Are we Jaded to Evil?

It’s commonly known that the gap between Expectations and Reality is Depression because it is inevitable to feel really low if expectations are not met that were really high.

That’s why one must beware of hype, whether it’s surrounding a musician, artist, writer, filmmaker, etc. One exception that I have found to this recently is “The Dark Knight”. I waited awhile after the film opened (mostly because of monetary reasons) before I saw it and I was not disappointed in the least. Heath Ledger’s performance still turns my stomach a bit if I think about it because he embodied evil in his performance as the Joker.

Normally I’m not that affected by films, much to my chagrin. Usually I feel jaded about many artists attempts at expressing misery, degradation, or inherent evil, but “The Dark Knight” got in my head and crawled around and wouldn’t let me alone, much like my first exposures to M. Night Shyalaman’s work.

William Christenberry’s work did not.

I appreciated the statement he was trying to make. I appreciated the macabre beauty of the sketching, paintings, sculptures, etc. I appreciated the educational value of the exhibit. I even saw great value in having such an exhibit at our University at such a pivotal time in Ole Miss’s history, right before the 2008 presidential debate turns the eyes of the nation onto our campus.

It sets a great example to the student body that the University isn’t just giving lip service to freedom of speech, but instead allows such a controversial exhibit at the University Museum at a time when Ole Miss would likely rather focus only on positive press.

Yet, for all that, the exhibit still did not “creep me out” as many of my classmates commented. Maybe it was the hype that ruined the experience. Maybe it was the curator/babysitter that chattered all through the tour so that I felt incapable of silently taking in the images and the enormity of the imagery. I hate to think that because of my white, rural, and relatively prosperous background that I am jaded to the suffering of others.

Obviously I have known pain and misery, albeit of a different sort. I try to find comfort in the fact that other artistic media has affected my psyche, just not the Site/Possession exhibition.