Eric ([info]ibsulon) wrote,
@ 2008-03-19 18:04:00
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Is it really so bad? ("The sad truth about relationships")

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[info]here_be_dragons
2008-03-20 02:57 pm UTC (link)
I can't decide if that's funny, or just sick and sad. I've known a few people who seemed to really go through life like that, though. Consciously, I mean. Urgh.

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[info]syrinxkat
2008-03-20 03:53 pm UTC (link)
Ha - once I got over the knee-jerk "how pathetic" reaction,I realized my neighbor and I had a discussion that pretty much tracked w/ this vid. (Discussing arranged marriages and "settling")
There better be more to it that this, or I'm in for a future of meh.

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Spot on. Sometimes.
[info]vivid_cognition
2008-03-20 04:36 pm UTC (link)
Dude, one of my cousins is living that painful-to-watch life, pretty much exactly. Down to the basement rec room + bar that none of her husband's friends ever come over to hang out in, anymore. I might throw in all of the "boy hobbies" (golf, homebrewery) and "girl hobbies" (soccermom, craft o' the month, etc.) and the Peter Pan syndrome husband, and the wife who spends her weekends asking herself and her friends, "Is this all there is? Really??"... but the video pretty obviously nails the facts of life for a disturbingly large set of Americans, at least.

I think it's really more of a danger for people who feel somehow compelled to have a "normal" lifestyle (the "norm" being whatever goes for the suburban McMansion set, and is by virtue of that fact more "respectable" than the alternatives which, being "different," are too uncomfortable for a lot of people to take seriously), and who quash their early regrets about poor choice in partner, career, goals, etc., under a shit ton of cynicism (the narrator's tone of voice, for instance, but only if she really, really believed there was no way to inject anything truly fresh into the situation). Which is a brilliant way to kill off one's creativity and spontaneity as well -- making the problem a perpetual one.

I browsed a geeky web forum the other day where some forward-looking but obviously frustrated guys were talking smack about the women in their lives "holding them back" creatively. That devolved into some unfair assertions about women generally, and at that point I abandoned following even the geekier part of the conversation, thinking, "You guys are with the wrong partners. You're staying with the wrong partners. You've only got yourselves to blame for that."

I think if you (abstract "you") hold on to your values, and make a point to be with someone who understands and reflects those values, and you both actively pursue fresh ways to creatively shock yourselves out of the ruts people tend to migrate towards over time, then that video becomes more of a cautionary, "Man, I'm glad we didn't end up like that!" tale. Otherwise I figure you've earn some loltext sprinkled all over your biography: "Living: ur doin it rong."

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[info]moon_fox
2008-03-20 07:01 pm UTC (link)
There are a lot of things that bug me about this video (like the "And everyone will pay so much attention to me!" parts given that this was written by a man ;P), but it's also a good example of... why I don't do things just because people tell me I'm supposed to. Yeah, I'm not sure if I think it's funny or not.

There are, however, a lot of societal constructs that everyone's just expected to follow (big wedding, nice house, having kids), when these things aren't for everyone, and I suppose the video has at least pointed out that not everyone will be happy going the "typical" route. (If Shaun and I tie the knot, we'll stop hearing "When are you guys getting married?" but then it'll be nothing but "When are you guys going to have kids?") But at the same time, it would mock those who ARE happily married with families.

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