A recent piece by Ilona Burton at The Independent caught my attention. She gives a good finger wagging to those who decry the pro-ana sites as the cause of the eating disorder problem. And in general she criticizes the critics of celebrity culture as the source of all evil.
The excellent Celebrities with Eating Disorders site astutely argues that this fad for blaming celebrities with eating disorders, or any other kind of celebrity or media figures, for our own ills or those of our loved ones, is a total cop-out. Those with eating disorders make their own decisions. Pro-ana sites and emaciated celebrities, whatever anyone thinks of them, are no more the cause of the problem than they are a symptom of it. Yet, for those who know their pop culture history, this kind of foolishness has long run rampant. At one time or another music or movies or comic books, and other pop culture media, have been accused as the corrupters of youth and corroders of society.
Such ridiculous attitudes go right back to ancient Athens, where none other than Plato fretted over the corrupting influence upon Athenian youth of theater and poetry. Throughout the ages the same theme appears over and over again. The explosion of 20th century mass communication media has though really thrown open the flood gates for this kind of pop culture blame-game.
In the 1940s social critics condemned swing music as a morally eroding influence that would hinder the war effort. In the 40s and 50s comic books were supposedly the cause of an alleged youth violence epidemic and juvenile delinquency. Elvis Presley couldn't be shown on television form the hips down and there was deep anxiety about the libidinal blackness of the music with which he was making nice young girls swoon.
By the 60s, television itself was rotting the nation's brains and the corrupting influence of the Beatles was widely discussed. This included allegations that their music promoted the use of psychedelic drugs. The Beatle-mania-backlash culminated in mass bonfires of their records, following a rather innocent remark by John Lennon. By the 70s, disco music was supposedly ripping at the fabric of sexual mores and common decency.
Throughout the 1980s and 90s we heard from the anguished voices of left-wing feminists lamenting that pornography created rapists and right-wing moralists warning that heavy metal music caused Satanism. Rap music supposedly caused criminality, raves were hotbeds of social decay and drug induced fatalities, while the recent World Wide Web was accused of turning young people into trance like computer zombies wasting away in their parents' basements.
This is all old stuff. Mass media have been blamed for apathy and violence, teenage pregnancy, social conformism and deviancy. No surprise that today it's blamed for both anorexia and obesity.
At the core of all this is a resolute refusal to either take responsibility for one's own actions or to accept that other's (including those we love) can choose actions that we find disturbing, despairing and destructive. Invariably, of course, such passing of the blame leads to all sorts of exaggeration and distortion. Even if that were not the case, though, the core issue would still confront us.
We each have our own responsibility to ourselves and our loved ones. Conjuring mythical dragons, even if in the apparently easy form of insulated and inured rich and famous celebrities of stage, screen and runway, only serves to deflect attention and efforts from what really needs to be done; what really can make a difference in our lives and those of our loved ones.
If people do not take responsibility for their own actions, their own families and their own communities, every problem will be a chimera, in need of some magical solution. Blaming mass media or popular culture celebrities with eating disorders for our own choices and those of our children is magical thinking.
Otherwise, we may indeed conjure up a straw man to beat out all that anger, disappointment and fear. No solution to the suffering of us or our loved ones though comes from conquering make-believe dragons. That requires confronting the real problems - and finding real solutions.
The excellent Celebrities with Eating Disorders site astutely argues that this fad for blaming celebrities with eating disorders, or any other kind of celebrity or media figures, for our own ills or those of our loved ones, is a total cop-out. Those with eating disorders make their own decisions. Pro-ana sites and emaciated celebrities, whatever anyone thinks of them, are no more the cause of the problem than they are a symptom of it. Yet, for those who know their pop culture history, this kind of foolishness has long run rampant. At one time or another music or movies or comic books, and other pop culture media, have been accused as the corrupters of youth and corroders of society.
Such ridiculous attitudes go right back to ancient Athens, where none other than Plato fretted over the corrupting influence upon Athenian youth of theater and poetry. Throughout the ages the same theme appears over and over again. The explosion of 20th century mass communication media has though really thrown open the flood gates for this kind of pop culture blame-game.
In the 1940s social critics condemned swing music as a morally eroding influence that would hinder the war effort. In the 40s and 50s comic books were supposedly the cause of an alleged youth violence epidemic and juvenile delinquency. Elvis Presley couldn't be shown on television form the hips down and there was deep anxiety about the libidinal blackness of the music with which he was making nice young girls swoon.
By the 60s, television itself was rotting the nation's brains and the corrupting influence of the Beatles was widely discussed. This included allegations that their music promoted the use of psychedelic drugs. The Beatle-mania-backlash culminated in mass bonfires of their records, following a rather innocent remark by John Lennon. By the 70s, disco music was supposedly ripping at the fabric of sexual mores and common decency.
Throughout the 1980s and 90s we heard from the anguished voices of left-wing feminists lamenting that pornography created rapists and right-wing moralists warning that heavy metal music caused Satanism. Rap music supposedly caused criminality, raves were hotbeds of social decay and drug induced fatalities, while the recent World Wide Web was accused of turning young people into trance like computer zombies wasting away in their parents' basements.
This is all old stuff. Mass media have been blamed for apathy and violence, teenage pregnancy, social conformism and deviancy. No surprise that today it's blamed for both anorexia and obesity.
At the core of all this is a resolute refusal to either take responsibility for one's own actions or to accept that other's (including those we love) can choose actions that we find disturbing, despairing and destructive. Invariably, of course, such passing of the blame leads to all sorts of exaggeration and distortion. Even if that were not the case, though, the core issue would still confront us.
We each have our own responsibility to ourselves and our loved ones. Conjuring mythical dragons, even if in the apparently easy form of insulated and inured rich and famous celebrities of stage, screen and runway, only serves to deflect attention and efforts from what really needs to be done; what really can make a difference in our lives and those of our loved ones.
If people do not take responsibility for their own actions, their own families and their own communities, every problem will be a chimera, in need of some magical solution. Blaming mass media or popular culture celebrities with eating disorders for our own choices and those of our children is magical thinking.
Otherwise, we may indeed conjure up a straw man to beat out all that anger, disappointment and fear. No solution to the suffering of us or our loved ones though comes from conquering make-believe dragons. That requires confronting the real problems - and finding real solutions.
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Follow us for all the scoop on all manner of controversies over Celebrities with Eating Disorders . Mickey Jhonny is a super source of insightful and provocative articles on popular culture. If you're a fan of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, his post tearing off the cover of its dirty little secret is an absolute must read.
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