SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL

Victor Bloom MD

Classic plays never fail to be thought-provoking. The Stratford Festival recently revived Sheridan's "School for Scandal," and it shows that great plays which endure through the centuries are about basic issues in the history of humanity.

Part of the human condition is that we gossip and love to tell stories about our fellow-creatures, some of which are true. We think they are true because someone we know and trust told us. But that person might have heard something from someone not so reliable. Often, we hear what we want to hear. (And not hear what we don't want to hear). Jury decisions often dramatize the fact that our perceptions and conclusions are often inaccurate.

People say, in effect, "I have come to a conclusion--- don't bother me with the facts!" Kurosawa's great "Rashomon" most vividly proclaims this truth, that perception is always distorted by what we want to see. And so Caucasions thought OJ was guilty and African-Americans concluded he was innocent. Democrats thought Anita Hill was telling the truth and Republicans felt that Clarence Thomas was not lying.

The whole idea of scandal generates easily to today from at least two hundred years, when this play was the favorite of George Washington. I had never thought of the father of our country being a playgoer, but of course he was, and he would be. It is hard to think of a British play being popular in the new colonies, but it seems dramatic plays were part of our beginnings, and an important link to our historical past. They say we are only a new young country without a long legacy of history and art, but our founding fathers and pioneers carried age old European tradition with them into the New World. We are not a new culture, although we had an excellent kick-start with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, largely taken from John Locke, the enlightenment philosopher.

Despite the fact that 'deconstructionism' devalues the European contribution to Western Civilization, and raises other continental and tribal values to be on a par with our own, the contribution of 'dead-white-males,' Shakespeare and Sheridan included, is powerful and unmistakable.

Sheridan's play shows how gossip, rumor, innuendo, slander, backbighting and character assassination work, and how honesty, candor, honor and loyalty are hard pressed qualities to balance the scale, in the story of human social intercourse. The play revealed the 'politics' of human relationships, and the need to put others down.

Recent current events have shown the powerful use of gossip, lies and innuendo. Most recently, in the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Clinton supporters called the independent counsel, Starr, everything from a dirty old man to a participant in a right-wing conspiracy. Gennifer Flowers was called a liar and Paul Jones a slut. Monica Lewinsky was named, "that woman."

Ten years ago, in the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill controversy, Thomas was called a liar and a sexual harrasser and Hill was considered disloyal and mendacious. they each sought to justify their positions, but outside observers knew that since their stories made opposing claims, someone had to be lying. Lying involves conscious deceiption and/or withholding the truth, but it is possible that neither party maintained their positions on a purely conscious, rational basis.

Our ideological positions and group identifications dictate, not only what we remember, but in large part, our perceptions and interpretations of the news. We are influenced by loose talk which gains credibility by being in print. We choose our newspapers accordingly, to those which speak our words for us.

The liberal Democrats supported Clinton throughout his ordeal, casting aspersions on Republican motives and methods. The conservative Republicans held to the rule of law, honesty and truth. Principle was held up against practicality. What we usually get is a compromise, in order, at long last, to get along and proceed with the business of government.

What often happens between people is 'one-upmanship.' This is the basis of gossip, innuendo and distortion. Those who gossip are inadvertantly putting someone else down. The put-down of others makes the gossip feel 'superior' for the moment. This is a defense against his/her inferiority complex.

It is easy to explain why people tend to put other people down. We all have a basis for feeling inferior, inadequate and vulnerable. It is the memories of having been an infant and a child. Remember how it looked and felt when you were an infant and a small child in the world of adults. It's enough to give a person an inferiority complex!

We are left with global feelings as a legacy from our childhood, if not clear memories.

Childhood memories endure in our unconscious memory-bank, and break out into adult life when we feel vulnerable or panicky, helpless or impotent. That's why, for example, some drivers cannot stand being cut off or passed on the road. And that's why some drivers are prone to road-rage. They cannot stand their feelings of inadequacy. Someone had more horsepower.

The other side of the coin is that many people are made to feel important and powerful as children, protected from abuse and exploitation. They feel entitled to the best that life has to offer and have internalized self-esteem and self-confidence. These people tend not to gossip or put other people down, because deep down, they don't have strong feelings of inferiority and inadequacy.

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and on the editorial board of the Wayne County Medical Society. He welcomes comments at his email address--- vbloom@comcast.net