I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: JONATHAN FRANZEN-Commencement Speech (audio) (2011).

You can hear the entire speech from the Kenyon College site.

[READ: May 28, 2011] Commencement Speech

On May 21, Jonathan Franzen gave a commencement speech to the students of Kenyon College.  When I think about my commencement speech (from Judy Woodruff of CNN), all I can remember is that I had never heard of her (and when I typed her name just now I got it almost entirely incorrect–the only thing right was the “wood” part).  I don’t recall a single thing that she said.  [It’s also fascinating that I can’t find any record of this speech anywhere online–what a different world it was twenty years ago].  I rather expect that most people feel this way about commencement speakers.  I have to wonder, if Jonathan Franzen had spoken at my college, would I have cared?  Is there even a chance that I would have read any of his novels (had they been published of course) when I was in college?  Would I be treating this any differently than my whatever speech in 1991?

But I like Jonathan Franzen and I wanted to read what he had to say. 

His speech is about love.  Love is kind of an odd topic for a commencement speech, isn’t it?   I mean, aren’t they supposed to talk about the Future and Jobs or something?  Or maybe even sunscreen?  But really, what is more useful for a 21-year-old to think about than Love.  Franzen hits the nail right on the head about Love, how it is a dangerous, risky proposition to put yourself out there, to take off your veneer and reveal all of your flaws–and hope someone will love you.  Not new or novel, but still true.

The way that Franzen gets into this subject is through technology.  It seems weird and artificial at first, but it’s a wonderful way to get into a young audience’s state of mind.  They were probably all looking at their iPhones while he was extolling the virtues of his new Blackberry (the old person’s phone, right?).  And when he segues into Facebook (who even knows if he has an account–but he seems to be well-versed with it, so maybe he does) you can imagine students raising their head in familiarity (maybe even updating their status) and wondering (as he puts it) if this 51-year-old guy is going to dis Facebook.

But while he doesn’t dis it outright, he uses it as a great source of comparison.  For Facebook has taught us to “like” things.  Many comedians have made good jokes (and a million bad ones) about Facebook “likes” and about how easy it is to do and how, frankly, meaningless it is.  So “like” is a good comparison for Love and how one’s superficiality is directly opposite of the other’s depth.

Franzen ends with his latest love: birds.  Since I have read all of his New Yorker articles, I know that he’s obsessed with birds.  He is concerned for the environment but he somehow manages to write about the environment and birds and still be interesting.  That must be what love can do for your writing.  But more than writing, his love of birds has helped him to love people–by meeting people who were genuinely lovable.  In the Flaming Lips Summerstage concert I mentioned the other day, Wayne Coyne talks about loving “something” whether it’s a person or a song or whatever.  This is the same sentiment that Franzen is getting across (Coyne may have a more passionate delivery, but Franzen is more articulate).

This speech was really good and surprisingly moving.  Is it mind-blowing or life-changing?  No.  But it is honest, and that’s the point.

I think it’s possible that sometimes people who have long since graduated college need to hear addresses like this too.  Not a big business speech, not a motivational seminar, not a three-day lecture.  Just get a group of adults together in a celebratory atmosphere, make them all face the speaker in chairs and force them to pay attention.  Hire a famous writer and give them 15-20 minutes to talk about love. 

The speech presented in the New York Times is “adapted.”  There’s a few things in the speech that were excised for the Times’ version.  Edward Champion, in the Huffington Post, has typed up all of the bits that were excised.  Most of them make sense (minor changes) but there are a few larger paragraphs that are omitted that I think bring a bit more to the speech–it’s more personal stuff, but it’s those details that really resonate.