Lessons from S-Town
Brian Reed taught me a multitude of ethical, societal, moral, existential, and digital lessons, and brought up just as many questions, through his subject of focus, through his hit podcast S-Town.
S-Town taught me the subjective reality of human perspective. Perhaps the most confusing aspect of S-Town was deciding as a listener who the "heroes" and the "villains" were. In each episode, Brian frames the characters differently depending on the amount of information he chose to reveal to us and the angle he chose to present. John is a crackpot conspiracy theorist and a deeply troubled, misunderstood genius. Tyler is a boy with childlike innocence who was given the short end of the stick in life, and he's a full-grown man who lacks sound judgement and should be held accountable for his actions. Reta and Charlie are greedy parasites trying to feed off of John's wealth, and they're reasonable people doing what they think is best for an elderly woman in need.
Our perspective of a single person or circumstance is dependent on our own bias and personal experience, the information that we have access too, and the way in which the information is presented.
S-Town taught me the complexity of man and the value of humanity. Stereotyping is central to human nature, and we begin to categorize and generalize others in infancy. How fascinating is this tendency to over-simplify others when the essence of a single person is so incredibly complex. We see this in John's essence, that Brian tries to present to us in its entirety through nearly seven hours of podcast footage. Even in this amount of time, we don't get close to scratching the surface or solving the mystery that is John B. McLemore. Instead, we get a taste of how much more there is to a small-town man than what meets the eye, and how difficult it is to fit anyone into a category once you take the time to get to know them. This lesson of the link between the humanization of others and the fight against stereotyping is an important lesson for America to learn right now, in an age of fear and dehumanization of minority groups through stereotyping and widespread discrimination.
S-Town made me question the ethical line between the right to privacy and the sharing of knowledge. Is it ethical to out a person who is no longer living if they cannot experience negative repercussions or protest you doing it? Is it ethical to share the intimate details of a person's struggle with mental illness if it means raising awareness or helping others in the same situation? Did Brian smear the name and reputation of a small southern town, or did he uncover issues of racism and homophobia in a region that is largely responsible for the current state of our nation? Did he share this information about John to help others and improve society, to make money through a popular podcast, or both? Does one negate the other? Do deceased people retain the right to privacy? So many questions. Unfortunately, no answers.
I'll end with another important ethical question that comes to mind when grappling with these issues. In 1975, a man named Oliver Sipple stopped a woman from shooting a pistol at President Gerald Ford. He did it because it was the right thing to do, and he tried his best to continue living a normal life in peace. Oliver was gay, and he lived in San Francisco in order to live openly as a gay man without bringing shame and disappointment to his family in the Midwest. When a local reporter learned about Oliver, he wrote a national news story about the gay man who saved President Ford in order to shed a positive light on the LGBT community. He had good intentions, and some have said that this breaking news did have an effect on the opinions of American people at the time. This news story, however, nearly ruined Oliver's life. His family disowned him, and he lost friends, job prospects, and most importantly, his privacy. Was the price of one man's life and privacy worth the sharing of information for the betterment of others? Did this news story really make a difference in the grand scheme of things, and did this reporter have the right to share Oliver's personal information with the country?
Oliver Sipple sued the newspaper for invasion of privacy. Would John B. McLemore do the same if he were alive to witness S-Town and its aftermath? Something to consider.
