1 EAGLETON NOTES: It's Not Edgy Enough

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Monday 26 October 2020

It's Not Edgy Enough

Kay recently posted on being positive. In the post she used the term 'Pollyanna' with the words "but I hesitated because there is always someone who will take me for a "Pollyanna" with my head in the sand and not fully comprehending the problems of the world.".  I stood up for Pollyanna and Kay said that she thought that people thought it "not edgy enough" for the modern world.

Ten years ago on Thankful Thursday on A Hebridean in New Zealand I wrote about the best-selling novel Pollyanna by written in 1913 by Eleanor H. Porter"

Pollyanna's philosophy of life centres on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It originated in an incident one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna's father taught her to look at the good side of things—in this case, to be glad about the crutches because "we don't need 'em!"  Of course it didn't end there.

I've noticed, too, that the term 'Pollyanna' has been used a lot recently about Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. (Whom I happen to admire as a person with humanity who can also act decisively with an iron ruthlessness).  The references have not appeared entirely complimentary. 

In this day and age a good positive outlook is no bad thing because the world and its news is centred on negativity. Not just with Covid-19 but with politics in general in many countries. Okay, there are a lot of positive initiatives but even then organisations like Extinction Rebellion concentrate on a negative way of putting over what is supposed to be a positive message.

So I'm very sad that we feel it necessary to be 'edgy' to get our message across.

42 comments:

  1. Never heard much of Jacinda. Wasn't she one of Bair's acolytes?

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    1. NZ has set up “quarantine camps”

      People can be forcibly removed to camps if there is a risk they may infect others in their households.
      They will be detained without charge, or conviction of any crime, until they agree to a test & it’s negative.

      She learnt well from the master.

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    2. Camps? People in the community who have tested positive have been isolated in a comfortable hotel until they are recovered. The legislation relating to people who pose a public health risk was previously mostly used for people who were diagnosed with TB (it allows, among other things, for free treatment regardless of the individual's immigration status).
      And we are at level 1 - no restrictions at all on people who have been in NZ for at least 14 days.
      People entering the country who do not want to undergo a test can be required to remain in managed isolation for a maximum of 28 days.
      I don't know where you got your misinformation from, but I assure you it is not correct.

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    3. Pollyanna_H, thank you very much for your comment. Adrian is very anti-restrictions in relation to Covid-19 (and just about everything else) and as far as he's concerned Jacinda is a left wing reactionary and beyond the pale.

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    4. Thank you Graham. No politician can ever be universally loved, but as you will be aware, a big surprise of our recent election has been the big swing of lifelong National voters to Labour. Faith in our Prime Minister, resulting from her handling of the major shocks since she was elected (ie the mosque shootings, the Whakaari / White Island erup, COVID-19), seems to be the major driver. Her repeated messages encouraging kindness, sharing, a sense of community etc have also won some people over I think.
      (NB I chose the nickname Pollyanna_H years ago as Blogspot wouldn't let me use Chris915, my preference elsewhere - I didn't choose it for this topic! :-) ) Christine

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    5. Aha, now I understand from whence the misinformation arose! The (strange) accusations about camps are being made by foreign pundits / media.

      https://thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin/29-10-2020/the-bulletin-idiots-abroad-infuriated-by-nzs-covid-response/

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    6. Pollyanna_H, thank you for the last two comments. I did read them when they arrived but I forgot to respond after reading the article (being sidetracked is one of my big failings).

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  2. Graham, when I read that bit in Kay's post about Pollyanna "with [her] head in the sand and not fully comprehending the problems of the world", I wanted to comment on that, too; as I understand Pollyanna (and all the Pollyannas out there, including myself), the Glad Game is not about having one's head in the sand and not fully comprehending the problems. It is rather a case of finding something positive IN SPITE of the problems which - to an extent - we do indeed comprehend.
    Knowing Kay, I am sure she was merely expressing what she feels others think of Pollyanna. I cut my own comment short without referencing to that bit, but now that you have brought it up, too, I wish to add my two cents.

    PS: Interesting aside - in German, commenting on something or voicing one's opinion, especially when not asked, is called "adding one's mustard". I find that rather funny, as I think mustard can indeed enhance a dish quite nicely and is not useless and superfluous.

