With social media giving everyone and their brother a chance
to post their every thought, we’re getting bombarded with unkind remarks for
the littlest offenses and for things people say that couldn’t possibly hurt us
in any way. What brought this to the
forefront for me was the recent Oscars telecast which I really liked this
year. I like Ellen DeGeneres and thought
she did a good job hosting because she took the formality away from an often
stuffy event in a mostly kind manner (her Liza Minelli joke was not her usual
type of humor).
When she started the selfie with Meryl Streep, it grew into
a Tweet heard round the world. I liked
the way it happened because she made it fun and truly wanted to include a bunch
of big name celebrities who she has met and connected with on her daytime
show. I thought it was fun, I thought it
was genuine, I thought it was sweet.
Those celebrities became like the rest of us in that brief moment,
clowning around and having fun despite the billion or so people watching. It turned into a $3 million donation to Ellen’s
two favorite charities which I really love.
Now the more cynical people reading this could come up with
a bunch of alternative meanings for what I just said – she was pandering to
celebrities, she was getting a kickback from Samsung. I can’t even think of any more because my
brain doesn’t work that way. I look for
the best in a situation rather than the worst which affords me a happier
mindset and from the recent research I’ve read on the how negativity affects
the cells in the body, a happier and healthier body.
The incident I really felt bad for was the moment when John
Travolta mispronounced Idina Menzel’s name before she sang. I noticed of course but felt bad for
him. Something obviously happened – he got
nervous, he wasn’t feeling well, he froze, the teleprompter was off –
something. But he has been vilified like
he murdered someone. Now you can have
your name Travoltarized. Why? Is it
because he’s not young anymore? Jennifer
Lawrence fell twice and we think it’s cute.
Is it because he’s not in any current movie or TV show? We tend to only celebrate those on top. I’ve heard nothing but great things about
John Travolta from the people who personally know him. What did he do that was so bad to deserve the
crushing comments he’s receiving on Facebook, Twitter , the entertainment
shows?
Is this who we want to be as a society? We’re like the observers in the Hunger Games
where we select a few chosen people to adore – for a short time – and then we
celebrate their failures. We don’t like
when someone takes a shot at us but we sit behind our electronic devices and
hurl shots at the person who had the latest misstep. It’s part of the reason so many good people
won’t run for office, or won’t step up to help when needed. They don’t want to be noticed in this world
that tears people who dare to try.
