Documentary Writing: TABOOS!

Social Issue: Taboos as a whole that inhibit our daily lives

I personally am questioning our society’s current use of and the existence of taboos in general. My concern with taboos is due to the nature of their controversy, they tend to keep us from discussing certain problems or topics that could be solved or just help individuals understand them better. Addiction to drugs or alcohol for example holds many negative stereotypes. However, after educating one’s self about the factors that can lead to addiction, people can understand that maybe some individual’s path getting there might not have been easy to avoid. Take promiscuity as another example. Some would argue there’s nothing wrong with having multiple sexual relationships, but others might argue its immoral or is frequently abused with disloyalty. What about murder? When done out of malice it is horrific. But what about when people are murdered during war? Many would say it is justifiable based on the circumstance, yet others say it’s still wrong.

It’s difficult to choose a personal example. My grandfather asked for 70 years to live. He would be satisfied with life if he got his wish. He did. He lived into his 70s, but something about him changed. He stopped caring for himself. Living a life of heavy smoking and alcohol consumption, he wasn’t in the best shape. But he stopped trying to prolong his life despite his wife and my Mom’s objection. Was it right or wrong for him to do this? I don’t know. Maybe. I never knew either of my grandfathers. Had he took better care of himself in his later years perhaps I could’ve met him. Perhaps he could’ve shown me his love well into my childhood. All I have are videos of him holding me as a toddler. Maybe he was truly satisfied and was ready to go. But hey it’s okay, talking about it helps me brainstorm the reasons. Besides he’s not gone, I’m named after him. You could say he lives in me. J

In the story there are many potential taboos; alcoholism, smoking, addiction, suicide? These are not easy to discuss but it makes me more empathetic and sympathetic because I did.

To give a more specific example as to how taboos can inhibit our daily lives, say person A brings up a controversial topic (we’ll say pickles for simplicity sake) in a group of individuals having a conversation. Then person B reacts intensely to the remark thinking of it as insensitive or inappropriate, person C quietly discontinues his/her participation in the conversation, and person D can either take a side, be a diplomat, or also remove his/herself like person C. Person A brings up a defense as to why no harm was meant in bringing up illegal pickle farming but person B dissuades person A with hostile rhetoric about why it shouldn’t have been brought as its consumption is illegal to begin with.

I could go on with the scenario but I want to get to the point. I just think it’s unfortunate that the existence called ‘life’ we all share has things so “bad” in it, that sometimes we snap at each other and sometimes innocent individuals with no intent of harm get hit in the crossfire. Or sometimes a person wants to learn more about a taboo they wish to understand better but those around don’t wish to discuss or can’t without becoming hostile or emotional. Sometimes a person’s reputation or life could be at risk for briefly mentioning a taboo. Of course exceptions exist as to why some taboos are justified and why they are necessary to maintain a civilized society. It’s just unfortunate.