Mania Posing As Passion

Michael Leunig

LEARNING GOAL

• Students should understand the notion that things are often not what they seem on the surface.

IDEAL•Leunig is advocating in his essay that what the majority of people see as sanity may in fact be madness.

Madness in Society•Leunig’s definition of true madness might be defined as emotional, moral and spiritual emptiness.

‘Continuous, random traumas’

‘the climate of official

deception, double

standards and emotional brutality

posturing as sanity and

order…’

‘Traumas are caused… by

lies, technology,

perversity, and everyday

violations of the mind.’

Other examples?

‘To live amongst too much injustice and popular indifference to it… is a

real trauma.’

SANITY•By contrast, sanity for Leunig lies in love and in harmony with nature.

Madness• On Page 78, Leunig writes:

‘Continuous low-grade trauma has become a way of life - it’s what is expected - an anti-story that nullifies meaning and morality and enables emptiness, craziness and wickedness to prevail and become the popular, intoxicating substance of daily life.”

•Do you agree with Leunig’s assessment that it is society that is truly mad?

The DictatorIn ‘Thou shalt be attractive’, Leunig envisaged the advertising industry as the dictator.

Not sure he meant this…

Assuming you got the pun on the last slide, let us move on…

•‘It is the stupefying tyranny within Western democracy’•Page 78

Mania posing as passion

•Who is the dictator in this essay?•How are citizens treated if they fail to conform?

Crazy as Normal• On Page 79 of

his essay, Leunig asserts that ‘children learn that crazy is normal’.

If this is the case, then what does this indicate about their view of reality?

•How can their ability to distinguish between mad and sane be overcome?

An answer?

Leunig’s Church•Was the ‘visitor’ to Leunig’s

tool-shed mad? (Page 79)•What of the haunted-looking

farmer? (Page 81)• How do they change Leunig’s

perspective?

So what is the BIG IDEA?Your own example for each from this essay… and others?

WHOSE REALITY

Our emotional reality affects our experience of our

physical reality

We each experience more than one reality

Human beings have the ability

to construct their own reality

Our perception of reality is

influenced by our cultural beliefs

Homework• Complete the concept map with the following– Two other Leunig essays we’ve studied (total of

three!)– Your own example from another ‘source’ for each

idea• If unsure go through the wiki!• Avoid teen films - try art, songs, historical examples,

current examples or famous quotes

• On Monday we go hard in preparing for the SAC. This concept map will save you coming up with ideas on the spot, or going through your notes, next week.