"I hope life on Earth is everything you remember it to be."
It makes sense to me that I have such consistent emotional reactions to shows like The Office and Studio 60, but last night I got caught up on Sons Of Anarchy and found myself getting more than a little misty at several points. I thought about it for a while, because it seemed odd that I have a reaction to a show filled with people who, while compelling on TV, I would never in a million years want in my life, as opposed to almost the entire casts of The Office and Studio 60, many of whom I would want my eventual daughters to marry. Once I did that it was beyond obvious; the world has gotten so screwed up the the best examples of what family is supposed to be are coming from a show about murderous, porn-peddling bikers.
Every network is filled with sitcoms about either sexy, misguided, and hilarious singles who have wacky adventures while randomly humping each other, or about a hot, exasperated woman who married an oafish, but lovable guy and had a handful of occasionally troubled, but mostly clever children who seem to love pointing out all the crazy ways their parents just don't understand them. And then there are the ones with Charlie Sheen and the less said about those the better. There's not much on the air right now, except the folks at Dunder Mifflin, that really showcases a sense of oneness, be it family or not. While things like Glee tap into the 'us vs. them' part of life, the us is still pretty back-biting and bitchy, which is one of the reasons everyone is so into it. But man, is that sort of shallow self-absorption exhausting and dull after such a glut of the stuff. What I really wonder is why has the market responded so enthusiastically to it?
Is it possible that we've come so far as a culture emotionally that we no longer have the ability to accept things like loyalty and self sacrifice from people who are the traditional vessels for such traits? Who can be trusted? Dad bought a Porche that came with a 20 year-old blonde, Mom's a cougar and spends all day terrorizing the tennis instructors, siblings are either on meth or trying to jump start their reality TV careers, and all you've got left outside of blood relations are frenemies who are waiting to talk about the sex they would have with your boyfriend, if you ever actually got one. Yipes, just yipes. Reality TV (for the most part) just adds a few more cat fights and it's the same story. Where's the heart? Where are the consequences? There are far worse things that come from vying to love Ray J than STDs and very public humiliations, but no one ever talks about them.
On Sons, people die, have already died, and more will, we know this. There has been betrayal upon betrayal, pig headed stubbornness of all kinds, and of course all of the crime and porn they're all knee deep in, yet there's still that something that keeps them all not only coming back, but coming back for each other, even when they feel like they're in opposite corners. When they became a part of Sam Crow, they dedicated themselves wholly and that's something they take as seriously as anything ever before, they pledged their lives and meant it. When it comes down to hold or cut bow strings, every last man jack of them steps up and not matter what's gone down prior, they know what needs to be sacrificed to make things right. In that unity there is a deep, deep tenderness, a love that seems to get brushed aside when talking about why you have to give up part of yourself to others. The devotion they all have to the club as an entity and to each other is how families should be, blood or not. We stick it out because it's who we are, what we do, and how we all survive, not as individuals, but as a unit. Everyone goes through intense, horrible things in life, yet how many people do you know these days with that kind of attitude?
What will keep the group safe and whole is what will do the same for each member; it's common sense, yet it seems like more and more it's a mindset and way of life that's becoming harder and harder to find, even in the realm of fantasy. Is it perhaps that's how we view that kind of fealty, as something fit only for the realm of the epic and imaginary? When did we lose the ability to see the moments with all the weight and import of a "For Frodo!" that occur every day? How many of us can think of a time in recent memory where someone went well beyond their own needs and put themselves in between disaster and someone else? I can think of only a handful of people in my own life with the maturity and foresight to understand the long term and be willing to give up their own short terms desires.
That's why when Jax picked up those patches, when Ope and Jax made up, and when Clay landed that first punch on white pride Henry Rollins, I bawled. It was so unexpected and so fast I didn't even have time to get a hankie out. The people who make that show get it and they put it on the screen for everyone to see, and hopefully get the hint. They're all dangerous people who have done and will do bad, bad things, but they got that part right and that's why they'll survive. That's why they made me cry.
