Before this class, I didn’t know what “kitsch” was
and had never actually heard the term before. However, once I was awakened to
the idea of kitsch, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Thoughts of kitsch helped
me to search for more meaning in my daily activities and relationships. Thank
you, Belliveau, for opening my eyes to this idea.
So,
what is kitsch? According to the article, “Kitsch and the Modern Predicament,”
by Roger Scruton, "Kitsch is pretense. […] Kitsch art is pretending to express something, and you, in accepting it, are
pretending to feel" (3). The idea of kitsch applies to art, literature, and
life in general. It’s the idea that pictures, being as mass-produced and
effortless as they are today, carry with them much less meaning than the
original paintings which took so long to make. Essentially, kitsch sucks away
meaning and authenticity to leave behind only a make-believe, cheap substitute.
I
was crying at one point this semester after we had spoken about kitsch in
class, I started thinking about why I cry – and why people in general cry. I
came to the conclusion that sometimes words seem so befuddled by kitsch, and
have thus lost meaning, to the extent that the only way to authentically
describe our feelings is through tears. As a deep thinker, I often feel deeply
as well; and, our English language, as vast as it is, doesn’t often do justice
to what I’m really feeling. I find myself more likely to cry when I’m overcome
with emotion and don’t know how to articulate it. I feel that if I attempt to
use words, people won’t understand how deeply I have been impacted, regardless
of my intonation or facial expressions.
Taking this idea a step further, I feel
like our tears can lose meaning because of kitsch as well. It’s the same
concept as the boy who cried wolf. If I cry often enough, people do not think
my tears have any meaning. They might even feel manipulated by my tears, like I
am intentionally trying to get them to sympathize with me by looking like a
weepy buffoon. But the thought of that just makes me want to cry more, to be
honest.
The idea of kitsch also applies to the
news. It explains why people are so numbed to the pain of others in the world.
Hearing about tragedies and suffering on the news has become commonplace – so overly
“kitschified” – that drastic events no longer elicit a response. However, by
recognizing that kitsch is the reason this has occurred makes me contemplate
how life should be and how the pain of others should cause me to grieve and
pray on their behalf. In that aspect, though kitsch can be depressing, I find
hope in striving towards how life is supposed to be.
I also had the delightful joy of
contemplating kitsch this semester with a male friend who I have starting a
beautiful friendship with. He had this class last year and remembers the
concept of kitsch well, so we had some great discussions about it. From talking
to him, I realized that literally everything is tainted with kitsch because of
our culture. We also discussed our fears that other people think of us as
kitsch. I told him I didn’t think he was kitsch at all, and he said the same to
me, but the words of one don’t rightly speak for the masses. Thinking about
kitsch in the context of a dating relationship takes on a whole new meaning for
me. There’s so much in our culture about relationships. We all know several
other people in dating relationships to compare to, and, even more than that,
romantic relationships are all over the media. It’s so difficult to know what
to do and how to do it because of kitsch. How can we be authentic instead of
being “just another Facebook relationship”?
Even in regards to communication in
dating, kitsch can be a pitfall. My friend is currently dating a delightful
young fellow, but sometimes she complains to me about how she wishes some
things would change in their relationship. One of those things has to do with
kitsch. You see, he will send her pictures sometimes, which makes her feel
special, like she gets to be a part of his life wherever he happens to be.
However, oftentimes, after he sends the picture to her, she finds it on his
Facebook. There’s nothing wrong with what he’s doing, but his communication
with her loses meaning once the picture is mass-produced for all to see online.
I reminded her that intimacy fuels romance, so it makes sense that when he
squelches the intimacy of that communication, she doesn’t feel as important.
And it’s all because of kitsch.
I’ve
also been thinking about church services in regards to kitsch. It’s easy for me
to assume that church is tainted by kitsch, so I don’t need to try to feel or
think while I’m there. However, then I remind myself that’s exactly what the
enemy wants me to think. What God wants me to do is to counteract any ounce of
kitsch to find the meaning that He wants me to find from the service, apply it
to my life, and make an impact for the Kingdom!
I’ve
also been thinking about Easter in relation to kitsch, since Easter was only a
couple weeks ago. It is easier to accept the kitsch version of Easter
that is often sold to us. With the kitsch version, we can know what
happened but we don't have to internally feel the weight of the cost, the depth
of the love poured out for us, or the beckoning of our hearts to respond. It's
easier to focus on the Easter bunny - even on the risen Savior and eternity -
than to truly recall, just for a moment, the sacrificial and intimately
relational love of the Perfect Lamb. But when we do, when we transcend beyond
the kitsch and allow God to direct our hearts to the authenticity of
Good Friday, then Easter Sunday is
more than beautiful - it's mind-blowing and life-changing. It means that my
life has meaning, that I am special and loved, that my hope is rightly placed
in the Lord, that I will indeed be
with Him soon - in the presence of the
best love. It means I can boldly and humbly serve in the confidence of God's
promises. He won't stop at any cost for me. He won't withhold a blessing. His
love covers me.
I’m
about to embark on the journey of post-college life. I am starting to get
emotional, thinking about not seeing my Cedarville friends, being afraid of
living out my faith in the journey ahead, and daunted by the huge transition
right in front of me. I realize that a lot of other people won’t understand my
feelings. Even if they have gone through it before, they are detached from it
now. Plus, so many people are posting about graduation on Facebook. The kitsch
aspects of our culture just focus on what’s good about graduation: celebrating
and moving on with life. However, I need to strive for authenticity even when I
know that others expect the kitsch remarks that are easier to give. I need to
resist the fear of expressing myself. People are craving to authentically feel, and joining in life together can
lead to that. However, it takes trust, perseverance, humility, and
vulnerability. Even if I deeply feel something, if I’m too afraid of what
others may think of me or too prideful to be seen as emotional, whatever I say
is going to come off as kitsch.
To
conclude, I want to talk about an interesting social phenomenon I became aware
of a couple years ago. My friend was a student at Western Kentucky University,
and she and her friends would hang out at the Christian Student Fellowship
house. Every so often, someone would evoke “real talk.” For instance, someone
would say something like, “Hey Mary Kate, real talk. How are things with you
and God?” By saying “real talk,” they were acknowledging kitsch tendencies and
saying that wasn’t what they wanted. Let’s seek real talk. Let’s seek
authenticity.
