Bullying
A day after the much-talked-about Oscars, Facebook users had the time of their lives posting and viewing photos of Leonardo DiCaprio and his second-by-second facial reaction to his loss, again, to another actor. Days before that, most users of the social media poked fun at him, both direct and insinuated, about his desire to win the coveted golden trophy. I am not a DiCaprio fan, I find him to be very dedicated artist to his craft, by watching only a few of his movies. But he looked too beautiful, with a finely-chiseled face, well...for a man. Anyway, that is not the point here,
I write this as I think about how Leonardo must have felt, or is feeling with all these? I guess with his years in the business, he has learned to cope and handle it with ease. I am 47 years old, have been to 'hell and back', yet I cannot deal with the the stuff, and now I see all these as bullying. Really, there are many forms of it.
Before the advent of the numerous forms of social media, the classic picture we all had of bullying was that of boys in school, one big and fat kid, beating the wits out of a thin, frail boy, and grabbing his lunch. Today, that still happens. And worse. We hear of depressed kids ventilating their angst on YouTube because they are too scared to say anything to people around them in expectation of ridicule; we read news about young women taking their own lives just because they are viewed as ugly by their peers who do not know any better than to say it out loud to intentionally embarrass the other. Like DiCaprio. So because of my love for the underdog, I am now officially a fan. But again, I digress.
My point here is that bullying does not necessarily mean assertion of one's 'power' over another by physical means. More dangerous nowadays, is the psychological bullying of people, still with the use of 'power', though, not physical. The 'power' I speak of is that which comes with a position, an authority, vested to one by virtue of presumed intellect and of course, background, qualifications and experience. At times, this 'power' is assumed, other times, real, but sadly, most of the time imagined. There are a few who are given the opportunity to have power and authority, with the expectation that it is to orchestrate efforts of an organization towards a goal, a dream, a vision.
However, there are those given this privilege but are too hungry for, and not used to having it. Hence, because of the feeling that power brings, especially those who did not have that chance after waiting for a long time but have been dying to be in that position, get drunk. Easily. Then they get to forget the virtue of decency, and basic human respect for others. They go on a binge of delusion and self-entitlement, to the point of literally driving others around him, nuts.
Now I will be candid here and say, of course, I, too, have felt that. Like after a sip of good wine, I get all tingly and deliciously merry, that I have tended to bask in the rapture of it. Perhaps my 'breeding' helps, the way I was brought up, and recalling that, pushed me back and down to reality. In the end, I can always choose to carry a 'tough-guy' bravado, but I do not. I have been through the best of both worlds of plenty and scarce, so I know the feeling of those who live in those extreme worlds. Believe me, after all of the experience of wealth and the wallowing in nothing, I have learned that one can have authority, position, and power, but at the same time know your place in your own world which, in gact, is also inhabited by others. What you do with that power, is really up to you, your choice. As affecting others. You can have your power, but tempered with reason and compassion. Without reason or compassion, in the words of Teddy Locsin, Jr., or I paraphrase it now, 'when you go too high from where you came too low, you become too cheap.' So those out there with delusions of self-entitlement', stop the bullying. I am not impressed. And, you are pathetic.
I write this as I think about how Leonardo must have felt, or is feeling with all these? I guess with his years in the business, he has learned to cope and handle it with ease. I am 47 years old, have been to 'hell and back', yet I cannot deal with the the stuff, and now I see all these as bullying. Really, there are many forms of it.
Before the advent of the numerous forms of social media, the classic picture we all had of bullying was that of boys in school, one big and fat kid, beating the wits out of a thin, frail boy, and grabbing his lunch. Today, that still happens. And worse. We hear of depressed kids ventilating their angst on YouTube because they are too scared to say anything to people around them in expectation of ridicule; we read news about young women taking their own lives just because they are viewed as ugly by their peers who do not know any better than to say it out loud to intentionally embarrass the other. Like DiCaprio. So because of my love for the underdog, I am now officially a fan. But again, I digress.
My point here is that bullying does not necessarily mean assertion of one's 'power' over another by physical means. More dangerous nowadays, is the psychological bullying of people, still with the use of 'power', though, not physical. The 'power' I speak of is that which comes with a position, an authority, vested to one by virtue of presumed intellect and of course, background, qualifications and experience. At times, this 'power' is assumed, other times, real, but sadly, most of the time imagined. There are a few who are given the opportunity to have power and authority, with the expectation that it is to orchestrate efforts of an organization towards a goal, a dream, a vision.
However, there are those given this privilege but are too hungry for, and not used to having it. Hence, because of the feeling that power brings, especially those who did not have that chance after waiting for a long time but have been dying to be in that position, get drunk. Easily. Then they get to forget the virtue of decency, and basic human respect for others. They go on a binge of delusion and self-entitlement, to the point of literally driving others around him, nuts.
Now I will be candid here and say, of course, I, too, have felt that. Like after a sip of good wine, I get all tingly and deliciously merry, that I have tended to bask in the rapture of it. Perhaps my 'breeding' helps, the way I was brought up, and recalling that, pushed me back and down to reality. In the end, I can always choose to carry a 'tough-guy' bravado, but I do not. I have been through the best of both worlds of plenty and scarce, so I know the feeling of those who live in those extreme worlds. Believe me, after all of the experience of wealth and the wallowing in nothing, I have learned that one can have authority, position, and power, but at the same time know your place in your own world which, in gact, is also inhabited by others. What you do with that power, is really up to you, your choice. As affecting others. You can have your power, but tempered with reason and compassion. Without reason or compassion, in the words of Teddy Locsin, Jr., or I paraphrase it now, 'when you go too high from where you came too low, you become too cheap.' So those out there with delusions of self-entitlement', stop the bullying. I am not impressed. And, you are pathetic.
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