haunted attics
Yeah, in content, but in real life you're able to rip yourself away from the tragedy you experience in fiction. That is, the value of tragedy lies in the contrast effect from experience of tragedy to the realization that life isn't as bad after all, plus an added bonus for catharsis.
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What makes you think we don't like tragedy in real life?
People will slow down to look when there is a car accident.
We are compelled to watch tragedies like the Japanese tsunami play out on the news.
Real tragedies are interesting when they are not directly effecting us (they are interesting when they effect us too), they entice our interest, and the drama created is entertaining whether we will admit it or not. We are moved emotionally by them.
Imaginary tragedies are entertainment, drama and emotional empathy without the reality. Without the cumbersome moral problems about how we are supposed to feel about real events.
There is also a "game" aspect to imaginary tragedies, it gives us perspective in our own life and relative importance of things, and relates the human experience between people.
People will slow down to look when there is a car accident.
We are compelled to watch tragedies like the Japanese tsunami play out on the news.
Real tragedies are interesting when they are not directly effecting us (they are interesting when they effect us too), they entice our interest, and the drama created is entertaining whether we will admit it or not. We are moved emotionally by them.
Imaginary tragedies are entertainment, drama and emotional empathy without the reality. Without the cumbersome moral problems about how we are supposed to feel about real events.
There is also a "game" aspect to imaginary tragedies, it gives us perspective in our own life and relative importance of things, and relates the human experience between people.
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