A TALE OF TWO PHOTOGRAPHS

This post was partially written two months ago and I only just found it in my blog drafts. Why the delay in publishing? Our delightful daughter was born a few hours after the draft was last saved! Although the two photographs aren’t as current as they were then, I think it’s still a relevant tale worth sharing.

Two photos, both released within the same week, part of two radically different narratives. One taken of hungry people desperate for food in a war-torn country. The other of glamorous people desperate for attention in a celebrity-worn country.

Photograph 1 // A Morning in Yarmouk

Masses of refugees wait in line to receive food aid distributed in the Yarmouk camp on Jan. 31 in Damascus, Syria.

Photograph 2 // Ellen’s Oscars Selfie

“If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap” Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars Selfie is the most retweeted tweet of all time with 3,427,994 Retweets and 2,027,957 Favourites (as of 16 May 2014).

A Tale of Two Photographs

The differences between these two photographs couldn’t be more stark. Hollywood award nights are full of smiling faces; the same can’t be said of refugee camps. There are a bunch of people crammed into the selfie; a multitude is the best way to describe the shot in Syria. We know the names of the celebrities; the Syrians are unknown to us. Ellen’s photo was shared a lot; Yarmouk only a little.

In my recent article about Bread and Circuses I suggested that often entertainment distracts us from reality. We fill our lives with the latest celebrity gossip but don’t take much time to consider the weightier issues of our world.

Manus Who?

Last week I was shocked to discover that the majority of young adults in our small group were unaware about Australia’s refugee off-shore detention centre on Manus Island, the 200+ high school girls kidnapped in Nigeria, as well as other current news items I assumed everyone to be abreast. They would rather be entertained than depressed by bad news stories from around the world. This post isn’t a critique of the dear brothers and sisters in our small group, rather it’s an observation of something that is endemic within western middle class culture.

Amusing Ourselves to Death

I’m not saying that it is wrong to be entertained, in fact I have been loving watching The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon a couple of times a week. This show makes me smile. But it is possible to amuse ourselves to death. Neil Postman argues this in his well-known book:

“When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become an audience, and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk; culture-death is a clear possibility.” (Amusing Ourselves to Death)

We’re not just consumed by entertainment, we’re also consumed by ourselves. Every seconds person on Facebook and other media streams complained this week about how the Australian Federal budget would adversely affect them personally. But only a handful made any comment of the $7.6 Billion that would be cut from Australia’s foreign aid budget over the next 5 years. I’m not wanting to minimise the impact the budget may have on some Australians, but as a wealthy nation we need to keep being generous towards the world’s most vulnerable people.

A conclusion?

To be honest, I don’t necessarily have a conclusion to this post. The post basically began as a comparison between two photographs telling two very different stories. I think it shows something of our culture that we want to enjoy the selfie and be celebrities in our own little world; and that we ignore the plight of starving refugees and would rather not think of their world.

But here’s 3 things that might be worth considering:

1. KEEP UP WITH WORLD NEWS

Most local and national news sources fall into the entertainment trap. So rather than visiting Fairfax Media, News Corp or your Facebook wall for news. Visit a site like SBS WORLD NEWS. Set it as your homepage. Keep up with what’s going on around the world.

2. PRAY FOR THE WORLD

Once you’ve read about what’s going on in the world, pray about it! To compliment your reading/viewing of SBS World News, use OPERATION WORLD to help you know specific prayer requests about the Nations. You can also get Operation World prayer points in the new Prayer Mate App (also listed here).

3. RETHINK YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO ENTERTAINMENT

Don’t give your life to triviality! Check out this comprehensive series on #Hashtags, Selfies and Being a Christian Online and also check out the popular Look Up short film. Look up and consider an alternative reality found in Jesus.

Thoughts?