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    1. Meike, thank you. I could not have expressed it more adequately myself. "Cut the mustard" is a saying in English which, as you probably know, means meeting one's expectations. As to how mustard comes into it I'm not sure.

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  3. A very good friend of mine ran a trendy West End children's clothes shop, founded in the mid-60's, which was also called Pollyanna.

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    1. Good name for a shop. I came across a shop 'Mugwump' in Durham. No relevance at all to this. You just reminded me of shop names.

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    2. Graham Edwards Trailers Ltd is a company based in Full Sutton, York. It is a noble and trustworthy name for a company that sells new and used trailers. To visit their website go here:- https://www.edwards-trailers.co.uk/

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  4. Interesting the facets of Pollyanna
    It was years ago since I was last called a Pollyanna. In context, the sentiment is that I'm naive on the side of stupid. I was advocating that folks be kinder to each other.
    Frankly, being associated with her movie costume bothered me more than what folks called me. I would never wear a humongous bow on the top of my head.

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    1. Maywyn, I cannot recall seeing the movie although I have seen the 2003 UK TV version which was, I understand, a more down to earth version more true to the book.

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  5. Well, I am not sure that I could ever be edgy, no matter how much I tried. However, I do read, think, and have strong opinions but do not usually voice them. I shall have to be content being my usual staid, boring "Nobody" self.

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    1. JayCee, there is no such thing as a 'nobody'. 44 years ago someone who became, and is, one of my closest friends called me a 'boring old fart'. He may well have been right. Since then I have been called many things but no one has called me boring again.

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  6. My two cents' worth: When people shy away from being what they call a "Pollyanna", they may be using a cliche that (like all cliches) is not entirely accurate but contains a grain of truth.

    The thought is that if one is going around just trying to find "the good in every situation", and there are seriously not-good situations, wasting time trying to find the happy little butterflies in a bad situation instead of dealing with the gravity of it and moving quickly to a solution is not (ahem) good.

    She gets a pair of crutches, and the good side of things is that she doesn't need them? So if Pollyanna reads about a school shooting, her answer is "Well, I don't have any children that went to that school, so yay!" ... there are situations that just don't have a good side.

    When people are trying not to be a Pollyanna, I think they are trying to stop avoiding the hard truths and be part of the solution. I don't think it's really about being edgy - or shouldn't be, anyway. It's about not painting lipstick on a pig and calling it Rita Hayworth. It's about saying there's something wrong here, and we have to find a way to fix it. The "meme" or "cliche" of Pollyanna is that blithe belief that if you just "find the good in every situation" that everything will be all right. The main problem with this outlook is that everything is not going to be all right. At least not most of the time, and certainly not without any help from us.

    I subscribe to the style of Lara Croft way more than Pollyanna. Find out what is going wrong, look ahead at what could possibly go wrong, gird your loins and wade in and try to fix as much shite as you can, help other people, protect those weaker than yourself, and try to enjoy yourself in those blissful moments between. Recognize good where it exists, but realize it does not, in fact, exist in every situation. There are people, and situations that people create, that have absolutely no good in them whatsoever. This is part of life. Learning to identify them early on is key to being able to do something effective. Deal with life the way doctors deal with illness. Find out about the bad stuff as early as you can, so something can be done. And do it.

    Oh, and along the same lines - to any fellow Americans reading this blog: PLEASE VOTE!

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    1. Marcheline, hats off. You put it so well, so succinctly.

      U

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    2. 7
      Marcheline, for once I shall take issue with some of your comments and suppositions but please don’t think for one minute that I am naive or a person with no experience of ‘real life’ or someone with my head in the sand because I am none of those things.

      The first thing is the word 'just' in the first sentence of your second paragraph. I don't think Pollyannaism is trying to find just the good in every situation. I think it is about looking for good in a situation and building on that. I think, too, that Pollyannaism is about the sort of situations we encounter in life as we go along on a day to day basis and not about the bigger things in society like a World War or a pandemic (although some great things have come out of the pandemic in this country despite everything) or a school shooting or a terrorist bombing (although acts of great heroism have come out of some of these too).

      This leads me to believe that the US perception of Pollyanna and the UK, or at least my, interpretation of Pollyannaism is not quite the same.

