Gabe's new fixation is Popeye. Go figure, Popeye the sailor man absolutely fascinates him. He came across the Boomerang channel and discovered a whole new world, Hanna-Barbera/ Warner Bros style. Classics I grew up with, Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry,Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss (love him), The Flintstones, the Jetsons, now belong to Gabe...I walk into my living room and it's the 70's all over again...For some reason, in his mind, Popeye reigns, his pipe, his theme music, his need for spinach and the muscles it gives him...the way he laughs and talks, Wimpy and his hamburger obsession...2 o'clock comes and Gabe stops everything to watch "his favorite show"......
From the outside looking in, many may find themselves quite removed from our experiences. They may not be able to readily relate because the behaviors our children have sometimes are rather extreme. From the inside looking out, however, a whole new understanding takes place. We realize we have more in common than we think, don't let the neurological rewiring fool you.....
When Grease first came out I begged everyone I knew to take me to see that movie. I saw it 17 times that summer. I knew all the songs, all the dance steps, and even though they were 34 year olds playing high school kids I was completely sold....I had chills, they were multiplying...when I wasn't seeing the movie, I was listening to the soundtrack. Had Gabe done that, we would have said he was perserverating. I saw St. Elmo's Fire another 17 times, granted, I had a mad crush on Rob Lowe, but I knew it inside out and outside in....perserverating? Hormones? Combo of both? Same could be said about my musicals...West Side Story? Gigi? An American in Paris? Fame? Flashdance....What a feeling!! Perserverating to the 10th potential....
How many of us have been fixated with a tv show, a song, a group, a band, a sports team, an ex boy friend, ex girlfriend, an ex anything, an actor, a specific moment in time, an event, a trauma, a dream..etc, etc, etc ..How many of us could be easily redirected from whatever engrossed us? We are an obsessive culture. Somewhere along the line we have become so engaged that we have become an abstraction, completely disconnected in so many ways... Our collective fascination with our celebrities, status, sports, entertainment, escapism makes me wonder, just what distinguishes art versus life, versus voyeurism, and where do we draw the lines?
The topics that our children lose themselves in are not much different, their shows, dinosaurs, music, sports, videos, computer games, search engines, youtube, etc..the only difference is that at times it becomes all they can talk about, if they can talk, or all they want to connect with. It's far more difficult for our kids to redirect, and embrace other topics of conversations. It is precisely at these moments that I wish there was a greater sense of affinity with our kids, where those that look on believing they can't relate, reflect on a time when everything they thought they were, or wanted to be, or was delighted by, was reduced to this one thing, and they were completely consumed.
Lately when I take Gabe out he asks everyone their name (he's very friendly) and when they ask what his is, he sings "Gabriel the sailor man" gives 2 toot toot's and flexes his muscles, says he eats apples they make him strong...He winks and he continues to talk about Wimpy and hamburgers and Popeye....I suppose it could be worse, it's Popeye, not South Park....which would probably make for very interesting reactions, but I have enough explaining to do, thank you very much.....
Still I remember a time back when I was in high school, and my dear soul sista friend would sign her name Mrs. Michael Jackson, no song, no toot toot, but there was a definite wink, spin, moonwalk and toe stand....hee hee....shamon.....
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