Well it was very interesting reading your reactions to the man who married his pillow. And yes it does have something to do with history - Bek and Julianne. lol
My area is social history and I often wonder just how close we can get to interpreting peoples behaviour in the past. So I like to look at some present day behaviours that are a bit 'out there' and try and think how some historian in the future would go about interpreting something like this guy.
I read lots of interesting stuff in newspapers from 1837 - 1901, and I wonder if I really understand what is going on.
So what would a historian in the future ask about this guy??
1. The guy was Korean so my first call was to Da-Hee and ask if this was common in Korea. Her reaction and her sisters reaction tells me that to them it is far from common... but I don't really know if Da-Hee is that up to date with what is happening in Korea at the moment - she lives in Australia after all. She might get her info. on Korea from the news like I do. So I'm not sure that tells me much.
2. Why has this guy married a pillow and what does it tell me? Well he isn't insane or he would have just been locked up and not allowed to marry anyone/thing. He isn't afraid to go on the media, that's for sure - so he at least isn't ashamed, even if Da-Hee's sister is. lol It may be a bet with friends to get on the news. Maybe it is his desire for his five minutes of fame? And then again he might just be genuine.
3. If he is genuine: Is he really in love with the pillow? Is he in love with it because no one else loves him? Is he so fixated with anime he just can't let it go? Are other people fixated with anime? Why be fixated with anime? What does this tell us about society in 2010?
I really just don't understand this and its something in 2010!!! What would an historian in the future make of it as an indicator of our way of life???
Over to you!!! And try and be serious! lol
There are those who suggest that women are becoming pickier in their choice of men (read: superficial), creating the poor souls who we see in the "weird and wacky" section of our news. Sure it's stereotypical, but it's still plausible.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of such an occurence:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-2DLove-t.html
Either way, I personally think the Japanese are pretty high on the weird scale anyway.
Not sure my Japanese friends would agree with you - they say Australians are pretty strange. lol
ReplyDeleteBut I love your point about weird and whacky news. A lot of historians quote news articles as what is "normal" in a society - whereas it might really be that what is weird and whacky is what makes the news rather than what is normal. Maybe we are reading past newspapers in a completely wrong way.
Interesting post!!!
People do things like that in order to entertain their fantasies. A relationship with a real person subjects the ideal one has to the opinions of others, and so, some people would rather marry pillows in order to maintain control of whatever illusions/delusions they have without interference. (If that makes sense)
ReplyDeleteI often think about what future historians will think about what they find from our generation. It's weird to think that maybe something I've written will be found in 1000 years and used as a source in a textbook. I wonder what they will think. Very interesting Mr Sheldrick!
ReplyDeleteI think that you may just be right Carmel and I don't think that is just a modern phenomenon. I wonder if possibly that was why Alice in Wonderland was written, also maybe Wind in the Willows - just another written solution to not letting the fantasy go and not being able to handle the real world. You have given me plenty to think about!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I think about that too Bek. My thoughts, however, are about just how much will be left - we really blog now rather than writing things down. Will our conversation now just be wiped from some computer bank in the future? Or will there just be so much out there in e-space that it will never be found in the future? Or will historians just have a ball with so much info. that they can easily find and cross reference? Makes you think doesn't it Bek! lol
I think, with 2012 so near, people have become a lot more accepting of these behaviours. Who cares what that guy does, the world is (supposedly) ending in two years, and we'll have wasted most of our life in school. And admittance fees into a mental hospital are getting higher and higher, so nobody bothers with that anymore, either. Money is another issue; if he has enough of it and the (absence of) brain to do it, he's welcome. I actually don't see the point of an elaborate wedding to someone who probably can't even find a wedding dress in her size. Or shape.
ReplyDeleteHowever (like that FaceBook group says), in 2013 I will watch 2012 and LAUGH.