The Big Green House

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

 

My little nest of vipers

When I was a kid, I had difficulty watching TV sometimes. Not because of any vision deficiency; up until recently, I�ve always had really good eyesight. No, my problem was one of empathy. I would feel mortified for characters if they did or said anything even potentially embarrassing, to the point where I sometimes had to leave the room until the scene in question was over. It didn�t matter if it was comedy or drama. If I identified with the character at all (a boy near my age, say) it would be that much worse, but it would also occasionally crop up in regard to a character with which I felt no other affinity. I just felt bad for them, and wanted to spare them any further embarrassment.

I mention this not to show what a sensitive guy I am. I�ve certainly had my share of laughs at the expense of others. Rather, it�s because I had another attack of too much empathy last night.

We had a collection of episodes of Fawlty Towers arrive from Netflix yesterday. I�ve always loved the show, and since Science Girl is still over at Science Manor this week I thought I�d have a few laughs before I went to bed. I popped the disc in the player, sat back on the couch and waited for John Cleese to bring the funny. Instead, through this same bizarre personality kink, I found myself identifying with Basil Fawlty. I had to turn the DVD off before the first episode had ended.

I�m not sure what that was all about. I don�t think I�ve got much Basil in me. I certainly hope not, anyway. If any character in the history of Western Art has ever deserved to be met with howls of derisive laughter, it is certainly he. And that�s usually what I get from watching the show. Perhaps I was having a retail flashback; toward the end of my pimping of consumer goods retail career, I often found myself being as nasty as Mr. Fawlty to the general public. I didn�t have the class-consciousness of Basil, though � I was shitty to everybody, across the board. (Probably a good thing that I moved on when I did, eh?)

Anyway, I�m going to give it another shot tonight. I�m going to be very disappointed if I can�t enjoy the show anymore.

bmarkey 4/30/2003 10:23:00 PM