Schadenfreude and fail

Why has fail become so popular? Of course, it is easier to pronounce and shorter to write

than failure and it already exists as a word. But as a popular expression, fail may be an

indication of the liberation of certain feelings which have previously been suppressed in public. It seems that there has been a need for an expression in the English language for what the Germans call Schadenfreude, the pleasure at the misfortunes of others.

Fig. 1 Source: Google Ngram Viewer

Figure 1 is a Google Ngram, which depicts the usage of the term in thousands of books written in English from 1800 to 2008. It shows that references to schadenfreude have increased significantly since the mid-1990s. Interestingly, this rise coincides with the onset of the fail phenomenon, which suggests that there has been an attitude shift in the beginning of the 21

century.

Smith suggests in his book The Joy of Pain: Schadenfreude and the Dark Side of Human

Nature (2013: 185) that one of the reasons why there is no word for schadenfreude in

English is that we are not supposed to voice our schadenfreude out loud. Emotions such as

schadenfreude and envy, which according to Smith (2013: 113-114) is closely related to

schadenfreude, make us look mean, petty and immature when voiced. However,

Christopher Beam (2008) writes for Slate about the popularity of fail:

It may simply be that people are thrilled to finally have a way to express their schadenfreude out loud. Schadenfreude, after all, is what you feel when someone else executes a fail. But the fail meme also changes our experience of schadenfreude. What was once a quiet pleasure-taking is now a public—and competitive—sport.

Websites such as FAILBlog have undoubtedly helped to turn schadenfreude into a popular and public sport. The rise of reality television in the past two decades is another example of this type of “public sport”. Smith attributes the popularity of reality TV to the humor it elicits through schadenfreude (2013: xv). Take the very popular TV-show American Idol for example. The show is designed so that some contestants are made to look awkward and unfit to become America’s next pop sensation before they even open their mouths to sing, often badly. Then when the judges give their verdict (if they can stop laughing), the audience feels that the contestant got what they deserved for thinking they had it in them to audition for the show in the first place.

Studies by Feather and Nairn (2005), Van Dijk, Ouwerkerk, Goslinga & Nieweg (2005) and

Feather (2008) have confirmed the link between deservingness and feelings of

schadenfreude. A study by Van Dijk et al. (2011) showed that people with low self-esteem

are also more likely to feel schadenfreude when someone else fails. In addition, Hareli and

Weiner (2002) found that feelings of schadenfreude increase when misfortune befalls a

disliked person. As mentioned earlier in the previous chapter, the rise of fail coincided with

the financial turmoil of 2008 when, by holding a fail sign behind two bankers in the midst of

the crisis, a member of the public expressed their disappointment towards the economic

leaders of the US. In addition to the negative emotions expressed in that sign, a hint of

schadenfreude may have been there as well. Similarly, Smith (2013: 68) also makes a

reference to another banker, Bernard Madoff who was jailed for a massive investment fraud in 2009. He describes how “when Madoff received his sentence of 150 years, cheers and applause filled the courtroom packed with many of his victims (ibid.).” Smith attributes this to the notion that bad actions deserve punishment, just as good actions deserve reward.

Tabloid magazines are another source of schadenfreude by feeding on the tragedies and misfortunes of celebrities. What these stories offer for the common people is humilitainment (coined by media researchers Brad Waite and Sarah Booker) aimed to ridicule those who we may envy for their fame and fortunes. A study by Smith and Boucher (as cited in Smith 2013: 116) found that the status of the person in a tabloid article influences the tone of the story:

As the status of the person in the story increased, so did the likelihood that the story would also focus on misfortune. Although the rich and famous fascinate us, most of us feel infinitely less successful than they and probably a little envious.

The chance to read about celebrities’ setbacks can be irresistible – which explains much of the success of these tabloid magazines.

The connection of schadenfreude and fail can be seen in the headlines of one of these

tabloids. Daily Mail’s online story in October 2013 captures the pop star Madonna in

unflattering clothing: “Isn't she supposed to be a Material Girl? Madonna suffers a fashion

fail as she steps out in bizarre combination of baggy leather trousers, sporty gilet and

gloves.” Another fail from August 2013 reads:”Detox fail! Millie Mackintosh reveals how

joint juice cleanse nearly ruined a romantic break with beau Professor Green.” Note how in

the first headline an iconic international star is the direct target of ridicule, whereas in the

latter, it is the cleansing detox juice that is the failure, although the headline does manage to give a hint of ridicule regarding the troubles of Millie, the British reality TV star.

So why is it acceptable to shout our schadenfreude out loud, especially online? Suler (2004:

321) observes: “Everyday users on the Internet—as well as clinicians and researchers – have noted how people say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldn’t ordinarily say and do in the face-to-face world. They loosen up, feel less restrained, and express themselves more openly.” This is called the online disinhibition effect and it may explain why schadenfreude and other negative emotions are so readily expressed in online communication.

Despite the joy in the pain of others discussed here, it should be noted that empathy is not

lost on this world, either. Schadenfreude is only the other side of the coin. Furthermore, not

every usage of fail can be labeled as schadenfreude, especially in cases where the word is

aimed at the users themselves.