I knew them as Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers.
Them, as Mork and Mindy. Nanoo-nanoo.
Jim.
The Cunninghams and friends and, the Fonz. Whoa ...
And, of course, the Ingalls.
As we grew older and saw these characters appeared in other shows not as Steve, Jamie, Mork, Mindy, Richie, Fonz, or Laura, our perception of these shows started to change. Steve Austin became Lee Majors; Mork, no longer, but Robin Williams; Jim to James; Laura was actually Melissa; the Fonz ... was mere Henry, a good name none the less, but just not that cooool. And, of course, the realisation that I couldn't lift my father’s car even if I did it in slow motion while uttering the sound effect of a rusty spring stretching in echoes was a big, big let down.
As we grew older and learned more about these characters and what was behind them, we would start analyzing everything that appeared before our eyes. Instead of accepting them without much of a doubt, we started to query.
Happy is no longer just pure joy. Behind the happiness, there always lurk worries about something else. Sadness no longer comes to us unimpeded by certain effort of restraining. Affection is checked with caution. Compassion is shrouded with doubts. Fear is countered with denial. Anger is suppressed with reasoning. No emotions are accepted as they are anymore. We do not embrace them as whole-heartedly as when we encountered them the very first time. We detach ourselves from them.
Not only do we question and analyze how we feel towards the happenings before our eyes, we started to be critical of the plot, too.
Does it make sense? How did we get here? Which turn did we take to reach here? Should we have taken the other route? Do I have to accept this? Why?
Starting from four paragraphs ago, I was not writing about TV shows. I was writing about LIFE and our emotions towards it.
Whenever I observe my kids watching TVs nowadays, it always makes me ponder how they would accept unreservedly what’s on the TV, and their complete absorption into the show. How straight and direct was their reflection from the show. How easily they show their joy, sadness, anger, frustration, etc. with laughter, tears, frowns, curses even. And I wonder was I ever like that. Should I be like that now? And perhaps LIFE should be like that? I wonder.
And don’t we sometimes wish that we would be waken up by the sound of running water from our bathroom and found out that it’s all just a dream? Don’t we?
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7 comments:
Ain't life a bitch? I still remember those wonderful people as the characters which made them famous. Why can't life be more like the movies? Oh, Yeah, life is real, life is earnest, life sometimes sucks but in the movies everything always ended happily.
Jan:
Yes, life IS a bitch. Taming it is half the fun. The other half? Being tamed pretty much sucks.
Too many of us get wrapped up in a fantasy and some find it really hard to accept the reality that they know to be true. All we can do is the best we can do with the knowledge we have at hand. Some people prefer to live in a fantasy world and it's not for me to say if that's right or wrong because many people believe the world we live in is a fantasy of sorts.
What a great post.
You say "And I wonder was I ever like that. " And my answer is probably. When we are kids, we see people and events with innocent eyes, eyes that have yet to "see" The Truth. As a child even as an adolescent I had "no clue" about the realties of life perhaps because I was too sheltered or perhaps because I lived in my own fantasy world as most young people do. No worries? That is an understatement. Talk about freedom and peace... I can never recover those years or that state of mind, but I will never forget who I was then or how much I loved and trusted the world.
whew! happy tuesday! hopping here again! take care!
gagay
Jude:
I guess there's really no "right" way or "wrong" way to live our lives. As long as we're happy and respectful of others, I think we'll be okay.
Fearless:
Yeah, I'm quite sure I was like the kids when I was young. I also agree that once we're out of it, we can never recover the innocent and trusting state of mind. For better or for worse, I really can't recall how it felt like then.
"Sheltered" - that's the word I was looking for!
As parents, we're now the shelter for our kids from the "true" world. In fact, a shelter and a screen. At this stage, not only do we give protection by giving shelter, we also screen out those we deem unfit; and for those we deem fit, we give interpretation, our interpretation. As they grow older, and we start to lift the shelter and the screen, they'll be exposed to the "true" facts of life (if there really are "true" facts of life lying out there) - much like how the veil hiding the true identity of the TV characters was lifted. But how they perceive these facts of life in the future really depends on how we operate our screen and shelter when they are young. (Gee ... this totally deserve another post - you think?)
Gagay:
Happy hopping! And watch out for that hole!
I do love Mork and Mindy it was great to watch when I was a kid.
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