Aloha Mr. Hand
The other day I posted a link on this blog to an article at “The Onion” that i thought was hysterical. It was about Sean Penn and kind of mocked him for his seeming propensity to be overly-vocal toward trendy causes and seeking the spotlight. In the article they used the word “a**hole.” I thought the article was funny enough and figured that its just one word and after all I personally didn’t write it…I was just linking to it. But there was a small voice in my head and the conversation went like this:
Voice: “Ya know you visit a lot of schools and perhaps some kid could read this and a**hole is considered foul language”
Me: Yeah true…But its just one word and it is actually mocking the use of the term…Plus most kids in High School speak a lot worse.”
Voice: True but you yourself know that some people might be more sensitive about it than others. Is it worth offending someone or making them have a different opinion about you?”
Me: Well there is always the chance that ANYONE could be offended by ANYTHING. Am I supposed to censor everything and sacrifice my intellectual or comedic honesty so as to make sure that not one person gets offended. Its impossible.
Voice: Well whatever. Its your blog dude. I’m just a voice. Yer gonna do what you want anyway. By the way how many of these voices like me are in your brain.
Me: You wouldn’t believe me if i told you.
Voice: Try me.
Me: Nahh just ask the guy behind you.
So anyway I posted the link and sure enough no one complained or commented. And then the other morning I went to Central Catholic School in Pittsburgh. Awesome school. Great students and staff. Brother Joe and Brother Bob were excellent and Father George made me feel right at home. I mentioned to them before the show that my favorite shows are always Catholic schools or Jewish schools. Not so much because of the religious aspect but because there is actually more of a freedom on stage. No one is worrying about every little word or if a character says “sucks”, “hell” or “ass.” Because there is a certain realization that I am presenting something intellectually and dramatically honest and “slice of life.” Public schools have so much pressure from principals, PTAs, and administrators that they must by their nature be more conservative than a religious school. Sort of the opposite of what many would expect.So anyway the show was great and all was chill and I stuck around to visit some classrooms afterward and participate in some of the breakout groups and discussions. One discussion in Brother Bobs class about EMPATHY really stuck in my mind. He said its different than sympathy which is feeling bad for someone. Empathy is to actually feel how the other person feels. So anyway, I walk into this other classroom and I saw something that we never had when I was in school. A teacher teaching from his computer/notebook. The lesson plan and outline on a projector on the wall. Cool. I’ve seen this all the time in colleges and workshops and stuff but its fairly new in High Schools. So the teacher says “Wow what an honor come in, come in. We were hoping that you would come in. Great show. We were just talking about you and we went to your website and just called up your blog on the wall.” DUH DUH DUH DUH.
Voice: I told you..
Me: Shut up!
Teacher: Excuse me.
Me: Sorry nervous tick I was talking to er uh someone else..
Yup sure enough my blog was 10 feet tall and on the wall and all I could do was pray that the teacher would not click on that link and there in big bold capital letters on the wall of the classroom would be the word A**HOLE! So sad. So funny. So awkward. Thank god he DID NOT click on it (I pulled the plug…kidding). I felt so awful man. Its just that I put all my time and energy into this show and I do not want someone to judge me or have any opinion of me based on the words of some onion article. If I’m gonna be judged I want to be judged by the show on the stage and the words I personally create. But I suppose as a somewhat public figure there will always be the chance that people will find me guilty by association or attack me for some political or second hand comment…But I should not make it easy for them. So I guess I know how Sean Penn might feel eh? He does great work on stage and is a brilliant mind and actor but he is judged by many for his political and sociological involvements and making statements that get misconstrued. So now I have EMPATHY for Sean Penn. So as soon as I got home I deleted that blog from my site. So now I’m on a plane to Indianapolis listening to Stevie Wonder and typing this but before I took off my wife called and said that she just heard in the news that Chris Penn had died. Sean Penn’s brother. She said it may be drugs. And that to me is just the worst thing I could have heard. I would never want anyone to go through what my family and I have gone through with my brother and to see a young guy like that pass away so young is just…Well its something I get. Ya know… uhm…empathy. So I think of Sean Penn today. I think of Spiccoli. I think of his Oscar and his speech. I think of him going to New Orleans and at least trying to help people. I think of him in France. I think of him in Taps. I think of his brother. His family. I think of the subtle effects of our words not just on others but on ourselves. I’m flying over Michigan now I think and I’m listening to Mark Knopfler sing “Boom Like That.” I’m thinking of Sean Penn and I’m thinking of my brother Glenn and my place in this world and how this show has become bigger than just a simple collection of monologues that I assembled. I’m trying to figure out my place in it all and I’m thinking about Sean Penn’s brother, Brother Bob and empathy. Aloha Mr.Hand.
