You probably have heard this Germanism in the English language before: Schadenfreude (pronounce: shah-den-froy-duh, meaning glee bout damage). And probably hardly anybody is immune against it, unless they are saints. Though, allegedly, there are such people. Apparently, the term turned up in the German language around 1740, about a century later in the English language. I’m pretty sure, though, that the emotion itself is as old as mankind. Besides, even little kids experience it.
I have to admit that I derive my Schadenfreude when I think justice is done for some mindless doings that puts others into danger. How often do we encounter reckless drivers who endanger everybody else just so they can arrive at their destination, maybe a minute earlier. If I see them pulled over, I usually feel that justice is done – they get punished for harmful behavior and get taught the lesson that they suddenly have to spend all this time on the shoulder of the road while everybody is passing them at an even, moderate pace.
There are other reasons for Schadenfreude – such as aggression or rivalry. I think that the latter is based on an inferiority complex that likes to see another person fail to perform better. It can even be paired with personal hatred.
I remember when I watched my first episodes of a German version of Candid Camera sometime in the 1980s. There were scenes in which somebody was teased to the point of frustration. Such as entering an elevator and continually ending up at the wrong floor. I didn’t find it funny. I thought it was exploiting somebody just to have fun. I pitied the person. Among the victims were also famous people. Swiss actor and singer Vico Torriani was also known to be a gourmet chef and had his own restaurant – in one episode, his “guests” created a culinary mess of his creations in adding condiments galore. The chef was not amused. Or Mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who climbed the Matterhorn, only to find a newspaper and souvenir stand on a high-up ledge just below the summit; he didn’t like the idea of Nature being commercialized, at all. I later heard comments that they were not humorous enough. I thought it was painful to watch how somebody’s passion was deliberately taken down by a few notches.
Schadenfreude is basically a feeling of being better at the cost of somebody else’s damage. Human beings are weak. In a world of daily competition, I wonder who is safe from being the one who is feeling it … or being in danger of becoming a victim. Schadenfreude is a thing we can observe at any level of society, whether one is a preschooler or e.g., a politician who has had a mishap. Only the audience is wider in the latter case.
Schadenfreude is not necessarily accompanied by laughter, by the way. It can be just the grim feeling of satisfaction. I have to admit that I love a real laugh. A clean story told by a stand-up comedian, for example. Or a witty reply. Or a pun. And I keep wondering whether the reckless racers out there simply need a hug to make their day better. Maybe, they’d be more mindful if they thought that they mattered … even when not standing out.
