LJ Idol - Friends and Rivals -Week 5 - Void
This year has started off with a number of celebrity deaths - both the famous and infamous. Lennie Bluett, Pat Harrington Jr, Frank Armitage, Florence King, Kitty Kallen, Troy Shondell, serial killer Oscar Ray Bolin, Red Simpson, Otis Clay, Nick Caldwell, Angus Scrimm, David Bowie, Michael Galeota, David Margulies, Brian Bedford, Rene Angelil, Dan Hagerty, Natalie Cole, David Bowie, and - always - Alan Rickman. (you can find a much more complete list at Wikipedia)
I have said little on social media about this because, quite honestly, I don't know what to say. However much I may wish to be a wordsmith, sometimes the muse just doesn't want to play and the words don't come. This time, I'm going to attempt to force her hand.
It may be that I’m “of an age” that such things happen, but it seems like we’re losing icons left and right. People whose loss leaves the world a duller place. People who have touched me with their music or acting. People who’ve left a spot on my heart that may fade, but will never completely go away. People whose loss hurts - physically and emotionally hurts.
I’ve cried twice this week. Well, I should clarify, I’ve cried multiple times on two days this week. The loss of a celebrity rarely moves me to tears - a simple “Oh, that’s sad” and move on with my life - but I think the dam broke with Robin Williams death last year. His career has spanned the entirety of my life, and at times shaped my vision of the world, and his loss was one that changed me. Now I see the losses in their entirety and mourn for a world that now has an unfillable void in it. Those damn kids these days… they spend all their time on my lawn and rarely have anything to contribute to society as a whole.
Up and coming actors don’t have to work their way into a leading spot via the chorus anymore. Musicians rarely pay their dues, preferring to win their way to the top on a reality tv show. Society has much less tolerance for doing things the hard way - immediate gratification is the way to go now - and the arts have paled in comparison to the past.
Yes, we have wonderful CGI and other special effects. Yes, we have autotune that can make anyone sound good. But the appreciation for real skill does still exist. Think Pitch Perfect or Glee were hits just because of crude va-jay-jay jokes or soap opera sitcom storylines? I rather doubt it. People appreciate the skill of a well-tuned human voice. Much fuss was made over the BB-8 android in Star Wars: The Force Awakens because it was an actual working robot, not CGI.
And so I remind myself that the last thing out of Pandora’s box was, is, and always will be, hope. So yes, I cried this week for a void in my heart and soul that will never again be filled, but I have hope that future generations will re-discover the virtue of doing things the hard way and, in the process, becoming something wonderful.
I have said little on social media about this because, quite honestly, I don't know what to say. However much I may wish to be a wordsmith, sometimes the muse just doesn't want to play and the words don't come. This time, I'm going to attempt to force her hand.
It may be that I’m “of an age” that such things happen, but it seems like we’re losing icons left and right. People whose loss leaves the world a duller place. People who have touched me with their music or acting. People who’ve left a spot on my heart that may fade, but will never completely go away. People whose loss hurts - physically and emotionally hurts.
I’ve cried twice this week. Well, I should clarify, I’ve cried multiple times on two days this week. The loss of a celebrity rarely moves me to tears - a simple “Oh, that’s sad” and move on with my life - but I think the dam broke with Robin Williams death last year. His career has spanned the entirety of my life, and at times shaped my vision of the world, and his loss was one that changed me. Now I see the losses in their entirety and mourn for a world that now has an unfillable void in it. Those damn kids these days… they spend all their time on my lawn and rarely have anything to contribute to society as a whole.
Up and coming actors don’t have to work their way into a leading spot via the chorus anymore. Musicians rarely pay their dues, preferring to win their way to the top on a reality tv show. Society has much less tolerance for doing things the hard way - immediate gratification is the way to go now - and the arts have paled in comparison to the past.
Yes, we have wonderful CGI and other special effects. Yes, we have autotune that can make anyone sound good. But the appreciation for real skill does still exist. Think Pitch Perfect or Glee were hits just because of crude va-jay-jay jokes or soap opera sitcom storylines? I rather doubt it. People appreciate the skill of a well-tuned human voice. Much fuss was made over the BB-8 android in Star Wars: The Force Awakens because it was an actual working robot, not CGI.
And so I remind myself that the last thing out of Pandora’s box was, is, and always will be, hope. So yes, I cried this week for a void in my heart and soul that will never again be filled, but I have hope that future generations will re-discover the virtue of doing things the hard way and, in the process, becoming something wonderful.