That's a mighty big elephant in the room, isn't it?

It's starting to smell like the zoo. 

But maybe that's not the elephant.

That's Amber and her cats.

Scrufflebutt

Hmm. Most people aren't really interested in the truth. They prefer to believe what's most convenient, beneficial, or amusing to them. And everyone LOVES a villain. 

I think the degree to which a person is committed to seeing reality as it is 
is the measure of their sanity.
By reality, I mean that which we observe via the senses, without interpretation.

For instance, the alcoholism of a family member is the most common elephant in the room. The entire family colludes in the denial of the fact of the addiction. The alcoholic's behaviours are factually unavoidable - slurred words, lack of physical co-ordination, violence or semi-comatose binges, blackouts, vomiting, diarrhea, hang-overs, reduced immunity, health and weight problems, financial problems, frequent accidents, and a long history of problems with all kinds of relationships. In the meantime, the family are busy rescuing, patching up each minor disaster, sweeping away the evidence, making excuses (lies) to others, often in an effort to collude in hiding the fact of the addiction. The alcoholic hides bottles everywhere. The family makes lots of jokes about drinking, especially the drinker, but no one acknowledges the problem... until, if they're lucky, some crisis becomes the last straw and the alcoholic decides to admit the problem, seeks treatment and becomes committed to it. Then each member of the family has to start their journey of recovery from co-dependency. They don't always choose to do so, and when that happens it's only a matter of time before there's a divorce.
Of course, there're many kinds of elephants in the room - but every one of them is so serious that the shit always hits the fan eventually.

As to "everyone loves a villain", each is entitled to their view, but I disagree.
I find most people loathe and avoid villains.

Maybe it depends on the definition of a villain. I think of a villain as prone to violence, a con-artist, or a criminal.

But if it means naughty boy - say the young recreational drug-taking musician or artist - well, yes - he'll find his fair share of young women keen to have a romantic affair. He's playful, creative and fun - until the drugs start destroying him, or until the romantic glamour wears off and the dramas start. Then the female flies away. End result, the playful bad-boy abandoned and alone.





This post was edited by inky at July 23, 2019 3:41 PM MDT

"I find most people loathe and avoid villains."

Yes. However, the idea of the villain becomes so powerful that the reality of the person and their actions become irrelevant. People connect deeply through their loathing of a common enemy and are driven even deeper into their faith of hatred by an unyielding belief in their sense of righteousness. Often, that is at odds with the truth.

And what a wonderful feeling it is for the villain to be served with justice ... real, or not.

That knife ... just looks very sharp, Randy.

  No mayonnaise, you remembered!  How sweet of you. 


~

Oh yeah. Because I would never sneak a glob of mayo into your sandwich, Randy.






This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at July 23, 2019 2:46 PM MDT

  Hey, wait . . .

(Oh, my aching gut!  She got me twice, folks. First with that bucketload of mayo, then she pretended she was sorry and offered a remedy for it. Little did I know it was infused With Vegemite. I may need to have my stomach pumped!  Grrr, oooow! It hurts to grimace.)