Buzzwords, Bathos, & Bingo

My very favourite literary term is bathos. Not pathos, bathos. I've used this effect a few times, in songs, in haiku, and even in this diary on occasion. But as much as I appreciate it as a literary device, bathos is seems to occur more and more commonly in my real life, where it can be a little disconcerting.

Take last night's US presidential debate, for example. It's only a slight exaggeration of the circumstances to say that the fate of the world was at issue. So like many people who have a stake in the outcome, I tuned in. The fate of the world, after all, is an awesome thing. A sublime thing. A thing of grave import.

By contrast - and here's where the bathos comes in - bingo is a ridiculous thing. A workaday distraction. A meaningless passtime. An empty endeavour. Yet while the debate that might decide the fate of the world was raging, I was ticking off cliche phrases on a specially-prepared bingo card. Oh, the sickening lurch from the sublime to the ridiculous: he said "Genocide!" Cross it off the list...

Yes, that's right. Presidential debate bingo. Bathos at its best. Like eating cotton candy at a bullfight, or sitting on a whoopee cushion at a funeral. I should appreciate it more, really, but I'm still a little non-plussed that I took part at all. I'll admit to feeling some relief that in the bingo game, unlike the debate, nobody won. On the other hand, it might have been interesting to hear Kerry yell "Bingo!" when Bush said "Osama..."

Bathos. Bingo!