The weird emotionalism of modern times is one of those things that goes on without anyone commenting upon it. If you read cultural writers, it seldom comes up. Maybe it has always be thus, but it seems like the propensity to burst into tears in public is stronger now than ever. After 9/11, I remember watching Bush get choked up on camera and thinking, “He’s no Churchill.” Can you imagine Eisenhower blubbering on stage after the Normandy invasion?
Anyway, this was in my sports feed.
When Boston was rocked by bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, the Bruins and their fans received unconditional support from the NHL and the other 29 teams. Now, the Bruins will return that favor.
On Wednesday, a gunman entered the Parliament area in Canada’s capitol city of Ottawa and killed one solider and injured another person. The Senators were scheduled to host the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday night, but the game was postponed.
The tragedy in Ottawa hit close to home for members of the Bruins. Coach Claude Julien is a native of Ottawa, while Zdeno Chara and Chris Kelly both played for the Senators.
“It was very shocking, especially for that area. It’s a capitol city but it’s fairly quiet and not a busy area, so to see something like that happening is very shocking, very surprising,” Chara said. “Obviously, you’re feeling for everybody in the city and in the country. I know when it happened here we received so much support from everywhere around the league, across the country and around the world, so for sure it’s something we’re thinking about and people in Ottawa and Canada are in our thoughts and prayers.”
Julien said Wednesday’s situation in Ottawa was unsettling.
Last night, a dozen people were murdered in Chicago. Toronto is not a crime riddled city, but they have plenty of homicides. Why is this one so emotionally unsettling?
Added Julien, “Every city rallies around its own city and I’ve talked to a few people, including my family that’s still back there. My parents and brothers and sisters, it’s affected them even if they weren’t around that area. It affects the whole city like the bombing affected us here. They’ll have to get used to it in a way where that’s reality, unfortunately, and it’s happening. Again, Ottawa is a pretty — or Canada is a pretty laid back country that tries to continue to be laid back. But it’s also a country that supported the U.S. in some of its decisions and more than likely those are the consequences that it faces because of that.”
This is what I’m getting at. Why do public figures have to pretend to be emotionally distraught over events happening far away from them? If the gunman shot someone he knew, then sure, he should be upset. If it happened at his place of work, I can see it. Further, how is a hockey game healing anything? What in the hell does healing even mean in this context?
It seems like the high status males in modern times feel the need to blubber in public. I’m not sure why that is or what it means. Like the stoic male lead, the level headed male leader is a thing of the past. Instead, the hallmark of high status is the ability to emote on cue.
You know Toronto and Ottawa are two different cities though, right.
Anyhow:
http://takimag.com/article/you_want_a_fight_kathy_shaidle
To an American, there are three parts to Canada. The really white section that speaks English. The section full of red necks who speak French and then the land of the little mushroom people called Nova Scotia.
Here’s the interesting stuff from the Ottawa shootings. When the shootings started, Harper was in a meeting with MPs. They hussled him into a closet and some stood guard. Some of the MPs took the flag poles and made them into spears. Can you imagine anyone in our House of Representatives with the wit to do that? And Mr Vickers, the guy that stopped it? He got up next to where the shooter was hidden, dropped and rolled to the guy, firing straight up while lying on his back. Mr Vickers looks like Batmans butler, Alfred. He would have had to have practiced that move at some point in his career. Again, can you imagine a Secret Service guy doing that?
Showing empathy for the victim(s) is the excuse-du-jour for not expressing anger towards the perpetrator. Can you imagine anyone in authority saying anything in public about taking revenge for such a heinous killing? Think of the children!
While I get your point about male emotions on display, I do think there’s a difference between getting “choked up” and squirting tears. And in the particular example you’ve referenced, I think there’s more at play here than just public emotional displays. Notice that no one made mention of the elephant in the room. Was this just any random gunman? It was not. The killer was a soldier for Islam, a jihadist. He struck at the seat of Ottawa’s government, right in their parliament building. That is a total in-your-face by the Moslems, and has given the Ottawans some food for thought. Given our citizenrys’ propensity to despise Congress, maybe we wouldn’t be as shook up if it happened here, but then again, who knows. I would expect these sorts of strikes to continue because Islam is on the march.
Sob stories and public sobbing.
Whether sobbing for donations for some “worthwhile cause’ or another to the sobbing on cue of some unfortunate put upon victim or their family members scoring their fifteen seconds of fame, tears are the gold standard of TV news. Tears of sorrow, tears of joy, sometimes I feel the need to put a bucket under the screen.
Tears used to be reserved for very private expression of loss, at home with family and friends. Public sobbing is a sad reflection of our very sick society.
This new generation is a bunch of pussies.
Real men don’t dance.
“But it’s also a country that supported the U.S. in some of its decisions and more than likely those are the consequences that it faces because of that.”
Fuck that guy. Fuck him right in the ear.
I suspect that not enough 11yr old boys have been told to dispatch ‘bessy’ or ‘floppy’ in time to have it cleaned and on the plate for dinner.
“Why do public figures have to pretend to be emotionally distraught over events happening far away from them?….It seems like the high status males in modern times feel the need to blubber in public.”
See Princess Diana.