Interesting…

In 1983, musician David Bowie was interviewed by MTV host Mark Goodman. This was during a time when MTV played music videos, and Bowie pressed Goodman on the fact that MTV did not showcase black musical artists. And even when they do, they’re on at 2AM. Goodman responds by saying, well, we can’t just be concerned with what’s popular in New York and L.A. We also have to consider some kid in the Midwest who “would be scared to death by Prince, which we’re playing, or a string of other black faces.” And Bowie simply responded, “Very interesting…”

It’s such a powerful exchange, and of course the “interesting” is not interesting in the pure sense. It was not interesting in the same way that a botanist finds a plant interesting. It was “interesting…” And the inflection, the tone, the pause, the way the word lingers in the air, it gives the word an extra quality that I just love so much. Bowie literally said “Very interesting…” but he was essentially saying, well, that’s fucking shitty and racist. Goodman justified the idea that it’s reasonable to get scared at seeing a black person on television.

Anyway, the conversation continued and Goodman said that MTV can only promote inclusivity and diversity slowly, just a bit at a time, so as not to offend some racist viewer in the Midwest or something [sorry, Midwest people, it was just Mark Goodman’s example]. And Bowie again responded with “interesting, thank you very much.” 

It was a great interview, and likely influenced MTV to showcase more black musical artists, eventually. It got me thinking about the word “interesting,” and how, well, interesting it is. As I said, interesting doesn’t always mean strictly interesting. Another classic example occurs in discussions between men and women in relationships. A man will ask “Are you mad?” or “Is something wrong?” and a woman will respond, “No. I just find it interesting that…” In this case, generally speaking, interesting does not only mean interesting. Whatever she’s about to talk about, she’s not just interested in it in the way that a physicist finds particles interesting. She’s interested in it in a personal way, which makes her feel something. Like how I “find it interesting” that my boss gave me more responsibilities without raising my wages. Hmm… that’s interesting…

Have you ever asked someone if they liked something, like a movie or a meal at a restaurant? And they say, “It was… interesting…” When they say that, you know it was not good. If a movie or a meal was good, the first word you would use to describe it would never be “interesting.”

But then I started thinking about the word “interesting” in a literal sense. There’s so much in existence that I find interesting! I’m interested in writing, classic literature, environmental science, physics, metaphysics, philosophy, politics, whiskey, playing the guitar, playing the piano, basketball, American history, the history of cults. I’m interested in words, thoughts, life, death, love, and so on and so on. And I’m not trying to say that I’m somehow unique for having varied interests. I’m not. There are plenty of people who are interested in a ton of different things at once.

BUT, there are people who are interested in one thing, or just a couple things, or it’s obvious that they hold one interest to be their Supreme Interest. For example, Luciano Pavarotti probably had a few interests, but it’s fairly obvious that his Supreme Interest was singing opera. I feel like I’ve spent much of my life without a true Supreme Interest. I also feel like the very varied interesting interests have been an overall negative aspect of my life, but maybe I’m just a silly pessimist.

Because I haven’t had a true Supreme Interest, I tend to bounce around all over the place or I stretch myself out way too thin. I did some serious soul searching a year and a half ago, and I decided that the “being interested in everything” lifestyle wasn’t really working. It left me feeling unfulfilled. So I made a compromise with myself. I now {[(kind of)]} have two main interests in my life that I am pursuing above all the rest. So I’ve had to sacrifice time for some of the other things that I’m interested in, and life is about sacrifice and all that stuff.

Of course, I’m still a mortal man! And I still find myself bouncing all over the place from time to time, stretching myself to the point where I’m not really doing anything. And I have to reel myself in and re-focus. 

There’s another thing about finding so many things to be interesting: I never seem to find myself ever feeling bored. I can’t even really remember the last time I felt bored. I don’t understand what it’s like to be bored frequently. Sure, I can understand, to some extent, a person who gets bored from time to time. Let’s say, if you’re standing in a line for a concert for a long time or something, you might get bored. I can understand that, though I don’t feel bored myself. But the people who talk about being bored all the time… I don’t quite understand what it is they’re doing. Just think!

A problem arises from my never-bored lifestyle. I find it very difficult, and maybe impossible, to relax.

Hang on, I thought this post was all about the word “interesting,” so let’s get back to that. Actually, the rest of my thoughts on the subject aren’t all that interesting…