Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Even Martha is doing it!!

What it really comes down to is whether or not you can laugh at yourself. Amy Sedaris shows us that we just can’t afford to take ourselves seriously. No matter how hard we try (sorry, Martha) we just can’t be perfect. As soon as we can realize this fact we can start to live freely. Amy tells us to recognize our strengths—what are we good at? She also tells us to play to those strengths so that we might hide our weaknesses; “if you have thick ankles, wear pants.” However, this does not seem to be an invitation to be “fake.”
The reason that I don’t see it is such, is that Amy’s general attitude towards things seems to be a lighthearted one. We discussed in class that Amy sees reality and laughs at it. Unlike her brother, Amy does not seem to harbor any hard feelings toward the harsh injustices of reality. The truth is that Amy sees all of these idiosyncrasies and peccadilloes that reality throws at us as something to laugh about and something to embrace. After all they are what make us different.
Being able to harness our strengths and being able to accentuate the good parts isn’t being fake, it’s highlighting who you really are. If people can focus on the good parts of reality, then they won’t become obsessed with its shortcomings. By being able to laugh at yourself, you acknowledge the absurdity of reality and in turn the absurdity of others. By being able to laugh at yourself, you recognize that you can rise above the differences and flaws that have been cast your way.
After all it is our differences that make us who we are and that paradoxically bring us together. Seeing the flaws in ourselves will make us accept those in others.

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