The Shanty Kingdom

BP: A Monster with Many Tales

June 11, 2010 at 8:27 am (Environment, Politics) (narrative, oil)

So, let’s agree that we’re all pretty much united by fear and disgust over the BP oil spill. While acknowledging that,  I’m becoming increasingly aware that we’re favoring the tale of corporate greed over the tale of environmental disaster. We want someone to blame, and, yes BP deserves blame, but does that have to be the angle through which we approach all national coverage of the story? Focusing on this as a business failure keeps it from prompting humanitarian outreach. It makes everyone else into victims. We want to tag this all on the evil monster that can be lashed a hundred thousand times with a barbed whip.  Congress wants an enemy they can fine. And then it’ll all be better? We can just mutter under our breath curses at BP?

Part of me also innocently [read: having done no research] wonders whether this disaster could have occurred with any number of oil companies. If you look at a map of the area, it is carved up among companies with similar interests. Focusing on BP’s guilt is smoke and mirrors that detracts from our collective guilt.

I think this is an example of why studying narrative still matters. We want stories with villains. We don’t want hopelessness. In order to assuage the myriad other meanings that might rush in to fill the void, we bandage it up focusing on the wimpy bandages rather than the wounds.

(Granted, this is also a story of the company controlling the narrative, but we’re complicit in making it a story about BP.)