November-December Pundit 1
- Jylliann Huff
- Nov 18, 2019
- 2 min read
Jennifer Senior
Comedian Hospitalized for Depression. Hilarity ensues. ( https://nyti.ms/3551SgG )
Gary Gulman is showing us how to bring our inner selves out into the open.
The New York Times
November 14th, 2019
In Jennifer Senior’s op-ed for this week, she discusses the comedian Gary Gulman and his new special on HBO addressing his battle with depression. Gary Gulman is a popular rising comedian who came out with his own special titled “The Great Depresh”. The special highlights Gulman’s journey with depression and how everyone else in the world saw him vs. how he saw himself. Senior shines spotlight on the fact that Gulman was in the costume of a big man, but he had the heart of a gentle boy. It becomes a lot of work for people suffering from depression to look fine and especially for comedians to fully express their emotions. Instead, they turn it into comedic expression. Gulman’s special also exposes culture today and how we hide our imperfect lives through social media. Senior wanted to convey to the reader through Gary Gulman’s experience that humans strive to be heard and acknowledged, especially if one is emotionally suffering.
Jennifer Senior uses a strange mix of complex diction and personal statements. Senior uses words such as demystifying and incapacitating gloominess to evoke that sense of true longing and despair. While using eloquent vocabulary, Senior also creates a personal connection with the audience by sharing her own anxiety and using conversational language. This op-ed appeals to the emotions of the reader, especially the sad ones. Senior intends to share the experience of Gulman and also to capture the meaning behind his special: let people hear and see the true you, despite the battles you may be facing.
I appreciated Senior's writing about a topic that's not often spoken about. I found that she primarily appealed to emotion in her article with her descriptions of depression and how people feel the need to hide it. I found it interesting how she used Gulman as an example of this phenomenon.
I commented on the blogs of Mollie, Grace Moraes, and Addi.
I appreciated your evident sympathy to those who feel as if it's so difficult to express themselves but also keep themselves hidden. Depression is a battle that can never be fully won, but it is one worth fighting for. It is important to touch on the topic of mental health, as it's such a prevalent issue in society. People need to be informed that there are people like them who can't be themselves so they don't feel isolated and misunderstood.
Although Senior adds a couple of fancy phrases within her op-ed, her general usage of conversational diction broadens her audience. I enjoyed reading Senior's article because of her ability to appeal to the readers' emotions. Today, many people with depression feel as if they need to hide how they're truly feeling, to make sure that the image of themselves in the publics' eye never changes. I enjoyed how Senior addresses this issue through Gulman, writing that it's always better for people to reveal the hardships they're going through, in order to get the help they need.