White Noise
I want to know how I should feel
In the 2022 movie “White Noise”, Jack and Babette Gladney’s mundane suburban life is suddenly disrupted in 1984 when a cataclysmic train accident releases noxious gases that create a deadly toxic cloud over their region. At first, they deny there’s any danger, but eventually they evacuate their home. As they are driving, they realize they are not alone on the highway or in their need to shift from the mindset of handling everyday conflicts to coping with the great unknowns of a catastrophic event. Coming to a stop in a major traffic jam, Steffie, one of their four children sitting in the backseat, does not hide the fact that she is checking out people in other cars. When asked why, her answer is, “I want to know how I should feel.”
White Noise, an absurdist comedy drama directed by Noah Baumbach, was adapted from the novel of the same name by Don DeLillo. From Jack’s perspective, DeLillo writes: “We made it onto the road as snow began to fall. We had little to say to each other, our minds not yet adjusted to the actuality of things, the absurd fact of evacuation. Mainly we looked at people in other cars, trying to work out from their faces how frightened we should be.”
Jack and his family don’t know how to feel, so they look for reference. This is not uncommon for people to do. A new situation, especially a crisis, comes with a lot of unknowns, and the unknown is not a comfortable space for most of us to delve into our feelings and express ourselves. Instead, we look around and take cues from other people. Assimilating can sometimes make us feel safe and secure.
Have you noticed how babies observe the reactions of their caregivers and mimic them in similar conditions?
As babies repeat reacting in learned ways, they are accepted and their reactions are enforced. This survival practice does not end when we get older. We build our emotions, perspectives and identities on references that are available to us that might belong to other people, religion, culture, myths, religion, culture and language, to name a few.
