Phoniness is Everywhere

Humphrey Bogart, when talking about the 1953 film Beat the Devil, an “intelligently written” flop in which he’d heavily invested and acted, said “Only phonies like it.” I think he was saying that it was pretentious garbage and that those who liked it only did so because they thought they should.

I think there are at least three types of phonies. First is the Occasional Phony. This one doesn’t really have ideas and doesn’t think too much, seeking safety in numbers and agreed-upon opinions. They feel nothing really important is at stake, so why cause problems? Next is the Self-Deceptive Phony, someone who’s potentially intelligent enough to know better but it serves their interest to be a phony because it fits into a recognized framework. This phoniness is often the result of wanting to belong to a particular social group and hold that group’s opinions. And there’s the Diehard Phony, someone whose phoniness is adaptable. I think most politicians, publicity agents, lawyers, and big industry CEOs are at home in this camp. Other words for these people are cynical, soulless and liars.

Phoniness is everywhere. How many times have I been at an art event when the audience laughs or makes a sound of knowing approval at banal nonsense? I assume these are reactions to be inside jokes made by friends; otherwise the audience is brainless, brainwashed or brain-dead. Poetry readings, performance art and improvised music concerts are high on the list of these events. Not all practitioners and audience members of these arts are phonies, but since the vagueness in the criteria of what’s communicated makes judgment impossible, the performer’s main job is to keep a straight face and that of the audience is to simply sit through the event. This may be okay with art events because no one gets hurt but becomes dangerous with Nazism, radical Wokeness and blindly accepting the government’s policies on Covid vaccination, mask-wearing and social distancing.

A phony’s life is basically a lie. It’s not only the coward’s way out but a path that leads to moral self-annihilation. A phony adopts a pose and keeps it up until they believe it. It’s the abandonment of critical faculties. How far one is willing to go to not look ridiculous is the barometer of their character. The phony’s motto is, “What difference does it make?”

Phonies only care about a positive critique from their friends or a “respected authority,” if it helps them establish a career or puts money in their pocket. They stay safe, confirming what Oscar Wilde said, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” When we do anything of any real importance, say expressing a critical opinion, we always risk looking like a fool: that’s the price we must pay to be ourselves.