Re: CAS/Stephen Crane comparison
Posted by:
Sawfish (IP Logged)
Date: 11 July, 2021 01:16PM
Avoosl Wuthoqquan Wrote:
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> Some goods points there, Sawfish.
>
> The way I see it (which is to say, feel free to
> disagree or ignore) is that people spend much of
> their time consciously or subconsciously
> regulating their ‘emotional thermostat’,
> making sure they don’t feel emotions that are
> too strong. However, occasionally we want our
> heart rate to go up a little (I mean that
> literally), in which case a good thing will serve
> as well as a bad thing: you could go dancing,
> climb a mountain or make love to your sweetheart,
> but you could also beat someone up, try to steal
> something or read a conte cruel.
Hah! Great observation!
I like to "sit on my emotions"--keep them at a distance. Perhaps this goes against the natural, evolved impulse, but for me to do well in the social environment I have inhabited since birth, I'm far, far better off distancing myself from my emotions. I mean, it's a western industrial social environment, for better or worse, and for me it works better to be detached except among friends/family.
But you still have these needs, and the ways you mentioned fulfill them.
There's a funny sort of observation a made some years back about *why* I am attracted to certain films, like Goodfellas, The Departed, Killing Them Softly, and also such films as David Lynch films, like Blue Velvet, or almost any he has made.
And it's this reason...
I really like the visceral enjoyment of being around volatile people (provided I'm not their target), like Frank in Blue Velvet, or Tommy in Goodfellas, but I don't like the actual danger, so by viewing these kinds of films, I voyeuristically am fulfilled.
In college, I had friends who were watered-down versions of people like Tommy, and you can get in a whole lot of trouble just being around them, when they're engaging in excessive behavior.
For example, you and a few other friends may eat at a steak restaurant, at your friend your "Tommy"'s invitation. He says he will to pick up the tab, but then, out in the parking lot, restaurant employees begin to chase you and call the police, because "Tommy" ran the tab--sneaked out without paying.
Guys like that think this is great fun...
--Sawfish
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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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