Jughead, Neuroplasticity and Addiction to Melodrama

Neuroplasticity

I became interested in cognitive science in my early thirties after arriving at theology school. My theologate is one of less than a handful that specialises in the thought of the Canadian philosopher-theologian Bernard Lonergan, S.J. Lonergan's magnum opus was Insight, an 800 page tome on how our minds move from questioning ("x+y=?") to knowing ("z!"). I found it very hard to read, but after I finished my "Insight" course, I was never afraid of reading a book again. My brain had literally been reshaped into an organ that could read very difficult (but not obscurantist) philosophy.

Lonergan was interested in introspection, by which I mean watching yourself think as you think. He was influenced by Saint Thomas Aquinas, of course, but also by the founder of his order, St. Ignatius of Loyola. The great Basque saint wrote a serious of spiritual exercises to assist Christians in developing and examining our consciences, which is highly useful for, as one priest-professor once suggested, it could be that we confess the wrong things. We think we are X and our problem is Y, but the bitter truth may be that we are A and our problem is B. Only a serious (and usually painful) struggle can get us to the truth about ourselves.

I found this fascinating because hitherto I had operated in the world not according to how the world was, but how I thought it should be.  I also laboured under a lot of misconceptions, as did most people when I was a child in the 1970s and 1980s. The most damaging one was that intelligence and talents are "fixed". But I've written about that before. Suffice it to say that I do think some people are born with a greater aptitude for some highly prized skills then others, but also that with enough passion, work and stubbornness, the rest of us can catch up to, and even surpass, most of them. 

There are some physical factors in that. Eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep and exercising help the brain's ability to learn. But other factors are psychological. For example, a great help to concentrating for the duration of a 90 minute class is practising concentrating for 90 minutes on the subject of that class several times a week. A great help to understanding someone who speaks another language is spending a set time every day listening to people speaking that language. Externals matter. 

Jughead

And at last I come to Jughead, who is an important character in the Archie comics series and therefore also an important character in the Netflix series "Riverdale." Benedict Ambrose and I found that Netflix comes with our emergency flat in the Historical Tenement, and after watching the Unabomber series, we stumbled upon "Riverdale". 

Hitherto B.A. (Scottish) had never heard of Archie, Veronica, Betty, Reggie, Jughead and the gang, but he gamely agreed to give "Riverdale" a go. Unfortunately he now thinks it is trashy, juvenile and melodramatic. Well, it is trashy, juvenile and melodramatic. It is also incredibly addictive.

After watching 2-3 episodes a night of Season One, and not being able to sleep because I was too excited by all the craziness that is life in Riverdale, I decided that I had to stop watching it. For one thing, I would never allow a child or teenager to watch such a wicked program, whose underlying messages include "Teenagers know much better than their stupid parents"; "Casual sex with your friends is peachy-keen"; "If an attractive adult seduces a teenager, the best thing to do is move her on to the next town"; and "Depressed loners with alcoholic fathers make the best boyfriends."

How happy I am that the actor playing Jughead was not 15 but 24 when Season One aired because otherwise I would feel as creepy as statutory rapist Ms Grundy (who stole the name from the real Miss Grundy) actually was.  The series betrays Archie comics in some very important ways, but at least it preserves Jughead's grumpiness. "Grumpy" in the TV Riverdale, however, means snarling references to Jean-Paul Sartre and looking like you haven't had a good night's sleep in years. 

Now despite the fact I retrained myself years ago to avoid snarling wannabe philosophers who watch obscure films, read Sartre and lie awake at night thinking dark thoughts*, I rejoiced when Jughead broke Archie comics canon law and [RIVERDALE SEASON ONE PLOT SPOILER] kissed Betty. 

At first I thought that this was because I have been of the opinion for 35 years that the only solution to the Archie-Betty-Veronica love triangle was for Jughead to rush in and claim Betty for himself. But as Jughead was not interested in anything but hamburgers, this seemed unlikely. It seemed even more unlikely later when distant rumours from Pop Culture Land reached me that Jughead was going to be canonically deemed "asexual" as in LGBTQA asexual. 

However, last night when dark fell, I became very anxious and declared that we would watch "Riverdale" after all. So we did--three juicy episodes in which, to my joy, Jughead ceased being kindly and dull and had a nice dark hissy-fit again. At that point I realised that my fickle heart had moved on from Jordan Peterson and glommed onto Television-Jughead. But what was really pathetic, was that it was BAD, SNARLY Jughead that it loved. 

As Jordan Peterson would say, "What the hell is going on here?"

Addiction to Melodrama

I fear it was the melodrama, and more than ever I feel that children and teenagers should be forbidden to watch "Riverdale" and because melodrama is mental and spiritual sugar: sweet and deadly.

Addiction to melodrama both distorts the very important quest to see the world as it is and not as how you would like it to be, and uses up time you could be doing something more productive. Externals matter. Tell me what you watch on TV, listen to on your i-Pod and what you tweet, and I will tell you who you are. I am shaking in my shoes about the Youth Synod because it seems that the bishops are going to be forced to listen to young Catholics (or CINOS) who have been plugged into non-Catholic pop culture for 20 years.

"Why cannot the Church be cool like 'Riverdale'?" 

I have more to say about this, but I have to go to Mass through snow, which in Edinburgh can be perilous as Scots Lowlanders don't have snow tires and or the foggiest clue how to drive in snow. 

*Benedict Ambrose taught philosophy for nine years and took a whole course on Sartre, but he prefers art galleries to obscure films and sleeps long and late. He is also very kind-hearted and strangely drama-free. 

Update: There are, of course, more reasons to object to "Riverdale", including the very ancient American anti-Catholic trope of being imprisoned in a Roman Catholic convent with Mean Nuns.

Update 2: Managed not to watch "Riverdale" on Sunday. Temperance win!

Update 3: Watched Brooklyn instead so now B.A. is wandering around the flat making unflattering remarks in an Irish accent about Colm Toibin.