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BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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Many of us developed our taste for and love of humor from "Saturday Night Live" (SNL). We watched a whole generation of comedians develop... and then move on. And we have witnessed some of them self-destruct. I guess that's why I went ballistic when I saw a segment on "Entertainment Tonight" suggesting there may be a curse on SNL. "Are there ghosts in the dressing rooms at 30 Rockefeller Plaza?"
Of course, they are part of the same group that suggested there is a curse on the Kennedy family. The fates booby-trapped that car that Teddy was driving. They did the same to Joe; that caused him to overturn the Jeep in Europe that paralyzed his passenger. They crammed those drugs down the throat of David Kennedy, and they forced Michael to have sex with his teenage babysitter; they planted the tree that he ran into while skiing.
That was the gist of the story on "Entertainment Tonight." John Belushi was a bigger-than-life performer plagued by demons. Chris Farley was a perfectionist who could never be satisfied with himself. Phil Hartman was helplessly caught in the whirlwind of his success. Robert Downy, Jr. is an enormous talent; he just has an addiction he cannot control.
Balderdash! All of it!
If you read "Wired," the book about John Belushi, then you have some idea of how horribly perverted his life was. This overgrown, spoiled brat was a time bomb eager to go off. That he lived as long as he did without exploding is the mystery, not that his life was taken too soon, so tragically, so unpredictably. No, he was not bigger than life; he is just deader than life.
Chris Farley may have been overly energetic. He was also an idiot. His goal in life was to be just like John Belushi. Well, at that he succeeded. And like Belushi, his entire adult life was a disgrace of wretched excess. He was not a sympathetic character; he was a moron. Somebody needs to say that, in loud and unambiguous terms. Obviously, "Entertainment Tonight" will never say it.
And Phil Hartman was no role model, either. He was able to keep his personal life private, but anyone near him could tell he was allowing his world to fall apart. He failed miserably in his first and most important responsibility: raising his kids. All the laughter in the world does not make up for or excuse that. He is not a tragic figure; he is a failure.
Comedian and actor Robin Williams escaped the same ending, apparently because he had an ounce of common sense. "Cocaine is God's way of saying you're making way too much money," he laughed. But it should not have taken him a decade of abuse to realize that. Apparently Robert Downy, Jr. is not making quite enough money yet to get the message.
They all learned their "trade" behind the scenes of Second City (in Chicago) and SNL in New York. Oh, I do not mean the trade of performance art. I mean the trade of enormous, unbridled drug abuse. As I hear it, the drugs do not flow quite as freely in the 90s as they did in the 70s. But try telling that to Phil Hartman's children.
And oh, they are ALL cursed. Ozzie Osbourne's wife Sharon wonders:
Nope; son Jack's and daughter Kelly's habits are a result of the curse. They have absolutely nothing to do with what the Osbourne children have been shown and taught their entire lives. It's just a curse. There can be no other explanation.
Yep; Hollywood believes and spreads this kind of crap, because no one there -- and precious few people in the rest of the country -- are willing to take responsibility for their actions or the effects they are having on their children.
I am angry because the media continues to make excuses and exceptions for these icons of our youth. Their sentiment seems to be "Drugs are part of our culture; this could happen to anybody."
No, it does not happen to anybody. It happens to people who are stupid; people who have the opportunity, the money, and the absence of principles and common sense. And it has happened primarily to boomers... far too many of whom seem to have the opportunity, the money, and the absence of principles and common sense.
I am angry because these are boomers doing this to themselves and everyone around them... they are members of my generation. This is the legacy they leave behind in the refuse of their self-destructive lives. As John Belushi taught Chris Farley, Chris Farley surely has taught another eager protege. Well, after all, everybody does it, don't they?
And when the media makes excuses for or glosses over this behavior, they imply to our impressionable kids that it is just a part of life you sometimes cannot avoid. And when you fail to correct this impression in the strongest terms to your children, your are confirming it. When you imply to your kid that a little pot is not so bad after all, you are sending a similar message. And when the average amount of time that a boomer parent spends with his kids in meaningful discussion is less than 2 1/2 minutes per week, don't expect that false and dangerous impression to be dispelled.
Oh, I know; it's not your kid, is it? It's never your kid, is it?
BBHQ visitor Jess takes exception:
"Unfortuantely, Phil Hartman doesn't fall as neatly into this class of clowns as you depict. It was his wife who had the problem from all that I've heard. She was the one with the problem. He went on to be more famous than her limited acting abilities would take her. It's not hard to see why someone who may have had talent could've been so immersed in such a huge shadow. He was an entertaining god! His voice alone would be enough to carry most Simpson's episodes. His impressions were for the most part second to none on SNL. Unparalleled in television history for his versatility. She's the one that snapped after filling her life with drugs in the absence of his company or her own career. Lumping him in with Belushi and Farley is despicable. He didn't end his own life by wretched excess. It was taken from him."
And Hershel replies:
I guess it might depend on how you define the "class." No, his behavior was not as demented as was Farley's and Belushi's, but he and his wife both used illegal drugs, and he allowed his children to live in the same house with someone who was a chronic drug abuser. As such, he failed in the most important responsibility of his life, protecting his children. It is he who was despicable, not I, Jess. But like so many, you are "blinded by the light" of what you call an "entertaining god."
You, like most Americans, would allow "the beautiful people" to live by a different set of moral rules than the rest of us. I would not. But that is why la-la-land continues to exist as it does today and why a disporportionate number of the children of "the beautiful people" turn out to be such social and moral degenerates. (Witness, the Osbourne offspring.)
If your children had been spending the night with the Hartmans that night, they too, would probably have been shot to death. Under those circumstances, you might not see my comparision to be so "despicable." But of course, they were not; so the late Phil Hartman was a "god," and I am despicable.
I understand where your values are; I understand where you draw the line.
I draw it in a different place. I am "despicable."
Visitor Gordon writes:
"Fear not, Hershel; SNL is now clean, sober and utterly unfunny. It would appear that a drug-free, PC, vegetarian pop culture is fundamentally incapable of humor. An accountant's lifestyle produces great accountants, not great artists. Sorry."
And Hershel replies:
"Your comments equate funny with free flowing drugs. (Though I do not accept your premise that SNL is now clean and sober; I do agree that it is unfunny.)"
"A hundred years of enormous creativity and terrific humor prove that your conclusion is dead wrong. Bill Cosby, Jack Benny, Jay Leno, Laurel & Hardy, Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Dave Thomas, Ernie Kovacs, Don Knotts, Woody Allen, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Lewis Grizzard, Steve Allen, Bob Hope, Bonnie Hunt, Danny Thomas, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Johnny Carson, Bob Newhart, Billy Crystal, and a hundred more provide ample evidence that your claim is sheer nonsense."
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| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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