I was reminded this week of that great line from Yeats, “…the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” It’s from his “The Second Coming,” and which the title itself reminds me of those “The End Is Near” cartoons. The joys of an associative mind. I have thought of Yeats’s line when I see a car plastered with political sentiments, thinking the owner was certainly worse for all that misguided intensity.
But this week’s experience made me disagree with that line because change, whether I agree with it or not, can be fueled by someone’s passionate intensity. I was biking under a major highway bridge and noticed from my low vantage point that someone was putting up a flag and a sign along the pedestrian walkway. My inner photojournalist came forward and I decided to see what the person was doing, knowing that I had a Fed 2 camera with a nearly full roll of HP5 film in my bike bag.
The man was putting the final tie on the second of two signs. I approached and told him I was a photographer who liked to document interesting things, including signs, and could I photograph his — as traffic whizzed by a highway speed. The man hesitated at my request, which I didn’t have to offer because we were on public property. He reluctantly said ok, and then added, “But I don’t want my face in the picture.” I told him the photo was for my own use and he still said no.
At this point, the man’s reaction bifurcates into two distinct issues. The first, which deserves its own exploration in another blog, concerns many people’s belief (many in the younger generations in particular) that they are free to wave signs and placards, create performance art, or engage in any number of other public displays on public property — all activities that scream, “Look at me!” — and have the right to refuse to have their actions photographed. They believe they should be free from the gaze or the attention of a person with a camera. The law says otherwise, but they insist they have a right to a cone of capricious invisibility. This is a thornier issue that it seems, so I’m saving that for later.
The second issue relates to the Yeats quote. Clearly, this man believed strongly in the messages he was advertising. He went to the trouble to find a spot just before the exit ramp that led to a COVID-19 vaccination site and to tie his messages to a fence while battling the backdraft gusts of passing vehicles. I can’t quibble with his desire to be heard.
But his denial to literally stand by his message astounds me. Whatever respect I have for any person who feels the need to express themselves like this publicly is diminished by the lack of conviction, the lack of passionate intensity. The power of public protest lies in the humanness of the message, the willingness to put a part of yourself into your message.
I’m tempted to use the cliche about having skin in the game, but I hate cliches.
I didn’t agree with this man’s message. I support wholeheartedly his right to express it. Any chance that his sign might change my views is dramatically decreased by his lack of actually stand up for the opinion.
Let’s end with a few lines from a more recent poet…er, songwriter - Don Henley.
“…You got to bring somethin' to this party, boy / If you party here / …How bad do you want it? / Not bad enough…”