The Muppets and R'hllor

The following is an unedited instant message conversation between myself and my friend and co-worker Jarred Lee http://deafrogue.blogspot.com/. 
I make no apologies for my grammatical errors, FYI. 

Charles: so what is it about the Muppets that you connect with? why do you love them so much?

Jarred Lee: I always liked how real they seemed. Their distinct personalities mixed with the format of The Muppet Show and the different Muppet movies

Charles: i think that's why i like Miss Piggy

Charles: because she seems like she and maybe Kermit are the most complex characters

Charles: i was reading her back story and i was actually quite wrong about the body image thing

Charles: it's crazy how much Frank Oz put into developing her

Jarred Lee: Yeah, they always felt more like actors, themselves, than puppets

Charles: I know I wasn't aware of this as a child but I think the thing that got me was that the Muppets just intrinsically good.

Charles: Even Crazy Harry, you know?

Charles: He was disruptive but he wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He was just chaotic.

Charles: I think that was a reflection of the kind of man Jim Henson was. 

Charles: A man that believed in the goodness of people and the power of imagination.

Charles: I actually get teary-eyed when I think of the beauty of it.

Charles: There's just so much cynicism in the world. So much hate.

Charles: And he was the exact opposite of it.

Charles: And if you look at "The Dark Crystal" or "Labryinth" you'll see he's not afraid of representing darkness.

Charles: But he also believes in the power to illuminate. Which I find truly precious.

Jarred Lee: Very well-said

Jarred Lee: Even as children, I think that we're mostly capable of sensing a deeper meaning to things, and I feel that that came across very clearly with Jim Henson's creations. 

Charles: I think you're very right.

Jarred Lee: Which aided their almost universal acclamation and appreciation 

Charles: People want something to aspire to, I believe. They want inspiration.

Charles: That's my great criticism of the secular community (and why I'm not fully a part of it). Is that they so often criticize religion without realizing that fundamental truth.

Charles: Yes, I dislike religion and find great fault with it. But I don't find fault with the human need for inspiration.

Jarred Lee: I completely agree. As humans, I feel that we need something to put our faith in. My main issue with religion has always stemmed from my rejection of theism. I believe that a moral values and social etiquette can exist without the belief in deities. I've always felt that religion's descent into pettiness stems from the competitive nature of theistic beliefs.   

Charles: Continue, please. I'm curious about this line of thought because I personally like what I consider "true" competition.

Jarred Lee: Well, I believe that religions are social constructs at their core. From what I've observed and read, the basic ideas of "good" and "evil" (read: right and wrong) seem to fairly static across the major religions. From what I can tell, only religions that have appeared in opposition to other religions seem to differ in that regard. That leads me to believe that defining those values are intrinsically important to the formation of any religion. 

Jarred Lee: But, as a social construct, there has to be an element of control, as well. Religion has a limitless potential for influence, so it's only natural that the creators of a religion would look to the supernatural for that element, as its influence is impossible to argue and can be elevated to any level on a whim. With that said, from a religious perspective, it is difficult to make allowances for supernatural forces that exist outside of your religion.

Jarred Lee: That's what I am referring to when I talk about the competitive nature of theistic religions

Charles: The night is dark and full of terrors, am I right?

Jarred Lee: lol

Jarred Lee: Yes

The Grunt and Groan Game

Endeavoring to write about professional wrestling has proven to be far more difficult than I expected. Not because I don't have much to say about it but because I have TOO MUCH to say about it. Think about that for a second. Look at the length of my previous blog posts (and read them if you haven't because I can be quite clever at times). I actually am having trouble writing about wrestling because I just have too much to say about it. But just as I try to tell younger performers trying to get an understanding of our art: in wrestling less really is more.

Very simply, fans go to wrestling events for the cathartic experience of living vicariously through someone they love defeating someone they hate in physical combat. It is a business in that promoters are investing time and money into getting patrons to come and exchange capital for their product. It's an art because it is based on reaching into a real, fantastic world and seeking to invoke real, heightened emotions. 

I love professional wrestling. As a fan, as a participant, as an ambassador of the sport, I love professional wrestling. The physicality, the drama, the brutality, the pageantry. The empathy, the manipulation, the danger, the surprise. When wrestling is great it provides an interactive experience that no other athletic endeavor or entertainment field can duplicate.

