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    Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Others' Misery
    Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Others' Misery
    Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Others' Misery
    Ebook199 pages1 hour

    Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Others' Misery

    By Lawrence Dorfman

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    Schadenfreude: noun, often capitalized \'shä-d?n-?fro?i-d?\ Schadenfreude i/'???d?nfr??d?/ (German: ['?a?d?n?f???d?]): pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

    “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

    We’ve all heard the phrase. It was made most famous in the Godfather movies. And some do credit this saying to the Mafia, dating back to the old country of Sicily. Others say it had its origins in Spain. Still others claim it for the Pashtuns, as a precursor to the Afghan way of life. And there are many who say its direct history stems from Kahless the Unforgettable, banished leader of the Klingons.

    Typically, the Germans beat the rest of the world hands down when it comes to conjuring a specific word that sums it up. And that word is Schadenfreude.

    Those of us that are human (most of the book-buying public), whether we will admit it or not, have at some point or another gained malicious delight from the misfortune of others. Most often tied to a vaguely biblical outlook, it is a perfect summing up of a perfectly human trait. Nobody wants to admit it, but we all do it . . . and, often times, gleefully.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSkyhorse
    Release dateNov 1, 2013
    ISBN9781628735352
    Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Others' Misery
    Author

    Lawrence Dorfman

    Lawrence Dorfman has more than thirty years of experience in the bookselling world, including stints at Simon and Schuster, Penguin, and Harry N. Abrams. He is the author of the Snark Handbook series including The Snark Handbook: Politics and Government Edition, The Snark Handbook: Insult Edition; The Snark Handbook: Sex Edition, Snark! The Herald Angels Sing, and The Snark Handbook: Clichés Edition. He lives in Connecticut.

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      Book preview

      Schadenfreude - Lawrence Dorfman

      Cover Page of Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Other’s MiseryHalf Title of Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Other’s MiseryBook Title of Schadenfreude: A Handy Guide to the Glee Found in Other’s Misery

      Copyright © 2013 by Lawrence Dorfman

      All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

      Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.

      Skyhorse® and Skyhorse Publishing® are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

      Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

      ISBN: 978-1-62873-535-2

      Printed in China

      To the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, Soupy Sales, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, and most of all, Bugs Bunny and the WB gang.

      Schadenfreude personified.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Chapter One: History

      Chapter Two: Religion

      Chapter Three: Hollywood and Celebrities

      Chapter Four: Media (movies, television, music, books)

      Chapter Five: Art

      Chapter Six: Politics

      Chapter Seven: Men and Women

      Chapter Eight: Crime

      Chapter Nine: Sports

      Chapter Ten: Miscellaneous

      Conclusion

      Index

      INTRODUCTION

      —The Simpsons

      The origins of One man’s pain is another man’s pleasure can be found in old English texts circa mid-1500s, and has been used in a variety of ways since (one man’s meat is another man’s poison, etc.).

      There are two kinds of Schadenfreude:

      In the early part of the nineteenth century until today, the physical aspects of Schadenfreude could be seen in the broadness of slapstick comedy—from the base humor of someone slipping on a banana peel, to getting hit in the face or head with a 2 x 4, to falling off a ladder, to stepping on a rake, all the way up to the seemingly endless stream of getting kicked/punched/rammed in the genitals that made up the bulk of the entertainment that was America’s Funniest Home Videos and Jackass. Their pain is palpable and, to many watching, riotously funny.

      The other kind manifested itself in a slightly more cerebral way . . . the joy one takes when someone lets their success go to their head and, as a result, becomes an obnoxious bore. It is the pleasure we take on seeing who gets fired on The Apprentice or who gets voted off the island on Survivor. When they eventually screw up (and they do, more often than not), there is a feeling that overtakes us that can only be described with that very German word: Schadenfreude.

      These days, those downfalls are the main source of most news reporting, whether on television, radio, via Twitter and Facebook, and in pretty much all media. There is nothing that sells papers or attracts viewers like a good scandal involving a celebrity, a politician, or a sports star who has been caught breaking the rules.

