Blog Post #1

Something that stood out to me, both during lecture and while reading the book, was Conquergood’s Performing as a Moral Act.  The book states, “Conquergood’s notion of dialogic performance is, in part, defined through his literal mapping of four dangers a performer might encounter in attempting to engage with others across difference” (70).  While getting to know someone, there are four different ethical dangers that can arise.  Different individuals focus on different aspects and are looking for different things within relationships.

            The first pitfall is known as Custodian’s Rip-off.  This occurs when one engages with others for selfish reasons, meaning that they are only interacting with the other person because they want to benefit themselves.  I have experienced this both in class and outside of class.  In high school, I had a friend who would take advantage of me because I had things that she did not.  She was only friends with me because she wanted to use my things and be friends with the people who I was associated with.  She was not invested in our friendship because she was solely focused on being “cool” and hanging out with my friends.  I finally figured out that she was basically using me for my things and my friends.

            The second pitfall is called Enthusiast’s Infatuation.  This is when differences are completely ignored and you build a relationship solely on similarities.  For example, I am in a sorority here on campus and while going through formal recruitment, we look for girls who we have things in common with.  We establish a common interest or hobby and automatically assume that we are the exact same.  Instead of focusing on the differences I had with the girls I talked to, I would focus on the similarities and assume that they would be a good fit for our sisterhood.  This can be extremely detrimental because when we only focus on the things we have in common, we oversee the differences between us.

            The last two ethical dangers are known as Curator’s Exhibitionism and Skeptic’s Cop Out.  Curator’s Exhibitionism is when we focus almost exclusively on differences.  This occurs when you immediately notice a difference in someone, and focus most of your attention on that difference.  You assume you will not be able to connect with that person because you believe that you do not have a lot in common.  I have experienced this when someone does not have the same style as me.  If I find someone’s style weird or unattractive, I usually will avoid getting to know more about the person because I am focused on the differences in what we wear.  Although style does not determine the individual’s personality whatsoever, I assume we are different.  Skeptic’s Cop Out is similar to this, but instead we completely refuse to engage with those who are different than us.  For example, I will experience this on Saturday because there is a football game.  The other school will treat us as enemies, and we will do the same to them.  Because they do not go to school at Boise State, we assume they are terrible people and will avoid them at all costs.  Obviously, there are probably some great people who are fans of the opposing team, but we will not attempt to get to know them because they are “enemies.”  We do not want to give them the time of day because we assume we will never be able to find similarities between us.

            All of these pitfalls are things we see and experience for ourselves on a daily basis.  It is unfortunate that we look past both negatives and positives while building relationships.  Conquergood’s Performing as a Moral Act is something we are all able to relate to and understand.  Learning about it has taught me that I need to take the time to get to know people on a deeper level before judging them based on differences and similarities.