A number of possible blog entries came to mind. I could write about the reality of wrestling. I could write about the appeal of wrestling. I could write about the "violent" nature of wrestling. What makes a good wrestling show? Why do I call it an art form? Perhaps if people comment on this post I will reply with specific posts.

One thing I will not do: tell you HOW we do what we do. In my opinion too much of the wrestling business has been exposed already and I feel an almost sacred responsibility to protect some of our secrets. Penn & Teller do the Cups and Balls trick not to show you how to be a magician but to show you how hard their job is and just to offer a little insight into their art. Similarly I am willing to share "why" we do some of the things we do but if you want to know the "how" I suggest you do what I did and go to wrestling school.

Chuck, You Is Crazy!

**This blog will permanently destroy any "tough guy" or "cool guy" credibility I may have pretended to have but maybe it will be helpful to someone who needs the encouragement.**


In conversation I will occasionally say, "I know I'm not crazy; my therapist said so." I love the ironic sound of this phrase but it's actually very true. I may be irrational at times, I may have strange, emotional, nostalgic moments. I may not always connect to people the same way other people do but I'm certainly not "crazy" in the sense that I'm a danger to others and myself. But I have had at important times in my life sought the services of mental health professionals in order to address immediate and long-standing emotional issues.

I was hesitant at first to seek out professional help because, like many people, I had this perceived notion that mental health problems are like the conditions of a hypochondriac and, ironically, "all in your head" inasmuch as that it's something I was just making up. The only people you ever see in movies seeking mental health treatment were catatonic, violent, drug abusers, or purely delusional. It seemed that if you didn't think you were Napoleon you were just a regular ol' person and that you should be totally fine and that to suggest otherwise is to admit an unspeakable personal weakness. Fortunately, I was encouraged by good people, a family member and friend, who had found therapy beneficial and that gave me the strength to try to face my fears. While I'm not sure if the diagnosis is 100% correct I was diagnosed with a condition in therapy that at least gave me a jumping point to find avenues towards improving my emotional and behavioral health.

You see, the brain is so unfathomably complicated that it's currently impossible to explain how it works but everyday we learn more and more about how it functions and how it affects our behaviors and our decisions. We do know some things like our ability to use pure reason plays a very, very small part in most of our actions and choices individually. It stands to reason then that every single person on the planet probably has a few, if not several million, neurological misfirings and connections which cause us to think and behave in ways that may not be most beneficial to our physical and mental health, much less for how they affect other people. And, if that's the case, it seems rather sensible to me that people might want to take time to see if there may be things they can do allow their brain to function in a more healthy way just as they would their heart and lungs.

Recently "the failure of the mental health community" has become one rallying cry in regards to the apparent, though I think sensationalized, rash of acts of mass violence by individuals. This may be my irrational brain causing me to say this but it seems that a more immediate issue is the violent individuals' inability to address their own mental health issues. Perhaps when you're psychological function is that far gone you are incapable of recognizing that you may need a different mental health strategy and that's totally fair. I'm not sure if the same thing can be said for a person who posts twice a day on Facebook about their drinking habits, their misanthropic preference of dumb animals over their fellow human, or the often hate-fueled disgust for people with different political or sociological perspectives.

Perhaps we have this hold over belief that mental health is associated with sin and that we're unhappy because we aren't following God's will or something. Fortunately, we've pretty much eradicated that belief when it comes to physical health issues (contrary to what the Bible says, I might add) so maybe it's time that society starts looking to more reasonable answers. Perhaps your "relationship with God" operates differently than mine did but my experience involved scores of hours of requests to alleviate my youthful self hatred and loneliness to an unanswering God. But, as I eventually learned, just as an obese person can't pray away the fat, a depressed person can't pray away the pain.

There is so little we know about the brain and psychology is such a young, strange science that we know we are ignorant and wrong about some or a lot of things. I can live with that because I know that the heart behind it is the question, "how can we make people healthier, better people?" You don't have to be on the verge of shooting up a school to seek to improve your psychological health. You just need the strength to say, "I wonder if I could do this better?