The Modern Man in a nutshell - Pagliacci
la commedia è finita !
“Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he’s depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, “Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.” Man bursts into tears. Says, “But doctor…I am Pagliacci.” -Rorschach
I heard this while watching Watchmen (2009) - IMDb which was recommended to me by a close friend of mine. The movie was interesting and fun to watch. But the quote got me thinking who is pagliacci and what, why and all the questions that arises together with it. So i went down the rabbit hole of the pagliacci joke which dates way more back than you can think of Was Rorschach’s Pagliacci joke a real joke?. You know and the usual stuff like philosophizing about it and all that jazz. Today i will try to paint to you why the modern man is a representation of Pagliacci the opera.
Topics
The Story Of Pagliacci
Pagliacci is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo More. Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer and librettist More. The Opera Pagliacci follows sense of style which is inspired by Giovanni Verga who wrote in Verismo an Italian word which translate for realism which inspired most of the Italian Cinema which we will discuss later on in the blog. Ruggero Leoncavallo wrote the opera pagliacci based on true events which he saw as a child, His father was a Judge and dealt with many cases, and one of the cases was a man who murdered his wife on stage. The opera spans 75 minutes and is often performed as a double bill with another short opera Cavalleria rusticana which in fact was written by Giovanni Verga.
The story is a tragedy about a group of travelling actors which centers on themes of love, jealousy and betrayal. Where we explore the slow psychological deterioration of Canio, the leader of the acting troupe, married to Nedda who is in love with another man Silvio, When canio discovers this affair he becomes consumed in Jealousy. The opera’s climax occurs during a performance where canio, is playing the role of a clown and can no longer separate his character from his real life, And in fit of rage kills both Nedda and Silvio in stage, And ends the play with the final words La commedia è finita! which translates to The comedy is ended!, The last part of the opera is a play within a play.
Italian Cinema
As a cinema freak i really love watching old movies for their raw and authentic feel or now as i know what it is called Verismo, my favorite Italian directors include Luchino Visconti, Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica. All three directors were instrumental in the development of Italian Neo-realism, a movement that emerged after World War II. The movements depicted the lives of ordinary people the struggles of the poor and working-class in a realistic manner. Where they frequently utilized non-professional actors, on-location shooting, and a documentary-like style in their films, and all or most of their films reflect the social, economic, and political issues of post-war Italy. These filmmakers used their works as a form of critique against the societal and governmental structures that perpetuated these conditions, talk about quoting “Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable”.
In filmic creations, Visconti stressed realism, Rossellini did the same, and De Sica followed suit. All of them drew life as it is, without beautification. However, below the gritty realism of their films lay a strong streak of humanism, reflecting the dignity and strength of ordinary men and women, bruised by untoward events. They didn’t just revolutionize Italian cinema, but they also influenced filmmakers around the globe. Their films laid a foundation for modern cinematic realism and influenced a number of other film movements, including the French New Wave. Which then went on to inspire many more.
All the films by the three directors explored common philosophical themes like Existentialism, social realism, Human struggle, dignity, moral ambiguity and critiques on post war society. These directors were inspired by Verismo which profoundly shaped cinema with their focus on the real struggles of people, often exploring deep philosophical questions about life, society, and the human condition.
Notable Films
- Luchino Visconti: The Leopard (1963), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), La Terra Trema (1948)
- Roberto Rossellini: Rome, Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), Germany Year Zero (1948)
- Vittorio De Sica: Bicycle Thieves (1948), Umberto D. (1952), Shoeshine (1946)
Understanding The Modern Man
If you have seen movie American Psycho this is quite a familiar familiar picture, Patrick had them on his walls. This picture is not a random one made for the movie but from the works of Robert Longo: Men in the Cities : Photographs 1976-1982 More, Men in the cities is one of the most iconic bodies of work from the late 20th century. It is created between 1976 and 1982, it consists of large-scale black and white pictures that depict men and women in contorted dynamic poses against stark white backgrounds, this images are emblematic of the anxieties and tensions of urban life, specially the fast-paced, high-pressure environments of cities like New York.
The series Men in the Cities was inspired by so many different sources: cinema, photography, or even just the world going on around Longo. This idea he found in a scene from Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s film The American Soldier when a character gets shot and his body falls in this really dramatic, stylized manner. Longo felt the power of the visual in that instant and wanted to freeze motion in such a way in his work. Now one of the things i want to note here is that Fassbinder’s films frequently centered on characters such as criminals, prostitutes and so on. Where he explores the harsh realities of their lives in films like The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant where a troubled fashion designer strikes up a romance with a much younger woman and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) A lonely widow meets a much younger Moroccan worker in a bar during a rainstorm and they fall in love. Fassbinder was influenced by a variety of filmmakers and artistic movements which shaped his style of work. Some are Douglas Sirk, Bertolt Brecht and Jean-Luc Godard. All of the people that influenced his work were people who had a knack for verismo.
