SADDAM HUSSEIN—COULD IT BE HE’S DRIVING US ALL INSANE?

Since I’ve moved my family to a much more rural setting—from a New York suburb to bucolic Mendocino County in Northern California—I find that I watch more television than I used to back East. What I seem to watch are two cable news channels which are closely grouped: MSNBC and CNN.

Ever since Saddam was captured, I’ve seen the inside of his mouth maybe (a rough guess) three hundred times. It’s driving me insane. Not just the shots of his mouth but the shot where he grabs his beard (thoughtfully) and pulls his fingers down to the bottom. I had many different emotional responses at first—disgust, pity, even nausea (once).

But now, I find it necessary to turn my head and eyes away from the screen. If I guess a shot of him is about to fill the screen, I quickly turn the channel but, of course, I’m never quite fast enough. So I’m forced to get a glimpse of him—and, it’s driving me insane!

It’s also making me watch less television, which, I guess is a good thing.

It occurred to me—just now in fact—that the inhabitants of Baghdad must have felt the same way as I do, when they had to view Saddam’s face everywhere they turned. Not only on television, but on every street corner almost.

SADDAM ON A BILLBOARD

When I was in Baghdad in May, most of Saddam’s images had been removed by then. But it seemed people must have grown tired with tearing down posters, toppling statues and climbing posts on which his likeness stared down at them. Maybe Iraqis had become numbed by the sight of his face to the point where his picture became just a generic item, like a tea cup or a pencil or a whatever.

Or, maybe his face had made them temporarily insane.

Taking this one step further, if Saddam was (is) insane, perhaps just looking at him gives the viewer a kind of contact insanity. Think about this for a second: we are affected by everything we look at. For instance seeing a pretty girl’s face makes me happy. Seeing a picture of a horrible act being committed, sickens me.

Followers of gurus in India carry a likeness of their gurus on chains around their necks. They believe that just looking at their enlightened master is experiencing darshan (the master’s presence). So, why would Saddam’s likeness then not carry with it a certain intrinsic power to impart some of his insanity to those of us unfortunate enough to have to see his face which unfortunately includes most of the free world these days.

SADDAM ON A SIGN ABOVE A BRIDGE CROSSING THE TIGRIS

Posted by Tony at December 21, 2003 10:55 PM