Got Kabuki?

When I was a kid and I wanted to get attention, I would exaggerate my reaction to some trivial incident. For instance, if my sister accidently touched me while she was dancing around the house to her favorite 45 RPM Elvis record, I would fall on the floor and writhe in pain. Screaming to my mother that she had attacked me. And that I was permanently maimed by her irresponsible actions. My mother would ignore me and go on with whatever she was doing.

I grew up, started my career and learned to do it in business. It worked occasionally too. I could get my boss on my side by exaggerating the transgressions of my coworkers. I don’t know if psychologists have a name for this kind of behavior but I know that I wasn’t the only person doing it.

Fast forward to today and I see it in the news every day. It amazes me that politicians and public figures still do it to invalidate someone from the other party. One of my favorites is the faked outrage that some claim over another’s premature or thoughtless comment. It is a sure sign of he or she should resign their office. And proof that the offended one owns the higher moral ground.

Homeland Security head, Janet Napolitano recently made such a comment about the security system working and then not working. Now she’s being savaged by the Republicans. Attention Democrats! Don’t use this to claim the higher moral ground. You do it too, every time a Republican says something that can be used against him or her.

I’ve always thought that American politics was grand theatre. But lately I’ve realized that it’s Kabuki. That’s the traditional Japanese theatre where the drama is stylized and exaggerated. Sound familiar? If not, just listen to the extreme right and left radio bloviaters. They offer a unique form of American Kabuki for our enjoyment. Listen to our politicians claiming retribution for verbal slips made by “their good friends” on the other side of the aisle – that’s Kabuki.

I don’t condemn anyone for enjoying American Kabuki. As long as they see it as exactly that. It’s good entertainment. But what scares me is that some people take it seriously. Since the word kabuki is believed to derive from the verb “kabuku”, meaning "to be out of the ordinary", kabuki can be interpreted as "bizarre" theatre. I think this is the perfect metaphor for American politics and some talk show hosts: Bizarre and exaggerated theatre.

I didn’t know that I was performing Kabuki when I was a kid falling on the floor. But I recognize it now. I don’t do that anymore. I’m retired. I don’t need to. I just read and watch the politicians and millionaire talk show hosts creating their unique American brand of Kabuki theatre. And sadly, I also watch some American’s gobble it up as though it were authentic.

So the next time someone makes an exaggerated response to another person’s minor verbal slip up, think of Kabuki. The next time you hear someone exaggerate the horrible consequences that will come from a politician’s verbal slip, with which “they” disagree, think of Kabuki. The next time you listen to a bloviater taking umbrage from the remarks made by another bloviater, think Kabuki. And the next time a good friend makes a verbal slip that irritates you, don’t become a Kabuki actor yourself.

The world doesn’t need any more drama. There’s enough to good drama to enjoy. Good drama touches our humanity. It elicits our emotions. It makes us think and links us together. Japanese Kabuki is a legitimate form of good drama. American political Kabuki is not. It overly exaggerates the political positions of the actors and has no redeeming value. It assumes the gullibility of its audience. It’s manipulative. It lacks integrity and it’s just plain destructive.