The world has more than enough of everything for every last person to be housed, clothed, and fed, but we don't do it because too many people have forgotten that what is good for everyone will be good for them. Most people rarely even think about how their behavior will affect the people around them and that has to change if we're to have any hope of lasting. If a fictional California biker gang can start to teach a few people about what it's going to take, then it's a step in the right direction.
Every network is filled with sitcoms about either sexy, misguided, and hilarious singles who have wacky adventures while randomly humping each other, or about a hot, exasperated woman who married an oafish, but lovable guy and had a handful of occasionally troubled, but mostly clever children who seem to love pointing out all the crazy ways their parents just don't understand them. And then there are the ones with Charlie Sheen and the less said about those the better. There's not much on the air right now, except the folks at Dunder Mifflin, that really showcases a sense of oneness, be it family or not. While things like Glee tap into the 'us vs. them' part of life, the us is still pretty back-biting and bitchy, which is one of the reasons everyone is so into it. But man, is that sort of shallow self-absorption exhausting and dull after such a glut of the stuff. What I really wonder is why has the market responded so enthusiastically to it?
Is it possible that we've come so far as a culture emotionally that we no longer have the ability to accept things like loyalty and self sacrifice from people who are the traditional vessels for such traits? Who can be trusted? Dad bought a Porche that came with a 20 year-old blonde, Mom's a cougar and spends all day terrorizing the tennis instructors, siblings are either on meth or trying to jump start their reality TV careers, and all you've got left outside of blood relations are frenemies who are waiting to talk about the sex they would have with your boyfriend, if you ever actually got one. Yipes, just yipes. Reality TV (for the most part) just adds a few more cat fights and it's the same story. Where's the heart? Where are the consequences? There are far worse things that come from vying to love Ray J than STDs and very public humiliations, but no one ever talks about them.
On Sons, people die, have already died, and more will, we know this. There has been betrayal upon betrayal, pig headed stubbornness of all kinds, and of course all of the crime and porn they're all knee deep in, yet there's still that something that keeps them all not only coming back, but coming back for each other, even when they feel like they're in opposite corners. When they became a part of Sam Crow, they dedicated themselves wholly and that's something they take as seriously as anything ever before, they pledged their lives and meant it. When it comes down to hold or cut bow strings, every last man jack of them steps up and not matter what's gone down prior, they know what needs to be sacrificed to make things right. In that unity there is a deep, deep tenderness, a love that seems to get brushed aside when talking about why you have to give up part of yourself to others. The devotion they all have to the club as an entity and to each other is how families should be, blood or not. We stick it out because it's who we are, what we do, and how we all survive, not as individuals, but as a unit. Everyone goes through intense, horrible things in life, yet how many people do you know these days with that kind of attitude?
What will keep the group safe and whole is what will do the same for each member; it's common sense, yet it seems like more and more it's a mindset and way of life that's becoming harder and harder to find, even in the realm of fantasy. Is it perhaps that's how we view that kind of fealty, as something fit only for the realm of the epic and imaginary? When did we lose the ability to see the moments with all the weight and import of a "For Frodo!" that occur every day? How many of us can think of a time in recent memory where someone went well beyond their own needs and put themselves in between disaster and someone else? I can think of only a handful of people in my own life with the maturity and foresight to understand the long term and be willing to give up their own short terms desires.
That's why when Jax picked up those patches, when Ope and Jax made up, and when Clay landed that first punch on white pride Henry Rollins, I bawled. It was so unexpected and so fast I didn't even have time to get a hankie out. The people who make that show get it and they put it on the screen for everyone to see, and hopefully get the hint. They're all dangerous people who have done and will do bad, bad things, but they got that part right and that's why they'll survive. That's why they made me cry.
The world has more than enough of everything for every last person to be housed, clothed, and fed, but we don't do it because too many people have forgotten that what is good for everyone will be good for them. Most people rarely even think about how their behavior will affect the people around them and that has to change if we're to have any hope of lasting. If a fictional California biker gang can start to teach a few people about what it's going to take, then it's a step in the right direction.