      Picture this …

      You’re walking down the street in, say, New York City, and you spy a man knocking a woman and her small child out of the way as they try to catch a cab. The man, an upstanding lion of business, is in a hurry and his business meeting (or whatever) is going to take precedent over the mere needs of a mom and her offspring. The cab pulls out and gets hit broadside by another cab. No one is hurt . . . but that elation you feel, knowing that the guy in the cab is going to miss his important meeting . . . why, that’s SCHADENFREUDE.

      SCHADENFREUDE comes in many shapes and colors. It can be as simple as cheering and clapping that follows a waitress dropping a tray of dishes or a bartender breaking a glass.

      It can be the exultant gladness one feels when a stunningly beautiful contestant in a major beauty contest gives an answer to a question that clearly shows her to have the IQ of a Q-tip.

      It can be the unexpected pleasure one feels while watching a young actor or actress, who has not done any work of significance in his/her short and not particularly stellar career, get arrested for drugs . . . or bad driving . . . or shoplifting . . . or any myriad of possible infractions that you know will have major consequences down the road. And the immediate image that pops into your head where they’re wearing an orange jersey while they spear trash on the side of the road under the supervision of an armed guard . . . that’s SCHADENFREUDE.

      Admit it . . . it forms the basis of much of our humor. From the slapstick of the 3 Stooges to the Keystone Cops to Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd . . . on through Chevy Chase’s pratfalls at the beginning of the early days of Saturday Night Live . . . to the angst of The Hangover and pretty much every Steve Carell movie . . . we laugh instinctively at the misfortunes of others . . . and if the recipients have been presented as vicious or evil or arrogant or condescending . . . well, there is a level of satisfaction that comes from seeing revenge enacted. That feeling of satisfaction from a perceived justice? That’s SCHADENFREUDE.

      This book contains all sorts of examples, miniature portraits of characters from all walks of life who rose to the pinnacle of their various fields... often on the backs of others . . . committed all levels of atrocities while up there . . . and ultimately fell from grace . . . a hard, damaging, brutal fall (oft times fatal) and the sense of satisfaction that was felt as a result . . . yep, you guessed it . . . SCHADENFREUDE.

      CHAPTER ONE

      HISTORY

      History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

      —Abba Eban

      We fill history with good guys and bad guys—too bad they’re usually the same person. It just depends on who’s telling their stories. General Custer and Wyatt Earp had devoted wives who knitted heroic stories of their husbands instead of booties. Benedict Arnold and Richard Nixon . . . not so much. It wasn’t that long ago that Americans cheered moving the Indians (or Redskins as they were then known) out of their way and off to the reservation. Today, we’ve ceded millions of dollars in gambling revenue to atone for our guilt over the tragic displacement of Native Americans. The only truth is what we want it to be, or, as Winston Churchill said, History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. Read quickly my friends for yesterday’s joker is certain to become tomorrow’s Batman.

      History is rife with Schadenfreude. From the giggling that started amongst the other animals in the garden while the snake sold Adam and Eve a bill of goods, to the French peasants eating pound cake while Marie Antoinette lost her head, to Abbie Hoffman sitting in front of his television eating a bowl of ice cream and chortling while Nixon flashed the Peace sign as he boarded that last plane, to watching a secret video that ends up swaying an election, Schadenfreude has been a constant emotion that has enveloped many of the participants.

      A

      LEXANDER

      T

      HE

      G

      REAT

      Perhaps the greatest general of all times, Alexander set his sights on creating the largest empire the world had ever seen. Apparently, thinking he was going to live forever, he paid little mind to the fact that most empires are built on successive generations. So when gravely ill and asked to name an heir, Alexander ignored his son and his trusted officers and simply replied, the strongest. Gee, you think? It comes as no surprise that as a result of this lack of endorsement, his empire would experience nearly 200 years of war and end up destroying just about everything he had tried to accomplish.

      J

      ULIUS

      C

      AESAR

      Julius Caesar was a Roman general, a statesman, and an author. He also triggered the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Power hungry from the jump, he pissed off the Senate and practically everyone in it. He refused to give up his military command and started a civil war as a result. No one was happy . . . and so he was assassinated in the very same Senate by his cronies, led by his friend Brutus.

      There is some controversy over whether he actually uttered the infamous line, Et tu, Brute? Latin for And you, Brutus? Other than the fact that they spoke Greek at the time, no one knows. I prefer to think . . .

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