Narcissus was the incredibly beautiful child of a nymph and a river god, according to mythology. He rejected all advances from both women and men (men as well, of course, as this is a Greek story). One day, a thirsty Narcissus leaned down to drink from a pool of water and saw himself, immediately falling in love with his own reflection.
What happened next depends on who is telling the story. He either wasted away or killed himself from unrequited love. Personally, I prefer the version in which he leans forward to kiss his reflection, falls into the pool, and drowns. In any event, he left behind a lovely flower and a psychological disorder.
“You wonderful creature. Why does everyone love you? Why are you so divine? So clever? So popular?” Patricia Marshall coos these words to her reflection in the mirror in the 1947 college musical Good News. Catching her in the act, June Allyson quips back, “I sure wish someone loved me the way you love you.” Narcissism portrayed by Hollywood, possibly the narcissistic capital of the world.
These days, there’s no need for a body of water or a mirror to practice the art of narcissism. The near-naked men strutting their stuff that pops up on my social media—the algorithm clearly knows I’m gay—can see and distribute their reflections through the lens of a camera.
Taking it just a bit further, I suspect that the monetizing of narcissism reaches its apotheosis with platforms like OnlyFans. Mind you, I’m not saying everyone doing what they do there is a narcissist, and how folks make their coins is none of my business. But it is the 21st century, after all, and all some folks ever needed was the music, and the mirror, and the chance to, well, whatever for you.
With everything going on in the world today, I must admit I’ve little inclination left for keeping up with all of it. As Marcus Aurelius said, “These things didn’t ask for your attention. Leave them alone.” It’s a work in progress for me, but I’m much better these days at checking in to get the drift and then checking out once I get a whiff.
But the one story that has most recently captured my diminishing engagement is about that reflecting pool in Washington. Surely, you knew this is where I was going. The metaphorical swamp in Washington has recently manifested as an actual manmade swamp, now a metaphor made of algae and peeling paint of the current administration. A metaphor inside a metaphor is like looking at a mirror in a mirror.
But that’s not the metaphor I want to talk about. I remember the first time I saw the Washington Monument reflected in that pool. I was in my 20s and had enough of a good liberal arts education to know a phallic symbol when I saw one. To see it reflected in the pool made it doubly impressive. One might even say it looked bigger lying down than standing up, which is so often the case.
Putting that symbolism aside for a moment, the monument was designed to demonstrate endurance, stability, and permanence. The reflecting pool, when it’s working, magnifies that. For a country that chants “USA, USA!” and boasts being the wealthiest and strongest the world has ever known, it is quite apt. (That this wealth and strength is distributed so unevenly among the citizenry is not the subject of this column.)
So to have to hang a sign out saying the reflecting pool is “Out of Order” like some bathroom in a rundown gas station is rather humiliating, regardless of how temporary the situation is or whose foolishness caused it. As it turns out, that pool started reflecting on us at the moment it stopped reflecting the monuments.
Before long, this little episode will pass into just another one of those things, and another distraction will be dished up for our entertainment. The current administration is often accused of manufacturing such distractions to keep our attention away from other issues. But this one doesn’t follow that pattern. Maybe that’s why such a relatively minor issue caught my attention.
But then, maybe I just got a chuckle out of a snafu that only cost $16 million, which is a bargain these days. After all, $300 billion is no laughing matter.