To create the images, Longo had his friends-often artists and performers-undertake photo-shoots in which he asked them to pose as if they had been shot or struck by some kind of invisible force. The result was photographs of bodies in mid-motion, with twisted limbs, arched backs, and looks of ultra-intensity. Longo used the photographs as a basis for his drawings, translating the frenetic energy of the photos into detailed, hyper-realistic works of art. I know i am geeking out on photography but bare with me cause this is like really interesting. Men in the Cities is detailed and labor-intensive; the drawings are executed in charcoal and graphite on paper, often with the highest detail, photographic in execution. The jarring contrast between the figures of the blank background imbues a sense of isolation and dislocation, underscoring the emotional intensity of an image. The figures in Men in the Cities are dressed in business attire—suits, ties, and dresses—suggesting a connection to the corporate world and the pressures of modern urban life.
These the exaggerated poses and expressions reveal a struggle, tension, and almost violence in them, as if they were pushed to their breaking points. This has led many people to interpret the series as one sort of comment on the dehumanizing effects of capitalism, urbanization, and the relentless pace of modern life. It covered a variety of themes, including alienation, power, and the body in crisis. The series can be seen as a response to the cultural and social upheavals of the late 20th century, capturing the anxieties and existential dread that many people felt during this time. (and what do we call that … Verismo), and i think it was the appropriate decision to use them in the movie american psycho, the attention to detail is amazing. Back to understanding the modern man in which i will depict using Men in the cities.
In short, he is the product of the historical, cultural, and intellectual developments starting to take shape in the Enlightenment centuries, the 17th and 18th. This was an epoch when there was a transition from a traditional, religiously-oriented view towards greater secularization, rationality, and individualism in one’s perception of the world. Thinkers like Descartes, Kant, and Rousseau drew much attention to such aspects as reason, autonomy, and self-awareness-features that became the backbone for modern human identity. It is in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century that the real transformation into modern man takes place, however. That is when industrialization, urbanization, and technological changes really took center stage and changed everything: the way people lived, worked, and interacted with each other. New social classes rose; there was an increasing concern about individual success and a loss of traditional communal frameworks. The modern man, therefore, was he who braved the complexities of an increasingly industrial, technological, and individualistic society.
The modern man is defined by some characteristics which we all know, Individualism: A far greater emphasis on individual self-determination, autonomy, the free expression of self, and achievements through the individual can be seen in contemporary life. The looser binding of the traditional ties to community, religion, and family created, as a result, a self-centered identity. Rationalism and Skepticism: Enlightenment-tinted, modern man operates on reason and critical thought. There is a tendency to question authority, tradition, and dogma, which means more skepticism, more questioning. Dependence on Technology: Man has closely tagged himself with technology for use at work, while communicating, and for leisure. It is this aspect of technological dependence that has brought about changes in human relationships, work environments, and even the way people conceptualize time and space. Alienation and Anomie: The psychic feelings of alienation, loneliness, and purposelessness are common among modern men due to the breakdown of the old social structures. The rapid pace of change makes modern man dislocated; the lost sense of a communal bond adds up to existential anxiety. Adaptability: Man has to move with the times in this fast-changing world and must be open to change. A so-called modern man has to learn new things all his life, relocate to different places, and live with uncertainty. Consumerism: A modern man is also the product of a consuming society where identity and status are generally connected with material things and their usage patterns. Which American psycho portrayed that well, and add Fight Club into the mix as well.
Modern man is confronted by many complex situations that puzzle his ego, identity, and self-denotation. Among all these, one is important, which is the tension between individuality and uniformity. While modern man prizes freedom and self-expression, he is faced with pressures emanating from society, expectations, and requirements of the market economy. This results in an eternal tug-of-war between the search for authenticity and adjustment to fit in. The other situation defining the modern man is the search for meaning within a secular, disenchanted world. In light of the decline of religious and traditional worldviews, the modern man has to find newer sources of meaning and purpose. Often, it creates an exploration of existential questions, the search for new forms of spirituality, or a retreat into hedonism and distraction.
Another issue a modern man has to deal with is balancing work and leisure. The demands for a work-centered attitude imposed by modern capitalism stand in the way of personal fulfillment and well-being, prioritizing productivity and efficiency instead. The result may be burnout, stress, and disconnection from one’s true desires and passions. Art has always acted like a mirror to society-problems, hopes, and anxieties of the contemporary world. Similarly, modern man found his voice in varied artistic manners that emerged to capture the essence of modernity.
