Opus 2025-382: After the Cameras Stop

Did Dr. Kildare ever get married?  Did Doogie Howser ever grow up?  Did Marcus Welby ever get forced to join an HMO?

To be honest I don’t believe I ever watched these programs consistently.  In fact, I’m pretty sure I never saw some of them.  I know that Dr. Kildare was in the comic strips at one point and I remember at least trying to read them.  At that stage in my life the romantic hijinks of a young handsome doctor really didn’t appeal to me much.  Maybe I remember him totally wrong.

But what happens when these popular figures are forced to deal with real life?  I was sitting in the dentist’s office recently and realized that leaving my book in the car was a mistake.  I was forced to read People Magazine.  It was depressing.  I wasn’t bothered by the fact I didn’t know any of them or their claim to fame.  What got me was the futility of their lives.  The beautiful young women would soon age and begin to appear in AARP instead of People.  The men would put on weight and drink too much assuming they were not doing so already.

It is hard to live in fantasy.  I don’t know how you can keep your script separate from real life.  A few times I have been forced into role playing situations and found that it took me hours to break out when we were done.  I can’t imagine what it is like to do it for long periods of time.

I would rather read the faces I see at church than in the pages of People.  I prefer the reflection and inner fire of joy and purpose.

It could be just me.

homo unius libri