We needed cannibals to give us a word to describe our behavior, so
how "civilized" are we, really? We do things differently from those
cannibals, on the surface, but is the nature of what we do all that
different? We don't cook each other for ceremonial dinners, at least not
physically (though therapists can testify that our ceremonial seasons,
like Christmas and Thanksgiving, draw lots of business--something's
cooking). But we stockpile weapons that can cook the entire world, and we
organize our national priorities around their "necessity," and it's a
national political taboo to seriously cut spending for those planet
cookers. If that's "progress," it's lost on me. In China it's taboo to be
a Christian, in Israel it's taboo to be a Moslem, in Syria it's taboo to
be a Jew, in much of the United States it's still taboo to be an atheist.
while in American academia it's taboo to be deeply religious. Our
headlines are full of this stuff. So it's hardly surprising that a
cannibal's word still describes much of our behavior.
I'm not denying the necessity of every society to set limits and
invent taboos (some rational, some not) simply in order to get on with
the day--and to try to contain the constant, crazy, never-to-be-escaped
longings that blossom in our sleep and distract or compel us while awake.
Such longings are why even a comparatively tiny desert tribe like the
ancient Hebrews needed commandments and laws against coveting each
other's wives, stealing, killing, committing incest. That tribe hadn't
seen violent, sexy movies, hadn't listened to rock 'n' roll, hadn't been
bombarded with ads featuring half-naked models, and hadn't watched too
much TV. They didn't need to. Like us, they had their hearts, desires,
and dreams to instruct them how to be very, very naughty. The taboo
underlying all others is that we must not live by the dictates of our
irratiorial hearts--as though we haven't forgiven each other, or
ourselves, for having hearts.
If there's a taboo against something, it's usually because a
considerable number of people desire to do it. The very taboos that we
employ to protect us from each other and ourselves, are a map of our
secret natures. When you know a culture's taboos (or an individual's, or
a family's) you know its secrets--you know what it really wants.
FAVORITE TABOOS
It's hard to keep a human being from his or her desire, taboo or
not. We've always been very clever, very resourceful, when it comes to
sneaking around our taboos. The Aztecs killed virgins and called it
religion. The Europeans enslaved blacks and called it economics.
Americans tease each other sexually and call it fashion.
If we can't kill and screw and steal and betray to our heart's
desire, and, in general, violate every taboo in sight--well, we can at
least watch other people do it. Or read about it. Or listen to it. As we
have done, since ancient times, through every form of religion and
entertainment. The appeal of taboos and our inability to escape our
longing for transgression (whether or not we ourselves transgress) are
why so many people who call themselves honest and law-abiding spend so
much time with movies, operas, soars garish trials, novels, songs,
Biblical tales, tribal myths, folk stories, and Shakespeare--virtually
all of which, both the great and the trivial, are about those who dare to
violate taboos. It's a little unsettling when you think about it: the
very stuff we say we most object to is the fundamental material of what
we call culture.
That's one reason that fundamentalists of all religions are so
hostile to the arts. But fundamentalists partake of taboos in the
sneakiest fashion of all. Senator Jesse Helms led the fight against the
National Endowment for the Arts because he couldn't get the (vastly
overrated) homosexual art of Robert Mapplethorpe or the most extreme
performance artists out of his mind--he didn't and doesn't want to. He,
like all fundamentalists, will vigorously oppose such art and all it
stands for until he dies, because his very opposition gives him
permission to concentrate on taboo acts. The Taliban of Afghanistan will
ride around in jeeps toting guns, searching out any woman who dares show
an inch of facial skin or wear white socks (Taliban boys consider white
socks provocative), and when they find such a woman they'll jail and beat
her--because their so-called righteousness gives them permission to
obsess on their taboos. Pat Robertson and his ilk will fuss and rage
about any moral "deviation," any taboo violation they can find, because
that's the only way they can give themselves permission to entertain the
taboos. They get to not have their taboo cake, yet eat it too.
We are all guilty of this to some extent. Why else have outlaws
from Antigone to Robin Hood to Jesse James to John Gotti become folk
heroes? Oedipus killed his father and slept with his mother, and we've
been performing that play for 2500 years because he is the ultimate
violator of our deepest taboos. Aristotle said we watch such plays for
"catharsis," to purge our desires and fears in a moment of revelation.
Baloney. Ideas like "catharsis" are an intellectual game, to glossy-up
our sins. What's closer to the truth is that we need Oedipus to stand in
for us. We can't have changed much in 2500 years, if we still keep him
alive in our hearts to enact our darkest taboos for us. Clearly, the very
survival of Oedipus as an instantly recognizable name tells us that we
still want to kill our fathers and screw our mothers (or vice
versa).
A COUNTRY OF BROKEN TABOOS
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