Lawrence Dorfman - Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Others’ Misery

Copyright 2013 by Lawrence Dorfman

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-62873-535-2

Printed in China

To the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, Soupy Sales, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, and most of all, Bugs Bunny and the WB gang.

Schadenfreude personified.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The Simpsons

The origins of One mans pain is another mans pleasure can be found in old English texts circa mid-1500s, and has been used in a variety of ways since (one mans meat is another mans poison, etc.).

There are two kinds of Schadenfreude:

In the early part of the nineteenth century until today, the physical aspects of Schadenfreude could be seen in the broadness of slapstick comedyfrom the base humor of someone slipping on a banana peel, to getting hit in the face or head with a 2 x 4, to falling off a ladder, to stepping on a rake, all the way up to the seemingly endless stream of getting kicked/punched/rammed in the genitals that made up the bulk of the entertainment that was Americas Funniest Home Videos and Jackass . Their pain is palpable and, to many watching, riotously funny.

The other kind manifested itself in a slightly more cerebral way... the joy one takes when someone lets their success go to their head and, as a result, becomes an obnoxious bore. It is the pleasure we take on seeing who gets fired on The Apprentice or who gets voted off the island on Survivor . When they eventually screw up (and they do, more often than not), there is a feeling that overtakes us that can only be described with that very German word: Schadenfreude.

These days, those downfalls are the main source of most news reporting, whether on television, radio, via Twitter and Facebook, and in pretty much all media. There is nothing that sells papers or attracts viewers like a good scandal involving a celebrity, a politician, or a sports star who has been caught breaking the rules.

Picture this

Youre walking down the street in, say, New York City, and you spy a man knocking a woman and her small child out of the way as they try to catch a cab. The man, an upstanding lion of business, is in a hurry and his business meeting (or whatever) is going to take precedent over the mere needs of a mom and her offspring. The cab pulls out and gets hit broadside by another cab. No one is hurt... but that elation you feel, knowing that the guy in the cab is going to miss his important meeting... why, thats SCHADENFREUDE.

SCHADENFREUDE comes in many shapes and colors. It can be as simple as cheering and clapping that follows a waitress dropping a tray of dishes or a bartender breaking a glass.

It can be the exultant gladness one feels when a stunningly beautiful contestant in a major beauty contest gives an answer to a question that clearly shows her to have the IQ of a Q-tip.

It can be the unexpected pleasure one feels while watching a young actor or actress, who has not done any work of significance in his/her short and not particularly stellar career, get arrested for drugs... or bad driving... or shoplifting... or any myriad of possible infractions that you know will have major consequences down the road. And the immediate image that pops into your head where theyre wearing an orange jersey while they spear trash on the side of the road under the supervision of an armed guard... thats SCHADENFREUDE.

Admit it... it forms the basis of much of our humor. From the slapstick of the 3 Stooges to the Keystone Cops to Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd... on through Chevy Chases pratfalls at the beginning of the early days of Saturday Night Live ... to the angst of The Hangover and pretty much every Steve Carell movie... we laugh instinctively at the misfortunes of others... and if the recipients have been presented as vicious or evil or arrogant or condescending... well, there is a level of satisfaction that comes from seeing revenge enacted. That feeling of satisfaction from a perceived justice? Thats SCHADENFREUDE.

This book contains all sorts of examples, miniature portraits of characters from all walks of life who rose to the pinnacle of their various fields... often on the backs of others... committed all levels of atrocities while up there... and ultimately fell from grace... a hard, damaging, brutal fall (oft times fatal) and the sense of satisfaction that was felt as a result... yep, you guessed it... SCHADENFREUDE.

CHAPTER ONE

HISTORY

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

Abba Eban

W e fill history with good guys and bad guystoo bad theyre usually the same person. It just depends on whos telling their stories. General Custer and Wyatt Earp had devoted wives who knitted heroic stories of their husbands instead of booties. Benedict Arnold and Richard Nixon... not so much. It wasnt that long ago that Americans cheered moving the Indians (or Redskins as they were then known) out of their way and off to the reservation. Today, weve ceded millions of dollars in gambling revenue to atone for our guilt over the tragic displacement of Native Americans. The only truth is what we want it to be, or, as Winston Churchill said, History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. Read quickly my friends for yesterdays joker is certain to become tomorrows Batman.

History is rife with Schadenfreude. From the giggling that started amongst the other animals in the garden while the snake sold Adam and Eve a bill of goods, to the French peasants eating pound cake while Marie Antoinette lost her head, to Abbie Hoffman sitting in front of his television eating a bowl of ice cream and chortling while Nixon flashed the Peace sign as he boarded that last plane, to watching a secret video that ends up swaying an election, Schadenfreude has been a constant emotion that has enveloped many of the participants.