Friday, January 07, 2005
our Dearly Beloved
This week I've been bonding with my sister over that centerpiece of every good American family: the television. And, in a way, I think I've been humbled out of my self-righteous presupposition that nothing good ever came out of pop culture. Here are some fragments of truth (yes folks: like it or not, it does exist!) about Love that I've spotted in all the lust and product placements:
Tara coerced me into giving The O.C. another chance, and I'm actually glad I did.
It's the most absurd event in all of primetime, but I was touched by the integrity of the central family. In a city full of broken, self-centered addicts (pick your favorite, there's someone to match), the Cohens somehow manage to remember how to love. They sit in the middle of a dozen twisted love triangles, offering sound advice to idiots who rarely listen, actively demonstrating love for friends even in the midst of moral failure, and providing a safe-haven for the children who are abandoned in the wake of these pleasure seeking "grown ups." Hooray for them. I wouldn't have the patience, to be honest.
Meet the Fockers is funny (if only to the sexually preoccupied) and ultimately an affirmation of family. There's a crucial moment where the uptight father-in-law is fed up with the whacko father-in-law, and he calls a family meeting--meaning him and his wife and his daughter. Motioning to the whole bickering cast, she replies, "Daddy, this is the family."
We don't get to pick our family. And we don't decide how they act or what they believe. The only choice we can make is whether or not to love them. Make peace or nurse pride. Giving us the happy Hollywood ending we want, both sets of in-laws learn the arts of compromise and respect. Getting over their own self-importance in the last reel, they get to celebrate the union of their children, who have fought long and hard to make the marriage happen, together.
Why does it so rarely happen this way in real life? Why is compromise and respect considered to be the Hollywood Ending? Why do we hear so many stupid comments about mistrusting our mothers-in-law? And why don't more Christians treat their lonely, hurting neighbors with the same patience and dignity exhibited by the Cohens?
Tara coerced me into giving The O.C. another chance, and I'm actually glad I did.
It's the most absurd event in all of primetime, but I was touched by the integrity of the central family. In a city full of broken, self-centered addicts (pick your favorite, there's someone to match), the Cohens somehow manage to remember how to love. They sit in the middle of a dozen twisted love triangles, offering sound advice to idiots who rarely listen, actively demonstrating love for friends even in the midst of moral failure, and providing a safe-haven for the children who are abandoned in the wake of these pleasure seeking "grown ups." Hooray for them. I wouldn't have the patience, to be honest.
Meet the Fockers is funny (if only to the sexually preoccupied) and ultimately an affirmation of family. There's a crucial moment where the uptight father-in-law is fed up with the whacko father-in-law, and he calls a family meeting--meaning him and his wife and his daughter. Motioning to the whole bickering cast, she replies, "Daddy, this is the family."
We don't get to pick our family. And we don't decide how they act or what they believe. The only choice we can make is whether or not to love them. Make peace or nurse pride. Giving us the happy Hollywood ending we want, both sets of in-laws learn the arts of compromise and respect. Getting over their own self-importance in the last reel, they get to celebrate the union of their children, who have fought long and hard to make the marriage happen, together.
Why does it so rarely happen this way in real life? Why is compromise and respect considered to be the Hollywood Ending? Why do we hear so many stupid comments about mistrusting our mothers-in-law? And why don't more Christians treat their lonely, hurting neighbors with the same patience and dignity exhibited by the Cohens?
