I did it again. I gave myself an emotional cleansing... a bath, if you will.
I watched Dragonheart tonight. It had been a while since my last viewing. I'm still moved by it. Call me a kid, call me a lush, call me what you will... I cry every time. Every time. And tonight was no exception.
I was having this conversation today with one of my friends where we were comparing TV shows and characters. She mentioned that she learns something about herself through certain characters. She realized something on a conscious level that escapes many people. That is to say that we frequently learn about ourselves via watching others.
We see things in others that we either see in ourselves (usually good or amusing traits) or things in others that we wish to be (usually more noble or virtuous traits). This human attribute is no more evident to me than it is in one of my all time favorite characters from one of my all time TV programs... Benton Fraser of Due South.
A quick overview for those of you whose eyebrows are quizzically furrowed right about now...
Due South is (was) about a Canadian Mountie (RCMP) that was assigned to Chicago as a profesional liaison to the Chicago PD. This occurred after his father, also a mountie, was murdered. Basically, this was the RCMPs way of getting Fraser out of their hair without firing him. You see, Fraser is basically perfect... well, not literally, but you get the idea. Just picture a guy that actually lives and breathes every imaginable virtue, and then some more. So he helps his Chicago PD partner, Ray Vecchio, solve crimes. And he does this unconventionally at times. He uses all his skills that might otherwise be construed as ridiculous by the casual observer. Can you describe the difference between a clang and a clank in 15 seconds or less and do so using proper grammar? He can. This is a guy that can sniff a fire hydrant and tell you the breed of dog that peed on it and how long ago! He will be pursuing a purse snatcher down a busy sidewalk and stops to open a random door for a lady, tips his hat, greets her, wishes her a nice day, then continues the pursuit. You get the idea? All the while, on the side, Fraser is piecing together his fathers murder case. By the way, I haven't even mentioned his deaf wolf, Diefenbaker. (spelling?)
Ok... so that's the jist. It only lasted 3 seasons. Didn't have a huge fan base outside Canada. But I fell in love with it. The music was really (surprisinlgy) good for a little known TV show. This aired about the early 90s... about the time Eary Edition was on, if you recall that one.
Anyway..... I go on about all this because it illustrates my second point from earlier... how we see traits in other people that we wish we could possess. This guy is the definitive Jack-of-all-Trades. Outdoor savy, well groomed, handsome, courteous, intelligent, an eloquant orator, selfless, honest..... and so on.
Aren't these all the things we are taught to be as kids? Then why is it that he is so different from all the rest of us, aside from the obvious answer (because its scripted...duh) :-) Yeah, yeah, but here is the question that comes to me.... Why CAN'T we be like that? Or at least strive to approach that? Have you noticed that quote on the left side of this blog... close to the top, just above the Dog Lovers Corner.... My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog thinks I am.
Think about it.
Sooooo... after all that..... Dragonheart reminds me of all those virtues that we are taught to maintain and uphold. It reminds me that I slip sometimes. It reminds me of how I want to be.
Along the same thread... there is another line from a TV show that is apropos here... from the TV show Angel. There is a scene where Angel tells his son why he does the things he does, despite the cost and apparent uselessness of it all... it goes something like this...
Let it sink in a minute.
Yes, these programs are out there for our viewing pleasure and entertainment. But if you, as the audience, allow yourself to get into the program.... you can glean lessons to live by from some of them.
So now for the fun part... some video clips for your viewing pleasure, my friends.
Be virtuous.
Be well.
4 years ago
2 comments:
Mmmm, good post. I just wanted to add that I also have a tendancy to learn about my less appealing attributes from other people and characters in shows. For instance, a new coworker has mirrored to me how annoying it is when people talk overly much and rapid fire, and since knowing her, I have made it a point to speak slowly and less frequently, and to focus on listening to others more (I still have to work at this one). Maggie from the show Northern Exposure has reflected to me how bad I am at keeping men at arms length and trying way too hard to convince myself and everyone else how "tough" I am. Also, she mirrored to me how I was being far too judgemental and one sided on my world views, something I have greatly remedied since (always a work in progress, I am). As a rule thumb, if I stumble across something in someone that annoys me, I immediately look for that quality in myself (and I usually find it).
i guess when i find something in someone else i really dislike i just get the hell away from that person and thats that.....lol
and i guess we are all judgmental the difference is how much are you willing to revise your judgments as you are proven wrong or just off a bit?
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