Uncut

There is a common hypocrisy that plagues the earth, in our every encounters and conversations. It is the pretense that we value truth and rebuke lies. When actually it is much the opposite, we comfort ourselves with daily lies, shunning harmful truths from our ears. We are only semi conscious of these lies, some we have even convinced ourselves are truths because they are more appealing that way. This is for example the existence of God, or soul mates, the subtle white lies and tact we spew without any thought of their falsehood. While we know the trait of being a “liar” is quite an unfavorable one, we are comfortable with doing so all the time. 

But what we really fear is truth. Lies are malleable, soothing in the fact that they can be contorted to our every desire. Truth is blunt, invasive, we are often powerless against truth, and that is frightening to most. Perhaps this is why I am often unlikeable and distasteful to those who prefer to surround themselves with convenient lies. I am obsessed with the truth. Like Jude Law’s character in Closer, I could easily ruin relationships with others in a constant need to vindicate the truth. This is not a common trait, I am aware of that, the truth is not easy to swallow. Many are too weak to handle harsh truth, this is not completely unknown. We have devised sayings such as “truth hurts” and others to describe the completely humbling feeling of revealing and harmful truths. What I have to wonder is would the world be better off if more were like myself, blatantly truthful against all costs.

A movie in which this concept is explored is one with Ricky Gervais called The Invention of Lying. It depicts a world where only truth existed, people simply did not know how to lie, the idea never occurred to them. Social exchanges were severely blunt, feelings were not spared, humans were almost robotic like in their outright expression. The character Ricky Gervais plays is the first one to introduce lying into this world, and he is delighted that suddenly he can have life as he pleases instead of being slave to brutal reality. At the deathbed of his mother he uses lies to paint the picture of a calm and serene place for her soul to travel, dispersing her fears of eternal blackness. This caused me to wonder, have we glorified the practice of lying when it is to protect those we love? Does that truly make it acceptable?

If lying is done with fondness, perhaps that is why it has never appealed to me. I don’t care enough for the feelings of others to lie to them, to soften blows. That is not to say I am not aware of tact, and do my best not to offend, but I can never be apologetic for being truthful. I often struggle immensely with those who claim to be affectionately close with parents, yet find the need to lie to them. Simple and base lies about things like tattoos or sex life, personal decisions and the like. Your parents are meant to have an unconditional love for their children, they are your protectors, the idea of you shielding their eyes from problems or decisions does not allow them to perform their true capacity. I am not very close with either of my parents, but I am completely truthful, telling my mother tales that might shock any regular parent to the bone. My mother is accustom to my life and accepts me for it, thus I ensure there will never be one tumultuous day when all is revealed since I have been honest all along.

This may not sound feasible to everyone, but I do encourage everyone to try it. Try to eliminate the subtle lies, value the truth you had long forgotten and dismissed. And above all do not come down harshly on those who tell the truth, I can handle what comes my way, the threats, the nasty names and general shunning, but I often wonder how it is rationalized. Telling the truth is more dangerous than you might think.