Modernism: It began in the last years of the 19th and early decades of the 20th century, aimed at dislocating itself from traditional forms and conventions. The innovative features of Picasso, the flowing stream-of-consciousness writing of James Joyce, and the modern wasteland of T.S. Eliot led the artists to capture the alienating and dislocated experience of the modern man amidst wreckage, disillusionment, uncertainty, and a search for meaning by which the modern condition has been characterized.
Abstract Expressionism: mainly used by Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, I remember the first time i discovered Jackson Pollock i started geeking out and informed one of my friends a great painter and artist, and he was pissed off like that ain’t art and started explaining the philosophy of the anatomy of drawing artistic figures and such you know yourself. Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko during the mid-20th century, emphasized stark colors and abstract forms expressing the inner turmoil and existential angst felt by modern man. It reflects the chaotic and disordered nature of modern life, with a struggle to find coherence and meaning.
Pop Art: Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein-this is the imagery of consumer culture put into service to decry the superficiality, the unbridled materialism of the contemporary world. Pop Art-once again-manifests the entwinement of modern man with mass media, advertising, and commodification of culture.
Postmodernism: This is a movement in the late 20th century, which was an immediate reaction to Modernism’s attempt to search for meaning and coherence. Postmodern artists, like Jean Baudrillard and Cindy Sherman, adopted irony, parody, and fragmentation in recording the disorientation and relativism of the contemporary world. Indeed, postmodernism questions a unitary, coherent identity. It unmasks the fluidity and constructed nature of the modern self.
Digital Arts and New Media: During the 21st century, amidst the rise of digital technology, new ways of artistic expression started to appear. It is digital art, video games, and virtual reality that give expression to the immersion of modern man in the digital world, as they explore the junctions between technology, identity, and reality.
The Modern Man in a Nutshell
So after all that your are probably wondering what does pagliacci have to do with the modern man? and that is if your attention span is not damaged by short form content at this point you forgot that pagliacci exist, Jokes aside.
Pagliacci and the modern man are both confined to roles that they must play. Pagliacci is literally a performer-a clown who must make people laugh even as he suffers inside. The modern man often feels called upon to put a brave face to the world, whether it be of success, happiness, or competence, sometimes when struggling inside. The pressure to be in step may develop a deep sense of alienation from the self and create an in-authenticity in life. Canio is solitary in his agony, in his inability to express himself candidly, as the modern man is often alienated in a world that too often prizes superficiality over authenticity. The loud struggle of the Pagliacci within-the struggle between desire and Reality, between self and appearance-is that of the modern man. This isolation may be heightened by a fast-moving life, work strains, and high expectations for success. This, in turn, sets up the modern man struggling along-and probably all by himself.
Pagliacci’s fate as a tragedy is sealed when he can no longer repress and hold back his emotions, leading to his violent outburst. So too, the modern man encouraged to suppress his emotions-especially in those environments which demand from him a great deal of stoicism, productivity, and rationality-is very often led down the path to burnout, depression, and a general sense of existential emptiness. We find Pagliacci served as a cautionary tale in warning against the denial of one’s true emotions and proving that destruction may well follow. Both Pagliacci and the contemporary man have been searching for meaning within a world that can be indifferent at times to the struggle of one or the other. Pagliacci finds himself in the theatre, an unforgiving place where his personal tragedy would be played out through a mixture of reality and performance. Similarly, the modern man must find his way in the world where the search for meaning and authenticity, as with Gilgamesh, plays second fiddle to the imperatives of modernity, whether in the form of career, consumerism, or status in society. In both cases, there is a deep-seated desire for something more substantial, the urge to break free from the chains of social roles and attain an inner self.
Pagliacci sums up the tragic duality of the performer and the sufferer through many of the stresses that beset modern man. The tension between public performance and private pain, the sense of alienation, the quest for meaning-all these strike a responsive note in Leoncavallo’s opera no less than in the experience of modern life.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this one cause i really did when researching and reading about it i think it took around 2 weeks or something to realize this whole thing and i remember telling one my friends ጉጉት’s Journey a real cinema freak be sure to follow him on letterboxd too the pagliacci joke and he said sounds similar and told me another one “Mario Puzo wrote both screenplays for Godfather 1 & 2. He had never written a screenplay before that, and after winning 2 Oscars he thought he should learn about screenwriting. So, he bought a book on writing and on the first page it said “study the Godfather Part 1 & 2 as perfect examples of the art of screenwriting”. So yea maybe next time you are getting a blog about nick land, god father, Kaczynski. you never know.
Now that i got you interested in some new stuff which you will go on and dig more for yourself cause this is just the tip of the iceberg and since you now know about verismo and godard let me drop this meme and until we meet again
