MAX-MAXXINGby HPRFX

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cultureLab-grown

DFW-MAXXING

The attempt to speak sincerely after irony has made every sincere gesture feel naïve, manipulative or embarrassing — while remaining painfully aware that sincerity can become another performance.

NOTICE YOURSELF NOTICING.

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What is DFW-MAXXING?

Ordinary sincerity becomes DFW-maxxing when simply meaning what you say is no longer enough. You also have to survive the embarrassment of saying it, resist the urge to dissolve it with a joke, and notice whether your apparent vulnerability is itself becoming a carefully managed performance. DFW-maxxing is not endless introspection. It is noticing the defensive reflex without automatically obeying it. It is not the absence of irony. It is the refusal to use irony as permanent emotional body armour.

Supposedly maxes

SINCERITY / ATTENTION / VULNERABILITY / MORAL COURAGE / EMOTIONAL RISK

Adherents believe

  1. Irony is useful until it becomes a place to hide.

  2. The embarrassing thing may also be the true thing.

  3. Sincerity without self-doubt is advertising.

  4. Self-awareness does not exempt you from participation.

  5. A joke can reveal the truth or prevent it from being said.

You may already be DFW-MAXXING if…

  • you make a joke immediately after saying something honest
  • every sincere statement arrives with three disclaimers and a footnote
  • you worry that admitting you care is a form of emotional manipulation
  • you are trying to stop confusing detachment with intelligence
  • saying “I love this” feels more exposing than explaining why it is culturally significant

Typical practices

  • SAYING THE COMPLIMENT WITHOUT UNDERCUTTING IT
  • LEAVING ONE HONEST SENTENCE WITHOUT A JOKE AFTER IT
  • NOTICING WHEN IRONY BECOMES AN EXIT
  • CHOOSING ATTENTION DELIBERATELY
  • ADMITTING THAT SOMETHING MATTERS BEFORE EXPLAINING WHY

Spotted in the wild

voussoir.netE Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction

The term is project-created. The underlying idea draws on David Foster Wallace’s writing and interviews about irony, sincerity, attention, entertainment and participation.

samizdat.coAn Interview with David Foster Wallace

The term is project-created. The underlying idea draws on David Foster Wallace’s writing and interviews about irony, sincerity, attention, entertainment and participation.

Kenyon CollegeThis Is Water

The term is project-created. The underlying idea draws on David Foster Wallace’s writing and interviews about irony, sincerity, attention, entertainment and participation.

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