Ghost World-ish view of reality: What is it exactly?

As we know, the graphic novel Ghost World is immersed in the period we know as Postmodernism. This is a period which has been influenced by two world wars that have devastated the countries involved, not only physically, but also psychologically. One might say that people have lost faith in mankind after these episodes. Nothing makes sense anymore and people try to find their own way out of this reality. This is the case of Rebecca and Enid, two friends who are about to enter adulthood. This graphic novel has the particularity that does not narrate a story with a clear thread or plot. Instead, it tries to illustrate what goes on in the lives of two girls who are trying to find a meaning in their lives. As it is expected by the period in which they are immersed, they view reality in a certain way, their own way and no one else’s. For example, they always go to eat to a place which is visited by weird people. However, when more and more people start to attend the same place they don’t think it is appealing anymore. This is when the term “hipster” comes into play. These girls have created their own ghetto, in which only things and habits that are not appealing to the rest of the regular people are appealing for them and, once people have realized that it is appealing, they decide that it is not anymore.

The casual behavior that they exhibit is surprising. It is interesting how they seem to perceive the world in a different dimension than regular people. The dressing changes with no apparent pattern. It seems that the only objective is to differentiate with the apathetic crowd. For example, in a passage of the novel, Enid goes to a sex shop with her friend, Josh, who is the shiest but coolest guy she knows. At the beginning he, of course didn’t want to go, but she ends up convincing him.  When they are inside, there are several “creepy” people and artifacts that call Enid’s attention. However, she ends up buying a piece of clothes that looks like a leather cap that is part of a sadomasochistic disguise. She is excited telling this story to her friend on the phone, Rebecca, but she does not reveal what she bought. At the end of the chapter, she appears wearing this cap as if nothing were wrong and, when Rebecca sees her, she asks her to take that silly thing off.

This brief contextualization of the novel made me remember of a discussion that I’ve had with many good friends about our reality and how we shape it. To be more specific, the topic of football has been highly controversial these days. I love football; I wouldn’t be able to explain why, however, there are people that disagree with me, naturally. It is my reality which I have shaped with my experiences and beliefs. It is like wearing the silly cap in public. However, I might also not agree with the beliefs of the same people that criticize me. This is what postmodernism is about. No reality is absolute and, if there is one, we never look at the whole scene. Never. Maybe Enid wore that cap because she was trying to express this very same concept that she only wanted to give a connotation to that part of the disguise and not all of it. Advertisement is also based on this game of hiding reality; it only exacerbates certain features of the human body or the icons it uses to promote products, but it never shows what’s behind it. Many people criticize the World Cup because Brazil invested millions of dollars in building stadiums while most Brazilians are asking for education and health or because workers died in the construction of these buildings. I don’t agree with it either, I only like the sport, not the commercial connotation. However, how many of those people have stopped to think who is behind the shoes they wear or the jewels they buy, maybe an exploited kid in Indonesia or another one in Sierra Leone? Despite the fact that there is a partial reality that most of us try to grasp, let’s not forget that there are many others as well. I want to copy a quote by Eduardo Galeano, who addressed the topic of football. Enjoy and reflect.

“El fútbol sigue siendo la pasión popular más importante del mundo; les guste o no les guste a quienes siguen todavía aferrados a los viejos prejuicios de izquierda y derecha, que han tenido y compartido sobre el fútbol. Para la derecha, el fútbol era la prueba de que los pobres piensan con los pies; y para la izquierda, el fútbol tenía la culpa de que el pueblo no pensara. Esa carga de prejuicio hizo que se descalificara una pasión popular. Lamentablemente eso también pasa en la izquierda, o en una izquierda que todavía no se ha enterado de que Stalin murió; esta idea de que el partido o algún intelectual tienen el derecho de decidir cuál alegría es legítima y cuál no. Entonces, el fútbol era una alegría ilegítima, porque desviaba al pueblo de sus destinos revolucionarios. Una estupidez total, y los hechos demostraron que no tenía nada que ver con nada. Yo sigo siendo un apasionado del fútbol y a mucha honra"

Eduardo Galeano