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The Illusion of Influence By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Before this week, I'd never heard of Don Draper. By next week, I expect to have mostly forgotten him.
I guess that proves I'm out of touch with contemporary culture — a term that has increasingly become an oxymoron.
Nonetheless, I can't say that I'm embarrassed to have never heard of this year's Most Influential Man. What mortifies me far more is to find myself living in a society that considers a fictional character to be its most significant public figure.
I had to strain my memory to place the first runner up, track star Usain Bolt. I'm still straining my powers of reason to understand how a sprinter from Jamaica might be considered the most influential real person in United States.
Number three on the list is President Barack Obama. I have heard of him, and it's hard to argue that the president is the most influential man in his own country, no matter what one may think of his policies.
The rankings lay in the hands of readers polled annually by AskMen.com, a website (of which I had also never heard) devoted to men and their lifestyles. Topping the list as well were, in order: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, American Idol judge Simon Cowell, late pop star Michael Jackson, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, tennis champion Roger Federer, quarterback Peyton Manning, and Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White.
But grabbing the most votes was Don Draper, lead character in the Emmy-winning drama Mad Men. And for the first time in the poll's history, the most influential man in American does not actually exist.
According to Reuters, AskMen.com editor-in-chief James Bassil explained the vote this way: "One of the big themes this year was that men really want to take on these traditional roles — as fathers, working men, provider at home, leader at the office. I think they are yearning for what is a solid past."
That would be a comforting thought … if it were actually true. Indeed, one wonders if Mr. Bassil has watched the show or read his own magazine.
AskMen.com's own website had this to say: "[Draper is] a postwar archetype, both a brilliant career man and a temptation-swayed philanderer who sincerely wants to be a family man… permanently conflicted over how to reconcile his morals and his desires." The website for Mad Men describes the show as a "sexy, stylized and provocative drama [that] follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell."
Were that not enough to debunk Mr. Bassil's rose-colored analysis, the list of the top ten winners is more than enough. Celebrities, athletes, billionaire businessmen, and an ideologically left-leaning president hardly reflect a trend back toward traditional values.
In truth, the evidence suggests just the opposite, that Americans are increasingly obsessed with glitz and glamour, with power and wealth, with conquest and ego-gratification. The sad moral of the story is that the poll-winners are genuinely influential in steering our society toward superficial hopes and unrealistic dreams. How fitting that the most influential man is not only a fictional character, but a profoundly flawed and ambivalent one at that.
The bright side of the story, however, is that the poll reveals the attitudes and aspirations not of Americans as a whole but of AskMen.com readers. If the publication is anything like its forerunners, Playboy and GQ, it is hardly a fair representation of the country. Indeed, it would seem to say more about the inner conflict of testosterone-driven alpha males than those typical family men who may already be living — not merely yearning for — traditional values.
As we enter the concluding days of the Sukkos festival, we should be grateful for yet another opportunity to remember the underlying message of the holiday: Just as the sukkah's roof of leaves and branches offer only the appearance of security from the uncertainties of life, so too do the temporal gratifications of this world offer only the most fleeting pleasure and fulfillment. The ability to discern between reality and fantasy is the key to true happiness and eternal contentment.
And as Sukkos reaches its end, we do not immediately return to the routine of our daily lives. Instead, we pause a moment longer to rejoice in the clarity we have achieved, to impress upon ourselves that no matter how persistently the deceptions of the material world may assault our spiritual senses, the Almighty has provided us with the ultimate defense against the influences of secularism and superficiality.
From Passover in the springtime to Shavuos in the summer, through Rosh HaShonah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos in the fall, the cycle of holidays culminates with Simchas Torah, the ultimate celebration of physical and spiritual freedom, of Jewish identity and unity, of love for the Almighty and for every member of our community. It is the Torah that teaches us the difference between good and evil, between truth and falsehood, between reality and illusion. And it is our celebration in the Torah that projects the joy of the festival season forward into the future, so that it will permeate every day of our lives and guide us toward eternity.
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Comment by clicking here. JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, MO, where he also writes and lectures. Visit him at http://torahideals.wordpress.com .
© 2009, Rabbi Yonason Goldson
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