It's Not Easy Being Green

Last night I saw a screening of the charming, inspiring, heartfelt "Being Elmo," the documentary which chronicles the life and career of the puppeteer Kevin Clash. Inextricably linked to Clash's story is, of course, Jim Henson, muppet creator extraordinaire who gave Clash his big break.

In the early 70's I had the amazing opportunity of going to Jim Henson's workshop and 'meeting' all the muppets. You see, my dad, a comedy writer on the Jimmy Dean show in the 60's, had once written jokes for one of Henson's first characters, Rawlph the dog.

From Wikipedia: Rowlf rose to stardom as Jimmy Dean's sidekick on The Jimmy Dean Show. The show ran from 1963 until 1966. Rowlf the Dog was a regular on the show, and was billed as Jimmy's "ol' buddy." Between seven and ten minutes of every show were devoted to a spot with Rowlf and Dean. Many of the comedy sketches ended with the two singing a duet together. Rowlf's tenure on The Jimmy Dean Show allowed Jim Henson to develop the character over a period of time

I was 4 or 5 and we were in New York and my dad had arranged for me to meet Henson and the rest of the furry gang. He'd since gone on to create Sesame Street, obviously, and considering it was my favorite show in the world my dad knew this would be an opportunity of a lifetime. My memory comes in patchwork around that day. I remember bringing cookies and feeding Cookie Monster, I remember seeing rows of muppets (were they called that then? I think they might have still been puppets) sitting inanimately on shelves, I remember the smell of the studio and I remember feeling extraordinarily shy. I'm not sure how long we stayed, or what we talked about (I'll have to ask my dad next time I see him) but somewhere in my clutter of stuff I have this postcard with Henson's signature...

Seeing the movie last night brought back so many amazing memories - not only of meeting them as a child, but watching the show on a nightly basis, being absorbed by the characters and stories and the world of Sesame Street. The movie was just another reminder about following your passion, whether it be puppetry or poetry. There are so many lives that you can affect by you just being you.

Idiocracy

Narrator: As the 21st century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest, reproduced in greater numbers than the rest, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits. Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. A dumbing down. How did this happen? Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most, and left the intelligent to become an endangered species.

I watched a good movie the other night. The premise supposes that by the year 2505 society has dumbed down to the lowest possible level thanks to hundreds of years of breeding by the wrong people. Idiots litter the streets of a post-apocolyptic America. Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph play characters who are victims of a 2005 government experiment gone wrong and when they wake up 500 years later, they are faced with the reality of Idiocracy.

Okay, obviously this is no Citizen Kane, no Gone With the Wind, but as far as social commentary is concerned, it is spot on. The idiots of 2505 don't actually speak, they grunt, like Kris Humphries. Their

facial expressions are as blank as the Kardashians. They just don't understand. Life is very hard. But they keep having kids (The Duggars). This movie was made before Snookie arrived on the scene, before the Real Housewives invaded Bravo.

Idiocracy was written and directed by Mike Judge, the man behind Beavis and Butt-head. That show about those two stoners who watch TV and laugh? you say? Yes, that's the one. But that show was also commenting on the youths of society. I teach college and am confronted with those insipid blank stares, confusion over due dates, surprise over plaigairism allegations. I see our future and it's kind of scary.

Idiocracy is a cautionary tale. It is the whisper before the scream.

Long Time No Blog

In preparation for my workshop at Esalen next weekend I have been reading up on the inner critic. One of my favorite bits of advice comes from this book, which suggests you treat your inner critic, that pesky hypercritical voice, like it's coming from a carney barker - y'know, the guy in the cheap suit at the carnival trying to convince you to enter the tent where the bearded woman resides. You'd probably find it easy to ignore this character and walk on by (perhaps in search of deep fried Twinkies). The author also suggests you visualize your critic as a telemarketer or clown. You get the point. Such a fun way of looking at it.

Two weeks after Esalen I am heading to Utah to attend the beginnings of the Elizabeth Smart trial. I will be sure to blog about it from there. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm actually going. It's all for research on my new book.

And finally, since I have nothing more to write about, here is a list of movies I've seen in the past few weeks:

Stone - Went to a screening with my friend Liz. It has all the ingredients of a great movie as it stars Robert DeNiro and Ed Norton, but the plot is contrived and the character that Ed Norton plays is so grating that, although it got high ratings on imdb, I think it's worth skipping.

The Social Network- It was great fun seeing this on opening weekend. Such a great story that had me thinking long after the movie ended.

Me Without You - Rented this from my school's video library. Is it me, or is Michelle Williams the most underrated actress of our time? I liked this movie, which was released in 2001. It's a character study of two friends through the ages.

Conviction - Thanks to Liz I attended this screening, too, and had the privilege of attending a Q and A with almost the entire cast afterwards. Hilary Swank does an excellent job of portraying a woman who sacrifices her life to prove her big brother's innocence. It is based on a true story and definitely worth seeing, in my humble opinion.