If Life Were Like T.V.
I wouldn’t want to live it, that’s
for damn sure. My God, the horrible
things that happen in the lives of these television characters is
unfathomable. How can these characters
possibly survive the horror show that is their lives? They are struck, demolished by a tidal wave,
but manage to get up, only to be crushed once again by a tsunami.
Take, for example, the cast of
characters in “Grey’s Anatomy.” Meredith
Grey, the enigmatic protagonist, has suffered immensely. Just off the top of my head, poor Meredith
has been publically humiliated by the love of her life, lost two of her best
friends (one to death and one to career suicide), had to steady a bomb inside a
man’s body, had a miscarriage, had her husband stalked and shot, discovered an
unknown sister, mistakenly killed her step-mother, had her adopted daughter
ripped from her care, lost her discovered sister in a plane crash which also crippled
her brain surgeon husband’s hand, and, currently has broken up with her
longtime “person”/best friend Christina.
And, those are just the trials and tribulations I can remember off of
the top of my head. I’m sure that there
are innumerable dramas that I cannot.
Seriously? Ok, Meredith Grey has had her share of good
luck as well. She’s a successful surgeon
on the board of the hospital at which she works. She’s had LOTS of great sex. But, imagine living her life? Imagine never being able to enjoy a moment
because there is a black shadow looming, looming over every day. For every happiness, there will be an equal
or greater tragedy in reaction.
Take, for a second example, Olivia
Pope of “Scandal,” not coincidentally a show also created by the fabulous Shonda
Rimes. Poor, poor Olivia! No matter how intelligent or powerful or
driven or beautiful or benevolent she is, she just can’t get out of her own
way. Despite her intelligence, she
starts an affair with an incredibly powerful politician, who just happens to be
running for president. And, despite her
better judgment, continues the torrid affair into his presidency. Her love also inspires her to defraud the
entire country out of their right to a fair election. Her associates are assorted criminals, some
worse than others. Her father is the
head of a top secret spy agency used to torture and kill assorted national
security risks. She is constantly scared
for her life and the lives of her loved ones.
Again, some good luck. Again, career success and lots of good
sex. But, how much happiness can sex and
money buy if you’re constantly having to use both the sex and money to fix
life-threatening problems?
For me, it’s the drama. And, unfortunately, I consider myself an
expert in drama, both personally, as a former teenage girl, and professionally,
as a teacher of high school. Sure, I’ve
had my own teenage girl drama, created some of it, sometimes purposefully. I’ve welcomed it into my life. Also, unfortunately, I’ve created drama as an
adult. Probably subconsciously, but also
with some purpose. It fulfilled some
weird need in me. That adult drama had
consequences. Those consequences taught
me lessons, they changed me. I’ve made
different choices as a result of lessons learned. I’ve made a conscious decision to avoid drama
in my personal future.
But, the protagonists of these
rom-com-dramas never seem to learn their lessons. They fail to learn from their mistakes, to
change their course of action to avoid the drama.
And, I say, thank God for that! What fun would that be?!?! These shows, they provide me an outlet, a
safe way to indulge in delicious drama without hurting myself or anyone I
love. I can roll around gleefully in
their mud and shit, without actually dirtying myself. So, thank you for the drama Ms. Grey and Ms.
Pope. I don’t envy your lives, but I
sure am glad that you fictitiously live them so that I can wallow in them.
