Furshadowing or My Pet Peeve

I just watched the movie SHOOTER. After the set up combat/sniper intro, the story jumps ahead 3 years and we see the chief protagonist in an idyllic mountain home with his big ol’ sweety pooch. . .. Stop right there! Nobody move, nobody gets whacked.

In the course of my lifelong search to find the best free escapism, I read a lot of novels. After a few hundred I saw that one thing most of these writers had in common was using the same distressing plot device. If one of the characters had a pet, you could bet within short order, a horrible fate was coming for Spot, or Puff or even the %#*&! goldfish!

For me the blame lies right at the apocryphal cryonically frozen feet of Walt Disney. The avuncular creator of The Mouse simultaneously raised and lowered the bar 50 years ago with the purported children’s movie Old Yeller. I don’t want to give any spoilers but do the term hydrophobia mean anything to ya? Oh, I’m sure Walt was praised back then for introducing harsh reality into the genre. After all, kids are people too and should have their Pollyanna-like ( this was of course before Disney owned the rights to Pollyanna ) hopes & dreams shattered as quickly as possible, while inducing them to buy tie in products. If MacDonald’s had been a national powerhouse in the 50’s & not just a Chicago burger joint, I’m sure there would’ve been Old Yeller cups & action and inaction memorial figures with your fries.

Harrison Ford had a thriller out in recent memory, FIREWALL. It was not very well thought of & it again brought up the question of whether or not Mr. Ford, now in his 60s, is too old for all this huffin’, puffin’ & blowin’ things uppin’. Well, as far as the storyline went, it was by the numbers. Except for one. Spoiler Alert: The cute family dog lived!!! I bet a kid had something to do with that. Or maybe a girlfriend. Yeah, I like that idea. Though based on the reviews, most critics thought a kid probably wrote the screenplay. Me, dog lives? I gave it 5 stars. . ..

These writers were all children once. As jaded as I am, I doubt they all harbored the deep seated need to kill the dog. Spank the monkey? sure. Fido, no. Nor were they all the kind who pulled the wings off flies & walked them around on a leash before smoking them with a magnifying glass. OK, except for Stephen King. Since he’s mostly recovered from that hit & run accident now, I gotta say that dude is seriously fucked up. Though we do share a secret, don’t we Stevie. . ..

So, what up wit dat? It’s a puzzler. Is it supposed to make the reader instantly hate the evildoers? It works, but mostly I really loathe the author. This is because, they really killed the animal. Didn’t they. . .. AND now I’ve blown their sick little cover, lookout. I’m guessing it’s grannies next. Sweet ones too, only she won’t be back like in Little Red Riding Hood. Unless it’s as a vengeful bloodsucking demon and/or agent.

What’s Black & White and Red All Over?

Isaiah Washington, deposed actor from Grey’s Anatomy, is not happy. He’s been fired from a hit show. That in itself is a bad break, loss of income & a solid credit on the clip reel. However, that’s the least of his upset because he’s experiencing what Don Imus did; a powerful interest group of people wielding their power in a self righteous hissy. Mr. Washington claims this has happened solely because he is black.

He stands accused of hurling anti-gay epithets during an on set argument with colleague Patrick Dempsey, who was purportedly defending fellow cast member T.R. Knight from Washington’s tirade. Not long after this event took place, Mr. Knight went on record and revealed he lives an alternative lifestyle. While that still takes courage, it’s hardly unique in the show business.

The word in question is the other F-word, which much like the N-word, is acceptable if used by gay people but not by heteros who lose their temper & aren’t calculating every single word they might let slip. Again, I say this: I’ve been called that word and I’m not one. Hmmm which is worse? Next time I swear I will call the Gay mafia—and I mean it.

Nobody likes being on the receiving end of an angry pejorative. But sometimes it’s reactionary & solipsistic to think that’s all the angry person is capable of thinking. My case would be, most times, an angry person is not thinking rationally. It’s an emotional outburst kids, not a political statement. It’s an imbalance moment in a world pretty much un-balanced since Nemo got beached and somehow ( see C. Darwin ) survived, thrived, then grew legs & multiplied.

Mr. Imus wasn’t angry, he was just doing what he did for 40 years & somebody decided this was the right time to put a period to one final nasty one-liner. I just watched an animated movie Happy Feet, in which an old Stevie Wonder song I Wish, was utilized twice on the soundtrack. A phrase from that song ” nappy headed boy, “ was sung and ostensibly heard by millions of people, many of whom are children & I’m guessing also black. Did any of them ask: ‘ hey mom, is that the song Imus sings? ‘ and why is it in a penguin movie? I liked the flick, though Robin Williams voicing 2 characters is 2 too many. But where is the hue & cry? I can’t hear you…….. nor should I expect to either.

OK—maybe Isaiah Washington harbors resentment toward certain types. So what. If he was causing them to not be employed or say, lose their job ( that seems familiar somehow ), then we’ve got a case Clarence Darrow! Sure, if he starts repeating that off cam performance to the detriment of the rest of the cast, then I agree, terminate his contract. I just think it’s a one dimensional judgment against Mr. Washington for possibly asserting himself a bit too belligerently & crudely regarding another actor’s talent. Maybe he did it a lot & that’s why he’s off the show. I admit, I don’t really know, I wasn’t there. If it’s for an ill advised momentary loss of control, it’s bullshit to fire him especially in light of his apologies and studio imposed & supervised sensitivity training.

And while Isaiah has been surgically removed from Grey’s Anatomy, it appears John Donald Imus is now in a bit of a grey area. Due to the complexities of contract & litigation, he may be finding his way back on air. Sources say possibly after Labor Day, when those dedicated followers of fashion say to stop wearing white. These days black & white still make grey more than ever. Not to mention red asses. . ..

Oh yeah Happy 4th! try not to blow any fingers off. . ..