On May 8, 9.9 million people watched David Blaine, on live television, hold his breath underwater for slightly over seven minutes.
I am not sure which is more astounding -- that he held his breath for that long or that 9.9 million people watched. Regardless, the situation is indicative of our culture's fixation with "reality." Millions of people invested their time to watch a man risk his life to break a record (longest breath held underwater) that, on the surface, holds no grander social, scientific or political significance. And for this reason, Blaine, throughout his career, has been the subject of much criticism.
Originally a street magician, Blaine has made a name risking his physical and mental well-being in order to complete odd yet highly-publicized endurance challenges. He spent the week leading up to the underwater breath-holding submerged in an eight-foot spherical aquarium, while hooked up to an oxygen tank, in the middle of New York City's Lincoln Center. Interestingly, his juxtaposition of magic and physical stunts during his television specials has led some critics to doubt the legitimacy of the physical stunts. And the critics who believe his stunts are real condemn them as inane publicity spectacles. Last week, an editorialist at Ball State University chided that, in "Drowned Alive" (the title of Blaine's latest stunt), "Blaine successfully broke the world record for the longest amount of time that a magician has ever performed without doing any actual magic tricks."
The criticisms of Blaine warrant some merit -- he, in fact, did no magic and his stunts, "Drowned Alive" included, are on a certain level inane and trivial. However, David Blaine and his stunts have greater depth and meaningful implications. Blaine's stunts are more philosophical and metaphorical than most performances that exist under the reality TV umbrella. Thus, the aforementioned editorialist is both right and wrong. Blaine may not have done any magic, per se, during his latest stunt. However, the real magic is left to us -- to make meaning emerge from something seemingly inane.
First, Blaine is the paragon of a postmodern dilemma. Many doubt the legitimacy of Blaine's stunts, and these claims are not unfounded. By forcing people to question whether his stunts are real or magic, however, Blaine challenges the existence of objective truth and reminds us that it is not wrong to question "reality." In a world of government scandals, fabricated news stories and non-existent weapons of mass destruction, questioning what is asserted as reality is not such a bad thing.
I believe, however, that Blaine performed his latest stunt unaided by magic because of the fact that he failed. Blaine fell short of the nine minute underwater breath-holding world record by nearly two minutes, or almost 22 percent. Numerically, Blaine failed miserably. And in doing so, he reminded us that failure is natural, and, in fact, failure is essential to future success. Blaine serves as a reminder that we should not fear failure.
Furthermore, the two-hour televised special also depicted Blaine's rigorous physical and mental preparation during the months preceding the stunt. And, if this training regimen -- which included losing 50 pounds, working out with Navy SEALS and mastering the art of controlled breathing -- was indeed true then I believe it should be the template for how we all live. We should set lofty, courageous and creative goals and prepare incessantly, even fanatically, to reach them. While the goals Blaine has set, and often achieved, may ultimately be meaningless, the goals we can set do not have to be. As individuals and as a society, progress can only come with high aspirations.
Additionally, the primary thesis of Blaine's stunts has been pushing the limits of the human body and mind by emphasizing the use of the mind to better control the body. Through his stunts, Blaine implicitly acknowledges the idea that the human mind is the last great unexplored frontier. It is ironic how little we understand of the apparatus through which we understand the world. In this sense, while in his last stunt he may not have been a magician, he was a pioneer. Moreover, in preparing for all of his stunts, Blaine has found ways to cope with fear. People afraid of heights, enclosed spaces and even death could never replicate these feats. While I am not advocating that people recklessly abandon their inhibitions and risk their physical well-being, we do live in a world where too many people are encased within their own fears. Thus, we should seek to overcome our fears, and we should do so in order to improve, not risk, our lives.
Lastly, Blaine's stunts are metaphors. In a way, we are all trapped within our own bubbles. Not only are we trapped by fears, but we are often limited by daily routines and habits. Like Blaine, we must consciously strive to escape them.
While his stunts may be, on the surface, inane, the underlying and implied philosophies and metaphors are not. Instead of harping on Blaine's obvious shortcomings, we should extract meaning from his actions and make our own magic.
