Television did not exist four score and seven years ago. There wasn't much of an entertainment industry. National communications systems were primitive, though a far cry better than the Pony Express days. The motion picture industry was not really an industry.
In those days, folks such as us would tell stories for entertainment. We'd read books. On top of all of that, we'd do things. What I mean is that, back in the old days, your options were to either become a bona fide doer of extraordinary deeds, or to become an average Joe or Jane or J. Edgar. Nothing was wrong with being ordinary. However if a person had a hankering to become a fancy-pants big shot, the one and only avenue was via accomplishment. Even then, your accomplishments had to be exceptional.
During World War II, countless men and women engaged in unrecognized heroics. An occasional super badass such as Audie Murphy or Jimmy Doolittle would get some publicity, but the workday heroes remained unsung. It pretty much remained that way up until the 1960s. Something awful was born then.
Television boomed into every town like the slam of a door when an alcoholic, frustrated and physically abusive dad came home from the bar. War came home to breakfast, lunch and dinner. Largely because people were sick of seeing Vietnam bloodshed while eating their pot pies, public outrage brought about an end to the war.
In the process, television executives realized the true power of the medium. Ideologies could be changed, tides could be shifted, deodorant could be sold, all with the right image and to hell with content.
By the early 1970s, television became more and more about feeding images to the public to sell a product. Previously, the entertainment was overwhelmingly content based: stories had morals, virtues were taught and the medium was being used to build an infrastructure of character as well as sell Bosco.
Post-Dick Nixon, the whole industry went into the toilet. Anybody who has ever seen "Three's Company" will agree with me.
Stories and morals vanished. "T&A sells" became the mantra of the entertainment industry. That led to movies going into the toilet, because Hollywood wanted to cash in. Stories with pointless violence took over in order to make a buck or two billion. Vacuous magazines such as People, Vogue and GQ took off, all preaching image over substance.
And that brings me to former president William Jefferson Clinton, or BJ, as they call him down at the crawdad hole for many reasons. He's trapped in yet another scandal, this time over pardoning some low-life billionaire for serious crimes against the people. This problem is no different than the time he got that intern to puff a cigar and then lied about it over and over.
BJ talks the talk but in no way walks the walk. He speaks of idealism, morality, right and the rule of law, ethics and truth. He cheats on his wife and lies compulsively. We the people are happy with that. We hear the words and see the image and we buy it. He looks good and sounds good. That got him elected. We were all too content to tolerate BJ for eight years when he was president.
Why? Because we are the same way!
We love a "good guy" who stops the "bad guys" by blowing evil and its minions to hell. We love winners, even if they cheat to win, so long as the cheating is not too well publicized: at that point we get holier-than-thou. We love celebrities, even if they are coked-up, wife-murdering, porn-mongering liars because they play cool characters and look good on the screen.
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Most of them have never accomplished anything worthwhile (please, no letters about acting being worth while). I want to be clear that I'm talking about the collective "we," and that this does not apply to all individuals. However, collectively, we are suffering from empty suit disease and we desperately need a telethon.
BJ can be our poster child. But this really isn't about him. It's about us collectively. We exist on an individual level. A shift back to being a nation of people who live up to their code of ethics and are deemed successful based upon their accomplishments is vital to the continued existence of our nation.
Ask yourself if you have a moral code, a set of personal standards to guide you. Then live by them. Don't go to church and then cheat on tests. Don't hold your boyfriend's hand and then cheat on the commitment when he's not there.
As BJ has taught us, anybody can act like they have character. That's not the same as making the effort, being strong and living up to your creed. Walking the walk is far more important than talking the talk.
Questions? Comments? Outraged denunciations? Write to Brad at physhead@hotmail.com
