So I watched the John Green commencement speech and towards the end he started talking about the same concepts that David Foster Wallace was talking about in his address. Green told a little story about how a couple years after he graduated from college, he was living in an apartment with this Kuwaiti guy named Hassan, and when the U.S. invaded Iraq, Hassan lost touch with his family. He responded to this stress by watching cable news coverage of the war 24 hours a day. So one day they were watching the news and the anchor said, “We’re getting new footage from the city of Baghdad,” and a camera panned across a house that had a huge hole in one wall covered by a piece of plywood. On the plywood was Arabic graffiti scrawled in black spraypaint, and as the news anchor talked about the anger on the Arab street, Hassan started laughing. Green asked him why he was laughing and Hassan said that the graffiti said, "Happy Birthday, Sir, Despite the Circumstances.”
The story was an anecdote to the rest of his speech to suggest to the audience that they don't simply look at life and at other people so black and white, that maybe things are not what they appear, that maybe instead of assuming the worst, give them the benefit of the doubt.
David Foster Wallace said some of the same things in his address when he talked about the lady at the supermarket that is yelling at her kids and that maybe instead of judging her, you should consider the remote possibility that this is just a bad day for her and she's not usually like this.
Both addresses had the argument that this way of thinking is more positive and will benefit you mentally, and I'm not disagreeing with them, it's just that this isn't exactly brand new information. I'm pretty sure everyone in their life has gotten a lecture from someone, whether it was a parent or religious teacher, to not "judge" people. Which is good advice because you don't know what is going on in someone's life at any given moment, so who are you to make assumptions? But this advice is just so ubiquitous that I can only wonder why these two speakers, and most likely countless others, would use their precious time talking to diversely educated graduates about a concept that has been taught since at least Jesus' time.
What do you guys think?
While I agree that these concepts have been taught to us over and over again throughout our lives and are basically clichés at this point, I liked that the speakers talked about how the graduates should really try thinking more positively in their everyday lives and not judge others. I know that it might seem silly for a speaker to base their speeches on these ideas, especially when they’re talking to well-educated graduates, but it’s pretty solid advice that people don’t really think about at that age. And I feel like there is a whole ‘nother level of appreciation that comes with hearing this life lesson at your graduation. It definitely becomes a much more powerful sentiment that would most likely stick with some people for the rest of their lives. David Foster Wallace’s speech, for example, talked about the everyday struggles in the “real world” and basically described the mundane routine that will come with adulthood. At the same time, however, he told them that they had the choice on how they want to see the world. I really felt the power behind his words, and John Green’s as well. Personally, I’m still learning to not to judge others even though I’ve been told from the get go not to do it because I don’t know their story. “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” right? But as a female teenager, it’s in my nature to automatically judge others – and I’m not proud of that. Sometimes I catch myself thinking, “Oh gosh, what is she wearing?” or “He didn’t get the answer right, AGAIN! Why is he even in this class?” I then have to tell myself that they have a purpose in this world and are better than me in other ways. Anyway, my whole point to this is that no matter what age a person is or how educated they are, we’re all still humans that need to be reminded of such lessons. Bad thoughts and negative views really make life sucky so be positive, like ALWAYS.
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