Repiticion (accent on the o) In the Play of Mi Vida

In Krapp's Last Tape, the poor old man obviously is a little bit... disturbed? It seems to be obvious that this is not the first time that he goes through the cycle of eating bananas, drinking, listening to previously recorded tapes, and then recording a new edition. Hence why it is a cycle, or, to put the term loosely, a schedule. It is normal behaviour - for him - to eat more than one banana, right after the last one. It is normal behaviour - for him - to listen to a recording of his own voice, telling his own story. And this made me ponder a very philosophical question (well, I think it is): does the human being think anything is 'normal' as long as you do it often, and it becomes natural, or are brought up doing it, and that is natural as well?

Well, I started thinking and realized that this could very well be the case. My friends in Germany eat horse, no problem at all, it's delicious meat that comes from an animal. Dip it into mustard, and it makes quite a good substitution if there are no Brat Wursts around.

Also, some friends from Colombia put cheese into their hot-chocolate. Personally, I find that to be absolutely disgusting. Cheese? In your hot-chocolate?! Gross! I thought, but then realized, if I had been brought up doing that, would I find it gross? Most likely not, just as if I had been brought up sleeping in a tent, it would be the normal for me, and therefore my way of life.

So, getting a little bit deeper, if people are brought up around drinking, drug abuse, physical abuse, it is 'normal' for them. They believe that that is the way of life, poor things. Just how I think that everyone brushes their hair right before going to bed, sings in the shower, worries about college, and has to babysit their little siblings, while trying to decide if their dog really needs a bath, or can wait one more week. (And also liking google better than whatever this ridiculous bing thing is, getting frustrated that everyone stares at my hair because they have never seen a blonde head before, and disliking the fact that I have now started calling people "sir" and "miss" without adding their last name to it.)

It is difficult to realize that everyone has different backgrounds, and that your way of life is not the only way. And also, to realize that anything that is out of the ordinary, something that you have never done, is not a wrong or weird way of doing something. It is simply different from what you are used to.

So, getting back to Krapp. Do I think that his little schedule is different from mine? Absolutely. Unhealthy, and unbeneficial for life? Definitely. But does Krapp necessarily think that? No. Probably not. And also, he is a fictional character who was being acted out by an actor, with a script as a guideline.

And then that got me thinking. Am I an actress? Of course not in the actual sense, I can barely talk to one person without a natural pinkness creeping itself across my face, much less act out a different person's words and actions in front of a bunch of people! But, when I think about it, I am kind of given a "script" and told to "interpret" it and do the best I can to make it believable. The script would be the obligation to go to school, do outside activities, be a member of my family, pretty much the script of "obligations of a teenager in the world of 2010". But then I have the option to "interpret" my "lines" the way I want to. Just like an actor. I can be a good student, or a bad student, I could do one or a hundred activities, I could go all emo and not speak to my family, or I could be one of those gushy people who can't seem to stop gushing about how cute her little brother was when he said "Gimee dat wight now, peeeeez!" And subconsciously, I am acting out a lifestyle that my parents impose upon me. Did I just wake up one day and say, "I want to get good grades and go to college"? No. My parents from the beginning gave me that mind set. Of course, everyone is different, and not everyone has this same experience (previous paragraph etc.).

Anyways, instead of going on and on forever and ever, I guess that I should just conclude that I need to not be so quick to judge, in other words have a more open mind to things. For example, with the unhappy and depressing books that we have to read, I just need to take a deep breath, and try to see where the author was coming from.

Even if I prefer the repitition in the play of mi vida.

And to continue with this repitition, I am going to place a picture below this blog. Most likely of something happy.