The scene appears in La gran noche del pop, Bao Nguyen’s documentary about how the solidarity anthem We are the world was recorded. Surrounded by figures such as Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Cindy Lauper, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan does not share his euphoria. It looks awkward, out of place. When it’s finally his turn to record his solo, everyone expects him to blow their minds. But he doesn’t even know what to do. Stevie Wonder helps him out.
Seeing his behavior, I remembered a song by Mr. Chinarro who proclaims: “Tímidos del mundo, uníos”. I also like to dedicate time to being absent, it starts, but others will take you for haughty, that’s how people are, they will think that with this attitude you make yourself the deep and interesting one, and they will say barbaric things. A friend taught me that, after a certain age, shyness is a lack of education. He guessed that was why my parents gave me and my brothers points every time we greeted a neighbor in the elevator. When we collected a few, there was a prize.
But perhaps Dylan is not shy, but introverted. Which is penalized. To the point that, if you don’t relate to others in the same way as others, they label you arrogant, unfriendly, antisocial, or interpret that you have an autism spectrum disorder. The question is: what if society is too outgoing? And if it has reached an unbearable histrionics? Especially since there is an incessant need to draw attention to the networks. Those fifteen minutes of fame that Warhol predicted for everyone have ended up being a permanent requirement. The private room has become a stage where emotions can be displayed without rest.
As a result, the introvert is the one who has to explain. If events bore you, if you are worried about public displays of affection or being recognized on the street, if you hate selfies and are wary of those who keep posting their successes or their love or their creative process everywhere, if you don’t like what so many people like, you’re the rare one. The problem is that there are more and more situations that are supposed to attract you – or that shouldn’t be a setback for you – and to which it is difficult to refuse in order not to look bad.
The most common is related to promotion. You agree to give a conference or participate in a book club, you collaborate in a new section, you present a book. And then the moment comes when someone from the organization asks you to record yourself on video to upload it to the networks. It was already awkward when they only asked you to send a short autobiography and a photo. Aviam: if they propose something to you, it’s because they know your background, right? I always wonder if when they invite international authors they also ask them to summarize in four lines what they have done in life and send an updated photo. Or if Quim Monzó, Sergi Pàmies, Carme Riera, Enrique Vila-Matas, Eduardo Mendoza are told to take video selfies announcing their upcoming interventions.
I’m not an actress, nor a comedian. And if it were, it would charge to do this kind of performance. Why is he expected to do them with great taste and a good face? I wanted to dedicate myself to writing because I am an introvert. Every time I appear in the media, I call myself “a point”; now the prize is to earn my living. When I see Bob Dylan wondering who put him there, aware that it is for a good cause, I think that we shy people should unite and stand up. “We are also the world”.
