I don’t use Tumblr. However an app I do use is Instagram which happens to have a shitton of screenshots of Tumblr posts on it. And it was as I was perusing Instagram( most likely after my body was reported in Among us) that I came across an interesting post. It was about the diary entry of a teenage girl that read something like “Went to art museum today, it was boring. I think fred likes me. Man lands on moon”. That is hilarious, we view it as this massive event that had everyone glued to their screens. And this girl? She gave 4 words. FUCKING 4! It’s just so fucking funny lol.
But then something was in the Tumblr replies that caught my attention. it was someone mentioning one of their grandparents diary entries. It was from the 1940s and It went something like this “We went to nanas today. she gave us buttermilk scones. mom didn’t want her too but she still snuck them too us. Mussolini is no longer in power”. WHAT. Like ww2 shook the world and shaped the modern world as we know it. It’s this massive momentous event. And there are more lines allocated to scones than to Mussolini getting deposed. And at first I thought this was weirdo yank behaviour. But then I took a step back and thought about it.
And It hit me that I judge people this stuff when I do it in the modern day. For example CERN supercollider. That was a thing that I remember hearing shit tons about. And it was gonna happen. It was presumably this massive thing for science. Maybe even a modern man on the moon type of event. And I don’t remember it. Nor do I remember caring. I probably remember the day it was on. But thats not CERN day to me. No that’s “I went to the park and had fun :)” or “I had scones today”. Hard to know of course because I never wrote down any of my memories. Same with the financial crash of 2008. I didn’t know there had been a recession until like 2 years later I’d say. Probably more(tho I was 5 at the time cut me some slack)
And that’s just neat to me. It’s perspective innit like. Last example I promise but I asked my mam about the fall of the soviet union. And she didn’t remember it or remember caring about it. It was about as much bother to her as hearing that a woman down the road had got a new car. People really don’t give a shit about stuff unless they need to care about it or someone forces them to give a shit e.g school. Unless you want to destroy your mind by reading a shit ton of books about economics and history but what kind of fucking loser would do that HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.
So often we read from the positions of important men, what people want us to learn. But It’s nice once in a while to see the position of the little man. It gives you that feeling on the ground. I think JoJo rabbit is good for this. Sure it’s a WW2 movie. But it’s about a kid living in it. It’s about people manoeuvring through it and learning and growing. We have the main character while also overcoming his misconceptions of Jewish people he also has to deal with growing up. It’s an interesting perspective I haven’t seen too much of. Tho I suppose people living normal lives might not making some exceptionally interesting movies and tv. Suppose so
I’ll leave ye with these diary entries from a 50ish protestant women from the 90s in the north of Ireland
“August 31st 1994 Wednesday. The IRA have stopped their violence I hope. I went to see Sam with Jennifer and Kevin, he wasn’t too good.”
“15 august 1998 Went to Kesh
At 3:10 a bomb went of in Omagh killing 28.”
“July 5th 1998 Orange men at Drumcree ” “July 6th Orange men still at Drumcree”
“25th 1991 nothing written” (this was the collapse of the soviet union)
“9th of November Thursday 1989 Richards second driving lesson tonight” (fall of the berlin wall)