The tricky business of control

The tricky business of control

Sep 09, 2021

Tricksters are central figures in global mythologies, and, increasingly, in the real world, where digital frisson creates more and more opportunities to challenge the powers that be…

From the Coyote in North American mythology to Hermes in Greek mythology to Loki in Nordic mythology to the Ekwensu in Nigerian Yoruba mythology, tricksters are vital characters in the stories we tell each other about the world. They breeze straight through the way things are meant to be, embracing fun, shame and moral duplicity in equal measure, and in the process casting a revealing light on those who hold power, and how they choose to hold it.

Lewis Hyde wrote a fascinating book on the subject – Trickster Makes This World – which is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the deeper narrative and philosophical forces underpinning the stories we love.

The fascinating thing about tricksters is that as much as they strip the facade away from kings and queens and rulers of state, they also frequently ruin things for themselves and end up covered in their own mess. This is intriguing enough when viewed through the lens of storytelling, but doubly so when you step back and look at the digital blur of 21st century life, where trickster figures are emerging at pace: in politics (Trump et al), entertainment (take your pick), business (Elon Musk et al) and even South African rugby.

Control ‘aint what it used to be

South Africa’s rugby hero god Rassie Erasmus, for example, has always been a trickster. Munster and European rugby once loved him for it, but after the profound weirdness of the recent tour to South Africa by the British and Irish Lions, he stands alone as the recalcitrant bad boy of the global game.

The last touring sports team to end up covered in smelly South African controversy was the Australian cricket squad of 2018. The Australians sailed to Africa in a uniquely deluded ship of hubris, several decades in the making. Their venture was a once-in-a-lifetime farce, but it has one obvious factor in common with the 2021 Lions tour – a sudden loss of assumed control.

In both instances the opposing South African team was viewed as a mighty, often dangerous, adversary on the field, while the country itself functioned as little more than a backdrop that allowed the tourists to arrive and leave in full control of the commercial eco system. The stadiums don’t have to be full, or even populated, because the revenue is in TV rights. Equally, the participation of local media is an irrelevance. The tour machine operates a well-grooved call and response dance with its own media throughout, setting up and knocking down a series of straw men of its own making.

Tricksters and disproportionate response

The pivotal moment in the Australian venture was when David Warner’s changing room humiliation went public through social media. Suddenly, Australia’s iron grip faltered, and real life poked its head in. South African fans donned Sonny Bill Williams masks. The Proteas launched an unprecedented legal assault, led by the mercurial Dali Mpofu, on Kagiso Rabada’s demerit points. Warner’s suspicious hand bandages were targeted by players near to stump mics, Twitter users and the local TV camera men alike. The Australians were utterly unprepared – mentally, emotionally, spiritually – for the strange forces bursting through the sponsor logos.

Although it also had epic consequences, Lion’s coach Warren Gatland’s pre-emptive attack on the South African video ref before the first test match was a very different scenario. His ploy was little more than a middle of the road rhetorical stab. Its been many years since such gamesmanship has garnered any attention, because the device is so obvious and out in the open. Regardless, the South African director of rugby (and game day water-boy) launched a wildly disproportionate post match Twitter critique of the refereeing in the first game, blowing established tradition to pieces.

This is what tricksters do. They ignore your carefully prepared campaigns entirely, and then cover the thoughtless, every-day parts of your routine in poo. Disproportionate response is a primary trick of seeding chaos.

Inconvenient realities

The British sporting media was filled with state-of-the-game op-eds and images of a grim looking Gatland, weighed down by both rugby strategy and the sad moral state of a new, Twitter-centric world. But despite all the brooding, there was little recognition of the central existential challenge Erasmus’ antics exposed: the way social media empowers tricksters, while shattering control of entrenched power systems, like sports tours.

Step away from the rugby details and there’s a case to be made that the true threat of Erasmus the trickster was to expose the tightly protected Lions tour juggernaut to the actual society it was rolling through. A country being savaged by some 500 daily Covid-19 deaths, and also fighting profound levels of civil unrest. Just as with the Australian cricket tour, South Africa’s unique social frisson hovered ominously over the sporting arguments. This isn’t the benign Antipodies, and the unstated panic among the tourists was obvious: if the Lions don’t have complete control of this thing, who does? The uncomfortable answer in South Africa is, nobody. Control is always up for grabs.

Of course, Gatland and his bemused-looking Lions are hardly unique. In 2021 there are digitally empowered tricksters everywhere, relishing chaos, breaking down control, and - significantly - seldom seeking to replace the systems they have collapsed with anything else. The list of chaotic interventions in established zones of power goes on and on, and the trickster mentality is fast becoming a primary feature of global social interaction.

When viewed through the rich cultural heritage of the trickster, Rassie Erasmus isn’t a threat to the game of rugby, but rather the latest in a long line of operators sending the higher ups the same old lesson: it’s in the moments you wield your power without any thought at all that you are most likely to end up covered in discharge.

Links

Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde

South Africa’s Rassie Erasmus has abandoned grace and dignity

Cricket South Africa apologises over Sonny Bill Williams masks

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