iMedia: Mad World

The world is a crazy, strange place. --> HYPERLINK It's mad. HERE <-- In the span of a single day, a human being can experience the intensity of the emotional spectrum - euphoria, brilliance, disgust, rage, fright and misery. The human mind has the power to of incredible innovation, like the late Steve Jobs. Our discussion in class today, with so much encouragement about what opportunities lay in front of us, to be the next entrepreneur, inventor, dreamer, left me thinking of how those positive people are the minimum. The majority of our population is simply put it, sad and mad. I then went to a journalistic writing class where our assignment was to read old features articles in the Oracle. The class unanimously agreed that a memorial of Chris Chung was the best, because the author had done a fantastic job of covering all aspect of Chris's life. Other profiles we had read only showed one angle of a person, a superficial grasp on their life. I realized that just about everyone - students, teachers, parents, workers all hide little parts of themselves; and they normally hide pain and sadness.

"Mad World" by Gary Jules exemplifies all of these feelings. Society and the mass media have made it a crime to appear unhappy or imperfect. This then leads to greater unhappiness and pressure, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. "Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow No tomorrow, no tomorrow" We are living in a world where tweens and teens are self-harming, and in some extreme cases, committing suicide. Popular sites such as sixbillionsecrets.com have constant postings about thoughts of these horrific crimes - and they go unnoticed. "Hello teacher tell me, what's my lesson? Look right through me, look right through me." Everyone suffers individually, causing a sense of crushing loneliness and inadequacy - thus the disco ball quote, in honor of 70's day.

When I first heard "Mad World," I was very young, I thought it sounded very melancholy, the piano and slow but steady tempo had a sobering effect. As I matured, the song continued to pop up, whether it be in a chain email, a youtube video, or a presentation in school. It stuck with me, and now I can understand the lyrics and see the truth. I see people running in circles and worn out faces during my daily journey through the halls of GBS. I can admit to being one of those people, doing what society expects of me, to finish my English homework. But when are these cycles going to end? Is there a way out of the pain and monotony that we experience? and why are we letting unrealistic goals of perfection and happiness control the way we life?

While I admit to feeling bouts of overwhelmed and disparity every once in awhile, and keeping them locked up, the most shocking revelation in the song, the sickest idea is "Children waiting for the day they feel good." The idea that children, whom when thought of are bright, exuberant and curious about everything the world has to offer, no longer feel good, is repulsive. I've experienced, firsthand, how hard even young kids work already suffering from insomnia as a result of over scheduled lives. While babysitting, I've had third and fourth graders worrying about a test, a worksheet or a project, but afraid to show the stress. The song is describing a dystopia that has become America's reality.

What can we do? The penultimate line of the song offers a possibility: enlarge your world. People need to make it acceptable to show pain and sadness, and they have to be willing to aide others in return. It could offer an opportunity to take burdens off of our shoulders, while learning about others as well.