      Your penultimate paragraph is a macro approach. Pollyannaism is not.

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    3. I agree with you - the label is interpreted in different ways in different places. Glass half full vs. glass half empty. In the US, it's definitely viewed as a negative comment. Also, I would never think that you are naive, without experience, or an ostrich. And I'm all for making the best of things, after I've conquered as many obstacles as I can.

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  7. What a timely post topic, Graham, as later this week we are going on a short getaway to a town in NH, which is a next door to Littleton, NH, the birthplace of Pollyana author Elenor Porter. I was reading about a status there and already planning to find it, now that's a definite quest. I didn't really know much about the origin of the phrase or "The Glad Game" before reading this post and the follow-up comments.

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    1. Beatrice, I'm glad that you now have a little bit more information. I hope that you enjoy your getaway. Stay safe.

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  8. With all the noise from competing interests it's hard to tell what's real. We have to take a deep breath and step back and take another look at things. However, it aint gonna happen.

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    1. Red, never has truth and reality been more challenged.

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  9. A good post, Graham. Sadly, positivity has taken a back seat lately, with negativity up front and centre. Nastiness and negativity spread faster than any pandemic.

    More emphasis should be put upon kindness, consideration and positivity than it is on negativity and nastiness...the world today seems to be thriving on the latter two, unfortunately.

    To my way of thinking, it takes less effort to be kind to one another...to show consideration for one another than it is to be hurtful, thoughtless and uncaring...as I said...that is my way of thinking. I know I am not alone in that way of thinking...it is just we of that frame of mind are quieter than the noisy, disruptive rabble...if I'm making any sense!

    As for the Extinction Rebellion clowns....don't get me started on them!!

    Take good care, Graham. :)

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    1. Rebellion Extinction are extinct. They have moved on to BLM.

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    2. Thank you, Lee. We are in agreement.

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  10. The accepted meaning of Pollyanna has perhaps drifted away from its original idea of finding good in the face of adversity, or being positive when one might reasonably be disappointed, and of not dwelling on the negative aspects of life, and rising above them. Some might even equate it with burying one's head in the sand, although the latter has a more negative connotation, a gesture of defeatism, in fact. In a world beset by a pandemic about to get worse, where political discourse has sunk to its lowest ebb in generations, where poor migrants displaced through no fault of their own suffer terrible hardships, I am glad to open my front door to Pollyanna and to welcome her in with open arms. It seems to me we need her right about now.

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    1. Thank you for putting it so succinctly, David.

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  11. I think it is true that some folk are naturally "glass half full" people and others are "glass half empty". At the risk of sounding negative, I think The English Trump is definitely one of the former. His hollow positivity and upbeat optimism become tiresome after a while - very much out of synch with reality. With regard to Brexit, he should accept that you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. What we need is level-headed pragmatism.

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    1. YP, I couldn't agree more about our leader. The big difference between BJ and Pollyanna is that he is only interested in himself and how people view him. He needs to be loved. Pollyanna was entirely the opposite.

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  12. Brecht created his own Mother Courage.
    Ken Tynan wrote a glowing review of one of the great London productions of the play in the 1960s.

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  13. I agree they have a good message but deliver it in an unsatisfactory way. Shooting themselves in the foot.

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  14. I think there's a way to be positive but also a way to be realistic, however dwelling on the negative brings me down and after going through a bout of depression about 6 years ago I have no wish to go back there. As for Jacinda did you see or hear about some American reporter getting on the bandwagon about Jacinda's covid response and spouting off a thread of misinformation. That sort of stuff just makes me roll my eyes and not go there.

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    1. Amy, I hope that you don't go back 'there' and that your positivity shines through and keeps you happy. I've seen a few US comments on Jacinda's approach and other things. I ignore a great deal that comes from certain factions in the US (and elsewhere!).

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  15. My understanding of a Pollyanna is that it means a sugary, naive person with no idea about reality.

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    1. Rachel, that may be how some people see it as a result of watching the American movies and the American psychotherapy studies refer to it as an over-optimistic approach but I don't think that the book or the British TV movie really go that far. My purpose really in advocating Pollyannaism is the use of the Glad Game. I think that is something that is sadly lacking in our approach to life today.

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