In the ending of
the year it seems as if every single program I watch is scrolling a
list of the famous and infamous who have passed away in the 362 days
since January 1. Each year will lose some notable. The facts are
immutable, our corporeal bodies pass through the birth canal and drop
into the light of this world. If lucky we age and then die. Star or
serf we all pass through this world feeling love and pain, hope and
despair.
This year a couple
of comedy performers seem to top the lists. A jazz musician, a poet
and several politicians fill out the middle of the most recent list I
have seen. Two noble laureates ended up a the bottom of this list
with hushed reverence from the narrator.
People like my
brother in law John Davis don't make these lists. John lived in
metropolitan Chicago. What did he accomplish. Well coming from a
youth filled with challenges he married a good smart and talented
woman and raised some great kids. Because he wasn't in the public
eye should he be any less mourned? I think not. We all live lives
that can have merit. My thought is that we should compile our own
lists and turn off these TV programs.
American has for
many years had a cult of celebrity. It is a nasty business. In
order to forget about our lives for a moment, and I guess our
struggles, we turn on TV and watch programs that tell us about the
stars stints in rehab. We are bombarded by images of their
infidelities. We are told of the misdeeds of their youth and their
current loutish behavior. Why do we need to look at these images?
When we are drawn in to this celebrity watching we are no better than
people gawking as they pass a car wreck with bodies beneath tarps.
I have no problems
with reading fiction because it requires time and discipline. I
don't have any problem with seeing a movie or a television series. A
movie forces me to sit for just about two hours and relax. Images
fill my brain and I turn off my worries and struggles. A good
television series can do the same thing but when you put in on the
DVR you steal more and more of your free time. Life must have some
diversions, it absolutely must.
What I have a
problem with is that I don't need to know a damn thing about the
writer or the actor. Let their work stand for itself. I don't
really care if the creator of a moving tome is a chronic public
flasher. That issue is between him, the law and his psychotherapist.
And when a actor, a hockey player or a politician dies that take no
more of this world with them than each of our sisters and brothers do
when that pass.
Will the lists at
year's end stop, well no. Should we walk away from the cult of
celebrity and the industries that feed on it, yes. Will we? No.
However I allow myself the hope that someday we can come to a sense
of perspective and that EW, People and Entertainment Tonight will
fade from such prominent view. Someday I hope we spend more time
with those about us honoring them.
